Housing, Economic & Social
Responsibility News
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News Headlines
Oct 4, 2006
Wanted:
Green Building Contractor
Eco-conscious consumers seeking like-minded builders are waiting for the
industry to catch up.
Despite increasing demand for environmentally friendly
remodeling projects, there are still not enough contractors to go around in many
cities. Inquiries to Build It Green, a nonprofit organization that provides free
advice to homeowners in the San Francisco area, have increased 750 percent in
the last three years. Yet, finding architects and contractors who know their way
around green building materials can be difficult.
August 4, 2006
July 27, 2006
Widening
income gap to wreak havoc on consumer confidence
Home-buying plans fall to 15-year low, survey finds
July 20, 2006
Yurts:
Affordable housing with an indigenous twist
Housing design survives several millennia
July 19, 2006
Economist:
'The housing market's in trouble'
Confidence among U.S. homebuilders dropped this month to the
lowest level in more than 14 years as sales fell and orders were canceled. ''The
housing market's in trouble,'' said Joseph Lavorgna, chief U.S. economist at
Deutsche Bank AG in New York. ''We have become decidedly more cautious on the
outlook since the index has started falling.''
The home builders survey asks builders to characterize current sales as
''good,'' ''fair'' or ''poor'' and also asks them to gauge prospective buyers'
traffic. Readings below 50 mean more builders view sales conditions as poor than
as good. Builders are also asked to gauge prospective buyer traffic and
expectations for the next six months.
Economists polled by Bloomberg News forecast a reading of 41 this month,
according to the median of 23 projections. The index averaged 67 last year and
has dropped 31 points in 12 months.
The drop in overall confidence ''reflects growing builder uncertainty on the
heels of reduced sales and increased cancellations related to eroding
affordability as well as an ongoing withdrawal of investors/speculators from the
marketplace,'' David Seiders, chief economist at the National Association of
Home Builders, said.
July 18, 2006
Home Sweet Durable Home
They
are as sturdy as they are energy efficient. Thermal
mass walls consist primarily of concrete with added layers of Styrofoam and
polystyrene. Sturdy assembly, utilizing a unique fiber composite connector
drilled every 16 inches on center, makes them one of the most durable wall
systems available on today's construction market. Thermal Mass walls boast an
R-value of 11.33 which translates into considerable heating and energy savings
especially during the winter and summer months. What's even better, these walls
are so dense they serve as an effective sound barrier to outside noise.
July 14, 2006
Redefining
American Beauty, by the Yard
In a quintessential 1950's tract community southeast of downtown LA, the
transformation of one family's front yard from one of grass to one dense with
pattypan squash plants, cornstalks, millionaire eggplants, crimson sweet
watermelons, and about 195 other edible varieties is part of a nascent "delawning"
movement.
July 11, 2006
West
Coast climate change could threaten wine production, study suggests
Climate warming could spell disaster for much of the multibillion-dollar U.S.
wine industry. Areas suitable for growing premium wine grapes...
July 10, 2006
Californians
Shake Off Home Prices For Opportunity
Home sellers continue to rule in California, but buyers are slowly gaining
ground. Prices no longer rise by double digits and the inventory of better homes
is thinning.
Jul 6, 2006
Competition
for Customers Changing Malls
The Urban Land Institute has ideas for malls that wants to be transformed into
multi-use town centers.
Jul 4, 2006
Keeping
America Independent
Can a great nation be both politically independent and deeply in debt?
Jul 3, 2006
Most
Homeowners Support Affordable Housing
According to a survey released June 27, 2006 by the National Association of
Realtors
The survey found that more than 42 percent of Americans cite the lack of
affordable housing in their community as one of their top three concerns,
following high energy costs (82 percent) and the lack of affordable health care
(53 percent). Nearly a third worry that the cost of housing is so unaffordable
that they will never be able to buy a home and more than 58 percent are
concerned that the cost of a home is becoming so unaffordable that it is hurting
their local economy.
Anywhere between one-fifth and one-third report not seeing as much of friends
and family and not being as involved in their neighborhood as they would like.
They also report missing out on promotions, having less productivity and cutting
back on vacations because they have to work too much to pay for their home or
they don’t have the money because of high home costs.
The lack of affordable housing is also affecting renters. More than
two-thirds (68 percent) of Americans believe having enough money to pay rent
every month is difficult for families in their community, up 7 percent from last
year.
Support for affordable housing is high. Eight in 10 would be willing to
support more affordable homes being made available for people in their community
and a record 68 percent would be more likely to vote for a candidate that worked
to make housing more affordable in their area, up six percent in two years.
(So, why do
the "I-got-miners" control the local debate? - moderator)
July 2, 2006
Test
driving a cityscape
The world's cities are growing all the time, and in France some are being
modelled by computer for the purposes of urban redevelopment.
Jun 30, 2006
Santa
Barbara Permaculture Network Presentation
Tonight at SB City College, Bland Auditorium - 7PM
Jun 27, 2006
Backyard
apartments? Seattle may experiment with the idea
Kate Martin wants to build an apartment in the garage behind her house in
Seattle's Greenwood neighborhood, hoping to bring in enough rent..
Jun 26, 2006
For-Sale
Frenzy in Phoenix:
The Condo Sector Sizzles as Developers,
Investors Rev Up Conversion,
Construction
By Maria Siakavellas - APRIL 01, 2005 -- Phoenix—The desert climate is not the
only hot thing this city has going for it. The multi-housing sector here has
been on fire as of late, helped by healthy employment growth. And the forecast
is that Phoenix will continue to add jobs at an aggressive pace for at least the
next 12 months.
Market
Conditions
Many small towns are taking steps to preserve the past, but with appreciation
rates and mounting corporate pressure, it doesn't come cheap.
Home
Builder "Incentives" to Buyers Under Federal Scrutiny
"Free" builder upgrades, settlement cost discounts and other
incentives are coming under scrutiny, when builders tie them to mandatory use of
affiliated mortgage lenders. Federal housing commissioner Montgomery issues
statement on the rules: the incentives must be real, they must be voluntary, and
they cannot be made up elsewhere in the transaction. Ken Harney reports.
Jun 23, 2006
NeighborWorks
Prepares For Flood Of Mortgage Delinquencies
Preparations to help home owners survive mortgage delinquencies are reaching
levels typically associated with natural disaster preparedness and that
underscores potential for financial catastrophe.
Jun 22, 2006
Soft
Landing for Housing Predicted
The nation's turbocharged housing market is certainly slowing, prognosticators
say, but most voices associated with the industry say the slowdown should be
gradual and the landing "soft." But some outside observers, with less
investment in the status quo, see home prices going off a cliff.
Creative
Advertising? Heck No, It's False Advertising
As the housing market softens and interest rates rise, lenders are becoming
bolder in using deceptive advertising in order to bring in business. Consumers
beware, Henry Savage warns.
Solar
Energy Emergency
The public is becoming aware that coal burning plower plants are the single
largest cause of global warming. That coupled with rising energy costs are
pushing solar energy to the forefront of homebuyers minds.
Jun 17, 2006
Combating
Rising Foreclosures Rates for African Americans
By Mark H. Morial, civilrights.org
Marc H. Morial is President and CEO of the National Urban League.
His column is published weekly.
There is no doubt that economic empowerment is the new civil rights movement
of the 21st Century. And one of the keys to achieving this goal and bridging
the economic gap between the African-American community and other communities
is increasing homeownership, the primary source for assets and wealth in the
African American community.
Jun 16, 2006
Realty
Reality: Seller's Actions May Ratify Agent's Signing
A recent memo from the California Association of Realtors' (CAR) Legal
Department draws our attention to some important principles with respect to the
signing of contracts.
Jun 15, 2006
HUD
HONORS FOUR COMMUNITIES WITH ROBERT L. WOODSON, JR. AWARD FOR REDUCING
REGULATORY BARRIERS TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING
WASHINGTON - US FED NEWS
The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development issued the following
press release:
The Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced three local
communities and one state agency will be presented HUD's Robert L. Woodson, Jr.
Award for reducing burdensome regulations that unnecessarily inflate the cost of
housing. HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson recognized these state and local efforts
as national models in the effort to reducing unnecessary, outdated, and
duplicative regulations that put the cost of housing out of reach of police
officers, firefighters, teachers, returning veterans, and many other hardworking
Americans.
The following communities are the recipients of this year's Woodson Award:
Mount Joy, Pennsylvania; Suffolk County, New York; and, San Jose, California. In
addition, the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development was
selected for its efforts to reduce regulatory barriers to affordable housing
throughout the state (see attached summaries).
"When hard working families can't afford to live in their own
communities because of man-made regulations, it's time for some honest soul
searching," said Jackson. "These communities are working overtime to
remove excessive and burdensome regulations that have long outlived their
usefulness and, in the process, they're putting out the welcome mat for the very
people anyone would be proud to call 'neighbor.'"
The Robert L. Woodson, Jr. Award is named in memory of HUD's late chief of
staff and is designed to recognize state and local governments who aggressively
work to reduce regulatory barriers to affordable housing.
America's Affordable Community Initiative
Regulatory barriers to affordable housing are public regulatory requirements,
payments or processes that significantly impede the development and availability
of affordable housing without providing a commensurate health and/or safety
benefit. These barriers can impede housing rehabilitation, limit supply and
raise the cost of new development by up to 35 percent. As a result, millions of
Americans are priced out of buying or renting the kind of housing they otherwise
could afford.
In 2003, HUD made barrier reduction one of the Department's top priorities
and created America's Affordable Community Initiative. HUD continues to review
its own regulations to identify those that effectively discourage the production
of affordable housing. Meanwhile, HUD is aggressively working with state and
local leaders to create more affordable housing-friendly environments around the
country. For more information about this important priority, visit the
affordable communities site http://www.hud.gov/affordablecommunities/.
HUD is the nation's housing agency committed to increasing homeownership,
particularly among minorities; creating affordable housing opportunities for
low-income Americans; and supporting the homeless, elderly, people with
disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic
and community development, and enforces the nation's fair housing laws. More
information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov
and espanol.hud.gov. For more information about FHA products, please visit www.fha.gov.
2006 ROBERT L. WOODSON, JR. AWARD RECIPIENTS
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA
Located in one of the most expensive housing regions in the country, the City
of San Jose has long recognized the need for providing affordable housing. By
the mid-1990s the City needed 13,000 units of affordable housing to meet the
demands of its lower-income citizens. In addition to complex state-mandated land
use regulations, the city's numerous development fees and taxes acted to
seriously inhibit the production of affordable housing. After struggling to
balance the pressing need for more affordable housing with city's other goals
and programs, the city took action in 1999 by making affordable housing a
priority and setting ambitious goals for the production of affordable housing.
Since that time, the city has added 7,500 affordable housing units, and is on
track of meeting it's a goal of 10,000 units by December of 2006.
Specific Actions Taken
* Created Housing Opportunity Studies effort to identify and rezone urban,
transit-oriented infill sites suitable for high-density housing, including
affordable housing. To date, 520 affordable housing units have been completed as
part of this effort.
* Exempted affordable housing projects from park impact fees and various
construction fees, resulting in a $27 million in cost savings for such
developments.
* Joined with Habitat for Humanity and Youthbuild to produced 580 affordable
units on formerly surplus city-owned land.
MOUNT JOY BOROUGH, PENNSYLVANIA
The affordable housing problems experienced in Mount Joy, a bedroom community
of Harrisburg, are very similar to those experienced by many other suburban
communities. Zoning restrictions and building specifications prompted a dramatic
rise in land and home prices, prohibiting builders from making profits on
affordable housing. Recognizing the problem in 2004, municipal officers held a
public workshop bringing residents and the development community to the table.
The workshop was very successful and participants developed a consensus on a
comprehensive development plan for Mount Joy permitting greater density on the
available sites.
The first fruits of the plan led a new is a mixed-use development called
Florin Hills. Seventy-five out Florin Hills' more than 450 new units will be
affordable, 18 more than the 57 total units that the old zoning requirements
would have allowed. Both Governor Edward Rendell and the Housing Alliance of
Pennsylvania recognized Mount Joy's achievement as a model for meeting the
affordable housing needs in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Specific Actions Taken
* Hosted a two-night public workshop that brought together all parties
resulting in a comprehensive plan offering incentives to both developers and the
Borough of Mount Joy. Due to the inclusive nature of this workshop, the
resulting plan had no opposition upon its implementation.
* The Borough amended, waived, or otherwise revised 52 development and zoning
regulations that were barriers to the development of affordable housing units.
* Mount Joy provided a Workforce Housing Density Bonus that created a
powerful incentive for builders to build one additional home per acre if at
least 10 percent of new homes are affordable.
* Borough planners approved Florin Hills, a new mixed-use development
characterized by affordable and market rate housing, access to public transit,
and high-density housing. Changes in density requirements and zoning laws
allowed this to go from a 57-unit development to one with more than 450 units.
SUFFOLK COUNTY, NEW YORK
Over the past decade, Suffolk County has become one of the most expensive
housing markets in the country. Like many communities on Long Island, median
home prices are at least $400,000 over the national average, forcing many young
families to leave the communities where they were raised. To prevent further
flight that threaten the County's future economic health, the newly elected
county executive took several actions in 2004 to identify and remove regulatory
barriers to affordable housing development in the county. With substantial
public pressure to fix the problem, the county created two major initiatives to
address the issue - the Workforce Housing Commission and the Red Tape Reduction
Plan. Because the authority to make housing and land decisions resides with the
42 local governments in the county, the county government served in the roles of
convener/coordinator, educator, expediter, and cajoler to streamline the
regulatory review processes involved in housing development approvals. The
Workforce Housing Development Commission made recommendations for regulatory
barrier reduction, and the Red Tape Reduction Plan worked to streamline county
reviews of water and sewage permits. These efforts have substantially impacted
the complex nature of regulatory issues at the county level leading to 31 new
applications for affordable communities and 300 new affordable units during its
first year of implementation.
Specific Actions Taken
* Established the Workforce Housing Commission bringing individual townships
and the private sector together to address this issue. This committee
recommended several streamlining measures that have been implemented at the
county and local governmental levels. Many of the measures give priority to
affordable housing developments.
* Established the Red Tape Reduction Plan that has cut permitting time in
half and has significantly streamlined efficiency.
* Implemented "one-stop" permitting process has been reduced review
periods from 16 to 4 weeks.
* Authorized "fast track" permitting for developments containing at
least 20 percent affordable housing proposals cutting the review period from
four weeks to just one.
* Appointed one representative per town to shepherd affordable housing
developments through town processes.
MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Since 1970, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has been a leader in addressing
its affordable housing needs in its implementation of its widely known Chapter
40B or "anti-snob zoning program." This program allows the state to
override local zoning and approve affordable housing developments if local
affordable housing goals have not been met. Despite the existence of this
program, however, the state has seen a dramatic increase in the price of housing
over the past two decades. Housing prices have increased 200 percent over that
period and building permits have decreased precipitously.
While the program has resulted in the construction of over 30,000 affordable
housing units since its inception, local officials have been critical of 40B
approval process, which they believe has resulted in the approval of housing
developments that were inappropriate. To address these concerns, the State's
Department of Housing and Community Development assembled a state-wide task
force to review the program and to make recommendations to improve the way it is
administered. These recommendations allowed local governments the opportunity to
assure that affordable housing proposals are appropriate, to gave communities
new opportunities to meet their affordable housing goals, and provided local
governments technical assistance to meet their goals. As a result of the Task
Force's recommended changes, 75 new local affordable housing plans have been
created since 2003. Between 2002-2005, housing permits have increased 34 percent
(17,465 - 23,480), 20 percent of which used Chapter 40B.
Specific Actions Taken
* Developed a Task Force to reaffirm the need for affordable housing, analyze
Chapter 40B to study its effectiveness and appropriateness, and propose possible
modifications to the Statute.
* Created initiatives to provide assistance to communities experiencing
problems with the technical and public relations aspects of developing
affordable housing.
* Streamlined and consolidated the planning process, allowing developers and
municipalities to work together.
* Developed an online "Planning and Housing Development Toolkit"
offering guidance and resources for local communities leaders to utilize in
creating affordable housing plans.
Contact: Brian Sullivan, 202/708-0685.
Jun 13, 2006
Condo
Conversions: A Driving Force in Florida's Residential Markets
For developers, condominium conversions offer far fewer risks than new
construction. It is possible to convert a 250-unit rental community in less than
a year, compared with the three years or longer it takes to prepare the plans,
obtain the approvals and complete the sale of a similarly sized new condominium
development.
Asking
Prices Online Fall Most Sharply in Florida, California, Massachusetts and
Washington, D.C. Suburbs, According to Market Research Firm
JUNE
13, 2006
-- New York -- The number of existing homes listed online for sale in the
largest 100 metro areas in the US reached 2.3 million in May 2006, up from 1.3
million in May, 2005, according to market research firm Corzen's Real Estate
Indicators survey. Some counties have seen properties listings online increase
as much as 400 percent.
Jun 12, 2006
Allstate
Dropping Most Earthquake Insurance Nationwide
Allstate Insurance Co. says it is dropping earthquake insurance to most of its
407,000 quake customers nationwide as a part of a larger move to reduce exposure
to catastrophic losses..
Jun 10, 2006
Mixed-Income
versus Low-Income Housing
Jun 9, 2006
What
Do Wealthy Real Estate Holders Do To Get Richer?
Recent reports have suggested that America's wealthiest people don't place
much stock in real estate values going up this year. But with the stock market
so volatile, where else would they put their money?
China National News
SHANGHAI : China will crackdown on the building of luxury homes, as other
tough measures aimed at slowing a housing boom that has driven prices sky-high
came into effect. The Ministry of Land Resources has called on local and
provincial governments to "immediately" halt the approval of high-end
homes and urbanisations projects, the China Daily said.
Dangerous
liaisons
Exotic mortgages remain popular despite increasing risks
Entrepreneur
turns green thumb toward affordable housing
San Antonio Business Journal - by Tamarind Phinisee
A (San Antonio, TX) conservationist plans to jump start her
company by doing a pilot building project in the next three or four months in
the San Antonio market.
Mimi Zoch, chairman and CEO of locally based LionForce Building Systems LLC,
says the project will be focused on the construction of green, or energy
efficient, affordable housing.
Jun 8, 2006
Urban-style
project will bring taller buildings to Bothell
After decades of spreading out,
suburban Bothell is about to go up. A $125 million mixed-use project will bring
the city's first mid-rise structures — plus 400 new condominiums, office,
retail and restaurant space. About 90,000 square feet of retail and restaurant
space will surround pedestrian plazas and parklike space in the eight-building
complex...."It's a really strong urban design," he
said. "You can compare it to the really nice urban areas in Seattle,
Bellevue and Redmond where the automobile isn't the focus. Bothell's a growing
community and they need these kinds of spaces."
Jun 7, 2006
Vancouver
- healthy, happy and high density (edited/shortened)
Making space for families to live downtown is central to Vancouver's
innovative approach to urban renewal, writes Frank McDonald,
Environment Editor. Most North American cities have been turned into doughnuts
by decades of flight to the suburbs. Not so in Vancouver, the third largest
metropolis in Canada. At least 45,000 people have moved downtown in the last 15
years - more than doubling its population, which is now expected to reach
120,000 by 2020.
None of this has happened by accident. As director of planning Larry Beasley
explains, Vancouver has a strong planning and regulatory regime, one of the most
interventionist in North America.
"What we've tried to do is to take pressure off delicate areas by
opening up development opportunities elsewhere".
The city has an incentive programme to save heritage buildings, under which
owners are allowed to sell their "air rights" to developers in other
parts of town - thus raising much-needed cash to fund renovation and restoration
schemes; the quid pro quo is that the buildings are listed for protection in
perpetuity.
"Living First" became the city's strategy. In other words, downtown
was no longer seen as merely as a location for office blocks, hotels and
shopping malls.
Housing was given top priority and, with extraordinary foresight, the
planners made it a policy that 25 per cent of what was built had to be suitable
for family living.
(click title for more of the article)
Jun 5, 2006
First-time
Buyer Programs Help Turn Renters into Homeowners
June is national homeownership month and while that may not mean much to those
who already own homes, it can be a sore spot for non-homeowners who are hoping
and in many cases, especially in California, struggling to save enough money to
one day settle into a home they own.
Jun 2, 2006
Business for Social Responsibility
The Stakeholder
Fiduciary: CSR, Governance & the Future of Boards
This paper explores how corporate boards do, could and should relate to the
CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) agenda.
California
Building Industry Association - Principals & Policies
New Communities - A Strategy for Building California's Future
Excerpt: "The median income in California is $50,000. But, that income
would have to nearly triple before the family earning it could qualify for the
state's median-priced home of $535,000".
Housing Affordability
Continues to Fall: A new report showed that
California's housing affordability crisis continued to worsen in the first
quarter of 2006. But proposals now pending before the Legislature could improve
the ability of California families to buy a home. Learn
more
Find
out how affordable homes are in your metro area.
IRS
Ruling Imperils 'Gift Fund' Charities For Home Buyers
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, June 2, 2006; Page A01
A ruling by the Internal Revenue Service threatens to extinguish a
fast-growing -- but controversial -- charitable industry that has funneled
hundreds of millions of dollars in cash to first-time home buyers for their
down payments.
The unexpected IRS edict throws into question a practice that has helped
boost national home ownership rates to a near-record 69 percent in the past
six years.
Under the system, sellers provide cash to the charities, which then give it
to home buyers for their down payments. The sellers, who pay the charities a
service fee, often recoup their money by charging a higher price for the homes
-- usually 2 or 3 percent more, or an amount equal to the down payment, says a
Government Accountability Office study.
Federal authorities have raised concerns, because the mortgages are insured
by the Federal Housing Administration. When a home buyer defaults, the FHA
loan fund suffers. Home buyers receiving assistance from the charities were
more than twice as likely to default or become delinquent in their payments as
those who used FHA loans without the charities' assistance, according to a GAO
study last year.
Although the system has helped hundreds of thousands of low-income
households buy their first homes, it is riddled with abuse, according to the
IRS and a variety of government studies. The IRS called the programs
"scams" in its ruling last month and said that by providing down
payments, the charities actually inflated home prices, making it more likely
that homeowners would default on their loans.
The IRS's "revenue ruling," issued May 4, states that charities
that dole out cash to home buyers that comes from sellers do not qualify as
tax-exempt organizations because they benefit private interests, such as
builders and other home sellers. The IRS expects to begin revoking some
charities' tax-exempt status as it finishes audits, said Marvin Friedlander,
chief of the IRS's exempt-organizations technical branch. The IRS also could
assess the organizations millions of dollars in income taxes if it decides
they are for-profit organizations, not charities.
36
Ways To Save Water
Drought grips much of the nation's High Plains region and areas nearby in the
Southwest where water conservation has become a way of life. Here's how to
change your lifestyle to fit drought conditions.
Jun 1, 2006
BLACKS, LATINOS PAY MORE FOR MORTGAGES
ERIK
ECKHOLM,
NY TIMES - Black and Hispanic home buyers entering the fast-growing
market for sub-prime mortgages tend to pay higher interest rates than whites
with similar credit ratings, a statistical study by an advocacy group says.
The subprime industry makes loans at higher interest rates to people who
cannot qualify for regular mortgages. . .
As many as one in five home loans are now sub-prime, totaling more than $500
billion a year, said Keith S. Ernst, an author of the report who is an analyst
at the lending center, in Washington. Borrowers typically pay two percentage
points higher than they would for conventional loans. Some, judged the
riskiest cases, are charged higher rates, forcing them to pay hundreds of
dollars extra a month.
May 29, 2006
New
Study Sounds Alert on High-Risk "Payment Option" and Interest-Only
Loans
Though lenders say they target only borrowers with above-average incomes and
higher than average credit scores for "payment option" and
interest-only mortgages, a new national study finds that is not necessarily the
case. More than half of borrowers taking out interest-only mortgages in 2005 had
below-average credit scores, according to the Consumer Federation of America.
Ken Harney reports.
May 31, 2006
Sky-High Housing Prices Boosting Rents
in U.S.
Day
to Day, May 31, 2006 · Housing prices
within the United States have reached such highs that many who would like to buy
a home are instead forced into the rental market -- and as a result, landlords
are finding they can charge higher rents. Is the sky-high cost of housing
sparking inflation fears? Madeleine Brand talks with David Laray, chief
economist with the National Association of Realtors, about the current real
estate picture
May 28, 2006
Manufactured
Dreams
With spacious, affordable models, it's easy to build hope on these houses.
By J.N. Sbranti / Modesto Bee - The prices are tantalizing: New
2,600-square-foot houses for $129,000 or 1,188-square-foot houses for $62,000.
That's why a record number of new manufactured homes — 10,783 — were
purchased last year in California.
May 25, 2006
With the following news
occurring, it would seem the only way
to get quality and affordable homes built in any quantity near to existing
employment in South County is to vote to support the option to split the
county in the upcoming June 6, 2006 election. Then the new version of Santa Barbara
County will ostensibly still be required by the State to allow higher-density housing
closer in to the existing area.
This organization therefore supports the county split proposition H2006.
S. Coast handed reprieve on growth:
Freeing South Coast neighborhoods from high-density growth
required by the state, the county Planning Commission on Wednesday night
unanimously agreed to place 56 acres of new homes in the North County. At a
tense meeting, More»
N.
County to absorb most housing
Nearly all sites for new affordable housing will be in
the North County, primarily in Orcutt, after the Santa Barbara County Planning
Commission chose Wednesday not to consider additional South Coast sites to meet
state mandates.
Ten sites totaling about 90 acres in Orcutt, Los Alamos
and Mission Hills will be the primary focus of environmental review to determine
whether they can support high-density housing. About two-thirds of the 90 acres
are in Orcutt.
May 19, 2006
Renewable
Energy Homes Still A Dream of the Future
A future of "green living" is closer than you might think. Now is the
time for YOU to take action.
May 17, 2006
Dan Walters says California's economy has been undergoing massive change to
create a two-tier system of employment - lots of demand for low-skill, low-wage
labor and for high-skill, high-wage labor but a shrinkage in the middle. See
what else he had to say during his weekly Capitol Q&A.
May 16, 2006
NRT
Sends Strong Let's-Play-Fair Message To Brokers, Associates
It's about accountability. NRT, the nation's largest brokerage, says it's
committing to educating its associates about Fair Housing and diversity, with a
little help from the National Association of Realtors and the National Community
Reinvestment Coalition.
Mortgages
In The News
Both Harper's magazine and Warren Buffett have now weighed in on the growing
issue of toxic loans. Peter G. Miller comments. With newsstands dominated by
scary headlines, Hollywood break-ups and still more diet plans, Harper's
magazine is typically somber and understated. However, for those with an
interest in real estate the May
issue offers a jarring cover story that's tough to ignore: "The New
Road to Serfdom: An illustrated guide to the coming real estate collapse"
by Michael Hudson.
May 12, 2006
Expected action by the City of Goleta to
defy the state could lead to civil lawsuits. In a split vote Thursday, the Goleta
City Council kept alive a proposed housing policy the state has already
rejected, a decision that could leave the city open to civil lawsuits and delay
new construction. In a 3-2 vote, Councilman Jack Hawxhurst, More»
April 28, 2006
From Origination News & Broker Universe
Some 75 metropolitan statistical areas are now facing home price
"bubbles," up slightly from a previous reading, according to a new
research report issued by Friedman Billings Ramsey, Arlington, Va. Using
fourth-quarter data, FBR also says there are 28 "incipient" MSA
bubbles in the United States, compared with 31 identified in the previous
quarter. Even though FBR economist Michael D. Youngblood says he expects home
price gains to slow, he is still quite bullish on California. Home values in
California should rise on a "median year-over-year" basis by 26.3%,
Mr. Youngblood writes in the report. FBR says that for the bubbles to actually
pop in the 75 identified MSAs, values need to fall significantly. In Santa
Barbara, Calif., for instance, home prices need to fall by almost 65%, according
to FBR. The company identifies bubbles by comparing home prices with an MSA's
per capita personal income.
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Roofs for Healthy Cities has surveyed its Corporate Members, asking
member companies to report on completed projects in 2004 and 2005.
Results indicate: