I had the opportunity to speak this week at the Midwest Regional ERC Conference in St Louis.  When I talked with individuals from across the country I realized how important the statement is that “There Is No Such Thing As A National Real Estate Market —… Read more

The big story for March 2012 existing homes sales was the significant decline in the inventory of homes available for sale (where the months inventory contrasts the current supply, on a seasonally-adjusted basis, to the sales rate).  Months inventory in March 2012 was 6.7 months… Read more

MarketWatch reports on the list of best opportunities for real estate investors in housing focusing on those areas with renewed job growth, shrinking inventories and those in which demand has yet to pickup to a level significantly driving up prices. Many of these more desirable… Read more

The National Association of Realtors® reported February 2012 homes sales of 4.59 million on a seasonally-adjusted annualized rate—a gain of 8.8 percent when compared to February 2011.  That’s really good news for the housing market since home prices typically follow the trajectory of sales numbers,… Read more

Yesterday the Case-Shiller Index (owned by Standard and Poors), reported that U.S. home prices declined once again, now down from the peak on a national average 33.9 percent based on  the 20-city composite index. Once again I invoke the TINSTAANREM clause—There Is No Such Thing… Read more

The National Association of Home Builders surveyed their membership on what features will likely not be included in 2012 construction as much as in the past.  Builders were asked to rate these amenities from 1 to 5 with 5 being more likely to be included. … Read more

There are very few globally-recognized locations as small as Aspen, Colorado (the entire County in which Aspen is located, Pitkin County, had a population of 17,148 in 2010 according to the U.S. Census Bureau).  In the 1970s and early 1980s I did numerous appraisal assignments… Read more

Every once in a while we need to lighten things up and this news report fits right in there the day following Valentines.  CNN reports the findings of a study conducted by Trulia that singles  prefer to date homeowners rather than renters.  Trulia commissioned Harris… Read more

The National Association of Realtors® has released the 10 metropolitan markets with the lowest median listing prices in December 2011.  Note that these are listing prices and not selling prices.  There can be a difference in the list versus median price due to several causes. … Read more

CoStar, a premier provider of real estate information, now has the best series for commercial real estate sales volumes, as unlike others, it is not restricted to minimum price levels nor to specific types of ownership.  For those not familiar with CoStar, the company is… Read more