Huwebes, Hunyo 26, 2014

The collapse of sales reached the property prices

The price impact was felt in January and May from the market stabilized with a cumulative decline of 1.5 percent. This fall also is not as great as expected, but realizes the wrong time in the housing market, "says the Real Estate Chamber Argentina (CIA).

The company yesterday launched an index that was launched a year ago, from the survey of prices published monthly to over 40,000 properties in the Federal Capital, told the newspaper La Nacion Roberto Arevalo, president of the CIA.

The indicator includes properties brand new and used, and in 90% of cases the values ​​are dollar deals with an increasing incidence of studio apartments, which represent more than half of the current supply of homes for sale .

"The FX market, marked the end of one of the cycles of real estate expansion that will be remembered for the buildings and homes were considered almost exclusively for its value cambioindependientemente your actual use value. Developing new projects is still pointing to that logic, with the consequence of reducing the area and making developmental qualities in managing risk financiers ultimately weighed and ultimately rests on the buyer-investor ", anticipated days ago a report from the Real Estate consultant report.

But if the average values ​​of the scriptural acts taken in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires that arises from the monthly survey makes the district Notaries Association warns unvirtual sharpness with stagnation at the official rate in the last three years for the first four months while over 30% fell as the dollar on the open market, in line with the depression that has entered the business of purchasing and selling real estate since the imposition of the FX market in late October 2011.

In a survey index of rental prices is also included. In this case, the situation is completely opposite. The vast majority of the publications are in pesos and steadily increasing values ​​over the past year.

According to the indicator, in 12 months, rents accumulated a 22.1% increase, with an accelerating trend: in the first five months of 2014 experienced an increase of 14 percent in May and only climbed 6.4 percent.

Despite this increase, which resents the pockets of workers because they take refuge in the vacation as the only alternative since the vast majority can not buy a house in the sector said that the rise in prices was below the inflation of the last year. "Despite the difficulties, has primacy criteria of rationality on the part of the actors in the setting of values," said the CIA report, hardly a criterion that is shared by tenants.

Lunes, Hunyo 23, 2014

Owners of apartments in Manhattan curb their rent increases

The inhabitants of Manhattan departments are experiencing some relief after two years of increases in costs led rents for tenants near a new high peak.

The average monthly rent fell 2.8% in February compared to the same period last year to $ 3,100, according to a report by the appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and Douglas Elliman Real Estate agency. It was the sixth consecutive decline. The unemployment rate rose from 1.69% to 1.78%, although it also increased concessions owners.

Owners in Manhattan stepped back after 23 months in which prices rose to make up lost ground during the recession. The average rents increased 15% since the low point in November 2009 and were approaching the 2006 peak of U.S. $ 3,265 per month before starting down in September. Some tenants are being drawn to the sales market, while those who remain tenants resist higher prices, according to Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel based in New York.

"The owners were moving and advancing and advancing, not ceded under any circumstances and in any way," said Gary Malin, president of Citi Habitats agency, which also published a report on the rental market in Manhattan today. "They assumed that they could go on."

Buyers rushed to realize acquisitions in both an increase in mortgage rates near record lows since May threatened to expensive houses. In the fourth quarter, sales of condominiums and condominiums in Manhattan reached their highest for 25 years from which all records are kept, according to Miller Samuel and Douglas Elliman. Rising agreements contributed to raising the unemployment rate department and reduce some of the power of the owners at the time of pricing, Miller said.

Biyernes, Hunyo 20, 2014

NYC could lose more than 2,000 rent-regulated apartments

The city of New York could lose more than 2,000 rent-regulated apartments, many of these in Hispanic neighborhoods, according to a report from Councilman Dan Garodnick (D-Manhattan).

The councilman, who represents the Upper East Side, Stuyvesant Town, warns of predatory and "illegal" practices that are turning to such landlords to charge much higher rents.

According to the report, released two weeks after Mayor Bill de Blasio announced its plan to create 200,000 units of affordable housing, many landlords and investors to buy buildings acquiring exorbitant bank loans that can not sustain. These online purchase debt anticipating that can generate profits by increasing the cost of each car in their buildings.

This practice is known as "predatory equity" (predatory capital) and, according to Councilman Garodnick, home resort to it in order to get money out, to deregulate apartments that are home to people with low or moderate incomes.

"In June came a new owner who is now trying to evict me and my family," said Angelica Rosado, who lives with her husband and four year old daughter in a building that was before affordable housing in the Bronx. "For three years we have lived here without problems, and now they want us out without reason. This is very unfair. "

Councillor calls for action to the City to stop this practice.

"This is a malicious business model that exists to destroy affordable housing, with the intent to harass, defraud and displace residents from their homes," Garodnick said yesterday in a press conference on the steps of City Hall.

The official indicated that the practice is a replica of what happened in 2006 with the sale of Stuyvesant Town buildings in his district. Your buyers, according to the lawmaker indicates, tried to get rid of tenants with regulated rents. The future of the building is still in limbo.

Your report indicates that the majority of buildings, about 70, are located in the South Bronx, Upper Manhattan and Bushwick, Brooklyn, all with large Hispanic population.

In District Councillor Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx) focus more of these buildings, so plans to introduce legislation next week to create a list of owners who engage in predatory capital.
"We can not stand by while property speculators and bad home threaten our dwindling supply of affordable housing," Torres said.

The Housing Department (HPD) has already launched the Alternative Enforcement Program program (Alternative Enforcement Program, AEP), which allows the City to cover the costs of repairs for housing code violations in buildings. The agency then sends the bill to the owners.

The problem, Garodnick, is that HPD does not have enough money to take care of all the buildings in question. The staff recommends that the city double its funding for this program. It also recommends that the city buy the buildings in danger of being executed and resell them to "good home".

A spokesman for the Office of Mayor Bill de Blasio said about it, "there are concerns shared by the municipal administration. We have to reverse the loss of affordable housing for the reasons mentioned by the report."

Lunes, Hunyo 16, 2014

Housing Starts in U.S. rises to highest level in half a year

The pace of housing starts in the U.S. increased 13.2 percent in April, reaching an annual volume of 1.07 million, the highest in six months, reported the Commerce Department.

In March, the annual volume of new apartment buildings had been located at 947,000 units, according to official figures.

The April increase mainly due to a sharp rise in the beginning of new construction of apartment buildings, which were up 42.9 percent over the previous month.

Experts believe that the construction of apartments is more volatile than single-family home sector, whose early works rose just 0.8 percent, which has been interpreted as a sign that housing construction is earthbound strongly from the recession that began in 2008.

Major advances in new construction of homes in April were for the states in the Midwest and Northeast of the country, which in recent months have been affected by a severe winter which slowed activity in the sector.

Meanwhile, processed permits for new construction last month increased 8 percent, which predicts that the activity will gain momentum in the coming months.

The Federal Reserve keeps interest rates reference at around 0.25 percent, despite which has not consolidated the industry, due to the difficulties in getting funding families and the increase in housing prices , which seems to have anticipated the recovery itself.

A recent study by the U.S. Census Bureau showed that the percentage of homes owned by U.S. households stood at 64.8% in the first quarter, the lowest since the 64.7% recorded in 1995 .

Biyernes, Hunyo 13, 2014

U.S. construction spending, the highest in five years

Construction spending in the U.S. posted modest gains in April, driven by a rebound in residential construction and government works, making the total activity hitting its highest level in five years.

Construction spending rose 0.2% in April to an annual rate, seasonally adjusted, from 953,500 million, its strongest performance since March 2009, the Commerce Department said Monday.

The April increase was lower than economists expected, but the government revised upwards the activity of March, with a gain of 0.6%, compared with an initial estimate of a 0.2% increase.

The small improvement in April, along with the sharp increase in March, indicate that the construction industry is recovering from the rigors of winter, so it will boost its growth in the coming months.

The April figure marked the third consecutive increase after bad weather sapped spending by 0.4% in January. The construction activity dragged the overall economy in the first quarter, when GDP contracted.

The U.S. economy as a whole contracted at an annual rate of 1% in the January-March quarter. Analysts estimate that growth will recover to a rate of about 3.8% in the April-June period.

The expectation is to increase recruitment and therefore consumer spending will rise. Other sectors, including construction, should also be recovered.