China’s upside-down house was built as a tourist attraction using everyday household items and furniture. See gallery
An amazing upside-down house has opened to tourists in Fengjing, an ancient Chinese town located near Shanghai.
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http://news.msn.com/offbeat/chinas-upside-down-house-1
Home prices
in metro Detroit jumped 24% in April from a year earlier as house hunters chased a smaller number of properties on the market, according to a Realcomp report released Monday.
Figures from Farmington Hills-based Realcomp show the median home sale price for the region was $121,900, compared with $98,250 in April 2013.
At the same time, there were 14% fewer sales than in April 2013 and housing inventory dipped 6%.
Housing experts say the slim inventory of for-sale homes is continuing to lift prices. Desirable properties are selling fast and often receiving multiple bids. The average days on the market for a metro Detroit home was down to 48 days from 70 a year ago.
read more…
http://www.freep.com/article/20140512/BUSINESS04/305120145/Metro-Detroit-housing-prices-up-April-2014-Realcomp
Well, for China, there’s a lot to worry about. China’s middle-class consumers have huge chunks of their personal wealth wrapped up in the housing market. So, a disastrous bust would severely impact consumer confidence and undermine China’s effort to rebalance its economy toward domestic demand.
A housing bust would also have deleterious effects on the Chinese financial system, raising the risk of either a Lehman-like crisis or a Japan-style zombification of the economy (perhaps both). Either would be a big blow to Chinese growth, which already seems to be slowing fast. The OECD just cut its growth forecast for China, citing concerns about the financial system, and president Xi Jinping told his compatriots a couple of days ago to get ready for a “new normal” of slower growth. And as these charts suggest, those concerns are quite well placed.
read more…
http://qz.com/208532/chinas-housing-bubble-is-collapsing-and-heres-what-it-looks-like/#208532/chinas-housing-bubble-is-collapsing-and-heres-what-it-looks-like/
Tony Sarg, a German American puppet master from the 1920s and ’30s, is known primarily for two things: popularizing old-world marionette techniques in the United States (he has been called “the father of modern puppetry in North America”) and inventing the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade floats. But in addition to all that, Sarg was a well-known illustrator, and one of his works, a whimsical map of Greenwich Village from 1934, appears in a new book from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. Of course, out of the places on this map there isn’t much left to preserve, but it’s still plenty fun to look at. And you could compare it to another historic map of the Village from 1961, to see just how quickly things changed back then. You could also compare it to a less-fun-but-probably-more-accurate 1926 map from printer Lew Ney (pointed out by an Ephemeral New York commenter).
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http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/05/12/look_at_the_lost_landmarks_of_this_1934_map_of_the_village.php
[All photos by Bob Estremera.]
The Woolworth Building‘s opulent lobby is 101 years old, and while it’s not a nice, pretty centennial, it’s still pretty darn old, immaculately preserved, and positively beautiful. While it used to be open to the public, it’s not anymore due to security concerns, so it’s only ogle-able to the folks who work in the building—we’re looking at you, SHoP Architects. Meanwhile, there are occasional tours of the neo-Gothic, gilded-to-the-nines space. Architectural photographer extraordinaire Bob Estremera went on one last week hosted by Landmark Branding, and though he’d try something different from his last glimpse inside, taking a slew of shots in both color and sepia-infused black-and-white. Compare and contrast two views of the same scene, and marvel at how the architectural details pop in the bi-chrome version and how dazzling the full-on color ones are. It’s positively grotesque! No, really, there are tons of those carved faces and figures, all of which are unique—the workers had a lot of fun, apparently. And, FYI, whoever ends up living in the 34 condos amazing condos being constructed on the landmark’s upper floors will have a separate lobby, which just goes to show that even money can’t buy this kind of beauty… but working for a cool company can
The words “small town” conjure an array of mental images — quaint streets, neighbors helping neighbors and backyard barbecues.
Smithsonian Magazine recently released its look at the “20 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2014,” which inspired us to see if those towns were worth more than just a visit. The magazine limited the list to towns of less than 15,000 residents, so if you are looking to avoid the madding crowds and embrace small-town living, these cities may fit your bill.
We picked a home from each of the top 10 visit-worthy towns. You’ll find an interesting mix of high and low price points, charming homes and a converted church to boot.
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http://realestate.msn.com/big-bargains-for-sale-in-the-10-best-small-towns
It’s getting more crowded at the top.
Owning a piece of a skyscraper’s top floor — where your closest neighbors have feathers — is the pinnacle of real estate. Penthouses make up less than 1 percent of real estate listings, but their average price a square foot is 84 percent higher than that of similar, nonpenthouse units, according to an analysis by real estate website Zillow.
The word itself will cost you. Simply having the designation of “penthouse” in the listing can result in a sale premium of 5 percent to 10 percent, says Jonathan Miller, a New York City-based appraiser and president of Miller Samuel Inc.
Now, the word “penthouse” is being applied to all sorts of condos — even those on lower floors — and it’s not uncommon to see multiple penthouses stacked on top of one another. Echo Aventura, a new development in Miami by Property Markets Group and JDS Development, will sport 18 penthouse units when it is completed in 2015, and Trump Place at 120 Riverside Blvd. in Manhattan has 44 penthouses.
Here’s a look inside homes around the globe that feel like they’re on top of the world.
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http://realestate.msn.com/panoramic-penthouse-views-from-around-the-globe
Part of a city built for an affluent citizenry seeking to live out their dreams, Coral Gables’ theme villages certainly weren’t shy about presenting a fantasy. In the case of the Pioneer/Colonial Village designed by the architectural firm of John Pierson, and John and Coulton Skinner, there’s an idealized, if quitter vague, notion of an old world United States.
read more…
http://miami.curbed.com/archives/2014/05/09/coral-gables-pioneer-village-is-a-row-of-stately-plantations.php
