On September 15, Sovereign Builders asked the Northampton Planning Board to let it reduce its View Avenue project from 12 to 7 detached, single-family units. “Given current building and energy code requirements, construction costs, alternative housing options, and limited storage space, the viability of building and selling ultra-small houses at a reasonable price-point does not […]
Housing Market
Video: Debate on Community Preservation Act
Here is a YouTube video of the complete 11/3/11 debate on the Community Preservation Act sponsored by Paradise City Forum (see flyer). This video was recorded by Adam Cohen. Below are two short excerpts from the debate. CPA critic Jesus Leyva expresses concern that if property is conserved in a way that removes it from the tax […]
As Young Adults Mature, Cities Struggle to Retain Them
Joel Kotkin analyzes the migrations of America’s young adults in a recent post on New Geography.com. Some excerpts: [Wendell] Cox looked at where 25- to 34-year-olds were living in 2000 and compared this to where they were living by 2010, now aged 35 to 44. The results were surprising: In the past 10 years, this cohort’s […]
Northampton Housing Needs Assessment and Strategic Plan: Video and Slides
Here is a complete blip.tv video of the 11/15/10 presentation of the Northampton Housing Needs Assessment and Strategic Plan, prepared by the Northampton Housing Partnership. This video is 1 hour 12 minutes long and was recorded by Lachlan Ziegler. “The Partnership, through a grant award from the Northampton Community Preservation Committee, has worked this past […]
Bloomberg: “April Housing Starts Drop on Apartments”
Bloomberg reports on May 19: U.S. Economy: April Housing Starts Drop on Apartments (Update1) …Housing starts unexpectedly slid 13 percent to an annual rate of 458,000, led by a 46 percent tumble in multifamily starts, which tend to be more volatile, Commerce Department figures showed in Washington. Building permits, a sign of future construction, fell […]
Wall Street Journal: Condo Market Unravels
From the 5/7/09 Wall Street Journal: Swig Takes Hit as Condo Market Unravels …Mr. Swig’s battles are a sample of what is happening nationwide in the condo-development sector as thousands of new units keep being delivered into a market in which demand has evaporated… Many condo projects throughout the country are going bust as developers […]
USA Today: “Why home values may take decades to recover”
This 12/15/08 article from USA Today argues that today’s home prices are still unsustainably high: Why home values may take decades to recover …”We will never see these prices again in our lifetime, when you adjust for inflation,” says Peter Schiff, president of investment firm Euro Pacific Capital of Darien, Conn. “These were lifetime peaks.” […]
Gazette: “Condo Clampdown – Tougher mortgage rules hamper condominium market”
Today’s Gazette reports: Condo Clampdown – Tougher mortgage rules hamper condominium market Builders and bankers in Hampshire County fear that stricter lending rules rolled out this year by Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored mortgage giant, will further erode the sagging condo market locally… Private mortgage insurance companies are requiring banks to accept no less than 20 […]
U.S. home price drop at record pace in December
Reuters reports today: From the housing market peak in the second quarter of 2006, home prices have plummeted 26.7 percent… Yale professor Robert Shiller says the declines are not finished. Tech Ticker paraphrased him yesterday as saying: Despite the 25 percent nationwide decline since the 2007 peak, U.S. house prices have still only fallen halfway […]
Boston Globe: “Mass. November home sales fall 18.4%”
Today’s Boston Globe reports: The number of home sales recorded in Massachusetts plunged 18.4 percent in November [according to the Warren Group], compared to the same period a year ago… A separate report of November data released yesterday by the Massachusetts Association of Realtors showed similar steep declines. Sales prices of single-family homes fell nearly […]