America’s Fastest-Growing Towns
In the last decade, there have been hundreds of communities in every state that have seen significant growth in new homes.
Many of them are outside the urban core and often far from established centers of employment. In a new report, BusinessWeek poses the question: Will the current economic slowdown put an end to these communities?
“The boomtowns of this decade are not booming so much in the last couple years,” said William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., tells the magazine. “It’s possible those places will come back again. A lot depends on where the economy grows and where the new knowledge centers are.”
BusinessWeek worked with Gadberry Group, a business location company, to identify communities in every state that have experienced the largest growth. The results were published in a report called “America’s Biggest Boomtowns.”
The top 10 fastest-growing communities:
- Summerlin South, Nev., 618 percent
- Katy, Texas, 168 percent
- Wentzville, Mo., 160 percent
- Spring Hill, Tenn., 157 percent
- South Carolina, 156 percent
- Brighton, Colo., 153 percent
- Wesley Chapel, Fla., 151 percent
- Lehi, Utah, 110 percent
- Canton, Ga., 99 percent
- Oswego, Ill., 98 percent
Source: Business Week, Prashant Gopal (02/06/2009)
Builders Offer Ideas for Up-to-Date Kitchens
At the International Builders’ Show last week in Las Vegas, the emphasis was on kitchens.
Builders and designers say that strapped consumers are eating out less and cooking more, which is increasing demand for functional kitchens.
Kitchen trends include:
- Making room for multiple refrigerators, including under-counter models, island refrigerators and column types.
- Considering cost-effective updates, including using limited amounts of expensive tile as a backsplash or accent, eye-catching hardware, and mixed countertops.
- Going green, not only in terms of recycled materials in countertops and floors, but also as a color for walls and other surfaces.
- Houses are shrinking and appliances are getting smaller so they don’t overwhelm the space.
Source: Los Angeles Times, Lauren Beale (01/22/2009)
Disclosing Existing Offers May Help Sellers
When sellers are entertaining more than one offer, it might be in their best interest to have these offers disclosed to prospective buyers.
In some cases, disclosing existing bids prompts other buyers to up their bids or even ignites bidding wars. These days such competition is more likely to occur in the sale of distressed properties.
But if the listing agent solicited the existing offer, he or she may be reluctant to disclose competing bids which could result in a better offer (lessening their own commission.) Or they may simply want to avoid the extra work associated with additional offers.
However, under the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of REALTORS® Code of Ethics, practitioners should discuss disclosure of existing offers with sellers from the start and ask for permission to make such disclosures. If the seller agrees to have existing offers disclosed, they should be disclosed only if buyers request such information.
Source: Realty Times, Bob Hunt(01/27/2009)
Fed Official: Housing is Key to End Recession
While the current recession will be longer and more severe than predicted, housing will help lead the country out of the downturn, Boston Federal Reserve Bank President Eric Rosengren told the Massachusetts Mortgage Bankers Association at its annual meeting.
Rosengren said the housing market could stabilize this year, which he sees as a prerequisite for recovery.
“The recent reductions in mortgage rates, in part due to monetary policy actions, have enabled more borrowers than would otherwise have done so to purchase or refinance homes,” Rosengren said.
“Expansion of this effort and encouraging greater [Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac] participation, should encourage borrowers who have equity and reasonable credit scores to purchase or refinance homes,” he added.
Once the market stabilizes, mortgage securitization should be restructured to prevent future upheavals, Rosengren said.
Source: Reuters News, Kristina Cooke (01/08/09)
Shop Carefully for Home Warranties
Home warranties can reassure nervous buyers and help a real estate practitioner seal the deal, but if ultimately the buyer feels cheated by the insurer, the policy could be more trouble than it is worth.
The key to consumer satisfaction is picking a reputable insurer and reading the fine print.
“Any industry that deals with the public is going to have complaints,” says Art Chartrand, a lawyer for the trade organization, National Home Service Contract Association. “It’s important for people to understand these are limited benefit contracts.”
Home owners who are about to purchase a home warranty contract should consider these issues, says Georgia Insurance commissioner John Oxendine.
- Get an opinion from the state insurance commission. While most state insurance commissions don’t police these kinds of policies, they are usually aware of companies that have a poor reputation.
- Read the contract carefully before signing. If the company won’t give the customer a contract in advance, don’t buy.
- Pre-existing conditions. If the system or appliance wasn’t working when the policy was purchased, the insurer won’t cover it.
- Is there proof that required maintenance was done? Most insurers have clauses in their contracts that require specific routine maintenance for the systems or appliances to be covered.
- Who will do the work? Find out how many approved contractors there are and where they are located.
- Ask about service fees. Fees to determine the extent of the problem and whether it is covered can be high and buyers should know that in advance.
Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Alison Young (01/11/09)
9 Architecture Projects That Stand Out
The American Institute of Architects has selected nine projects for the 2009 AIA Institute Honor Awards for Architecture.
The types of projects range from cathedrals to trend-setting residential projects, but all of them have a tremendous impact on the social and physical fabric of the communities they serve, AIA says.
Here’s a list of the 2009 winners:
Project: Basilica of the Assumption, Baltimore
Architecture Firm: John G. Waite Associates, Architects PLLC
Details: Restoration of the Basilica of the Assumption (also known as the Baltimore Cathedral), a major architectural landmark and masterpiece of the Federal style, removes a century and a half of obscuring alterations to bring back Benjamin Henry Latrobe’s concept of luminosity and spatial configuration. The now fully functioning cathedral again serves the people of Baltimore while reclaiming one of America’s most brilliant architectural designs, by its first professional architect; one that greatly influenced the development of the country’s architecture.
Project: Cathedral of Christ the Light, Oakland, Calif.
Architecture Firm: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
Details: The Cathedral of Christ the Light resonates as a place of worship and conveys an inclusive statement of welcome and openness as the community’s symbolic soul. The glass, wood, and concrete structure ennobles and inspires through the use of light, material, and form.
Project: Charles Hostler Student Center, Beirut, Lebanon
Architecture Firm: VJAA
Details: The Hostler Center integrates social gathering spaces for students and faculty with sports facilities, a theater, and underground parking. Challenging the idea of a single large-scale building and similarly scaled open plaza, the project instead proposes multiple building volumes interconnected into a continuous field of habitable space by its gardens and green roofs.
Project: The Gary Comer Youth Center, Chicago
Architecture Firm: John Ronan Architects
Details: This 74,000-square-foot youth center, located in one of Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods, demonstrates a commitment to social progress in providing a constructive environment for area youths to spend their after-school hours. The center provides support for the programs of a 300-member drill team/performance group for children of ages 8 to 18 and provides space for various youth educational and recreational programs for disadvantaged children to better their chances of success in life.
Project: Horno³: Museo del Acero, Monterey, Mexico
Architecture Firm: Grimshaw Architects
Details: Horno3: Museo Del Acero comprises a full restoration of a once-derelict 1960s blast furnace. The abandoned furnace structure and cast hall are the centerpiece of the museum, housing an interactive exhibit that brings the old furnace to life, allowing visitors the unique experience of touring inside this piece of industrial history.
Project: The Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life, New Orleans
Architecture Firm: VJAA
Details: The challenge was to transform a rigidly compartmentalized and environmentally inefficient building into a dynamic, sustainable new university center. Only the existing concrete structure was retained, saving roughly $8 million in construction cost. The project was successfully completed for $189/SF, 14 months after Hurricane Katrina. Many of the sustainable design strategies used (canopies, shutters, balconies, and fans) were adapted from climate-responsive architecture traditional to New Orleans.
Project: The New York Times Building, New York City
Architecture Firm: Renzo Piano Building Workshop and FXFowle Architects
Details: The New York Times Building incorporates many transcendental themes in good architecture—volume, views, light, respect for context, relationship to the street—with a design that is open and inviting, providing its occupants with a sense of the city around them.
Project: Plaza Apartments, San Francisco
Architecture Firm: Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects
Details: Located on a prominent corner in an improving San Francisco redevelopment area, this new, mixed-use project provides permanent housing for the chronically homeless as a pilot project of Mayor Gavin Newsom and the Dept. of Public Health’s “Housing First” program, which is a cornerstone of the city’s 10-year plan to end homelessness. The sustainably designed 9-story building provides 106 highly efficient studio apartments with on-site mental and physical health services for the residents.
Project: Salt Point House, Salt Point, New York
Architecture Firm: Thomas Phifer and Partners
Details: Constructed of elegantly efficient and economical materials, this 2,200-square-foot house in New York’s Hudson Valley is sited on a meadow with views to a small private lake. The house is carefully sited to take advantage of the prevailing summer breezes. Strategically placed operable windows and ventilating skylights allow the breeze to flow through the home.
Source: American Institute of Architects
4 Things to Consider When Picking a Floor Plan
Factors that dictate what floor plan will work best for a home buyer include how old their children are, how they entertain, and whether they have pets, says Jeff Benach, a principal with Lexington Homes in the Chicago area.
Here are some issues Benach suggests considering when buying a home:
- Mudrooms. A spacious mud-room can make managing a young family’s comings and going much easier. They are also good for pet owners.
- Over-sized kitchen/family-room combinations. These rooms work for some people, but they aren’t good for party givers because large spaces are noisy and don’t lend themselves to intense cooking and food staging.
- Fireplaces and windows. Filling more than one wall with windows and occupying another with a fireplace makes it difficult to position furniture.
- Consider that things change. Designing areas so they can be retooled to meet new and different needs down the road is a smart approach.
Source: Chicago Tribune, Allison E. Beatty (01/02/09)
Buyers Lured to Bargain Luxury Properties
Prices for luxury second-home markets are falling out of the stratosphere–and attracting buyers who were previously priced out of the market.
Prices in the Caribbean have dropped by $500,000 and European retreats in Spain, Malta, and Portugal are down 30 percent, says Lucy Russell, managing director of Quintessentially Estates.
“The second-home market has suffered considerably,” says Marc Cohen, director of Ledbury Research, the London-based luxury consultancy.
He says active buyers have changed from the typical 65-year-old retiree who has sold his business or retired from a high-salaried job to a younger person who sees opportunity in declining markets.
“Those who need to sell will do so for substantially less than they would have six months ago,” says Charles Weston-Baker, managing director of Savills, U-K real estate services provider.
Source: Newsweek International, Ginanne Brownell (01/12/09)
Top 10 U.S. Rental Markets
It will likely be a challenging year for all kinds of commercial real estate, according to the real estate services company and investment firm Grubb & Ellis Co., which released its 2009 forecast Monday.
Office space. The report found that 90 million square feet of office space was under construction at the end of 2008, most of which will be available for use in 2009. This new space combined with a projected 45 million square feet coming available as tenants vacate and a big jump in subleased space, will push vacancy rates up by 2 percentage points to end 2009 at 16.5 percent, the report predicted.
Retail. The retail real estate market will be hard hit by the downturn. Grocery store-anchored centers in mature trade areas will hold their ground in 2009, the report said, while centers on the urban fringe, where housing construction has stalled will suffer.
Industrial. The quest for cost-saving efficiencies should sustain demand for industrial space in 2009, despite the weak economy, according to the report. Nevertheless, the vacancy rate will rise slightly to end 2009 at 9.4 percent.
Apartments. Apartments will have a tough year, even with the addition of renters who have lost their homes to foreclosure, because of the increasing supply of unsold condos and homes now available for rental.
The top-10 rental housing markets from 2009-2013 will be:
- Los Angeles
- San Francisco
- Orange County, Calif.
- Oakland/East Bay, Calif.
- Washington, D.C.
- San Diego
- New York City
- San Jose, Calif.
- Long Island, N.Y.
- Portland, Ore.
Source: Grubb & Ellis (01/05/09)
Rising Property Taxes Really Hit a Nerve
Politicians all over the country are preparing legislation in response to angry homeowners who are demanding property tax rollbacks even as municipalities move to raise those same taxes.
State government in New York, Georgia, Oklahoma and Wyoming are about to consider proposals in their 2009 sessions to put the brakes on property tax increases.
Indiana already enacted a cap on property taxes and is considering a state constitutional amendment that would permanently cap property taxes at 1 percent of the property value.
Florida last year amended the state’s constitution to add property tax-related amendments. Citizens groups in Nevada and Arizona are working to get the same sort of measures on the ballot.
In New York, Gov. David Paterson is supporting a 4 percent statewide cap on property-tax increases.
“People are just astounded that this year, of all years,” the assessed value “of their property has increased,” said Georgia Rep. Larry O’Neal, a Republican and chair of the state’s House Ways and Means Committee.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, Jennifer Levitz (01/05/2009)
Contact Us Today!
Please allow us the opportunity to be of assistance. You may feel free to contact us directly via this website or by the preferred method below. Thank you for visiting.
Highers Group Realty
9500 Frisco Street, PMB #4
Frisco TX 75034-2003
Phone: (214) 223-3535
Email: gehrig@highersgrouprealty.com