Greater stability in nondistressed real estate prices

CoreLogic: U.S. home prices fall for 7th straight month in February

By Inman News, Thursday, April 7, 2011.

Inman News™

U.S. home prices fell for the seventh month in a row during February, although price declines are increasingly concentrated in sales of distressed properties such as bank-owned homes, data aggregator CoreLogic said in releasing its home price index.

The CoreLogic home price index showed U.S. home prices down 6.7 percent from a year ago during February, a sharper decline than the 5.5 percent year-over-year drop registered in January.

Excluding distressed sales, the index was essentially flat, declining by 0.1 percent from a year ago compared to 1.4 percent in January. Distressed sales include short sales and real-estate owned, or "REO," properties.

"When you remove distressed properties from the equation, we’re seeing a significantly reduced pace of depreciation and greater stability in many markets," said CoreLogic Chief Economist Mark Fleming in a statement. "Price declines are increasingly isolated to the distressed segment of the market, mostly in the form of REO sales, as the stock of foreclosures is slowly cleared."

The index showed national home prices down 34.5 percent from their April 2006 peak, or 21.7 percent if distressed transactions were excluded.

Prices were down from a year ago in 86 of the top 100 markets tracked by CoreLogic, down from 88 in January.

February 2011 single-family home prices: Top 10 biggest U.S. markets

Market	Change from year ago	Excluding distressed
Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Ariz.	-11.2%	-5.1%
Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill.	-10.4%	-0.4%
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga.	-8.3%	-1.9%
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif.	-5%	2%
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas	-3%	3.3%
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.	-2.3%	1.2%
Philadelphia, Pa.	-2.3%	-0.5%
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.V.	-1.8%	6.5%
Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas	-1.1%	4.6%
New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J.	0.8%	2.6%

Source: CoreLogic

Nine out of 10 of the nation’s biggest markets saw prices decline from a year ago, although six out of 10 of those markets experienced price appreciation among non-distressed properties, CoreLogic said.

The five states with the greatest year-over-year depreciation were Idaho (-14.6 percent), Arizona (-12 percent), Florida (-11.2 percent), Michigan (-11.1 percent) and Illinois (-11.1 percent). When distressed sales are excluded, the five states with the greatest depreciation were Idaho (-9.3 percent), Montana (-8.6 percent), Maine (-6.2 percent), Arizona (-5.4 percent) and Rhode Island (-5.4 percent).

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Gabor George Burt is an internationally recognized expert on innovation, creativity and strategy development. His book Slingshot explores the connection between systematic creativity and smart strategy. Download your free copy of the first chapter at SlingshotLiving.com.

Steve Jobs certainly gets it. The unveiling of the iPad (and subsequently, the iPad 2) was not merely a product launch, but a defining moment in which Apple shared its grand vision for the consumer electronics marketplace. The company symbolically stepped away from the familiar confines of the PC era, leaving behind its own initial core business along with the competition.

“You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to step away from the shore,” said Nobel Prize-winning author André Gide. In Gide’s remark, the notion of new discovery is linked to bravery. In today’s marketplace, I would argue that doing something unprecedented is not just adventurous but imperative, and that the far bigger risk is focusing on current competitors as the barometer of strategy. Eliminating competition by trying to beat it is dangerously shortsighted. It deflects the attention and the resources of an organization away from the far more important and exciting question of how to shape consumer lifestyles. 

A great illustration of this predicament is what happened to Kodak in 2003, when it was caught sleeping as the world transitioned from film to digital photography. The company severely misjudged the speed and impact of this transition and its lifestyle implications. As a result, Kodak’s core business, in which it was clearly dominating its competitors, was on a fast track to obsolescence. What were the consequences? Well, after 74 years, Kodak was delisted from the Dow Jones Industrial 30 Index of leading American companies in 2004. Kodak then embarked on a radical and painful restructuring to reestablish its relevance. It had to cut 25,000 jobs. It posted eight consecutive quarters of losses through the end of 2006, with a single quarterly loss of as much as $1 billion in 2005. Worst of all, the new reality was that even though Kodak quickly became a leader in digital photography, it was not a sustainably profitable business. In simplified terms, the company’s core business shifted from being a monopoly to being a commodity in the blink of an eye, and it had to scramble to reinvent itself.

So instead of trying to figure out how to beat competitors, smart strategy looks to change the rules of competition altogether. To see the distinct mindset and exciting implications of this approach, let’s consider an example from the world of sports. The Hungarian national team of the 1950s is widely considered as one of the most successful squads in the history of European football, by far the world’s most popular sport. In a six-year span, the team went undefeated (aside from the controversial World Cup Finals in 1954), scoring over four goals a game, and recording the highest rating ever for a national team. They won the 1952 Olympics, and in 1953 decisively beat England 6-3 in the “Match of the Century” in front of 105,000 people at Wembley Stadium.

What was their secret? For one, the management ensured that the Hungarian team was made up of extremely talented players. But it was the team’s groundbreaking strategy that enabled them to reshape the very way the game was played and to leave the competition behind. Instead of playing strictly defined positions, the Hungarians introduced unparalleled flexibility and continuous rotation on the field that other teams simply had no answer to. Moreover, they invented the concept of the “playmaker,” which gave a designated player free reign to improvise and creatively run the team’s offense. It was this willingness to go beyond prevailing boundaries rather than compete within them that allowed the Hungarians to elevate the sport to new heights of enrichment for players and spectators alike.

One of my favorite Dr. Seuss stories is about The Zax, imaginary creatures who can only go in one specific direction and are very stubborn. In the story, two Zax, one southbound, the other headed north, happen to bump into each other in the middle of the desert, each perfectly blocking the other’s path. Neither of the two is willing to budge, expecting the other to get out of the way first. And they remain there, nose to nose, obsessed with winning the standoff. They become so preoccupied with and consumed by each other’s presence that they don’t notice the world passing them by — which it does. A new highway is built right around them in the desert. As Dr. Seuss puts it: “And they built it right over those two stubborn Zax. And left them there, standing un-budged in their tracks.” Make sure that your strategy doesn’t resemble that of a Zax, otherwise you risk getting left behind in the desert.

Interested in more Business resources? Check out Mashable Explore, a new way to discover information on your favorite Mashable topics.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, shironosov

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There are certain power tools that deserve a place in any do-it-yourselfer’s arsenal, and one of those certainly has to be the random orbit sander. For tasks ranging from the aggressive removal of old paint to the fine finishing of a new living room shelf, random orbit sanders offer a perfect blend of sanding speed, performance and ease of use.

A random orbit sander has a sanding disk to which replaceable sandpaper disks are attached. The tool is designed so that the sanding disk spins in a circle and also moves in an elliptical motion. Because of this random sanding motion, no part of the sandpaper ever follows exactly the same path.

The random sanding action produces a swirl-free finish regardless of which way the wood grain is facing, so you can easily sand both with and across the grain.

The replaceable sanding disks are available in several different grits, ranging from 60 to 240 grit. The disks are typically attached with a hook and loop material, but pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) is also sometimes used.

Sanders reviewed in this article: Craftsman Model 11218 Milwaukee Model 6021-21 DeWalt Model D26453K DeWalt Model D26456

Random orbit sanders are commonly classified by their disk size. The most common is a 5-inch diameter disk, but 6-inch models are also available. Both the sanding disk and the sandpaper disk have a matching pattern of holes — typically eight holes, but some have five or six.

The holes allow sanding dust to be drawn up through the sander and into a removable, on-board dust bag, or directly into a shop vacuum.

In recent years, several manufacturers have introduced variable speed control, allowing you to select speeds ranging from 7,000 to 12,000 orbits per minute (OPM). To be honest, you’ll almost always use the sander at its top speed rating, but the variable speed can come in handy for certain tasks.

Shopping for a sander

For most people, a 5-inch sander is a better choice than a 6-inch, since it’s easier to handle and your local home centers and hardware stores will stock a wider selection of sanding disks.

Beyond that, it’s the little things that count. First and foremost, the sander should feel comfortable in your hand. Random orbit sanders are gripped in the palm of one hand, so you should be able to hold the sander firmly without excessive pressure, and the sander’s grip material should offer a comfortable, non-slip grip.

You’ll also want to be sure that the on-off switch is in a location that’s easy to reach with the hand that’s holding the sander.

You’ll also want to look for a dust bag that has a good solid connection to the sander. These sanders pick up a lot of dust as they work, and nothing’s worse than being in the middle of a project and having a fully loaded dust bag come flying off. A shop vacuum adapter is another nice feature to have. Some models also include a carrying case, which may or may not be important to you.

Testing four different sanders

I recently tried out four different 5-inch variable speed sanders to get a firsthand feel for some of the differences. Each of the sanders was equipped with an eight-hole hook-and-loop sanding disk. Here, listed in order of their average street price, is my take on some of their pros and cons.

Craftsman Model 11218 ($50, including sander, dust bag, and one disk): The Craftsman has a slightly smaller motor than the other models (2.8 amps), and a slightly higher top speed (12,500 OPM). The grip was comfortable, and the grip’s surface material had a nice, non-slip feel to it. It has a slide switch that passes through the grip and requires two different fingers to operate.

The “on” position was very easy to reach, but “off” requires a bit of shifting of your grip. It has a cloth dust collection bag with a plastic inner liner, but it’s attached with a simple press fit that may be a problem after extended use. All in all it’s a nice, fairly aggressive sander with an attractive price. The Craftsman weighs 3 pounds 8 ounces.

Milwaukee Model 6021-21 ($61, including sander, dust bag, and hard-shell carrying case): The Milwaukee had a nice, slender top and a non-slip rubber coating that was very comfortable. It’s controlled by a single, sealed on-off rocker switch at the front of the grip, which was easy to reach and operate with one finger. It has a 3-amp motor with a nice soft-start feature that keeps the speed controlled during start up.

The spring-loaded cloth dust bag holds its shape, and a twist-lock feature keeps it securely in place; however, it extends off the sander at an odd angle, which sometimes gets in the way. The sander also has a built-in adapter that fits both 1 1/4- and 2 1/4-inch vacuum hoses. A smooth, powerful sander with a nice feel, it weighs in at 3 pounds 11 ounces.

DeWalt Model D26453K ($79, including sander, dust bag, and hard-shell carrying case): This was the heaviest of the bunch, at a hair over 4 pounds. It has a nice, slender feel to it that fits nicely in your hand, along with a rubber top pad that cushions your palm. The sealed on-off rocker switch is right at the front, and easy to operate with one finger. As with the Milwaukee, it has a 3-amp, soft-start motor.

The dust collection bag is spring-loaded with two positive twist locks for good security, and it extends directly off the rear of the sander. There’s also built-in adapters for two standard vacuum cleaner hoses. It’s another smooth, aggressive sander that’s very easy to use.

DeWalt Model D26456 ($99, including the sander and dust bag): While the other three sanders are similar in height and general design, the 26456 is a low-profile sander. It’s about 2 inches lower than the other sanders, and weighs just 3 pounds 6 ounces. The trade-off for the lower height is that the motor is wider, resulting in a wider grip.

It’s still comfortable, but possibly not for everyone. A very nice feature of the 26456 is a new motor design that utilizes less wear on components for longer life, plus electronic load control and motor brake. The control switch, dust collection bag, and vacuum adaptor system are the same as on its taller brother.

Remodeling and repair questions? E-mail Paul at paulbianchina@inman.com. All product reviews are based on the author’s actual testing of free review samples provided by the manufacturers.