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DID HIGH GASOLINE PRICES CAUSE THE HOUSING MELTDOWN? |
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 Economists at the University of California’s Berkeley campus
and Oregon State University are pointing fingers at high
gasoline prices in 2008 and suggesting that they led to the
housing meltdown that stuck that fall.
“The key word is ‘triggered,’” said economist JunJie Wu of
Oregon State. “This theory recognizes the role of subprime
mortgages and lax lending practices as inflating the housing
bubble, but high gasoline prices provided the trigger that
burst the bubble.”
The study, conducted by Wu and Berkeley economists Steven
Sexton and David Zilberman, pointed out that relatively low
fuel prices and easy credit and creative financing drove up
the interest in homes far away from the owners’ places of
work. When oil and gas prices skyrocketed, values of homes
in the suburbs plummeted, leading to walkaways and other
foreclosure activity.
“The real-estate mantra is ‘location, location, location,’”
Wu said. “If you find yourself in a location that is far
from your work and transportation costs rise suddenly, that
location can lower the value of your house.”
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DRUG STORE BUILDINGS TEND
TO BE SAFE INVESTMENTS |
 Buildings designed to house drug
stores tend to be relatively safe
investments, because pharmacies are
in somewhat of a recession-proof
industry. Regardless of the economy,
people in all walks of life need
prescription medication, as the
population, especially the aging
population, continues to grow. As
people age, their need for medicine
usually increases. More surgery is
done in the United States than ever
before, and the demand for medicine
rises along with this trend.
Most drug stores keep their pharmacy
counters in the back, requiring
prescription customers to pass
non-pharmaceutical products, often
impulse items, during their visit to
the store. As a result, about 30% to
35% of the sales go to
non-pharmaceutical items.
ELLIOTT® & Company Appraisers is
qualified to provide appraisals,
evaluations, research, consulting
and representation for all pharmacy
locations. We, as professionals, are
equipped to handle the many unique
opportunities and challenges
presented by a wide range of sizes
and types of drug store properties.
Our team of Certified General
Appraisers, including those with the
prestigious MAI designation,
contains members with a thorough
understanding of the variety of
contemporary issues unique to the
drug store industry. |
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CENSUS REPORTS LOW
HOMEOWNERSIP AND VACANCY RATES
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The U.S. Census Bureau reported that
the homeownership rate in this
country dropped in the first quarter
to 65.5%, the lowest it has been
since the first quarter of 1997.
Meanwhile, the national homeowner
vacancy rate dropped to 2.2%. It was
at 2.6% during the first quarter of
last year. The rental vacancy rate
fell to 8.8% after having been at
9.7% in the first quarter of 2011.
Also declining, according to the
report was the median asking sale
price for a vacant home, which was
$133,800 in the first quarter, the
lowest it has been since the second
quarter of 2005. The median asking
rent in the first quarter, however,
went up. It was $721 in the first
quarter, $9 higher than it had been
in the previous quarter. |
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TEXAS TOPS LIST OF FASTEST
GROWING CITIES |
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 Forbes has recently published the
result of a study designed to
determine the fastest-growing cities
in the United States. To do so, the
business-media company’s staffers on
the project used Moody’s Analytics
data of the largest 100 metropolitan
areas. They looked at positively at
projected economic growth and
negatively at high unemployment
rates, as well as low median income.
With that formula, the five
fastest-growing metropolitan areas
are:
- Austin,
- Dallas-Fort Worth,
- San Jose,
- Houston and
- Salt Lake City.
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NOTES OF VALUE |
-
 A
20% spike in multifamily housing
permits in March caused housing
permits that month to increase
to their highest level since
September 2008, according to a
report issued April 17 by the
Census Bureau and HUD.
- Jennifer Aniston recently
sold two apartments on Twelfth
Street at Westside Village in
Manhattan for $6.5 million. Last
year she paid $7.01 million for
this property and had plans on
converting it into one large
unit. She is currently renting a
house in Los Angeles while the
Beverly Hills home she bought
for $21 million is being
completed.
- The April HousingPulse
Tracking Survey, conducted by
Campbell Surveys concluded that
prices for non-distressed homes
declined 5.7% in March from what
it had been in March 2011.
- The home, in Sudbury, Mass.,
which belonged to Babe Ruth from
1922 until 1926, is currently on
the market for $1.65 million.
Even though it’s in the suburbs
of Boston, where Ruth began his
big league career, the slugging
outfielder was playing with the
New York Yankees at the time. In
addition to the 5,000
square-foot, five bedroom house,
the property includes a
one-bedroom apartment, a barn,
office space and garage bays.
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ASK MARTITIA |
Question:
A client asks an
appraiser to perform an appraisal of
real property, but not prepare a
written report. Instead the client
wants the appraiser to report the
results of the appraisal orally.
Does USPAP allow this?
Martitia: Yes. The
Uniform Standards of Professional
Appraisal Practice allows appraisers
to deliver oral reports, but
appraisal reports, as well as
appraisal-review and
appraisal-consulting reports “must
be clearly and accurately set forth
in a manner that is not misleading
and contain sufficient information
to enable intended users to
understand the report properly.”
Martitia Mortimer, Elliott's
executive vice president, answers
appraisal questions on a regular
basis in Elliott Evaluation News. |
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QUOTES OF WIT &
WISDOM |
“You may not be able to read a
doctor’s handwriting and
prescription, but you’ll notice
his bills are neatly
typewritten.” – Earl Wilson
“A weed is a plant that has
mastered every survival skill
except for learning how to grow
in rows.” – Doug Larson
“The death of democracy is not
likely to be an assassination
from ambush. It will be a slow
extinction from apathy,
indifference and
undernourishment.” – Robert
Maynard Hutchins
“If it weren’t for Philo T.
Farnsworth, inventor of
television, we’d still be eating
frozen radio dinners.”
– Johnny Carson
“A man convinced against his
will is not convinced.” –
Laurence Peter
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ELLIOTT® & Company
Appraisers • 3316-A Battleground
Avenue • Greensboro, NC 27410 •
(800) 854-5889 |
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