Green-Retrofit Alternatives for Older Buildings Gain Momentum

We are big fans of retrofitting older homes and buildings to improve their energy efficiency. A member of the Urban Land Insitute who is working with us on the Go Green, District 18 initiative recently published this article about the rise in popularity of retrofitting.

Diamonds in the Rough
Green-Retrofit Alternatives for Older Buildings Gain Momentum
By Elena Babaeva Coradini

Sustainable retrofits are everywhere in the news—from the White House considering renovations at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, to the Empire State Building’s $20 million makeover to cut energy costs, to the Willis Tower in Chicago receiving a $350 million overhaul. The term “retrofitting” commonly refers to improvements to an older building, often done to make it more sustainable. According to many bloggers and commentators, we have entered the Golden Age of Retrofitting. This is partly due to the large amount of funds in the federal stimulus package that were allocated to improving building efficiency through retrofit measures, coupled with other factors that are combining to encourage energy efficiency in buildings. Overall, the focus on retrofits is strong currently, and the momentum is likely to continue as the benefits become better known and energy-related cost savings are realized. Read more...

If You Don't Buy a House Now, You're Stupid or Broke

Well, we don't exactly think that, but that is the basic premise of a recent BusinessWeek article. According to write Mark Roth, "Interest rates are at historic lows but cyclical trends suggest they will soon rise. Home buyers may never see such a chance again." Check out what he has to say here.

Southern Living honors East Nashville

From the Nashville Business Journal...

East Nashville has been named one of the South’s top comeback neighborhoods by Southern Living magazine. The Nashville neighborhood just east of downtown will be featured, along with nine other Southern neighborhoods, in the January issue of Southern Living. Editor Rex Perry would not comment on the factors that led to East Nashville's inclusion. The other nine neighborhoods on the list are: Crescent Hill, Louisville, Ky.; Wilmore, Charlotte, N.C.; Viola/Heritage, Greenville, S.C.; Phelps Grove, Springfield, Mo.; Fairmount, Forth Worth, Texas; Patterson Park, Baltimore; Springfield, Jacksonville, Fla.; and Holy Cross, New Orleans.

Nashville Area Sees 60% Increase Over Nov. 2008

As reported in yesterday's Tennesseean...

Tax Credit Drives Surge in Home Sales
Nashville Area Sees 60% Increase Over Nov. 2008
By G. Chambers Williams III

Buoyed by a rush of buyers taking advantage of what many thought would be an expiring $8000 federal tax credit on first-time home purchases, Nashville-area home sales soared nearly 60 percent in November compared with a year earlier.

"It is a big jump compared with last November, but we were obviously going down pretty fast at that point," said Mike Nichols, president of the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, referring to the dismal home market of fall 2008. "Still, this is a significant increase, even if it was become everybody was rushing to get their deals closed" to take advantage of federal tax incentives, said Nichols of Zeitlin InTown Realtors.

On Wednesday, the Realtors group reported 1,973 home sales for November, up from 1,243 properties sold in November 2008. Although the federal tax-credit program has now been extended through April - and expanded to allow some existing homeowners to claim credits of $6,500 for new home purchases - buyers and real-estate agents worked to get deals closed in November in the belief that the program was about to end, Nichols said.

November was the second month in a row that home sales rose by high double-digits in the Middle Tennessee area after three years of monthly declines. Sales had risen 23 percent in October, a big gain that real estate professionals also attributed to the first-time federal tax credits.

Median Price Falls
The media sales price for single-family homes declined slightly on the month, to $158,500 from last year's median of $165,000. That decline was attributed primarily to the federal tax program, which mostly attracts buyers at the lower end of the price scale, Nichols said. He also said most "sellers are more realistic in their pricing."

For condominiums, the median price was $144,400 in November, down from $150,000 last year at this time. For the year as a whole, home sales totals are off 14.3 percent through November, the association said.

Closings totaled 19,571 for the first 11 months of 2009, compared with 22,824 sales in the same period last year. Nichols said the stronger October and November sales rates "are encouraging." "This is the slow time of the year anyway, and we'll see a natural pickup in the spring when people start moving," he added. Real estate professionals are optimistic about 2010, Nichols said.

"Every month that goes by, consumer confidence gets stronger," he said. "We're fortunate to be in a pretty sound market and we're continuing to see the benefits of that."

Credit extended to April
The extended tax-credit program requires that homebuyers have a binding contract in place by the end of April to qualify. Under the expanded program, the $6,500 credit is available for existing homeowners as long as they have lived in their current homes for at least five of the past eight years.

Congress also expanded the maximum-allowable income levels to make more people eligible for the tax credits. They are now available to single people who make less than $125,000 a year and couples who make less than $225,000. The previous limits had been $75,000 for singles and $150,000 for couples.