New York City Remains World's Most Expensive Retail Destination in 3Q

Based on new research from CBRE Group, New York City remains the world's most expensive shopping destination as retailers focus on the major fashion capitals, but as the Eurozone crisis continues to impact consumer confidence; rents have leveled off in all global regions in the third quarter of 2011.

"Retailers continued to expand their store networks to gain market share during the third quarter despite concerns regarding consumer confidence," said Anthony Buono, CBRE Executive Managing Director of Retail Services. "In particular, Asia has seen significant levels of occupier demand in destinations such as Singapore, China and India, while retailers in the U.S. and Western Europe have   generally remained more cautious."

New York's Fifth Avenue remains the world's most expensive shopping destination, with rents remaining constant at US$1,900 per sq. ft. per annum. The CBRE survey of the world's most expensive global retail cities saw little change in Q3 2011 compared to the previous quarter. Hong Kong (US$1,695 sq. ft. per annum) remained the second-most-expensive retail market, with annual rents in 2011 rising by 52.8%.

Sydney (US$1,224 sq. ft. per annum) retained third in the rankings, while London (US$961 sq. ft. per annum) moved up one position to fourth from Q2 2011 as competition for prime locations in the city's West End led to an annual rental increase of 5.6% in Q3 2011.

Total retail rents at a global level were broadly flat quarter on quarter (-0.6%) in Q3 2011, with the Americas seeing a fall of 2.0% and rents unchanged in the Asia Pacific and Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) regions. This represents a significant slowdown from earlier in the year, as retailers take a more cautious approach to expansion.

"In spite of the uncertain economic outlook, retailers continue to expand their store networks," said Ray Torto, CBRE's Global Chief Economist. "The emerging markets, particularly Asia, provide attractive opportunities for growth, although prime locations in Europe's biggest cities are also attracting a high level of occupier demand, as consumers increasingly target major destinations with the widest choice of retailers. Overall, however, retailers have been taking a more cautious approach to expansion, resulting in flat rental growth across the globe in the third quarter--a considerable slowdown from earlier in the year."
worldpropertychannel.com

Eurozone crisis affecting UK property market as prices fall 3.1%

Economic uncertainty and the crisis in the eurozone in particular is starting to spook the UK real estate markets with prices falling by 3.1% in the last month, according to the latest report from Rightmove published today (Monday 21 November).

There has been a 13% fall in the number of new sellers coming onto the market compared with last month and a 11% fall compared with November 2011, its analysis shows.
Also asking prices have fallen over 3%, an average of £7,528, the largest monetary fall since December 2007 and third largest percentage fall on record.

It points out that this early onset of the seasonal slowdown strengthens buyers’ negotiating power. Some 70% of home movers feel it is currently a bad time to sell, offering opportunities for proceedable buyers to swoop. Also winter bargain opportunities’ exist for investors that are fuelled by rising rents and intensifying competition among buy to let lenders.
‘Markets dislike uncertainty, and so do people who are deciding whether or not to enter the property market. Agents report that many would be sellers are postponing their marketing until the New Year, influenced by the current wall to wall media coverage of the Greeks and Italians attempting to get their own far flung houses in order. It’s no great surprise that those who have braved the stormy conditions have had to accept a substantial haircut on their asking prices,’ said Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove.
All regions are showing monthly price falls, the first time this has happened for over three years. However, with lower levels of new listings, especially in higher price brackets, there is some volatility at a regional level, the report points out.
The overall theme of a more buoyant market in the south and a harder hit north remains, though there is nationwide consensus that the balance of power tips further still against sellers.

Findings from the Rightmove Consumer Confidence Survey for the fourth quarter show that 70% of home movers feel that it is currently a bad time to sell. They also believe buyers now have much improved negotiating power, with 61% stating they felt it was a currently good time to buy.
‘While most home movers will have seen some foreign prime ministers losing their jobs, they will be much more keenly aware of the unsettled outlook for their own employment locally. When you are busy looking over your shoulder, you are unlikely to think it is a good market for selling,’ said Shipside.

‘However, that does mean there are opportunities for those who are able to buy, especially as the earlier than usual seasonal slowdown will leave sellers who have to sell in an even weaker negotiating position. Those who are looking to trade up should not lose heart however, as while you may have to accept a lower price for your own property, you should be able to negotiate a good deal on whatever you are buying,’ he explained.
Those who are highly motivated to sell will have to prepare for a longer period of subdued buyer activity before the market traditionally picks up in the new year, especially in locations where there is an oversupply of property for sale.

Average unsold property per estate agency branch has fallen from 78 properties to 75 in the past month, with properties coming off the market as buyers move in before Christmas. ‘We would have expected it to fall more rapidly given the low level of new listings coming to market, and it is further evidence of the subdued number of sales,’ added Shipside.
Some winter buying opportunities in areas of oversupply will be available for bargain hunters  and many agents report that buying activity is on the increase from investors. The report says that buy to let investors looking to raise finance for new purchases are benefitting from increased lender competition, resulting in higher loan to value ratios and lower interest rates.
With over half of tenants expecting rents to be higher in 12 months’ time, according to a recent Rightmove survey, it says investors will be feeling more confident about improving yields too. They have the benefit of greater access to finance than first time buyers, with whom they are often competing when buying, and the ability to pay down the mortgage more quickly due to the prospect of improving rental returns.
‘Reports suggest that buy to let mortgage approvals are at their highest for nearly three years. With good prospects for long term tenant demand from those that cannot buy and consequently solid rental returns, investors will be looking forward to seeing sellers suffer a longer than usual buyer slowdown this winter. The result is a window of opportunity for buy to let investors to bag some bargains, spend less on finance and charge more in rent,’ concluded Shipside.
www.propertywire.com

Residential property sales in the US improving

Exsting residential property sales in the United States improved in October while the number of homes on the market continued to decline, according to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors.

Total sales of completed transactions that include single family, town homes, condominiums and co-ops, rose 1.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.97 million in October from a downwardly revised 4.90 million in September, and are 13.5% above the 4.38 million unit level in October 2010.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the market has been fairly steady but at a lower than desired level. ‘Home sales have been stuck in a narrow range despite several improving factors that generally lead to higher home sales such as job creation, rising rents and high affordability conditions. Many people who are attempting to buy homes are thwarted in the process,’ he said.
A higher rate of contract failures has held back a sales recovery. Contract failures reported by NAR members jumped to 33% in October from 18% in September, and were only 8% a year ago, so we should be seeing stronger sales, Yun pointed out.
Contract failures are cancellations caused by declined mortgage applications, failures in loan underwriting from appraised values coming in below the negotiated price, or other problems including home inspections and employment losses.
Other recent factors include disruption in the National Flood Insurance Program, and lower loan limits for conventional mortgages, which paradoxically force some of the most creditworthy consumers to pay unnecessarily higher interest rates, according to Yun.
An ongoing positive trend is a steady decline in the number of homes on the market. Total housing inventory at the end of October fell 2.2% to 3.33 million existing homes available for sale, which represents an eight month supply at the current sales pace, down from an 8.3 month supply in September. Inventories have been trending gradually down since setting a record of 4.58 million in July 2008.
The national median existing home price for all housing types was $162,500 in October, which is 4.7% below October 2010. Distressed homes, that is foreclosures and short sales typically sold at deep discounts, slipped to 28% of sales in October from 30% in September and 34% a year ago.
 ‘In some areas we’re hearing about shortages of foreclosure inventory in the lower price ranges with multiple bidding on the more desirable properties. Realtors in such areas are calling for a faster process of getting foreclosure inventory into the market because they have ready buyers. In addition, extending credit to responsible investors would help to absorb inventory at an even faster pace, which would go a long way toward restoring market balance,’ explained Yun.
All cash sales accounted for 29% of purchases in October, little changed from 30% in September and 29% in October 2010 with investors making up the bulk of cash transactions.

Investors purchased 18% of homes in October, compared with 19% in September and 19% in October 2010. First time buyers accounted for 34% of transactions in October, up from 32% in September and 32% in October 2010.
The median existing single family home price was $161,600 in October, which is 5.8% below October 2010 while the median existing condo price was $160,300 in October, down 1.5% from a year ago.
Regionally, existing home sales in the Northeast fell 5.1% to an annual level of 750,000 in October but are 1.4% above October 2010. The median price in the Northeast was $224,400, down 5.5% from a year ago.
Existing home sales in the Midwest rose 2.8% in October to a pace of 1.10 million and are 19.6% higher than October 2010. The median price in the Midwest was $132,800, which is 4.7% below a year ago.
In the South, existing home sales increased 2.1% to an annual level of 1.94 million in October and are 14.1% above a year ago. The median price in the South was $145,700, down 1.6% from October 2010.
Existing home sales in the West rose 4.4% to an annual pace of 1.19 million in October and are 15.5% higher than October 2010. The median price in the West was $207,500, which is 1.6% below a year ago.
propertywire.com

18 Questions For Every Home Seller (Part 16)

What to look for in an online auction provider

Of course every online auctioneer notifies you when you’ve placed a bid, been outbid by another buyer, or won an auction. It should also notify you if you didn’t win an auction, and provide the complete bidding history for review. But Oresy.com believes real estate auctions online have several special requirements:

●     The extension of the auction by a few minutes if a bidder drops a last-second high bid so that all bidders can place their final bids. In other words, nobody can “steal” a house by topping the current bid by a dollar. For the seller, this means you will realize a higher price; for buyers, this discourages “gaming the system”.

●     Once a bidder has placed a bid in an auction, the system must notify them as higher bids are placed and provide an opportunity to outbid the current highest bid. Since most buyers are away from their browser for much of the auction, this helps keep bids flowing so that the maximal value of the property can be reached by the bidders.

●     Automated bidding. In other words, you can bid $200,000 to place the highest bid, but you can also specify a maximum bid that’s even higher. If you enter $250,000 as your maximum and nobody outbids your offer of $200,000, you win at that amount. If another bidder offers $210,000, a slightly higher bid will be placed on your behalf. This continues until another bidder offers more than your maximum or you have won the auction.

●     The process of creating a property listing must be self-explanatory, including the posting of an unlimited number documents and multimedia files, such as photographs, reports, and disclosures. The multimedia is crucial marketing: it’s based on these that prospective buyers will decide to visit the property in person before the auction.

Despite these differences, listing process for auction-based sales is similar to traditional listings. in many way. You prepare the property for auction, document it with photos, and describe it in your listing just as if you were preparing for a traditional sale. Next, select one of the three “auction types” which include absolute, minimum bid, and reserve. Each has its advantages.

George Avram

Broker/Owner/Real Estate Auctioneer

Continental Realty Inc.

16 Crow Canyon Court Suite 100

San Ramon CA 94583

DRE# 01422589

925-548-5461

www.24by7bid.com

How to sell your house

It's simple.

You post your property on Oresy.com, choose the type of listing: auction or traditional,

we market your property Local, National and International, You sell.

For more information visit: Oresy.com

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