Real Estate News for Wednesday, December 28th, 2005

California real estate construction plummets. Single-family building permits down 18% since November 2004. Housing starts fell significantly in November in most parts of California, but starts for the year are on pace with 2004, the California Building Industry Association reported this week. During November, housing starts as measured by building permits issued for single-family homes totaled 9,405, down 17.2 percent from October and down 18 percent from November 2004, according to figures compiled by the Burbank-based Construction Industry Research Board (CIRB). Multifamily starts were up by 34.1 percent compared to October, to 4,616, but down 36.1 percent from November 2004. In all, builders started construction on 14,021 homes, condominiums, and apartments in November, down 5.3 percent from the previous month and down 23.6 percent from November 2004, according to an association announcement. Click here to read more.

Worst-case scenario for housing next year. Part 2: 2006 real estate forecast. This is the second part of a two-part story looking at housing market conditions for 2006. The scene opens on a devastated landscape, with the voices of a thousand wannabe homeowners crying out in pain. Congress has enacted limitations on mortgage-interest deductions; interest rates have hit 8 percent; creative loan products have been curtailed; investors have fled to the stock market and first-time buyers can't afford a house. At least, that's the worst-case scenario for 2006, according to various possibilities suggested by experts and industry observers consulted by Inman News. Click here to read more.

Want to turn some heads at your next cocktail party? Tell people that buying real estate in Texas is a better bet in the short term than investing in California. It might sound bizarre, but it's what some real estate gurus are telling their investors. Experts suggest that areas like Texas and the Carolinas could be next year's winners. As for next year's stinkers, they'll likely be in areas that rely heavily on manufacturing, such as Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Rochester, N.Y. Phoenix recently took the nod as the nation's hottest housing market, with prices rising 34% year over year for the quarter ending Sept. 30, according to the statistics from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. Next up were two neighboring southwest Florida coastal communities -- Cape Coral-Fort Myers, which saw prices jump 33%, and Naples, with a rise of 32%. Besides newfound retirement destinations -- like St. George, Utah, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and yet another Arizona market, Prescott -- the remainder of the top 20 price-gainers this past year were cities in Florida and California. This growth shows how coastal areas with warm climates continue to see much demand. Click here to read more.

~Tina Jan~
Coldwell Banker Kivett-Teeters
1655 E. Sixth St.
Beaumont, CA 92223
Work: 951-845-5520 Ext. 105
Fax: 951-845-4916
Cell: 909-446-2666
Toll-Free: 1-877-TINAJAN
tina.jan@coldwellbanker.com
www.tinajan.com