U r b a n T r e k k e r

Popular Improvement List

From Remodeling magazine.

A recent survey among 600 new home buyers by Home Improvement Research Institute found that 52% of recent home buyers completed one or two home improvement projects within the first year of buying their homes.

Half of that group were planning to start another improvement project within the second year of buying. Owners of new homes spent an average of $5,000 on improvements in the first year, and owners of existing homes spent an average of $2,000.

The three most popular improvement on top of the list: Kitchens, Baths and Living Rooms.

Looking at the list - it shouldn't surprised you. Some of the home buyers wish list are: granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, pergo, and hardwood floors.

Second Home Boom?

Looks like the real estate boom touched second home or vacation home market. According to a Washington Post's article, Washingtonian represents the largest block of condo owners at Wintergreen resort condominium, a ski resort in Virginia about three hours from DC. However, the second home buying trend is not just happening here in DC area, the trend is happening nationwide. People have been buying second home or vacation home like crazy.

"It's unprecedented," said David Lereah, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors. "We've never had the largest generation ever in this country in their peak earning years purchasing second homes at the pace they're doing now. The real estate boom has touched second homes in a very, very big way."

Baby boomers at the top of their earning power are the primary buyers of second homes, economists say. The typical second-home owner is 55 to 64 year old, according to research by the National Association of Home Builders. "As age rises, so does the chances of having a second home," said Gopal Ahluwalia, director of research at the builders' group. "After 65, it slows down."

Penderbrook Going Condo Conversion

Comstock Homebuilding Cos. just completed a $75 million purchase of Penderbrook apartment. Following the condo conversion trend in Washington DC Metro area, Penderbrook, a 424-unit apartment complex in the Fair Oaks area (off of Rt. 50 in Fairfax) will be converted to condominiums and sold to first time home buyers and move-up homeowners.

The Penderbrook complex built in 1988, has 18 two- and three-story buildings, close to Fair Oaks Mall and the Penderbrook Golf Club. In a condo conversion typically the current renters will have the opportunity to purchase the condo before offering it to the general public. The Penderbrook tenants will have the first-right-of-refusal before selling the units to the general public. That means, everybody who is renting there now will have a chance to purchase a unit.

According to Christopher Clement, founder and chief executive of Comstock Homebuilding Cos., the condominiums will go on the market this month.

Clemente said sale prices for the one-, two- and three-bedroom units had not been set. "They will be affordable by Fairfax County standards," he said, "and I don't mean McLean, obviously."

The average sale price of a condominium in Fairfax County in January was $272,913, according to the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors.

We'll keep you posted on Penderbrook when they will go on the market officially. 

Update: Penderbrook is on the market now. Preview of their condos is by appointment only.

 

Award Winning Homes

Take a peek at three award winning custom homes. Each of these homes was put up by developers to carry out their inspired theme: Mining for Gold, No Worries, and Gothic.

Here they are.

Mining for Gold

Eureka! A mining-inspired custom homes build in  Erie, Co. built by John Laing Homes received an award from Denver's recent Parade of Homes.

Eureka! fits because the exuberant, 6,300-square-foot house, designed by the Woodley Architectural Group, has mining as its theme. The offbeat inspiration works from top to bottom, front to back. “I wanted something that felt pure and was true to Colorado, but Colorado is one of those places that doesn't have a lot of indigenous styles,” says architect Michael Woodley. “Mining is what really started Colorado, so I wanted to capture that feel, to give the idea of some of the textures and the way space compresses and expands in a mine.

Woodley also wanted the house to—elegantly—reflect the haphazard way mines were constructed. “Mines weren't built over centuries but over decades, so there might be a wing of stone, then an element of plaster,” says Woodley. “Part of the roof would be metal while another part would be composite. It would be built over time as generations of miners added parts and pieces with whatever materials were available to them."

Greenspan & Interest Rate

When reading the statement of our Fed Chairman, Alan Greenspan, you really have to read between the lines to understand it. He speaks in economist sort of geek language - way out there!

Here is what he said today.

Reiterating remarks made to a Senate panel Wednesday, Greenspan said the economy continues to expand at a respectable pace, and that inflation, while not an immediate threat, remains something policy-makers must guard against.

Mr. Greenspan can you talk in plain English in a way that ordinary Americans understand what you're trying to say about the state of the economy?

On one hand his earlier statement sounded upbeat - and yet at the same time, he is worried about US budget deficits and the transition cost of Social Security.

Greenspan's worry: that the billions of dollars in new government borrowing to pay the transition costs to the new system could upset financial markets and push up interest rates on everything from home mortgages to Treasury notes.

What's more at stake.

Record Condo Sales Nationwide

Condo sales nationwide trending up! According to the National Association of Realtors, sales of existing condominiums and cooperatives hit ninth consecutive record in 2004.

David Lereah, NAR's chief economist, said the sales performance underscores the significance of condo sales in the overall housing market. "The condo market has clearly matured over the last decade, accounting for a market share almost as big as the new home market, and has been appreciating faster than single-family homes," he said. Given this growth, NAR will now include condo sales in its monthly track of overall existing home sales, beginning with the January report.

Click here to view the recent condo sales chart.

The same is true we see it happening in Washington DC Metropolitan market. The supply and demand rule applies here. We have a low inventory problem and high demand in our surrounding area.

Real Estate Tax

There is a possibility that this year Congress will target real estate tax to close the so called "tax gap". Tax gap is the another name for revenues lost from tax revenues.

The U.S. Congress Joint Committee on Taxation released a comprehensive set of recommendations intended to "improve tax compliance and reform tax expenditures." The study was prepared pursuant to a 2004 request from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. Their request directed JCT to recommend changes that would close the so-called "tax gap," i.e., the revenues lost through non-reporting or underreporting of income.
 

The making of Shirlington

There is a long write up on the making of Shirlington in the Washington Post over the weekend. According to the developers, there is not enough people to help boost the economy there. That's why Federal Realty and Arlington County plan to change this by adding new residential developments - so more people will live and shop there.

Fast forward one and a half year from now, here is what they envisioned downtown Shirlington will be like.

In about a year and a half, Shirlington, just off Interstate 395 south of the Pentagon, will get an infusion of housing -- about 650 rental units and for-sale condos -- new retail space, a new grocery store, a new library and a new home for Arlington's award-winning Signature Theatre.

Its beloved main street will be more than doubled in length, ending in a pedestrian-friendly plaza in front of the new library and theater. Developers have begun construction on several sites.