By Erica Christoffer, Multimedia Web Producer, REALTOR® Magazine
Developers of multifamily homes should be relishing in the fact that demand is incredibly strong. But in reality, developers are struggling to build new apartments because financing is so hard to come by.
The National Association of Home Builders is forecasting the construction of 208,000 multifamily residences in 2012, which is well below the 350,000 units needed to maintain balance in the market, according to Sharon Dworkin Bell, NAHB senior vice president for multifamily and 50-plus housing.
Bell, who spoke on a panel during the NAHB International Builders’ Show in Orlando last week, said that the demand for new apartments will only continue to grow as the economy improves and job seekers find employment.
What’s more, the young adult population entering the job market today is one of the largest in U.S. history, which is creating even more demand for multifamily real estate, said Ron Witten, president of Witten Advisors, a market research firm that works with multifamily developers.
“As an industry, we can’t keep up with this demand right now. This is likely to put inflationary pressure on rents, resulting in higher rents for consumers,” Witten said.
The multifamily market suffered a serious slowdown in production from 2008 to 2010, and now the lack of credit to finance the development of new apartments is likely to cause a supply and demand imbalance, according to the NAHB panelists. Continue reading »
By Erica Christoffer, Multimedia Web Producer, REALTOR® Magazine
Single-family home starts were at a 40-year-low in 2011, with just 429,000 homes built. That’s also a 75 percent decrease from a peak of 1.7 million starts in 2005.
But today’s new-home buyer may surprise you.
Let’s start by looking at a few builder and consumer statistics presented during the International Builders’ Show in Orlando Thursday.
The average start size increased from 2,381 square feet to 2,522 square feet and the average sales price rose from $264,900 to $274,400 in 2011.
New homes have more amenities, too. More houses built in 2011 had four or more bedrooms, three or more bathrooms, three-car garages, finished basements, patios, and two stories.
Is the buyer profile becoming clear?
“It’s sort of counterintuitive to what we’re hearing and reading about consumers,” said Rose Quint, assistant vice president of research with the National Association of Home Builders. “The answer is in who is able to buy.”
In the tightened lending environment, buyers have had to be a “superstar” qualifier, says Quint, with at least 20 percent down, a high credit score, well-documented income, and proof of established employment history. Continue reading »
By Erica Christoffer, multimedia Web producer, REALTOR® Magazine
It was a truly a “small world after all” in Anaheim Thursday night. More than 300 representatives from 30 countries gathered for the International Welcome Reception during the REALTORS® Conference & Expo.
Annemieke Cronje of Annemieke Properties in Kmysha, Garden Root, South Africa, was one of nearly 100 South Africans in attendance. “We want to see what the rest of the world is doing, network, and form a community,” she said. “We want to learn how we can help each other in this economy.”
Sponsored by Century 21, the event highlighted ways NAR is expanding its global reach through several new initiatives. A new global site, www.REALTOR.com/International, launched on Nov. 3. Friday was also “Global Day” during the conference, framed with educational sessions on working with international clients. The nearly 1,200 international attendees were able to enjoy sessions via translation headsets in French, Japanese, Portuguese, Chinese and Spanish.
Today, NAR is recognizing the 313 new Certified International Property Specialists awarded their designation this year. CIPS has grown to include nearly 2,500 designees and candidates worldwide.
“More than a quarter of REALTORS® had international clients this year and we are seeing more and more enter the global real estate field,” said NAR President Ron Phipps. “To help REALTORS® diversify their clientele, NAR has built a truly global neighborhood with over 80 bilateral agreements and affiliations with nearly 60 countries.”
By Erica Christoffer, Multimedia Web Producer, REALTOR® Magazine
This week, I’m riding along with the Home Ownership Matters Bus Tour as it begins the southwestern leg of its journey across the United States. In case you haven’t heard about the bus tour, its purpose is to provide a forum and outreach to state and local REALTOR® associations, as well as talk to the public and the media about why public policy that supports home ownership is so vital, not only for the real estate industry, but for all current home owners.
From my perspective, it’s a wonderful opportunity to get out and meet members from different regions of the country, hear what’s happening in their market, and bring back their message to NAR. It also helps shape story ideas and tools REALTOR® Magazine can offer members in the future.
No doubt about it, the bus is working, the pro-real estate message is getting out, and people are listening. Numerous local and national media outlets have been writing about the housing industry. And guess what? Most of the stories have been spreading the message about the value of home ownership. Continue reading »
By Erica Christoffer, Multimedia Web Producer, REALTOR® Magazine
You may have heard the buzz surrounding Facebook’s impending launch of the “timeline” profile. If not, get ready…it’s sure to take users to the next level in how we share information, make personal connections, and experience Facebook as a whole.
The timeline feature itself is described as an online scrapbook – “the story of your life” as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg called it during his company’s f8 conference in San Francisco Thursday. Facebook fills in milestone events it knows from the existing profile information, such as your high school and college graduations, the start of your current job, the date of your wedding anniversary, etc. But you can take the timeline back further and fill in all your life events starting from when you were born, your first job, places you’ve traveled, or even when you purchased your house.
“Now REALTORS® who are friends with clients can help them mark those events – add photos in front of their new home, mark the date on their timeline,” said Brian Copeland, REALTOR® at Village Real Estate Services in Nashville and the national YPN Advisory Board chair. Plus, the new timeline feature is quick to navigate; in just a few clicks you can look at statuses, photos, or events from years past in your archived Facebook content.
Curious? While Facebook is planning to roll out timelines over the next couple of months, according to Chief Technology Officer Bret Taylor, those who want a jump start can add the new profile now by following these steps outlined by Mashable.
[As a side note, I just have to point out just how on fire Zuckerberg is: His net worth is now over $17.5 billion, up $10 billion from last year. And this week he landed 14th on the Forbes 400 list. ]
Yours truly downloaded the new profile today and my first impression was that it’s reminiscent of a WordPress blog template. A large “cover image” stretched the width of your profile header, which could easily serve as a branding tool for real estate pros, Copeland pointed out. Continue reading »
By Katherine Tarbox, Senior Editor, REALTOR® Magazine
In April, Dream Town Realty in Chicago and Groupon tried to bring the daily deal phenomenon to the real estate market. Only 219 consumers purchased the $25 Groupon, which offered a $1,000 cash incentive to buyers who purchased with the brokerage by April 9, 2012, or sellers who listed by the same date. Although the deal didn’t attract the thousands of purchasers that the site is known for, it did generate national publicity for both Groupon and Dream Town Realty.
Groupon is a site popular for deals at local restaurants and retailers. As the daily deal phenomenon grows, consumers are becoming cautious about paying full price — something that was discussed at Real Estate Connect July 28 at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square. During a session entitled “Daily Deals are the New Opportunity,” Tigue Bonneval, co-founder of HouseTipper.com, talked about how there is space for a home-related deal site.
HouseTipper.com offers a variety of deals, including savings on solar panels or appliances included with the purchase of a condo from a developer. “Most of our deals have tipped,” explained Bonneval, which means that there were enough people interested in the offering that the deal becomes available for all. However, if enough people don’t purchase the deal, then it doesn’t “tip.”
After the valuation of Groupon came in at a $30 billion and they are reportedly planning for I.P.O, it’s no wonder that so many want to jump on the online deal train. Time will tell if it works just as well for real estate as it does for moving inventory out of Gap.
By Erica Christoffer, Multimedia Web Producer, REALTOR® Magazine
Nobu Hata, sales associate with Edina Realty in Minneapolis, has a message for everyone who has their e-mail address in their e-mail signature: You’re not giving anyone added value.
Your correspondents are already going to know your e-mail address – either they contacted you or you contacted them. Try switching it out with something they can use, said Hata during the Joint Marketing & Member Information Services Forum at the Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo today in Washington, D.C. Link to your Web site, blog, and social networks, or, as Hata does, link to local market statistics your potential clients could use to educate themselves.
“Consumers like people who point them to good stuff,” said panelist Bill Lublin, CEO of Social Media Marketing Institute and Century 21 Advantage Gold in Philadelphia. Continue reading »
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