Condolences to Fort Hood
The staff at the Real Estate Center extends its condolences to the thousands of soldiers, civilians and family members who were touched by yesterday's tragedy at Fort Hood.
Congress Approves, Expands Tax Credit
WASHINGTON (Bloomberg News, Associated Press) – The Senate and the House have approved extending the first-time homebuyer tax credit, settling on an April 30 close date and expanding it to benefit more homebuyers.
The plan, which had not been signed by President Obama as of this morning, would allow couples earning up to $225,000 a year and individuals earning up to $125,000 a year to qualify. Current parameters of the credit limit income to $75,000 for individuals and $150,000 for couples.
Additionally, buyers who have lived in their homes at least five years would be eligible to receive a $6,500 credit.
The credit would not be available for anyone buying a house worth more than $800,000. Credit recipients would have to repay it if they sold their home or stopped using it as a main residence within five years of receiving it.
So far, the Treasury Department estimates that over 1.4 million Americans have taken advantage of the program, at a cost of about $10 billion.
Landward Ho!
COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – The Real Estate Center's land expert, Dr. Charlie Gilliland talks about the year that was in Texas land and what's in store for 2010 on the latest episode of the Real Estate Red Zone podcast.
Also, Edie Craig brings along a guest for a rundown of real estate news from around the state.
To subscribe to the free podcast, just click on the RSS feed found on the podcast page. The podcast is also listed in iTunes.
So join host Bryan Pope in the Red Zone for a half hour of Texas real estate talk. And don't forget to tell your friends about it.
Dallas Defaulted Home Loans Increase
DALLAS (Dallas Morning News) – The number of Dallas-area home loans that were 90 days or more late rose to 4.95 percent in September, while an additional 1.26 percent of mortgages were in foreclosure, according to First American CoreLogic.
Local late payments in September were higher than Texas’ 4.57 percent rate, but still below the national average of 7.27 percent.
The national rate of foreclosures was 1.67 percent in September.
New Center Video Spotlights NAREB
COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – For over half a century, the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) has given a voice to the minority community's business and homeowner needs.
Better known as the "Realtists," the association recently installed its second Texan, Vincent Wimbish, as president.
Meet Wimbish in the Center's new video, "The Realtists," and take a few minutes to learn more about the organization and some of its views on today's real estate industry.
The Place to Live: Texas College Towns
PARSIPPANY, N.J. (Coldwell Banker) – Three Texas cities are among the top ten most affordable college towns in the country, according to Coldwell Banker’s 2009 Home Price Comparison Index (HPCI).
The annual College HPCI provides a comparison of similarly sized 2,200-sf, four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom homes in college markets within the 120 football bowl subdivision schools.
Fort Worth, home of Texas Christian University, ranked fifth with an average home price of $153,450.
Denton, with the University of North Texas, ranked seventh for its $154,900 average home price.
Houston, which has Rice University and the University of Houston, ranked eighth with an average home price of $159,847.
As for the rest of the state, Lubbock ranked 17th; Waco, 38th; El Paso, 52nd; College Station, 58th; Austin, 59th; and Dallas, 101st.
Alamo City Retailers Weathering Recession
SAN ANTONIO (NAI REOC Partners) – Consumers are saving more and spending less as evidenced by a 2.2 percent over-the-year drop in San Antonio’s September sales tax allocation.
“Most local retailers seem to be weathering the prolonged downturn but spending habits have changed to focus on needs more than wants,” said Bryan Parman, vice president of NAI REOC Partners.
According to the firm's survey of more than 44.5 million sf of retail space, San Antonio retail properties recorded 45,228 sf of positive net absorption in the third quarter.
At the close of the third quarter, the citywide vacancy rate improved slightly to 14.3 percent compared with 14.5 percent last quarter but increased compared with 13 percent recorded a year ago.
The citywide average quoted triple net rental rate dropped 42 cents from last quarter to reach $17.91 per sf annually, down eight cents compared with the same quarter last year.
Regional malls closed the quarter with a vacancy rate of 10.4 percent. Vacancy among the city’s power centers tightened slightly to 10.1 percent. The vacancy rate for community centers improved to 11.7 percent. Neighborhood centers remained steady over the quarter at 18.7 percent. Activity within area strip centers improved vacancy to 20.3 percent.
Less than 885,000 sf of new retail space has been delivered to the area so far this year, with less than 250,000 sf expected to come online by year’s end. In all, new construction in 2009 will total about one-third of the amount added in 2008.
Owners Become Renters
NEW YORK (Bloomberg News) – Another program has been set in motion to keep homeowners out of foreclosure. Homeowners who can’t get a loan modification may be eligible to transfer ownership to Fannie Mae and rent their home at market rates.
Homeowners must sign their deed over to the lender and be released from any second mortgages. The rental rate can be no more than 31 percent of their gross income.
Leases can be up to 12 months long, and borrowers can extend them month-to-month after that.
The program is designed to keep families in their homes and cut criminal defacement of vacant homes.
W Project's $120 Million Recap
AUSTIN (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP) – The Dallas office of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP (HFF) has arranged a $120 million recapitalization for the W Hotel & Residences, a mixed-use project under construction in downtown Austin's 2nd Street District.
Working on behalf of Stratus Properties Inc. and the Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund, HFF placed a new five-year construction loan originated by CLG Hedge Fund LLC, a hedge fund affiliated with Beal Bank Nevada. This loan is replacing an original $165 million construction financing through Corus Bank that HFF secured on behalf of the borrowers in 2008.
As part of the recapitalization, Stratus and Canyon-Johnson are also contributing $45 million to the project.
Due for completion in December 2010, the W Hotel and Residences will have 252 guest rooms and suites, about 159 residential units and approximately 54,000 sf of retail and office space. There will also be an entertainment venue operated by Live Nation and a new studio for KLRU-TV’s Austin City Limits show.
Market News Now NewsTalk Texas
COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – The Real Estate Center's online news feed, Market News, has a new identity: NewsTalk Texas.
The new name is intended to more precisely convey what the service does, which is compile real estate stories from news sources all over Texas in one convenient, searchable database.
News clips are added to the database each weekday, throughout the day. Complete text for the top 20 stories can be found at recenter.tamu.edu/newstalk.
If you click an area name listed in the left column, you get the top 20 stories for that area.
You can also search stories by topic, area and/or keyword.
NewsTalk Texas is provided free by the Center.
Willowchase Renovation Begins
HOUSTON (globest.com) – Cadence McShane Construction has begun a $12 million renovation on two buildings and a garage at Lone Star College System’s Willowchase Campus.
Once renovations and code upgrades are finished, the buildings will serve classroom and administrative purposes. Completion is set for August 2010, just in time for the new school year.
Kirksey Architecture and VLK Architects are providing the architectural services.
Renovating the rest of the 103-acre former Hewlett-Packard Campus will depend on future bond elections.
For more on the Willowchase, read past RECON coverage of the campus.
Arboretum Breaks Ground
LONGVIEW (Longview News-Journal) – The East Texas Gardens, Arboretum and Conservation group broke ground yesterday on a planned 28-acre arboretum, adjacent to Maude Cobb Convention and Activity Center.
The group has a 99-year lease with the City of Longview.
The group hopes to begin planting flowers at the site in spring and must create a long-term development plan for review by the city council in December 2010.
More Counties Designated Natural Disaster Areas
WASHINGTON (U.S. Department of Agriculture) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated 69 counties in Texas as primary natural disaster areas because of losses caused by drought, above-normal temperatures and associated wildfires that occurred during 2009.
These are in addition to 70 counties previously designated as primary natural disaster areas earlier this year for the same reason.
A full list of the counties is available on the USDA's website.
Farm operators in the designated areas are eligible for low-interest emergency loans from the USDA's Farm Service Agency provided they meet eligibility requirements. Farmers have eight months from Nov. 2 to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses.
Won't You Be Our Facebook Friend?
COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – If, like us, you're into social networking, be sure to visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/recenter.
Become our "friend," and you'll always stay up to speed on the latest happenings around the Center. And, while you're at it, be sure to let your other Facebook friends know about us.
You can also still follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/texrec.
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© 2009. Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. All rights reserved.