Chatham County October Home Sales Up 59% Over Last Year

Home sales in Chatham County (where Briar Chapel is located) improved 59.2 percent in October compared to the year prior, according to the monthly market activity report released by Triangle MLS this week.

It was also reported that the county’s median sales price is up 14.3 percent to $323,500, while the average days on market is down 43.9 percent to 78 days compared to the year prior.

For other results, download a copy of the full October TMLS report.

Costco Selects More Convenient Location for Briar Chapel Residents

Triangle Business Journal has reported that Costco is planning to open a store in Apex. If this is true, then Briar Chapel residents will no longer have to drive 45 minutes to the Durham location in order to shop at the popular members-only warehouse discounter.

 According to the TBJ article, the Apex planning board recently recommended approval of a $50 million retail development project called Nichols Plaza on 35 acres fronting U.S. 64 at the intersection with Laura Duncan Road. A transportation engineer’s meeting notes shows that Costco will be the anchor tenant at Nichols Plaza with a 149,500-square-foot retail warehouse building and gas station, plus nine outparcels for other future retail and service businesses.

If all goes as planned, one source said construction was expected to begin in late-2014.

University Mall Transformation Continues w/ Silverspot Cinema to Open in 2015

University Mall, a 366,000 sqft regional shopping center located a short drive up 15-501 from Briar Chapel in Chapel Hill, is in the process of redevelopment and residents are taking notice. Anchored by award-winning gourmet retailer Southern Season, the mall is home to forty unique shops and restaurants.

In addition to several new tenants, including TrySports, Fine Feathers and Peacock Alley, mall officials just announced that Silverspot Cinema will be opening a 52,500 sqft premium movie theater complex in the current Dillard's location in early-2015.

Silverspot Cinema will debut independent and foreign films, as well as blockbusters and 3D films. Additionally, they will offer alternative content such as live broadcasts of international opera, ballet and theater performances, which will differentiate the theater from the traditional multiplex movie offerings in the area.

Silverspot will offer a stylish design and atmosphere complete with casual dining and a lounge area. The theaters will be equipped with state-of-the-art sound and projection technology, reserved stadium seating, and extra-large hand-stitched leather seats custom-made for Silverspot. Be sure to check out their website for photos and sample of offerings.

 

 

 

6th Annual Pepper Festival in Briar Chapel next Sunday!

Final preparations are underway for the 6th Annual Pepper Festival, which is taking place next Sunday (October 6th) from 3-7pm at Briar Chapel's Boulder Park.

Although the festival had very humble beginnings, it is quickly becoming North Carolina's premiere local food festival of the season. Featuring over 23 chefs, 11 local breweries, 3 bands (Big Fat Gap, Loamlands, and Steph Stewart & the Boyfriends), and more, this event aims to spread the superfood power of the plentiful peppers of the Piedmont. There will also be lots of activities for the kids.

Here is a sampling of the vendors who will be attending:

• 518 West
• Angelina’s Kitchen
• Bean & Barrel
• Benjamin Vineyards & Winery
• Cantina 18/18 Seaboard
• Carolina Brewery
• CCCC Natural Chef Culinary Program
• City Tap
• Crude Bitters & Soda
• Four Saints Brewing Company
• Groundworkk
• Galloway Ridge
• Glasshalfull
• Green Planet Catering
• Herons at The Umstead Hotel and Spa
• La Residence
• Lilly Den Farm
• Lonerider Brewing Company
• Lucky 32
• Market Restaurant
• Mez
• Mystery Brewing Company
• Oakleaf
• Rozelets
• Sitti
• Steel String Brewery
• The Fearrington Granary
• Top of the Hill Restaurant & Brewery
• Trali Irish Pub
• Vivace

Tickets are $30 or $35 at the entrance, which includes all-access to food and entertainment. Kids under 12 get in free. Beverages are cash bar. You can purchase tickets online directly from the Abundance Foundation, or at the gate.

If you're a foodie, music and beer/wine lover, or just love all-things-pepper, I hope you'll join me for this family-friendly event next Sunday!

Briar Chapel Craft Fair October 19th

Briar Chapel will be hosting a Craft Fair on October 19th from 10am-1pm.

Residents and non-residents are invited to share their artwork, regardless of media. I wouldn't be surprised if you saw some folks there from the photography and/or knitting groups that meet on a regular basis here in Briar Chapel.

The Craft Fair will be advertised in the Chatham Chatlist, Daily Tar Heel, News & Observer, and Craigslist, along with flyers spread throughout Chapel Hill and Chatham County and on Briar Chapel’s Facebook page. Tents are available for rent, and will be set up in the Briar Chapel parking lot.

If you wish to be a participant, please contact Brittany Godwin.

Briar Chapel's 4-Legged Residents Enjoy Annual "Pups in the Pool" Event

Once the pool season comes to a close each year, it's a tradition for Briar Chapel residents to bring their 4-legged family members for a swim in the saltwater pools. Here are a few photos from this year's event...

 

Race Results from 7th Annual Swim For Smiles Triathlon in Briar Chapel

This morning, Briar Chapel hosted the 7th Annual "Swim For Smiles" youth triathlon. The event drew over 500 participants (50 of which are current residents of the community).  After the conclusion of the race, attendees enjoyed a celebration at Briar Commons, which included stilt walkers, a climbing wall, face painting, inflatables, food trucks, ice cream and more! A link to the results of the race is below. 

 

Race results are available here.

 

 

For more info on this event, please read our previous post.

 

2013 Parade of Homes Features Nine Briar Chapel Green-Certified Homes

Now in its 30th year, the 2013 Parade of Homes in Durham, Orange & Chatham Counties will be held over three weekends in October: October 5-6, 11-13, and 18-20, 2013 from Noon-5pm each day.

This is a free, self-guided tour showcasing the latest designs and technology trends being used today. Of the 55 homes on Parade this year, Briar Chapel has the following 9 entries:

• Lot 79 (658 Bennett Mountain Trace) by Homes By Dickerson - $569,900
• Lot 12 (293 Dark Forest Drive) by Drees Homes - $450,000
• Lot 723 (23 Sagebrush Road) by ForeverHome - $379,922
• Lot 481 (2104 Briar Chapel Pkwy) by Homes By Dickerson - $359,900
• Lot 753 (23 Heatherwood Drive) by M/I Homes - $332,704
• Lot 466 (39 Kimbolton Place) by Saussy Burbank - $331,205
• Lot 641 (2381 Briar Chapel Pkwy) by Garman Homes - $315,000
• Lot 607 (73 Pokeberry Bend Drive) by Saussy Burbank - $289,900
• Lot 168 (273 Tobacco Farm Way) by Saussy Burbank - $282,900

This exciting event enables builders to enjoy some friendly competition, as each home on the Parade is judged by a panel of industry representatives from other markets in our region. These judges examine the design, quality, and creativity that each entry demonstrates, resulting in a numerical grade for each house. Awards are given to homes that achieve the highest scores in each price category.

Parade Homes are highly sought-after showcase homes, due to the "extras" builders include in them in an attempt to win gold. Likewise, winning Parade homes tend to attract extra attention when it comes time for resale.

If you would like to preview these homes before any of them are sold prior to the Parade, please contact Jen Winkler at 919-593-3662. She will be more than happy to point out the various green features in these homes, as well as show you the amenities that residents enjoy throughout Briar Chapel.

Briar Chapel Community Intranet Site

There is a little-known resource that is packed with great information about Briar Chapel, which prospective buyers will want to check out to help with their purchase decision. While some of the areas of the site are restricted to current residents, much of the content is available to the public.

Whether you want to read about community news, browse past resident newsletters to learn about the types of events being offered, or access HOA documents such as covenants, bylaws, landscape guidelines, etc., we encourage you to visit Briar Chapel's community intranet site: www.BriarChapelLife.com.

Just Listed: 266 N. Serenity Hill Circle

OPEN HOUSE THIS SUNDAY FROM 2-4PM!

If you or someone you know is looking for an oversized backyard with wooded views in Briar Chapel, then you'll want to be sure to check out Chanticleer's newest listing at 266 N. Serenity Hill Circle. 

Built by David Weekley Homes, the "Geovanni" is a green-certified home with classic, Craftsman-style features. Similar to the "Jackson" plan that Homes By Dickerson builds, this floor plan features a bedroom on the main level, which can be used as a study or guest suite, and 3 additional bedrooms upstairs - plus a bonus room.

Here are just some of the highlights:

• EnergyStar-certified home w/ 3-year guarantee on heating and cooling costs
• Built by David Weekley Homes in 2012
• 4 Beds & 3 Baths + Bonus
• 2402 sqft two-level detached home
• Large, fenced back yard
• 2-car, front-load garage
• Storage lockers in mudroom
• Wood floors on main level
• Granite counters & tile backsplash in kitchen
• Competitively priced at $329,990

To schedule a showing of this home, please contact Jennifer Winkler with Chanticleer Properties at 919-593-3662.

Homes By Dickerson Named 2013 NGBS Green Partner in Excellence

Homes By Dickerson, one of the builders in Briar Chapel, has been recognized as a 2013 Green Partner in Excellence by NGBS for its leadership, innovation and excellence in building high-performance green homes.

Michelle Desiderio, Vice President of Innovation Services at Home Innovation Research Labs, will be in town on August 1st to recognize the builder along with four other local organizations: Habitat for Humanity of Wake County, Southern Energy Management, Green Home Builders of the Triangle and Habitat for Humanity of Durham. 

Chapel Hill Makes List of Best N.C. Towns for Young Families

Chapel Hill, where Briar Chapel is located, was recently ranked as one of the best places to raise a young family in North Carolina.

The analysis, conducted by Mike Anderson and published on NerdWallet, a personal finance website, considered five factors:

• Quality of public schools
• Median home values
• Ongoing cost of home ownership
• Average income
• Economic growth

Here is what Mike had to say...

"Chapel Hill is a quintessential university town. It is home to 30,000 students, and benefits from all the cultural facets of college life: concert venues, plenty of fine-dining options and great shopping destinations are scattered around the city. While life may center around the university, jobs here are nevertheless diverse..."

When considering Chapel Hill's close proximity to the Research Triangle Park and other parts of the Triangle, with its excellent job market and ample entertainment opportunities, it's easy to see why so many families (and retirees!) are now calling this town home.

Come see for yourself what a great area we live in!

"Swim For Smiles" Youth Triathlon Coming To Briar Chapel

It has finally been announced that Briar Chapel will host the 2013 Swim for Smiles Youth Triathlon on September 8th!

Swim for Smiles is the country's second largest children's triathlon, with proceeds benefitting the nearby North Carolina Children's Hospital. This annual event has drawn as many as 850 participants in the past. As such, the event's planners are excited to partner with Briar Chapel, which boasts ample open space needed for the competition's running and biking portions, as well as a Junior-Olympic saltwater pool to accommodate the swim races. 

Open to participants ages 5-18, Swim for Smiles is a USA-Triathlon sanctioned event that includes both a short and long course. To register for the event, go here. There are also a number of other ways you can help support this worthwhile event.

To learn more about Swim for Smiles, check out this video documentary:

Home Improvement: LED Lighting

In the past, we have highlighted some of the improvements we have made to our high-performance home in Briar Chapel, such as installing a hot water reciculator and solar power system.

Most recently, we have started to replace some of our incandescent lightbulbs with LED lighting. For example, we swapped out some of our 60W bulbs with Cree's new 9.5W dimmable LED light bulbs, which you can pickup at Home Depot for around $10-13. We chose the 2700K version, which offers a warm (soft) white color.

Unlike CFLs, these LED bulbs look and light very similarly to the incandescent bulbs we've all grown up with. They contain no mercury, and light up instantaneously. They are backed by a 10-year warranty, and are designed to deliver up to 25,000 hours of light for your home (about 22.8 years according to the specs). Best of all, they use at least 84% less energy than incandescent bulbs, which translates to $1.14 per year based on 3 hrs of use per day.

Now, we know some of you are wondering why we would spend $10-13 on a single lightbulb, so consider this... a regular incandescent bulb costs $1 and uses $7 of electricity a year if used three hours a day. A Cree bulb may cost $10, but it uses 10% of the electricity, costing $1 a year. And while an old-school bulb will burn out in less than two years at that rate, LED bulbs will keep working for more than 20 years. Besides, Cree is based right here in the Triangle, so it feels good to be supporting our local community while reducing our energy needs.

Our only complaints about these new bulbs is that they emit a soft "buzzing" sound when on, and they will not dim as low as our incandescents used to (from white to yellow light). Otherwise, for these two Watt-watchers, the LED bulbs make a lot of sense now that the prices have come down tremendously.

Briar Chapel Home Sales Up 45 Percent

Sales in Briar Chapel surged 45 percent YTD over the same period last year. This is very much in line with Triangle home sales, which are up 41 percent in April as buyers continue to snatch up properties from an ever-shrinking inventory of homes on the market.

Increasing demand and dwindling supply is creating plenty of frustrated buyers, as the most sought-after homes sell quickly – typically after receiving multiple offers. More specifically, the average time on market to sell across the Triangle is down 14% to 107 days.

In fact, the Triangle now only has a 3-month supply of homes on the market at the current pace of sales. This is down from an 9- to 10-month supply a year ago.

Low inventory levels, and the intense competition for the homes that are selling, is helping to boost home prices 4.5 percent in the Durham-Chapel Hill market in March compared with the same period a year ago, according to CoreLogic. In addition, 70 percent of the homes that sold in April were at or above their list price, up from 58 percent in January, according to MLS.

To learn more about these latest statistics, read the recent article by News & Observer.