Real Estate News

Trust Not Enough for Integrity Bank
By Kris Hudson and Lingling Wei
The Wall Street Journal
March 4, 2010

The 125-year-old Casa Madrona Hotel & Spa housed military families during World War II, was a crash pad for beatniks in the 1950s and nearly collapsed from mudslides in the 1970s.

The quaint, 63-room hotel overlooking a bay north of San Francisco now is at the center of a messy postmortem involving a small Georgia bank that was seized by banking regulators in August 2008 after lending all its capital to the hotel's owner. The failure cost the U.S. deposit-insurance fund $295 million, and the hotel filed for bankruptcy protection before being sold by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. at a foreclosure auction last month.

Builders Get Back in Game
Construction of Multifamily Units Expected to Soar in 2010
By Dawn Wotapka
The Wall Street Journal
March 3, 2010

In St. Petersburg, Fla., close by Tropicana Field, an unusual structure is emerging from a construction site: a rental apartment building.

Nab a real estate deal - while you still can
By Beth Braverman
CNN Money
March 2, 2010

If you've been holding off on a real estate purchase, glimmers of a turnaround in the housing market may have you wondering if it's finally time to make your move.

While home prices remain low, they're no longer free-falling in most markets. Mortgages are historically cheap. And the sweet tax credit that was offered to new buyers last year has been extended to April 30 and expanded to include current homeowners too.

But for all the motivation to act quickly, buying right now is not a no-brainer. In some areas home prices may fall further. If you own a house now, it may take longer than you expect to sell it, and you may walk away with less cash than you thought.

Realtors looking for special bond with consumers
By Mary Ellen Podmolik
Chicago Tribune
February 26, 2010

The National Associaton of Realtors is adding its entry to the ever-growing number of Web sites out there offering guidance to homeowners and anyone thinking of buying a home.

Here's what Houselogic.com, its new Web site, doesn't have: advertising. Here's what it does have: plenty of information to guide you through the journey of homeownership and if you register, a potential request to support the Realtors' position on housing-related issues.

As Loans Dry Up, Builders Work for Banks
Lenders Seize Half-Built Subdivisions, Then Offer Contract Jobs to Finish Them
By Jim Carlton
The Wall Street Journal
March 1, 2010

Home builders in some of the nation's hardest-hit housing markets are going to work directly for banks, in a little-used arrangement that is helping to ameliorate conditions in some battered local economies.

The builders traditionally got loans from banks to build homes, but that credit has largely dried up. The contract work builders are getting is welcome as many of them struggle to stay afloat.

Hong Kong Land Sale Raises Worry of a Bubble
By Jonathan Cheng and Aries Poon
The Wall Street Journal
February 23, 2010

Strong results in a Hong Kong government land auction are the latest sign that the city's real-estate market is surging higher after a brief lull, as government officials here and elsewhere in the region grapple with how to cool off overheating property prices.

Cashing in on the great condo bust
Great bargains abound, but you have to shop carefully.
CNN Money
By Sarah Max
February 25, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO
Price: $499,000
Rooms: 2 bed, 2 bath
Sq. ft.: 1,200
Taxes: $5,750
Dues/Mo.: $200

Buyers will face slightly higher interest rates on this condo because the building has a tenant-in-common status. But it's located in a desirable area near Golden Gate Park, and similar properties sold for $625,000 during the boom, says local realtor Anthony Koutsos.

SARASOTA
Price: $225,000
Rooms: 1 bed, 1 bath
Sq. ft.: 670
Taxes: $3,000
Dues/Mo.: $560

Duck! Watch out for falling home prices
By Les Christie
CNN Money
February 25, 2010

Despite signs that the real estate market might be lurching forward, prices are expected to fall further this year and next.

The average home price in the United States will fall by about 6% by September 2011, according to a joint report between Fiserv and Moody's Economy.com. And that's after plunging more than 27% in the past three years.

Most of the projected home price decline will occur during the usually slow summer months of 2010. After that, prices should begin to stabilize, according to Fiserv, and stay almost flat through fall of 2011.

U.S. New-Home Sales Drop 11.2%
By Sara Murray
The Wall Street Journal
February 24, 2010

Sales of new single-family homes plunged last month, underscoring the fragility in the housing market.

Sales dropped 11.2% in January from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 309,000, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. The decline brought sales to their lowest level since the government began tracking the numbers in 1963. Sales were 6.1% lower than in January 2009.

10 Cities for Real Estate Steals
US News and World Report
By Luke Mullins
February 18, 2010

The real estate crisis has gutted house prices, tipped millions into foreclosure, and rattled the global economy to its core. But for many would-be home buyers, the historic boom and bust have been a blessing in disguise. During the first half of the previous decade, easy credit and speculative excitement worked to make houses increasingly expensive. By the fourth quarter of 2005, median home prices had reached 2.77 times median household incomes.