SOME GOOD NEWS IS ON THE WAY, AT LEAST WITH RESPECT TO STIMULATING HOME SALES. As reported in the New York Ties, the president signed legislation last week that extended the tax credit for first-time home buyers and added a new credit for some existing homeowners. Here’s a primer on the details….
1st TIME HOMEBUYER >> […]

A heads up for real estate professionals: H.R. 2454, the cap and trade legislation approved by the U.S. House of Representatives on June 26, 2009, if passed into law, would have a profound effect on the real estate sector.According to an excellent article by Leanne Tobia of Reuters, entitled, How the Cap-And-Trade Bill Could Transform […]

More bad news. The Architecture Billings Index, which is compiled from a monthly survey of architecture firms around the U.S., is at its lowest level since the American Institute of Architects survey began in 1995.
A Leading Economic Indicator: Since the index reflects an approximate nine- to twelve-month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending, […]

So what are buyers to do? Today is yet another day, another piece of evidence that waiting for mortgage rates to fall is a flawed financial strategy, as suggested in a piece from the Mortgage Reporter. Perhaps this review will help stimulate more mortgage activity.
Here is what is truly going on. Let us take […]

SeekingAlpha just posted a very intriguing opinion piece by John Preston entitled, The Reality of Real Estate and the Economy.

Is this the problem? the solution?

According to many, the thesis (and problem) is simple: Housing health and the economy are linked arm-in-arm.  

Preston traces  this theory back to Robert Shiller, of Case-Shiller Home Price Index fame, who reflects back on a 2004 […]

So is this a trend? As reported in Commercial Property News (CPN) by Scott Baltic, although not necessarily a trend just yet, it is likely more than coincidence that the Kolter Group of West Palm Beach, Fla., is the second largely commercial real estate company in the past couple of weeks to announce a big […]

Here we go again. Recently, the headlines have been dominated by the global banks, like Bear Sterns, and their massive missteps and huge losses.
For instance, this just in from CitiGroup: $8.9 billion of write-downs in the second quarter, nearly $15 billion of losses in the last two quarters of 2008, and more than $46 […]

The point is often is often raised that there is some value in eliminating title insurance. Kimberly Palmer, in her article in U.S. New and World Report today, makes clear that the answer to whether to opt out of title insurance is: DO NOT!
When attorney Mark Rutzick sold his home in Fairfax, Va., and bought a new […]

As reported by Wall Street Journal today, federal regulators warned that banking-industry turmoil would continue as financial institutions come to terms with piles of bad loans they made to finance the construction of homes and condominiums.
A New Phenomena: Until now, most of the damage to banks from the housing crisis has come from homeowners defaulting […]