The Tide Is Turning: It Seems the Market Has Weathered the Worst of the Correction

Increases in both new and existing home sales in November and a decline in unsold inventories suggest that the 18-month market correction following the four-year housing boom has just about run its course “without the blood running in the streets that some bubble-bust bears had forecast.” Median prices of resale houses have fallen 3.6% nationally year-to-year, and there are anecdotal reports of 10% to 20% reductions in the asking prices in formerly hyperinflated markets. But moderate price cuts have helped eventually stimulate buyers who had been sitting on the sidelines wondering when the market might bottom out. This doesn’t mean that sellers should assume that with the trend turning positive they can suddenly price their house for what they might have commanded in early 2005. In most places, buyers still have the upper hand, with plenty of inventory to choose from, and a house will sit unsold for months if the pricing is unrealistic. On the other hand, with the spring buying season approaching, serious buyers should be prepared to pay a price that may not be as low as they had hoped, but just might be their last shot at a particular house before it sells for closer to the asking price a few weeks from now. Shoppers should also understand that current mortgage rates remain close to 40-year lows and they won’t be around indefinitely. (www.washingtonpost.com)
Washington Post (1/6/06); Kenneth R. Harney

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The Hot and the Not: Yesterday’s ‘Wow’ Feature May be Today’s Dealbreaker

According to a survey of 923 real estate agents from around the country by Chicago-based real estate broker Mark Nash, author of “1,001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home,” some old house features, such as spiral staircases, are definitely out. But other “old” features, such as old-fashioned plank floors, weathered and recycled woods, and wood paneling over kitchen appliances have more appeal among home buyers than ever. Storage space — linen closets, dressing areas, pantries, luggage rooms — creates buzz on the spot, and even enhances property values. On the other hand, some things that were hot just a few years ago are already staring to feel dated. Stainless steel appliances can be unpopular because some models are hard to keep smudge-free. Glass-front cabinets are a problem for home owners who are unable to keep their shelves neat. Sleek, bowl-shaped vessel-style sinks, while still a popular feature with some buyers, are falling from fashion because they are also hard to keep clean and make it easy to splash water on the floor. Glass tiles in kitchens and baths are definitely a yes, and two home-offices for dual-income households have become a major selling point. Bamboo flooring, with its variegated honey tones and unique grain patterns, is becoming less popular in houses with children because it isn’t as durable as some other kinds of floors, and can even fade from the sun. (www.washingtonpost.com)
Washington Post (1/6/07); Kirstin Downey

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KB Drops Plan to Build Homes on West Bank

KB Home, which last year rolled out plans to develop thousands of homes on a 3,000-acre tract near Waggaman in New Orleans, has let its contract to purchase the land expire. The project originally called for as many as 20,000 residential units, but in recent months officials said the development would be closer to 10,000 units. The land transaction didn’t take place, according to Caroline Shaw, vice president of communications for KB, because “we weren’t done with out due diligence, and we couldn’t come to an agreement with the owner.” Although the company has no plans to resume the negotiations, she said that it has taken an interest in developing in other parts of the area. Since unveiling the Waggaman project, KB has acquired acreage in Madisonville, Baton Rouge and Geismar and has announced plans to develop housing communities in each area. In a partnership with Shaw, KB is also building the latest phase of River Garden, a residential community in the Lower Garden District. (www.timespicayune.com)
New Orleans Times Picayune (12/28/06); Greg Thomas

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Katrina Victims Find a Solution: Modular House

Before Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in August 2005, modular houses that can be erected in just a matter of days were almost unknown in Mississippi, whose houses tended to be “stick built” on site or mobile homes. But since the storm, modular houses, which range from simple shotgun-style cottages to fancy mini-mansions, are starting to appear across the Gulf Coast, as public officials and private citizens search for ways to speed the slow pace of recovery and begin experimenting with new forms of shelter. In addition to the speed with which they can be completed, the homes are relatively easy to perch up on stilts to comply with flood zone rules. They require less local labor in a region where there is more than enough construction work to go around. Some are less expensive than conventional houses — ranging from $50,000 to $500,000 — and according to manufacturers, some can withstand 160-mile-an-hour winds. Perhaps only 400 of the modular houses have been installed in Mississippi over the last year, said Fred Hallahan, a consultant in Baltimore who tracks the modular business. But he and other experts expect the trickle of modular housing to grow rapidly this year, and perhaps lead to a dramatic change in how houses are built in the region. Katrina destroyed 70,000 houses and apartments in Mississippi, according to state estimates. Although the state is widely considered to be far ahead of Louisiana in terms of recovery, only 2,480 building permits had been issued by the end of November for new home construction in the hardest-hit coastal counties. The going has been slow, officials say, for a number of reasons: insurance issues, wetlands regulations, permit backlogs, infrastructure problems and not enough money for rebuilding. (www.nytimes.com)
New York Times (1/6/07); Leslie Eaton

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San Franciscans Hurl Their Rage at Parking Patrol

Burdened with one of the densest downtowns in the country and a California love for cars, San Franciscans have been shocked in recent months by crimes related to finding parking places, including an attack in September in which a man was killed trying to defend a spot he had found. More recently, four parking control officers were attacked in late November, with two of them being sent to the hospital. Last year, there were 28 attacks on employees handing out tickets, up from 17 in 2005. Donald Shoup, a professor of urban planning at the University of California, Los Angeles, said that the chronic lack of parking in the city has come as the result of a decision to encourage a bustling downtown free of parking lots, a phenomenon echoed in other popular cities like Boston, Chicago and New York. The city, he said, has also come up with some questionable parking policies: cheap on-street parking and expensive garages and lots, a dynamic that encourages drivers to look endlessly for meters rather than pay for the privilege of parking off the street. “A lot of the traffic in downtown San Francisco is people looking for curb parking,” he said. “And they’re apparently so fed up that they’re willing to assault parking officers to protest the idea of a shortage of spaces.” San Francisco issues 1.9 million parking citations annually, bringing in more than $40 million from violators, according to the Municipal Transportation Agency. The city has a pilot program to scan license plates for 8,000 repeat offenders who owe an estimated $6.1 million. In addition, the city manages 41 lots and garages, and it owns most of them. Nationally, parking is a $20 billion industry, experts say, with the revenues divided almost evenly between public and private entities. (www.nytimes.com)
New York Times (1/5/07); Jesse McKinley

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In Florida, Upwardly Mobile Homes

The owners of nearly 500 mobile homes in 43-acre Briny Breezes, one of the last waterfront trailer-park towns in South Florida, stand to become instant millionaires if they agree to sell to a developer, but some are holding out for more important things than money. “You just can’t buy a way of life,” said Tom Byrne, a 68-year-old retired sales executive from New York who doesn’t want to sell even though he would make a little over $1 million on the trailer and site he bought two years ago for $150,000. “This is my home,” he said. With 600 feet on the ocean and another 1,100 feet along the Intracoastal Waterway, Boca Raton-based Ocean Land Investments envisions building 900 low-rise multimillion-dollar condo units, a high-end marina and a 300-room luxury hotel on the property, if the deal goes through. Briny Breezes board approved the sale for $510 million. The owners of the 488 trailers had until Jan. 10 to ratify or reject the deal. A two-thirds majority was needed to sell and owners would not get any money or have to move out until 2009. John and Gay Sideris, retired teachers from New York, bought their home in 2001 for just $155,000 and stand to make close to $1.5 million. Asked how he would vote, John Sideris crossed his legs and breathed a heavy sigh. “The money is great, but you can’t get another place like this to live,” he said. “It’s like Club Med.”  (www.washingtonpost.com)
Washington Post (1/7/06); Brian Skoloff, Associated Press

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