Sprawl and the Great Recession…
Data hints that outer-ring suburban development’s days have passed, says ULI fellow.
By John McIlwain, Urban Land magazine
Suburban sprawl, that seemingly inexorable, inevitable spreading of the population to the outer edges of metropolitan areas, may well be over in the United States. If so, this would be one of the few positive results of the recent Great Recession and the housing crash.
An analysis by USA Today of recent Census data suggests that current population growth is occurring in the more central, closer-in counties of metropolitan regions while many outer edge counties have been losing population since 2006. This is a startling turnaround and the first time this has occurred since the end of World War II more than six decades ago . . .
Continue reading the entire Urban Land magazine commentary: http://bit.ly/HDe5ba
By Andrea V. Brambila
The state of the U.S. real estate market is in the eye of the beholder. While many Americans have shied away from home purchases due to the economic downturn, a growing number of cash-rich foreign investors are seizing the opportunity to snap up U.S. homes at bargain prices.
Not all U.S. markets are universally appealing to out-of-country investors, however. International homebuying activity is largely concentrated in a few areas of the country. Using public record data compiled by San Diego-based real estate data analysis firm DataQuick, Inman News has identified the 10 most popular areas in the U.S. for foreign homebuyers.
See also New Homes by Barry Swenson
A survey conducted by research firm DataQuick shows that the number of homes sold in California during the month of March has hit a five-year high as prices hold steady.
DataQuick reported that more than 37,000 new and existing homes and condominiums sold in the state last month.
That’s almost a 3 percent rise over the same time last year and the highest number since nearly 40,000 homes sold in March 2007.
Home prices across much of the San Francisco Bay area showed signs of leveling off as March sales hit their highest point in five years, a real estate research firm reported Thursday.
Nearly 7,700 new and existing homes and condominiums sold in a nine-county region in March, up more than 9 percent from the same period in 2011, according to a survey by DataQuick. It’s the highest tally for the month since more than 8,300 homes were sold in March 2007.
via SFGate.
Check out New Homes at One Rincon Hill by Urban West Associates in San Francisco, CA
By Steve Cook, Real Estate Economy Watch
Housing starts will nearly double and home prices will begin to rise in 2013, with prices increasing significantly in 2014.
Those rosy predictions come from a new semi-annual survey of 38 of the nation’s leading real estate economists and analysts by the Urban Land Institute’s Center for Capital Markets and Real Estate. The economists foresee broad improvements for the nation’s economy, real estate capital markets, real estate fundamentals and the housing industry through 2014, including . . .
Continue reading the entire Real Estate Economy Watch story: http://bit.ly/H1bPPv
Check out affordable New Home Communities in Oakland, CA
By DAWN WOTAPKA and NICK TIMIRAOS
Climbing rents for apartments are combining with a continued decline in home prices to push once-reluctant home buyers into finally taking the plunge, say economists and real-estate agents, helping what appears to be a good start to the housing industry’s all-important spring selling season.
Although increased buying activity from investors and second-home purchasers are also factors behind the recent pickup in home sales, real-estate agents say they are fielding more calls from anxious tenants complaining about rising rents.
“The rental market has been incredibly hot,” said Ronald Peltier, chief executive of HomeServices of America Inc., which owns real-estate brokerages in 21 states. He says rising rents, coupled with slumping home prices and interest rates near record lows, are boosting demand for homes at entry-level prices.
Check out Chantrea - New Home Communities in San Jose, California
By Bill and Kevin Burnett
Q: I read your column where a reader wanted to fix the squeaks in her carpeted floor. Lucky for her, she was replacing the carpet, so you suggested that she screw the subfloor to the joists in between taking out the old carpet and installing the new. We’re not so lucky.
Our floor squeaks, but the carpet is only 4 years old, and we’re not about to take it up and replace it. Is there another way, or do we just have to live with those irritating squeaks?
A: There are a couple of alternatives. The obvious one is to pull up the carpet and pad, screw the subfloor to the floor joists and replace the carpet. You can do the removal and the screwing, but we recommend you hire a carpet layer to reinstall the goods.
But there’s a better way, using some inexpensive specialty screws and a little detective work to find the joists. A company appropriately named Squeak No More has developed a way to screw the subfloor to the joists through the carpet.
Check out New Home Designs by Tri Pointe Homes
By Les Christie
Renting used to be cheaper than buying. But in many U.S. cities that’s no longer the case, as rents continue to climb and home prices stagnate.
While asking prices for homes declined 0.7% over the past 12 months through March, rents rose 5%, according to a report released Thursday by real estate listing site Trulia.
The median rent for all types of rental homes hit $1,350 a month in March, up from a median of $1,285 a month 12 months ago, Trulia reported.
“Buying a home is more affordable than renting now in almost every part of the United States,” said Jed Kolko, chief economist for Trulia.
San Francisco Bay Area luxury real estate company Alain Pinel Realtors has redesigned its website, adding property search by keyword and by lifestyle attribute, and adds the ability to search for for-sale homes within school districts and by the number of days on the market.
The new site also features a more integrated global search capability, three new blogs, and a toolbox with a rent-vs.-buy calculator for property listings.
The new site features a lifestyle search that allows visitors to search for a home by some of the lifestyle attributes they want a home and its neighborhood to provide. It’s one of the highlights of the redesign, said Rainy Hake, executive vice president for Alain Pinel Realtor.
Check out Bay Area New Home Communities
Affordable housing does not have to look like plain boxes. Though tight budgets may restrict options for materials, architects have found ways to add variety, mixing exterior textures and colors, breaking up massing, and integrating art into the architecture. Careful siting leaves room for generous outdoor open spaces—whether landscaped courtyards or public plazas—that provide places for residents to get to know each other or enjoy a respite from life in the city.
All completed in the past five years, the following ten projects (listed alphabetically) exemplify levels of design more typically found in market-rate housing. A number incorporate sustainable design strategies that reduce energy and water use—crucial whether the tenant or the owner/operator pays the utility bills
1. Armstrong Place Senior and Family Housing San Francisco, California
2. Centre Village Winnipeg, Manitoba
3. Compass Veterans Center Renton, Washington
Check out affordable new home communities in Danville, CA
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