Not all real estate is dead

Colliers' 2020 Vision pegs Phoenix-area growth hot spots
from The Business Journal of Phoenix, shares key findings from a new report published by Colliers International. According to the report, key growth areas in the near future for commercial and mixed-use real estate are downtown Phoenix, the light rail corridor, downtown Mesa and the southwest and southeast areas. The areas in and around downtown Phoenix's bioscience community and along the 20-mile light rail system (from northwest Phoenix through downtown to Tempe and Mesa) are expected to experience the most immediate growth. There is more than $3 billion in public and private redevelopment projects currently underway in downtown Phoenix. Downtown Mesa is expected to see growth in the areas of back-office, industrial and education. "By 2010, a new downtown campus for Mesa Community College, in conjunction with NAU and Mesa Public Schools, will be well under way on 4 acres at the southeast corner of University and Mesa drives," according to the report.

Real Estate Outlook: Market is Stirring
from RealtyTimes.com, reports that affordable mortgage money is what it will take to pull the real estate market out of the woods and it could be happening soon. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, interest rates plunged last week by nearly a quarter of a point on 30-year fixed-rate money, from 5.98% to 5.74%. There was also a big jump in new loan applications from people looking to buy houses. They were up by almost 11% for conventional conforming loans. Other positive signs that appeared last week include the total inventory of unsold houses dropping by 3% and new homes for sale dropping 2.1%. It may not be the end of the down cycle as a whole, but it's certainly pointing to a more active spring season.

Not all real estate is dead:
Who said real estate is dead? Home builders may be hurting, but several other real estate sectors are enjoying handy returns, based on the latest numbers from the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts.

Among the top first-quarter performers in the FTSE NAREIT U.S. Real Estate Index:
Self-storage: +20.23%.
Residential: +11.2% (The apartment subsector rose 11.48%, manufactured homes were up 5.02%.)
Shopping centers: +4.94%
Regional malls +2.16%.
Not all, however, was rosy in REITland in the first quarter. The Mortgage REIT Index plunged 21.35% with the home financing subsector diving 21.35% and commercial financing falling 20.5%.
Among the first-quarter, hard-luck equity REITs:
Specialty: -7.71%
Lodging/resorts: - 6.79%
Free-standing retail: -6.42%

However, REITs, which lagged the other markets in 2007, appeared to be gaining strength overall as the quarter went on. Among equity REITs, only lodging/resorts — down 2.04% — were in the red in March. The Ides of March did not bode well for the Mortgage REIT Index, which continued its ugly descent, down 24.11% for the month.

The total return of the U.S. REIT market edged down 0.42% in the first quarter but that looked good in comparison to other markets like the Dow (-7.55%), the S&P 500 (-9.44%) and the Russell 2000 (-9.90%). The NASDAQ fell 14.07%.

Investor Report: Investor Market Strong
from RealtyTimes.com, reports that according to new research by the National Association of Realtors, investors accounted for more than 1 out of 5 of all home purchases last year, which is 21% of those sales. The study shows the median price for an investor unit was $150,000 last year, down from $183,500 in 2005. Also noted in the research, 57% of the investors told researchers that they are very or somewhat likely to buy additional investment property in the coming 24 months and 80% of all investor buyers said this is "a good time to purchase real estate" compared with 59% of primary home buyers.