Show Menu

Portland home prices up 13.2%

 (See recent posts on Phoenix Case-Shiller Home Price Index.) The S&P/Case-Shiller index showed Portland residential home prices up 13.2% and Seattle up 14.1%. “One of the prime reasons is still California,” he said. “The difference between what their dollar buys down there and what their dollar buys up here is huge.” That attracts not only buyers, such as retirees, looking to “cash out” of pricey homes in California, but also comparison shoppers in the rest of the country looking all along the West Coast. Hmmm. That sounds familiar.

Read more

San Diego 2006 real estate market summary

 This is an excellent summary of the San Diego real estate market in 2006. For the first time in a decade, the median price of a home dipped negative compared to the previous year. Year-over-year price declines continued monthly from June, eventually reaching a low point of $482,000 in November. That was a $36,000 drop from the previous November, according to DataQuick Information Systems.  

Read more

U.S. Single-Family Home Prices Slow to 10-Year Low

 (See recent posts on Phoenix Case-Shiller Home Price Index.) The S&P/Case-Shiller composite index showed a 2.4 percent year-over-year increase in the price of a single-family home based on prices of existing homes tracked over time in 10 metropolitan markets. That is below the 3.7 percent increase posted in September and the slowest since a 2 percent growth rate in February 1997.

Read more

Speaking of REITs, they’re up 30% in 2006

 Real estate investment trusts (REITs) have risen more than 30 percent this year, compared with 13 percent for the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index… Real-estate watchers are generally predicting a favorable outlook for REITs in the next year. A Goldman Sachs Group Inc. report last month predicted a continued recovery of occupancy and rental rates.

Read more

Foreign real estate investment for dummies

 This is a neat development. You can invest in foreign REITs without being a zillionaire. The breakthrough is the arrival of international real estate funds with minimum investments of as little as $1,000. These funds are poised to capitalize on an explosion of publicly traded property securities in Europe and Asia.

Read more

Renters gloat

 The Wall Street Jounal has an article about renters gloating about weak home prices. If you plan to live in an area for several years or more, it’s silly not to buy a home. The article talks about one guy who talks his friend into selling his home and renting. The friend bought in San Diego in 2003 and sold for a gain of $250,000. The anti-buying guy, however, missed out entirely while renting. He was “too clever by half” as the English say.

Read more

Arizona luxury condos

 There are a ton of luxury, high-rise condos hitting the Arizona market and under construction. It’s a new product for Arizona and it’s uncertain how it will all shake out. See my previous post on high-rise condos in Phoenix.

Read more

Arizona fastest-growing state

 “Nevada’s 19-year tenure as the country’s fastest-growing state ended in 2006 as Arizona edged out the Silver State by just one-tenth of a percentage point.” Top 10 Highest Growth Rate Percentage 1. Arizona: 3.6% 2. Nevada: 3.5% 3. Idaho: 2.6% 4. Georgia: 2.5% 5. Texas: 2.5% 6. Utah: 2.4% 7. North Carolina: 2.1% 8. Colorado: 1.9% 9. Florida: 1.8% 10. South Carolina: 1.7% Top 10 Actual Population Growth 1. Texas: 579,275 2. Florida: 321,697 3.California: 303,402 4. Georgia: 231,388 5. Arizona: 213,311 6. North Carolina: 184,046 7. Washington: 103,899 8. Colorado: 90,082 9. Nevada: 83,228 10. Tennessee: 83,058

Read more