Why is Installing a Cooker Hood so Important for Your Kitchen?

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Cooker Hood in Luxury Kitchen

If you intend on having a functional kitchen in your home, you need to have a proper cooker hood to allow the heat generated from cooking to escape.

It’s easy to forget all about the cooker hood when you’re designing your kitchen, but it is an essential element. We think about the color of the walls, the fancy kitchen appliances we’re going to add and a litany of other considerations but all mention of a stove-top hood gets left in the background. Why is it so important to have a range hood in the first place?

• The oil from frying or wok cooking can easily end up on the surface of your cabinets and if left untreated, it can be really difficult to clean. A cooker hood removes grease from the kitchen air by filtering it.

• Without a stove hood, the entire kitchen will end up smelling like the food you cooked yesterday. It is awful to come downstairs in the morning and smell stale pot roast! As long as you leave the range hood on for a few minutes after cooking, it should remove the stink.

• Steam and condensation are a result of cooking and this leads to mold in the kitchen if it is allowed to build up. As long as your cooker hood is regularly cleaned, it will help keep steam and condensation at bay.

• There are modern stove-top hoods with a chic design that can add to the aesthetic quality of your kitchen.

How To Cope With The Noise

You can buy cooker hoods from online stores such as Ship It Appliances that produce a relatively moderate amount of noise and allow you to carry on a conversation when the hood is operating. A normal conversation carries a decibel level of around 60 dB so naturally, you need a cooker hood that produces less noise. Top of the range products produce less than 45 dB so you can keep them on after cooking without being disturbed by the noise.

It is also important to note that stove hoods make much less noise on lower settings. Indeed, turning on your hood at its lowest setting just before you start cooking will control the level of steam and odors. By doing this, you will not need to increase the power unless of course you burn your food! Leave the cooker hood on for about 10 minutes after cooking to remove all residual smells. There are a range of hi-tech hoods that carry a run-on timer feature that switches it off after a set period of time.

The range hood must be installed correctly or else it will perform at a lower level than it is otherwise capable of. Always choose the ducting recommended by the hood’s manufacturer and position it to ensure the shortest possible ducting run is used as this will improve airflow and reduce noise levels. Avoid flexible or ribbed ducting unless otherwise specified as this will cause issues with free airflow and increase the noise produced.

Although choosing the best cooker hood is not as glamorous as installing brand new cabinets or flooring, it is still an aspect of kitchen design that must never be overlooked.

Image license: Creative Commons (view source)

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Builder Confidence Increased in May

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The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index for May reflected a three-point gain over April’s measure of builder confidence. All three measures of the HMI (current sales, prospective buyers, anticipated sales) showed improvement.

Builder Confidence

Builder confidence in the market improved three points to a 44 reading on the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) for May.

According to David Crowe, Chief Economist for the National Association of Homebuilders,

While industry supply chains will take time to re-establish themselves following recession-related cutbacks, builders’ views of current sales conditions have improved and expectations for the future remain quite strong as consumers head back to the market in force.

Regional three-month measures held steady in the Northeast, South and Midwest. The West experienced a slight decline on the three-month averages.

NAHB Chairman and homebuilder Rick Judson commented on the May report as follows:

Builders are noting an increased sense of urgency among potential buyers as a result of thinning inventories of homes for sale, continuing affordable mortgage rates and strengthening local economies. This is definitely an encouraging sign even amidst rising challenges with regard to the cost and availability of building materials, lots and labor.

May’s overall confidence reading stood at 44 out of a possible 100.

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Marketing to Customers’ Aspirations

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Who’s your customer? Builder Magazine recently had an interesting article on a talk given by marketers Michelle Mace of M3B, Inc. and Teri Slavik-Tsuyuki of Newland Communities.

Marketing By Builders

Builders should focus on identifying their customer base as opposed to focusing on the kind of homes they’ll build or the location.

The article suggested that builders should focus on identifying their customer base as opposed to focusing on the kind of homes they’ll build or the location. Of course, a number of factors have to go into any decision about building a new home community, but doesn’t it make basic sense to consider the needs of the market? It might make even more sense to consider “the wants.”

Slavik-Tsuyuki offered suggestions about tracking prospective customer traits and pitching communities specifically to that customer. The example used was selling the notion of dog parks and walking trails to single pet owners. One would think salespeople could figure out that to be successful, pitching the playground to the childless dog owner is not the way to go. On the other hand, Slavik-Tsuyuki did suggest that the more effective sales approach is to create a comfortable sales setting where the pressure is off, customers can make themselves at home and information is handy. One suggestion was even to create a glass walled customer service center so prospective buyers can see people sitting around drinking coffee and relaxing, a Starbucks effect.

Mace talked about information readily available to help builders understand different market segments. Most articles on marketing new homes refer to customers by age or marital status and other demographics. We’ve written about the market for baby boomers, for example. The interesting aspect of Mace’s talk, though, was the phrase “psychographic segmentation of buyer traits.” This, of course, is not a new term to marketing experts. It may be an important concept, however, to a new homebuilder’s sales team.

According to another marketing expert, use of demographics is about selling to customers’ needs, but psychographics markets to aspirations. Don’t sell to the customer’s current station in life. Sell up to what that customer hopes to be. Let the new home lead the way in the life change the customer wants. Probably all good salespeople already knew they were never selling material objects. They were always selling the dream.

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Core Logic Releases Its First Case-Shiller Indexes Report

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CoreLogic, which we previously reported purchased the formerly S & P Case-Shiller Indices, has released its first “CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indexes Report.” This May report is both a retrospective and prospective look at the U.S. Housing Market. The Report highlights a number of key areas, such as:

Home Prices Increasing

CoreLogic after purchasing S & P Case-Shiller Indices has released its first “CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indexes Report.

• Home prices increased on a national basis 7.3 percent in 2012.
• Phoenix, Miami and Las Vegas led the way in the fastest rate of home price increase in seven years.
• Long Island, Philadelphia and Virginia Beach improved but still lagged in the negative.

CoreLogic experts are predicting the rate of home price appreciation will moderate in 2013 and will climb slightly at an annualized rate of 3.9 percent in the next five years. The company’s chief economist, David Stiff, does not foresee another imminent real estate “bubble” even in the hottest markets because, he said, “single family homes are still very affordable.” Using Phoenix as an example, he noted that home prices there “rose 27 percent since the market hit bottom in 2011, making it the strongest residential real estate market in the U.S. Yet home prices there are still 45 percent below their 2006 peak.”

Right now, investors are playing a considerable role in driving up prices. If they pull out or find other investments more attractive, according to Stiff, “recent double-digit price appreciation could decelerate suddenly or even turn negative for a few months.” The average homebuyer as well as investors should beware of market volatility. If the bust taught us anything, it taught that the ability to hang on until better times could be the difference between closed and foreclosed.

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Builder 100 – Aubyn Homes Is Movin’ On Up

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Builder Magazine announced its Builder 100 list for 2012. Most of the top-tier companies have been around for awhile, shuffling a spot or two, perhaps, but Saint Aubyn Homes, a Colorado firm that opened its doors in 2009, moved from a rank of 106 to 50 between 2011 and 2012. What’s it doing right?

1. It’s fast. This company is fast not only in growth but also product delivery. It promises well-crafted affordable homes “from permit to done in about 50 days.” It understands its customers don’t have a lot of time to wait for a home to be finished. Subcontractors note Saint Aubyn’s “rigorous” time frames.

2. It’s local. The Colorado Springs concern, named after its founder, Jared Saint Aubyn, builds in a very localized area in Colorado Springs and Pikes Peak. No need to worry about logistics of labor and material when most of it is readily accessible.

3. It’s grounded in the bases. The affordably priced homes are geared to the area’s largest potential consumer base, military and retired military personnel. Touting the weather in Colorado, Saint Aubyn’s “relocation” section offers the following to military members and their families,

Immortalized in Katherine Lee Bate’s America the Beautiful, Colorado Springs is one of the nation’s most popular retirement destinations for military retirees, as the city is home to Peterson Air Force Base, Schriever Air Force Base, Fort Carson, the United States Air Force Academy and NORAD Space Command.

4. Extras. Crown molding, high ceilings, a walk in laundry room are “extras” offered without the extra expense most other builders charge. Saint Aubyn’s design center helps the customer select higher finishes, many of which are also standard.

5. “Trying to avoid the cookie cutter” effect. Buyers are able to customize layout at frame stage. The company is open to moving, for example, a non-load bearing wall or a window. It recognizes the importance to the customer of a home that looks uniquely their own.

6. Warranty. The year-long warranty gives the company an edge in any head-to-head competition with the distressed realty market. As one broker noted, why would someone want to buy a foreclosure when they can get a new home at a great price, guaranteed?

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Obama Gives Credit to His Administration for Housing Improvements, and Seeks More Modifications

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Housing market recovery

Obama touted the efforts his administration has taken alone to boost the housing market.

In Obama’s recent weekly radio address, the President urged Congress to make further modifications to laws affecting refinancing to help homeowners who have not defaulted on their mortgages but who are still seriously underwater. While noting improvements in the housing market, President Obama expressed concern about those who have met their obligations but for whom the housing market recovery has not afforded relief. The President argued,

Sales are up. Foreclosures are down. Construction is expanding. And thanks to rising home prices over the past year, 1.7 million more families have been able to come up for air, because they’re no longer underwater on their mortgages. But we’ve got more work to do. We’ve got more responsible homeowners to help – folks who have never missed a mortgage payment, but aren’t allowed to refinance; working families who have done everything right, but still owe more on their homes than they’re worth.

Did it ever make sense to force a homeowner to choose between paying a mortgage on a home dragged deep underwater by a market undertow or go into default, risking their credit and possible dispossession? Sure. Some owners walked while Congress and others debated the “moral” question. Who was debating the value of extended debate when corrective action was needed?

Obama listed the credits of his administration including helping homeowners refinance and establishing the new (and controversial) Consumer Financial Protection Bureau which should, according to the President, help prevent “hard-working families from getting ripped off.” We’ll see.

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Builders Think Baby Boomers Will Buy, But Labor is Hard to Find

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The National Association of Home Builders just released the first quarter results of its 55+ Housing Market Index. This index reflects surveys of builders for prospective homebuyer traffic, expected sales in the next six months and current sales in the 55+ age market. It also tracks single-family homes and multiunit condominiums separately.

Builder Confidence in the 55+ Housing Market

Builder confidence in single-family home sales to boomers hit its highest level (46) since the index started in 2008. Confidence levels, which range from zero to one hundred, increased nineteen points in the year-over-year measure, the sixth straight annual increase.

All of the measured factors (consumer traffic, current sales and prospective sales) increased by double digits in the single-family 55+ sector. Builders are even more optimistic about condominiums for these buyers. The overall increase for condominium confidence rose 23 points with the exact same year-over-year increase for each measured factor. This 23-point increase set another record high for the index.

Despite these extraordinary gains, NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe cautioned,

While demand for new 55+ housing has improved due to a reduced inventory of homes on the market and low interest rates, builders’ ability to respond to the demand is being limited by a shortage of labor with basic construction skills and rising prices for some building materials.

The housing labor force has dropped by more than one million people since the peak of the housing boom. A recent article by Southern California Public Radio attributed that decline to workers who left the industry for other jobs when the bottom fell out of the market. Also, KPCC suggests that Mexican migrant workers may have not only left the industry but the States due to lack of work. Now, the work is back, but the labor is missing.

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Freddie Mac is Making Money

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Freddie Mac Reports Profit

Freddie Mac reported a profit of $4.6 billion in the first quarter of 2013.

Freddie Mac, a private-public hybrid heavily involved in loan guarantees for residential mortgages, is making a huge profit on the upswing in the housing market. First quarter numbers released today reflected $4.6 billion net income, “the second largest in company history.” “Comprehensive income” was $7 billion for the first quarter of 2013.

The federal government, which had been permitting Freddie Mac to make draws on the U.S. Treasury, is now seeing some repayments. Freddie Mac paid the Treasury $5.8 billion in the first quarter. Based on net worth of $10 billion at the end of March, Freddie Mac expects to pay Treasury $7.0 billion in June of this year.

The company claims it has refinanced $6.7 million in loans, $1.6 million in home purchase mortgages and 1.3 million units of rental housing since 2009. It also claims it helped over 800,000 borrowers avoid foreclosure. According to Freddie Mac’s investor news, home mortgage delinquency rates are declining.

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Vertical Gardening – Beautiful and Smart

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Vertical gardening

Image via Flickr by philos from Athens

Vertical gardening is one of the latest design trends, and its application can range from the use of recycled goods in small suburban homes to a large recently completed Singapore complex.

The gardens most of us have known rise from the ground and are planted on a horizontal plane. Vertical gardens elevate the “ground.” The design trend goes hand in hand with recycling. Some vertical gardeners use, for example, wooden pallets. Densely planted with petunias or lettuce, these pallets are attached upright to a wall. Once the plants fill in the spaces, the pallet is transformed. They also make the best use of limited outdoor space as in the balcony referenced above.

One designer used large soda bottles as planters. Strung horizontally on a wall, the plastic bottles have cut out sections for the plant. Even the color of the bottle caps matter in the arrangement, which, in the end, is a work of living art — as all gardens really are.

At the macro level, the architectural firm of WOHA designed the twelve story, Singapore apartment complex, which “is entirely wrapped within multiple solar-powered vertical gardens, green valleys, reflecting pools and water features that cover 15,000 square metres of the building.” WOHA designs are renowned for their use of solar resulting in increased natural light, focus on ventilation lowering the demand for air conditioning even in large central city locations and recycling through well-designed irrigation systems that, for example, recycle rainwater.

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Home Ownership and Vacancy Rates

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Home Ownership Rates Decline

According to the most recent Census Bureau data, home ownership rates are on the decline.

Despite reports of steadily increasing home sales and home prices, home ownership, according to the Census Bureau, has been on the decline both in a year-over-year analysis and quarter-to quarter. The most recent Census data reveals home ownership to be at a new low of 65 percent. This is the lowest rate since the Bureau began monitoring data in 1995.

Seventy percent of homeowners reside in the Midwest while the West has the lowest homeownership rate (59.4 percent). Relative regional ownership rates have not significantly changed over the years. A little over 80 percent of people over age sixty-five own their homes compared to less than 40 percent of those under age 35. Middle age folks (35-44) own at a rate of 60.1 percent.

Meanwhile, apartment vacancy rates have been declining. This year’s first quarter national rental vacancy rate is 8.6 percent. This is down from a high of 10.6 percent in 2010. The Bureau has only been keeping track since 2005. The median asking price for vacant rental units in the first quarter was $718.

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Home Prices Still on Rise Per Case-Shiller

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Home Prices Increasing

Home prices continue to show solid increases in both the 10-City and 20-City Composites.

February’s home price indices from Case-Shiller reflect an 8.6 percent to 9.3 percent rise over February 2012. The data, released yesterday, show less than half a percent month-over-month increase in both the 10-City and 20-City Composites. Given that, we are seeing a sustained growth in equity for homeowners in all parts of the country.

Phoenix (23 percent), San Francisco (18.9 percent), Las Vegas (17.6 percent) and Atlanta (16.5 percent) led the pack. David Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee, explained,

Atlanta recovered from a wave of foreclosures in 2012 while the other three were among the hardest hit in the housing collapse. At the other end of the rankings, three older cities – New York, Boston and Chicago– saw the smallest year-over-year price improvements.

Blitzer further noted housing’s positive contribution to the general economic recovery but wondered whether, given the substantially larger rise in apartment starts, how single family housing would fare in the months to come.

Despite a small month-over-month decline for Detroit, housing prices there are still up 17.6 percent over the prior twelve months.

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ASID and Google’s Interior Design Trends

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The Association of Interior Designers has just released a report forecasting interior design trends for 2013 and beyond. Some of those, according to a lengthy review in Home Accents Today, include:

Smart Houses

Houses could become more aware, more adaptive and more responsive to residents in the near future

• Walls that change color depending on the homeowner’s preference.
• Walls that turn into television screens.
• Houses totally wireless. “Goodbye!” to electrical outlets and extension cords.
• Houses that “sense” or “intuit” the homeowner’s needs by body temperature, facial expression and other automatic sensory measurements that then provoke an automatic response such as adjusting the home thermostat.
• Need something? No worries if you have a 3-D printer. You can just “print” and manufacture.

These “smart” houses are similar to a recent news report about Google and its forecasted capacity to not only map where you’re walking, but to “awaken” your individual experience in a given location by initiating provision of information that you’re near a retailer with your needed new clothes, comparative pricing of neighborhood stores, time for a haircut and facts on the closest salon prices and services, a GPS that thinks “beyond the road.” Homes are moving in the same direction.

Consumers are using technology to comparison shop and to become informed about price, selection and quality. On the other hand, more consumers, both young and aging, seem to value experiences over acquisitions. They will be “hard sells” when it comes to commodities, but they may demand more in services.

Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen, respectively Chairman of Google and Director, Google Ideas, have recently authored a book, The New Digital Age, in which they predict:

• Your bed will know when to wake you without disturbing your dreams.
• You won’t need to set the timer on the coffee pot. It will know your coffee routine.
• No more buttons to push. All that you “operate” now by push button will respond to a wave of your hand.
• Your maid will be a robot whose duties will be prescribed by your computer, subject to your approval, of course.
• Your newspaper is a hologram that follows you around the kitchen.

Why you’re moving around the kitchen is a mystery. Maybe you should speak to the computer about that list of chores for the maid.

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Richmond Homebuilder Experiences Increase in Home Sales

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Richmond new homes

As the housing market starts to bounce back, Richmond homebuilders are celebrating the positive news. Builders, such as Boone Homes, have gotten off to a great start in 2013 with home sales increasing in areas that have struggled over the past few years. 

“The exclusive area of Kinloch has lain almost dormant for the last four years, but we have really seen an increase in activity so far in 2013,” said David Owen, President of Boone Homes. “The Richmond housing market is making a comeback and we are positive that 2013 is going to be a good year for the homebuilding industry.” 

Priced from the low-$500,000s, Boone Homes has sold more Richmond homes at Kinloch in the first quarter of 2013 than in the last three years combined due to a resurgence of empty nesters. Continue reading →

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CoreLogic Acquires Case-Shiller and Reports on Housing Market

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Housing market report

CoreLogic economists are predicting that investors will continue to drive the market in 2013.

CoreLogic, which acquired the (formerly S&P) Case-Shiller Indices in March for about $6 million, released its MarketPulse report on Tuesday. The report is based on market data through February. In it, CoreLogic economists are predicting that investors will continue to drive the market in 2013. Institutional investors are focused on distressed and bank-owned properties with an eye toward rentals. Homeowners, CoreLogic experts predict, will find their prodigal equities slinking back home, which, despite overall depressed credit ratings, may give owners adequate down payments to put them back in the market as homebuyers. Young first time homebuyers, tired of living with their parents, are likely ready to take the leap into homeowner responsibilities. A combination of increasing rental prices and continued low interest rates should soon tip the scales toward purchase. As we recently reported, home supply is less than six months, a situation per CoreLogic that should make this a sellers’ market. Of course, markets are organic entities with many variables, so it’s important to remember that experts offer us, at best, educated guesses.

Distressed property inventory, as of the end of February, was down 21 percent from a year ago, and homes in default for 90 days or more (the so-called “serious delinquencies”) also substantially declined. If the economy could sustain a recovery (which has been led by the housing sector), we might find the bottom of the housing bust.

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Be Proactive When Selling Your Home

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If you’ve been on the fence trying to decide whether or not to put your home up for sale, there may not be a better time in recent history to take a chance.

Demand has increased as buyers try to take advantage of record low interest rates on mortgages. Home prices have increased, inventories have fallen, sparking bidding wars in some markets and the median number of days that a home stays on the market before being sold has fallen. All of these factors indicate that a would-be seller’s best opportunity to sell the house and be able to sell quickly, is now.

According to Corelogic, the average home price across the nation rose 8.3% over the previous year in December.

The total number of previously owned homes listed on the market as of January fell to 1.74 million units, which was a decrease of 25% from the previous year, according to the National Association of Realtors. That puts inventory across the nation at the lowest level in 13 years. The group also reported that the median number of days that a house stayed on the market before being sold in January was 71 days. That shows that half of all the homes sold were sold in that period of time. The median number of days before being sold the previous year was 99 days.

To actually get what you’re asking for and to do it quickly, you should be proactive. First, you should assess the conditions of the market where you are located by researching home prices, inventory of available homes in the area, any competition that you might have from foreclosure properties, and the average time a home is sold in.
There are many other ways to be proactive. Here are a few to consider.

Sell house quickly by being proactive

To actually get what you’re asking for and to do it quickly, you should be proactive.

  • Shop Around for the Right Agent

There are sellers that want to handle all aspects of the process themselves, but if you aren’t one of them, you’ll need to get an agent. Be sure to interview more than one. You should look for an agent that has sold homes in your neighborhood because they will likely be able to assess your home and its value for the market you are in. They will also have a good idea of how to market your property to attract the buyers you’re looking for.

  • Be Realistic About the Market Value

Homes won’t sell for what they could have in 2006. You need to focus on what your home is worth and what you can sell it for in today’s market. A good indicator of what you can get can be found by researching recent sales of comparable homes in your area. Pay particular attention to homes that are competing against you on the market. If they’ve been on the market for a while, they’re probably overpriced. Well priced properties sell quickly, while overpriced houses sit on the market for months.

  • Don’t Get Too Greedy

The falling inventories and increase in demand has many sellers thinking they can set their price higher than they normally would have. If the price is too high, many buyers will likely see what is going on and look for a different property. A well-priced property will probably get almost 10 showings the first week it’s listed. Overpriced properties usually sit on the market until the seller lowers the price closer to market value.

  • The Internet Can Be A Great Marketing Tool

The majority of prospective buyers now use the internet to search for a home before they go to look at it. Because of this, you need to carefully select the photos you use and what type of photos you show. Try not to show too many photos of a particular room of feature. Instead, focus on the front of the home to show its curb appeal, the living room, kitchen, master bedroom and bathroom and the back yard. Include a few photos of any special rooms or features.

Searches for homes are often sorted by price on internet sites. Buyers will often search in increments of around $25,000 to $50,000. Keeping this in mind, you should try to stick to a round number. If you list your home for $300,000, you should get coverage from buyers searching from $250,000 to $300,000 and $300,000 to $350,000.

  • Consider the Terms of Multiple Offers

If you have multiple offers on your home, they should be weighed carefully with you focusing not only on the price of the offer, but the terms.

You might want to consider a buyer willing to pay more towards a down payment over one that won’t even if they have a higher offer because their deal is more likely to fall through. A higher down payment often helps the buyer get approved for a mortgage faster, meaning your sale goes through faster and with less complications.

  • Make Sure Your Home is Ready to Show

Even though inventories are at 13 year record lows, if your home looks dirty and cluttered, it will likely sit on the market longer than if it wasn’t. You should at least add a coat of paint to high traffic areas and touch up others, have the carpets, furniture and curtains or shutters cleaned and declutter your home. All of these are inexpensive. They do require your time, but they could end up being a good payoff when your home sells quickly at your asking price just because of a fresh coat of paint and some cleaning.

  • Be Prepared For the Appraisal

According to a survey conducted by the National Association of Realtors in January, roughly 30% of agents reported that low appraisals caused cancelation, delay, or a renegotiation of the purchase of a home.

The chances of this happening to you can be reduced by providing the appraiser that appraises your home with a list of examples of sales of homes comparable to yours in the area. Be sure to list any special features that your home has compared with the others, such as a renovation to the kitchen or a swimming pool.

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Home Buyer Traffic Up 25 Percent

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The National Association of Realtors issued its March home sales report Monday.

Rising homebuyer traffic

Homebuyer traffic rose by 25% even though prices rose for the thirteenth consecutive month.

Although home sales of all types (single-family, co-ops, condos, townhomes) are up more than 10 percent from last year at this time, sales dipped slightly (6 percent) in March. Homebuyer traffic increased more than 25 percent even though prices rose for the thirteenth consecutive month. The national median price of a single-family home was $185,100. Co-ops and condominiums led the pace in sales. Renters are feeling the pressure of increasing rental prices.

Housing supply improved over the last month but declined more than 16 percent in a year-over-year analysis. Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist, explained that the increase was a seasonal variation and, while noting the approximately four-month available housing supply, commented,

“We need a housing supply of over 6 months to have a generally balanced market between home buyers and sellers, but it’s unlikely we’ll get there without greater increases in housing construction.”

Time on the market decreased to just over two months. More than 37 percent of homes sold within a month. Limited inventory is favoring sellers both in price and liquidity, but financing is still favorable for buyers who can meet the tight lending requirements. Investor activity declined. Co-ops and condominiums led the pace in sales. Declines were fairly uniform in all regions.

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Home — Like a Cargo Shipment?

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There’s a landlord who lives in the Caribbean but owns property on the coast of Florida. Many modern appliances he wants on his sweet Caribbean island cost a lot more there. So, he ships things by container. We’ve all seen photos of ports with containers stacked up. Who would have thought they’d become homes (although the shelter is rather reminiscent of boxcar travels)? These “boxcars” are recycled containers that are fast, cheap and funky, with a full occupancy rate.

Recycled Shipping Containers

Recycled shipping containers are the next wave of environment-friendly living spaces.

London’s Container City™ is leading the way with the interesting design, round windows “taking the edge off” the container’s right angles. A colorful exterior adds to the whimsy. Designed by Urban Space Management, these housing units can be assembled off-site in half the time as traditional units. They are installed using cranes. According to MFE Design, 15,000 square feet of living space can be put into place in about fifteen days. USM’s first Container City™ (twenty-two units) took eight days. It was filled by artists-in-residence.

What is so easily assembled can also be easily disassembled and moved elsewhere. USM builds similar models for school classrooms and other functions. MFE Design reports that forty similar projects are “in the works” around London and include commercial space like a restaurant and hotel. Recycled materials, green roofs and wind turbines. What’s not to like? Many buyers probably want traditional design, but no doubt Container City™ is the perfect product for a niche market.

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Builder Confidence Challenged But Still Optimistic

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Builder confidence declines but still Hopeful

Builders are expressing frustration over difficulties in obtaining construction credit, mortgage lending rules and rising construction costs.

Faced with labor and developed lot shortages as well as rising costs of supplies, builder confidence declined two points in April according to the most recent data from the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. Tight credit is also an issue. Rick Judson, National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Chairman, explained,

Many builders are expressing frustration over being unable to respond to the rising demand for new homes due to difficulties in obtaining construction credit, overly restrictive mortgage lending rules and construction costs that are increasing at a faster pace than appraised values.

The NAHB/Wells Fargo HMI measures three factors in assessing builder confidence: current sales, prospective buyer traffic, and builders’ expectations about sales in the coming six months. Builders’ assessment of current sales dropped from 47 to 45 points. Prospective buyer traffic declined four points in the monthly measurement.

Whatever the struggles now, the numbers indicate builders remain optimistic about the immediate future because that prong of the Index increased three points to 53 (meaning more builders than not are confident about the next six months), the highest level since 2007. NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe attributed that increase to “the low inventory of for-sale homes, rock bottom mortgage rates and rising consumer confidence.”

The link between consumer confidence and builder confidence is an interesting one. One might expect that consumer confidence tends to lead to increased consumer expenditures, and, according to rudimentary economics, this is so. One might not predict that consumer confidence breeds more consumer confidence or that confidence tends to have a cyclical nature such that what goes up, must come down no matter how many are optimistic.

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Apartment Buildings Spark Sharp Rise in March Housing Starts

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Rise in Apartment Buildings

The year-over-year measure of starts for five unit or more structures increased a whopping 82.3 percent.

The Commerce Department announced Tuesday that housing starts rose 7 percent from February to March despite the fact that single-family home starts fell almost 5 percent. Privately owned starts, including single-family and multi-units, exceeded a million units (1,036,000), an increase of 46.7 percent since last year at the same time. The year-over-year measure of starts for five unit or more structures increased a whopping 82.3 percent. Clearly, investors are anticipating strong returns from rental housing if they build enough units. Rates for 2 to 4 unit structures (which might be owner-occupied) are not showing the same kind of growth.

Permits were down in every month-over-month category, including multi-units. Permits for 2 to 4 unit structures were down more than 27 percent. Completions were up both overall (11 percent) and for single-family homes (2.6 percent). Completions increased by 36.3 percent compared to March 2012.

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National Foreclosure Activity on the Wane

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Foreclosure Activity Decreasing

March foreclosure activity decreased 44 percent annually in the non-judicial states combined.

According to the latest market report issued by RealtyTrac®, a site that monitors foreclosure activity in the U.S., first quarter foreclosure activity declined 23 percent from the same time last year. “Foreclosure activity,” meaning notices of defaults, repossessions, and scheduled auctions, dropped just one percent nationwide compared to the prior month. First quarter numbers were at their lowest since 2007.

Foreclosure starts, nationwide, had a modest (2 percent) increase since February, but some states substantially heated up. New York had a 200 percent increase in foreclosure starts from February to March. The New York Post claimed Saturday, “Federal regulators are waging a fight to protect big banks from regulatory scrutiny of illegal foreclosure activity.” Manhattan’s high-end community seems to doing okay, but the boroughs’ middle-class homeowners are just an unemployment check or hospital stay away from default. Maryland, Washington and Arkansas all saw foreclosure starts rise more than 100 percent from February to March.

Lenders’ repossessions took an average of 477 days, a record since RealtyTrac started monitoring processing time in 2007. The rate reflected an increase of 63 days from the prior quarter. The leading states for this increase, Oregon, Arkansas, and Texas, are non-judicial process states.

The State of Florida had a foreclosure filing for every 104 housing units, three times the national average. And yet, we have previously reported on the developers who are actively investing and building new homes in Florida. Does this mean Florida offers a wonderful foreclosure hunter investment opportunity? We’ll let you know the tealeaf results right after we finish these cups.

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