Greensboro, NC (February 25, 2013) — Professionals from across the Piedmont Triad attended Wharton Gladden’s Annual North Carolina Housing Summit and learned that the housing industry is improving in North Carolina, but the recovery is fragile.

The panel discussion about opportunities and challenges faced by the housing community was held during lunch Thursday at The Piedmont Club and included top housing leaders in the state: Lou Baldwin, the 2012 president of the North Carolina Association of Realtors and owner and president of The Baldwin Companies, who also serves on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Realtors; Gary Hill, president of the North Carolina Homebuilders Association; and Timothy Hose, president of the Apartment Association of North Carolina and president and CEO of SYNCO Properties.

Baldwin explained the domino effect that housing has on the North Carolina economy as it impacts not only the construction and real estate industry, but also the many businesses that households require, ranging from plumbing and pest control to landscaping and decorating.

“When a house is built or a house is sold, it puts a lot of money in the economy,” Baldwin said.

Hill said that the average price of a new single family home in North Carolina is $169,000. He said that across the state, more building permits are being issued, which is also true in Guildford County in 2012, but in Forsyth, building permits issued in 2012 declined.

“Some portions of our market are doing better than others,” he said. In addition, lot availability is becoming a critical issue for homebuilders, he said, and availability of credit is has impacted construction.

Hose said a top priority this year for the Apartment Association of North Carolina will be working on the Not in My Back Yard, or NIMBY, view of apartments. A nice apartment community can be a vibrant, contributing part of the fabric of a mixed use community development, he said, and lenders are lending for apartment construction in North Carolina.

“Apartments have been the glamor child of the industry,” Hose said, however, he is concerned about local governments saying no to rezoning for apartments. Hose said that rents are strong.

Algenon Cash, Wharton Gladden’s managing director, asked the panelists if they expected the recovery to be sustained and what could threaten it.

“Builders are optimistic about what’s going to happen in the future; there seems to be a lot of optimism with caution,” Hill said.  “It is a fragile recovery right now.”

Baldwin encouraged people to pay attention to the details in tax modernization plans.

“If you eliminate the mortgage interest deduction, you eliminate a lot of people from buying a home,” he said. “It’s a time to do no harm to the real estate recovery.”

About Wharton Gladden & Company:

Wharton Gladden & Company is a uniquely designed boutique investment banking firm that specializes in providing strategic advisory services, underwriting, capital placement and private equity for a diversified client base that includes corporations, real estate developers, financial institutions, investors, municipalities and high net worth individuals.