Most commercial property markets around the world remain robust, in spite of the recent economic ‘soft patch’, finds the Q2 2011 RICS Global Commercial Property Survey. Occupier and investment market outlook strongest in non-Japan Asia and parts of Central and Eastern Europe. New development starts rise most sharply in Brazil, Malaysia, Russia and Poland.
Te report indicates that the majority of countries surveyed witnessed positive growth in occupier and investment demand as well as in development starts during Q2 2011 despite further increases in energy costs. In addition, the survey paints an optimistic picture for the next quarter, with the majority of countries reporting positive rental and capital value expectations and more than three quarters of respondents also expecting investment demand to grow. (Press Release)

The number of people who signed contracts to buy previously occupied homes in the U.S. rose in June for the second-straight month, a faint sign of health for a beleaguered part of the economy.
The National Association of Realtors’ seasonally adjusted index for pending sales of existing homes increased 2.4% on a monthly basis to a reading of 90.9 in June, the industry group said Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected pending home sales would fall by 2.0%. May’s reading of 88.8 was unrevised……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Foreclosures declined in more than 84% of U.S. metro areas during the first half of the year, according to the latest report from RealtyTrac, an online marketer of foreclosed properties. But that doesn’t mean these markets are staging a turnaround.
“These dramatic decreases indicate the foreclosure pipeline continues to be clogged in many local markets across the country,” said RealtyTrac CEO, James Saccacio, whose firm reported earlier this month that the national foreclosure rate fell 29% over the past 12 months……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Disparity in household wealth between whites, blacks, and Hispanics widened to its largest gap since the government began collecting the data almost 25 years ago, according to a recent Pew Research Center study.
Experts blame the accelerated growth in the wealth gap on the housing market collapse, which disproportionately impacted geographic regions heavily settled by minorities, particularly Hispanics……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The real estate market in the Washington metro area has been luckier than most in maintaining its stability, but it has by no means been immune to the economic downturn.
While homes in some neighborhoods have managed to hold their value and even experience price increases, in others, homes still languish on the market. Sellers have a few options available if their home stays on the market too long, including lowering the price, making some home improvements or renting their home while waiting for the market to improve……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Most commercial property markets around the world remain robust, in spite of the recent economic difficulties. In Europe, Germany and France have reported strong performances with Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic also showing encouraging commercial sector results, says the latest RICS Global Commercial Property Survey.
The report indicates that the majority of countries surveyed witnessed positive growth in occupier and investment demand as well as in development starts during the second quarter of 2011……………………………………….Full Article: Source

European real estate investment trusts (REITs) are no longer trailing their US counterparts as they did last year.
A sustained period of recovery, which has seen core assets across Europe regain much of the value lost during the crisis, now sees European REITs performing far better than those from across the pond according to some measures. The recovery is expected to continue and to strengthen in the coming months……………………………………….Full Article: Source

House prices are falling at the fastest annual rate since October 2009, according to Land Registry figures, with even the London property market falling flat. Property prices in England and Wales stagnated in June, according to the organisation’s latest report, but the average home is down 2.5% year-on-year.
The decline marks the latest stage in a downward trend seen since the post slump mini-boom tailed off in the middle of last year……………………………………….Full Article: Source

House price changes in the different regions of England and Wales varied sharply in June, figures from Land Registry show. There was a 2.8% rise in prices in Wales from May to June, but a 2.1% fall in the same period in the north-east of England, the data showed.
But, on average prices were unchanged, with the average home costing £161,479……………………………………….Full Article: Source

House prices are stabilising, according to the latest monthly report from the Nationwide building society. Prices across the UK rose by 0.2% in July, to £168,731, leaving them just 0.4% lower than a year ago.
The society said demand for homes was still sluggish, with completed sales still running at roughly half the level recorded before the banking crisis……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Once the pound regains strength against the euro investors may find they need to make an online money transfer so that they can purchase homes abroad. According to freelance property journalist and founder of PropertyJournalist.com Marc Da Silva, the current economic climate may have made people apprehensive about buying places overseas.
He described how countries such as Spain offer individuals a “wonderful opportunity” to negotiate cheap deals as the price of homes has been falling rapidly for some time……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Doubt at home and abroad has seen Irish returns fall back into negative territory in Q2, at -3.0%, their lowest rate since September 2009, according to the SCSI/IPD Ireland Quarterly Property Index.
“Fears of contagion from the continuing euro zone crisis have been allayed in the last few days, at least for the moment, but that was too late to influence property returns in Q2……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Investments in Hungary’s commercial property market in the first half of 2011 has already surpassed last year’s aggregate, and consultancies see hope that investment will near 2008 levels by the end of the year.
Europe’s real estate investment market responded acutely to the developing debt crisis by contracting significantly as investors became wary of the risks. Overall, the second quarter of the year brought €25 billion in investments on the continent, a fresh report from property consultant CB Richard Ellis revealed……………………………………….Full Article: Source

A roundtable of green building experts discuss the role of occupier demand in Czech sustainability and puncture a few industry myths. The relocation of PricewaterhouseCoopers Czech Republic to almost 12,000 sqm in Skanska’s City Green Court office building in Pankrác – Prague 4, the Czech Republic’s first property to obtain ecological Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum pre-certification, indicates the growing significance of sustainability on the Czech real estate market.
Czech Position sat down with some of the leading green building specialists in Prague to discuss a range of key issues facing the real estate industry in its efforts to become greener……………………………………….Full Article: Source

A number of business nodes have seen a further increase in empty offices in recent months, indicative of a stalling economy. In fact, SA’s overall office vacancy rate has now breached the 10% level for the first time since 2004, according to Sapoa’s office vacancy survey for the second quarter of 2011.
Back in the early 2000s, the market was labouring under an oversupply of newly developed office buildings. This time around, rising vacancy rates are attributed to a general lack of demand, as cash-strapped companies put expansion plans on hold or downsize to save on monthly rental bills……………………………………….Full Article: Source

A house is likely to be the biggest investment a wage earner makes. Most average salaried people invest their life savings in property with the hope of spending the rest of their lives in comfort in their own home.
However, a large number of them also invest in property to cash in on projected income based on price appreciation and premium. Many property investors, over the last few years, have also burnt their fingers trying to make ‘quick bucks’ as property prices dwindled — wiping out life savings — and resulting in insolvency……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Mecca has proved that it is an exceptional case in the suffering real estate market in the Middle East, thanks to the increasing numbers of persons interested in the rituals of Hajj and Umrah in the city, causing a boom in hotel construction.
Real estate experts say that the price of a square meter in the commercial area around the holy city, can be up to 375 thousand riyals ($100,000), making it one of the most expensive – if not THE most expensive – city in the world……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore (REDAS) said that prices of private homes should be left to market forces without any intervention from the government.
This is according to recently appointed REDAS president Wong Heang Fine. Mr Wong, the CEO of CapitaLand Residential, replaced outgoing president Simon Cheong this February. Mr Cheong is the chairman of SC Global Developments……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Presale and new home transactions declined sharply in Greater Taipei last quarter, but prices climbed to new heights on the back of demand for an inflation hedge after speculators fled the market, a report released yesterday showed.
Land development and construction companies launched 11,586 units of presale and new homes worth about NT$199.6 billion (US$6.92 billion) during the second quarter in Greater Taipei, the quarterly survey by Cathay Real Estate Development Co and National Chengchi University’s Taiwan Real Estate Research Center found……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Home prices and sales of new homes lost ground in recent months, with real-estate agents and builders saying the debt-ceiling debate in Washington is rattling an already-fragile market.
According to the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller home price index, released Tuesday, prices for existing homes in 20 major U.S. cities fell 4.5% in May from a year earlier, with declines stretching from coast to coast. Only Washington, D.C., saw a year-over-year increase. Compared with April, prices in May were virtually unchanged on a seasonally adjusted basis……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The Case-Shiller housing indices are the gold standard of the real estate industry, tracking resales of existing homes across the country.
But my head is aching after reading the press release on the numbers by the S&P Indices, which puts out the crucial market gauge devised by Karl Case, professor emeritus at Wellesley College, and Yale University economist Robert Shiller……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Investors from outside the US could stand to profit from the current state of the country’s property markets, one sector commentator has claimed. Ken Wood, a real estate expert from New Zealand, urged buyers to look into the opportunities on offer.
He commented: “Conditions in the US right now are literally the perfect storm for international investors.” Mr Wood added that this is an unprecedented chance to build a portfolio of property in the States, noting that in some areas houses can be purchased for up to 70 per cent less than their value……………………………………….Full Article: Source

There are roughly 400 million square feet of commercial real estate in Manhattan, an amount equal to more than 9,000 acres.
For the last three decades, as the office market grew and matured, brokers and tenants began slicing that space into classes that signaled a building’s amenities and location and, of course, the rent that its landlord could charge……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Dundee Real Estate Investment Trust’s recent acquisition of 29 office properties worth $881.2m (€540.6m) from private equity giant Blackstone shows the Canadian market is coming back strongly.
Bruce Traversy, senior vice-president of investment and asset management at Dundee REIT, Canada’s largest REIT firm, said the deal was the biggest of its kind for a Canadian company……………………………………….Full Article: Source

As the global economic crisis continues and the US stands on the brink of default, investors are seeking stable and untapped economic resources. As in times past, when the securities, commodities, and currency markets have experienced volatility, investors have looked to real estate as a safe bet.
Examples of such markets include the BRIC countries. BRIC is an acronym for Brazil, India, and China, which comprise the world’s fastest growing large economies, and thus they hold opportunities for economic growth and investing success. Nevertheless, China’s lack of transparency and India’s poor infrastructure have enabled Brazil to stand out from the pack……………………………………….Full Article: Source

New office completions in major European markets could fall by over 30% in 2011 compared with 2010 and could decline further in 2012 as the low level of construction starts during the economic crisis feeds through, according to a new report by CB Richard Ellis (CBRE).
The credit crunch and ensuing economic crisis in 2008 had a major impact on office development activity, prompting many developers to downscale or delay planned projects……………………………………….Full Article: Source

UK real estate investors stayed cautiously positive in the second quarter of 2011 as UK prime property continued to capture interest, according to the latest Jones Lang LaSalle UK Investor Confidence survey.
This is despite Q2 2011 UK investment volumes falling 24% over the quarter, following a stellar Q1 2011 performance that was boosted by the £1.6-billion Trafford Centre transaction in Manchester……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Homeowners in London’s East End have not benefited significantly from the building of the Olympic sites in their vicinity, research has revealed.
House price data for the six years since London was awarded the Olympics shows that property values in the areas nearest the Olympic sites have gone up by an average of £60,000……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The rate of decline in Irish house prices accelerated to 2.1 percent in June compared to a drop of 1.2 percent in May, the steepest monthly fall recorded in over two years, data on Wednesday showed.
Last month’s surprise 0.4 percent rise in property prices in Ireland’s capital was short-lived as Dublin residential property prices fell by 2.4 percent in June……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Over the first six months of 2011, about €5.86 billion was invested in retail properties throughout Germany. This transaction volume puts retail properties far ahead of all other uses.
“Overall, this works out to 53% of the total commercial transaction volume in Germany,” says Andreas Trumpp, Head of Research at Colliers International in Germany……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Investors may want to make international money transfers to Germany after hearing how the country’s property market is favourable.
James Kirkman, property consultant at ProVenture Property, explained how purchase prices are “very low” compared with other nations in Europe……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The real estate market shows the first signs of revival after a long time of hibernation during the crisis. Investments in volume terms this year can exceed 2009 figures, DTZ real estate consultancy projects.
Hungary’s real estate market has weathered the worst spells of the crisis and while it is still stagnatin………………………………………Full Article: Source

Prices of residential property in Bulgaria’s capital Sofia dropped by 10.1 per cent in the second quarter of 2011 compared with the same period of the previous year, according to an analysis by Raiffeisen Real Estate.
On a quarterly basis, however, housing prices in Sofia increased by 3.6 per cent. In Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s second-largest city, prices of residential properties sold in April-June declined by 2.6 per cent on the year, but edged up 0.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Real estate options are growing across the global market for investors. People are consistently looking overseas to invest and create better opportunities for themselves. Among the many locations which have moved into the global market, Turkey has grown into a major player.
Real estate in Turkey has attracted more attention and increased as a potential investment choice in recent times. The lucrative area and an expanding economy along with stable political structure give Turkey properties its added attraction. A modern country which is on its path to progress, it has attracted the attention of both domestic and foreign investors to its land……………………………………….Full Article: Source

A recent survey conducted by the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (Rera) of the Dubai Land Department showed that agents have confidence in the real estate market, following the cabinet decision to extend real estate visas for investors to three years.
Over 95 per cent of investors and developers welcomed the decision, according to a press release……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Based on the Global Real Estate Investment Outlook and Market Perspective 2011, growth in the Asia-Pacific region is not only expected to exceed that in the U.S. and Europe over the next five years, but it is expected to “provide the best total returns for global real estate investors” as far in the future as 2015.
In fact, some analysts are predicting 10 percent annual regional total return in the area. U.S. annual regional returns are predicted to log in around nine percent and Europe around 8……………………………………….Full Article: Source

The real estate industry is caught in a pincer attack after the Reserve Bank hoisted the policy rate by 0.5 percentage point more this week. Consumers are expected to buy less because home loans are expensive, while builders will charge more because corporate borrowing is costlier.
“Unless the real estate prices come down the customers simply cant affordto buy their dream home,” said Vipul Patel, director, Home Loan Advisors, a Mumbai-based independent mortgage advisory company………………………………………Full Article: Source

Real-estate developers and property consultants termed the RBI hiking key rates as harsh and said it would compound the woes of the sector reeling under high input cost and poor sales.
Pradeep Jain, Chairman, Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (CREDAI), said, “Unless steps are taken to improve supply system, this increase by RBI is going to have a minimal effect on inflation. While we were expecting a moderate hike of 25 bps, the 50 bps raise is going to dampen growth……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Shanghai’s government will step up inspections on the pricing of new homes to ensure that they aren’t set at “unreasonably” high prices, as part of a nationwide effort to curb excessive gains.
The city will seek out developers which violate the rules and withhold the approvals for them to sell homes, the Shanghai Municipal Housing Support and Building Administration Bureau said………………………………………Full Article: Source

Singapore resale values of flats will remain high for the remainder of the year, while the market struggles to find a balance between supply and demand, market watchers said.
Prices are not predicted to stabilise for another three to five years, according to national development minister, Khaw Boon Wan……………………………………….Full Article: Source

Many cities in emerging markets are attracting a similar number of international office occupiers as established business centers, according to a new study by CB Richard Ellis (CBRE).
According to ‘Business Footprints’, which compares the office presence of 280 major companies across 101 countries and 232 cities, 17 of the top 30 most popular company office locations are in emerging markets……………………………………….Full Article: Source

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Home prices in the United States rose slightly for the second consecutive month in May, but the real estate market still has a long way to go before a recovery, analysts said on Tuesday.
The private Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index, a closely watched measure of home prices, was up 1 percent compared with April, according to the broadest measure of data tracking 20 cities. Prices rose in 16 of the cities; they fell in Detroit, Las Vegas and Tampa, Fla., and were unchanged in Phoenix……………………………………….Full Article: Source

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The housing market remains weak, according to new data released Tuesday, indicating that home sales and prices are struggling to recover this year. Despite the onset of the spring buying season, home prices were flat in May and remain at levels last seen in 2003, according to a closely watched index, while new-home sales took a surprising dip in June.
“I don’t think we’ve finished with the decline” in the market, said Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wells Fargo……………………………………….Full Article: Source

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The U.S. housing market “hasn’t bottomed out as quickly as we expected,” President Barack Obama pronounced earlier this month. What he really meant was that housing has been like an anchor dragging down the economy.
Normally at this stage of a recovery, home sales and new construction are engines of economic growth and job creation. Obama has resisted more ambitious programs in the belief that housing would recover once the overall economy did. Now it appears he must do the reverse: Lift housing in order to boost the economy……………………………………….Full Article: Source

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British Columbians looking for investment opportunities or cheap vacation homes are scooping up bargain-priced real estate in the depressed market south of the border.
Statistics show that twice as many Canadians are buying property in the U.S. right now compared to last year. In Birch Bay, Washington, realtor Mike Kent says 90 per cent of his buyers are from B.C……………………………………….Full Article: Source

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Simon Property Group Inc quarterly earnings rose nearly 20 percent, boosted by higher occupancy, rent and sales at its malls and outlet centers, and the company raised its forecast for the year.
Chief Executive and Chairman David Simon said on Tuesday he expects the board to approve a “meaningful” dividend increase in the fourth quarter, and that it might raise the dividend again in 2012……………………………………….Full Article: Source

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Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.’s (JLL) second-quarter profit jumped 38% on growth in world-wide real-estate services and higher investment management advisory fees.
The commercial real-estate-services firm and investment manager has reported solid bottom-line growth in recent quarters, helped by a broader market recovery as the sector rebounds from high vacancies and declining rents and property values. Jones Lang LaSalle provides help with sales, leasing and management of commercial properties……………………………………….Full Article: Source

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Investment activity in Europe’s commercial property markets slowed in the second quarter, with transactions down by 11.5% quarter on quarter to EUR 26.2 bn, according to new research issued by Cushman & Wakefield on Tuesday.
However, trends were far from uniform market by market, with offices fighting back against retail, and core markets gaining at the expense of the peripheries, the study showed……………………………………….Full Article: Source

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Prime office rents across Europe continued to grow modestly in the second quarter of 2011 (Q2 2011) according to Jones Lang LaSalle’s latest European Office Clock report.
Jones Lang LaSalle’s European Office Index revealed a 2.1% increase over Q2 2011 based on rental growth in eight index markets. This was led by a strong performance in Moscow (+20%), Warsaw (+13.6%) and Lyon (+8.0%) with more modest rental growth witnessed in some of the German markets (Munich +3.4%, Berlin +2.4%, Hamburg +2.2%) as well as London’s West End (+2.7%) and Stockholm (+2.5%)……………………………………….Full Article: Source

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U.K. demand for houses fell for a third month in June as waning consumer confidence and difficulties in getting a mortgage kept potential homebuyers off the market, the National Association of Estate Agents said.
The number of potential buyers registered with real estate agents fell to 263 in June from 275 the previous month, the Warwick, England-based association said in an e-mailed report today. The average number of properties available per agency rose to 74, the most since April 2009, from 68……………………………………….Full Article: Source

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