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Jobless rates plummet in U.S. states with housing recovery | Cross River Homes
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Daily Archives: April 19, 2013
NYC agent workforce clobbered in March | Waccabuc NY Homes
New York City real estate employment got clobbered last month, with the real estate agent workforce in The Big Apple shedding more jobs than other sector except government, The Real Deal reported, citing a study released by Eastern Consolidated.
Why? The report doesn’t explain the drop in real estate employment — 1,200 jobs were supposedly lost in March alone — but the real estate investment firm’s chief economist expects those jobs will come back.
The report wasn’t a complete downer for local market observers. It also found that construction jobs shot up, with the industry sprouting 900 jobs for the local economy, partly due to reconstruction in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, The Real Deal reported.
The positive news for New York City construction mirrors nationwide improvement in the sector that has steamed ahead, even as other sectors have struggled to add jobs.
Construction job growth hit a seven-year high in March, according to a recent jobs report. The 3.8 percent annual growth rate in construction jobs in March towered over the 1.4 percent overall jobs growth rate.
The industry has added 317,000 jobs to the economy in the last two years with over half of that increase occurring in the last six months, the White House said in a statement last month.
via inman.com
Housing markets characterized by ‘egotistical’ prices, gun-shy buyers | North Salem NY Homes
his post — the first of what will be a regular series — is based on an email response from real estate agent Mary Giroux to this week’s “Taking Inventory” Facebook post. Every week, Inman News invites readers to share thoughts and insights about the real estate sector. Your input helps Inman News shed light on the latest issues and trends that are redefining the industry.
Today’s housing market is a weird animal.
Consumers traumatized by the housing crisis are treading with caution as they wade into a market that, to many observers, is still brimming with once-in-a-lifetime deals. At the same time, many sellers are seeking to capitalize on the inventory shortage, pricing their homes unreasonably high, in the opinion of some agents.
The tendency is so strong that some sellers are listing their homes at prices one agent has described as outright “egotistical.”
Perhaps that isn’t so surprising. People who saw their home values plummet during housing bust are probably more than eager to demand a price that pushes the limits of fair value — and recoup some of the wealth that they lost.
But the specter of the housing crisis is also sharp in buyers’ minds. Once lured by the promise of a “buyer’s market,” many are now finding themselves locked in bidding wars.
via inman.com
Assemblyman David Buchwald to open downtown Mount Kisco office | Mt Kisco NY Homes
State Assemblyman David Buchwald will host a grand opening for his new district office in Mount Kisco today.
“I want my constituents to know that this office is for you, and we are open for business,” Buchwald wrote in a press release. “We’ve moved to an accessible location within walking distance of both bus stops and the Metro-North train station in the heart of our district. My doors are open to hear your concerns firsthand and to ensure we keep Westchester a great place to live, work and raise a family.”
Mount Kisco Chamber of Commerce President Philip Bronzi wrote in the press release that he’s pleased by the development.
“The Chamber is very much looking forward to the opening of Assemblyman Buchwald’s Mount Kisco district office,” Bronzi wrote. “We hope visitors and families will take the opportunity to interact with our downtown business community. We are also excited to have truly local representation in Albany for our members and this wonderful community.”
The office is located at 125-131 E. Main St., Suite 204 in Mount Kisco. Today’s event will last from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., and the ribbon cutting will be held at 4:30 p.m.
Rentals Spotlight: Chicago | Bedford Hills NY Homes
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Christopher Meloni Flipping New Canaan Country Estate | Pound Ridge NY Homes
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Did underwater mortgages kill the economy? | North Salem NY Real Estate
Real estate experts expect the housing bubble to burst soon | Waccabuc NY Real Estate
The royal order related to land grants and construction loans will lead to a reduction in the Kingdom’s current exorbitant rents and property prices, a spokesman for the Ministry of Housing was quoted as saying in local media.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has ordered the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, municipalities and localities, to hand over all developed pieces of land and plots ready for construction to the Ministry of Housing which will, in turn, distribute them to citizens with loans.
Real estate experts say the king’s ruling will see a drop in real estate prices. Some expect a huge decline in rents because the land will be available to citizens within a year.
They believe there has been a real estate bubble in the Kingdom, which will soon be deflated by the government’s action to either build houses and provide them to citizens at reduced prices, or provide land and construction loans.
“The market will sooner or later witness a big decline in prices, since the supply is huge, and could in its first stage satisfy a large part of the demand,” said Ibrahim Al-Ubaid, a real estate expert.
“Investors are concerned now. They feel that consumers might turn to government projects because of their quality and easy terms of ownership,” he added.
“The next step will see a large number of investors compete for the government projects. I expect there will be alliances in the market by a number of contractors to compete for the projects, especially now that we are looking at huge projects that will require a great many contractors and developers,” he said.
Abdullah Ash Shaiqi, of Ash Shaiqi Real Estate Group, said that after the Housing Ministry becomes the sole agency handling housing issues, he expects a gradual decline in property prices, and as soon as the decision to build materializes, prices will go down “instantly” by about 10 percent. “There will be a big difference in prices between the commercial supply on the one hand and the government supply on the other,” he said.
Abdullah Alrobayan, a Saudi columnist, said the Ministry of Housing has no more excuses. “In the past, the ministry used to say that the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs was very slow in handing over land to create housing projects. Now the king has given the Ministry of Housing all the government land and money it needs.”
Mohammed Al-Dowsari, a real estate developer, told Arab News that the king’s decision would have an impact on rented apartments in the medium term. He did not want to pre-judge the overall impact on real estate prices. “As we know such decisions will take time until they are implemented and there might be some changes in future,” he said.
Al-Dowsari believes that the Ministry of Housing should not be a regulatory and executive body at the same time. He said that having a real estate commission to regulate and govern the market has now become a necessity.
Saudi citizens will benefit from the royal order in less than one year, which is aimed at providing suitable housing units for them, Mohammed Al-Zumai, the ministry spokesman, said.
Although the Ministry of Housing has finalized the construction of some housing units, it needs to ensure only deserving people receive the homes, he said.
A total of 1.3 million people have applied to the Real Estate Development Fund (REDF), he said.
Al-Zumai said the royal order ensures one ministry is responsible for housing and that citizens are given various options including land, construction loans or housing units.
Others will be given the option of working in partnership with private sector firms, which is crucial for the success of the government’s housing program. The ministry has worked out a partnership framework with the private sector in this regard, he said.
Al-Zumai said the ministry has proposed that vacant land be converted into housing at affordable prices. The ministry has also recommended that new land ownership policies be enacted to ensure more land supply that could curb price hikes and manipulation, he said.
The government has already set aside a whopping SR 250 billion to build 500,000 houses across Saudi Arabia. The Housing Ministry will be given a free hand in all matters related to real estate, which will likely create a boom in the construction industry and other ancillary sub-sectors.
via arabnews.com
Blackstone real estate chief says L.A. is a tough market | South Salem Real Estate
“It’s become harder, because the pricing has moved up,” said Gray, the global head of real estate for private equity firm Blackstone Group. “L.A. is probably the toughest market.”
As chief of one of the world’s largest real estate investment funds, with $60 billion in assets, Gray is the walking embodiment of the term “smart money.” To put it succinctly, he is “the man with the bank account,” which was how Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa introduced him Thursday at a chummy ceremony in downtown’s Arts District.
“Blackstone is a very, very important entity in this world, and they fund great real estate projects, hedge funds, private equity — they do a lot of stuff,” Villaraigosa went on to say. “One of the important things they are doing is investing in L.A. real estate.”
Gray was in town from New York to celebrate the construction of the final phase of a fancy condominium project Blackstone invested in. His company also has made headlines lately for becoming one of the biggest bulk buyers of foreclosed homes in the United States, including in Southern California. Blackstone — and a handful of other Wall Street firms — have been racing to snap up single-family homes to rent out for profit and long-term gains.
According to recent reports by The Times, Blackstone has poured close to $740 million into California real estate through January. But with the sharp recovery in home values, finding deals on properties these days is not easy, Gray said.
That’s a lament many hopeful, home-shopping families in the region can relate to. As The Times recently reported, real estate has gone from recovery to frenzy in recent months. Even buying a home in the hard-hit Inland Empire is tough.
Nevertheless, Blackstone has bought up enough homes in the Southland to get the kind of scale it was hoping for, Gray said. And its rental price per square foot remains about 34% less than the average rent in the region, he added, making the company’s product attractive. Nationwide, the company has had success in leasing out about 80% of its renovated homes, meaning demand is strong.
Although Blackstone rarely funds new projects, Gray said, it also saw an opportunity in the Barker Block condominium project downtown.
The condo project is across the street from the perpetually packed and trendy Urth Caffe on South Hewitt Street. It will boast a total of 310 units when complete. The latest phase, being celebrated Thursday, includes 68 units that will begin selling for about $400,000.
“We saw an opportunity to create value for our investors, and in doing so we are doing something good for the local community by helping to revive one of the city’s most historic neighborhoods,” Gray said during a speech at the construction party Thursday. “The Barker Block … will develop some of the first for-sale homes in downtown Los Angeles since the crisis, and it will be done in a style that will preserve the character of the Arts District.”
Gray was joined by Villaraigosa and Henry Cisneros, a former Clinton administration housing official who is now chairman of the project’s developer, CityView. Guests munched on fancy hors d’oeuvres and took tours of the under-construction and completed portions of the condominium project, which boasted sweeping views of downtown Los Angeles from its rooftop gym.
Overall, Gray thinks it’s good time to be in the real estate business. The housing market is improving. That’s not because firms like his are snapping up every cheap home in sight, he said, but because so few homes were built during the recession. And people still need a place to live.
“It’s simply supply and demand,” he said.
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New players have big piece of housing pie
via latimes.com
Build targeted marketing around emotional cues | Cross River Real Estate
One of the things I love about where I live is that there is constant opportunity to learn interesting new things. My town has several universities that pull in interesting lecturers on a variety of topics, as well as an engaged and intellectually generous business culture.
Last week I had the opportunity to hear Sep Kamvar, director of the social computing group at MIT’s Media Lab, speak at seminar hosted by the University of Vermont’s Complex Systems Center.
Kamvar discussed a number of topics, including Dog-Lang, a computer language he is creating that assumes programs will be social, require connecting to a wide variety of APIs, and utilize asynchronous state management. He also provided some insight into the guts of Google’s personalized search ranking algorithm, which he helped create while at Stanford. Unless you love linear algebra as much as I do, this discussion would make your eyes glaze over.
The topic Kamvar approached that I want to dig into today is data and humanness.
via inman.com