Texas School of Real Estate
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This real estate slump may be painful, but for now it’s no ’80s flashback
Dallas Business Journal - by Bill Hethcock Staff writer
Foreclosures, declining property values, a construction slump and slower leasing and sales have hammered the North Texas commercial real estate market, but so far the area has felt only a fraction of the pain it suffered during the real estate collapse of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Local real estate experts’ opinions are mixed on whether the region’s commercial property market eventually will decline to the devastating levels seen here in the late 1980s, but this much is certain: 2009 is not currently a 1989 redux.
Even as politicians and pundits use hyperbole to describe the national economic malaise, commercial real estate data for North Texas shows that current woes are all a matter of perspective.
For the first seven months of the year, the number of foreclosure notices filed on commercial real estate in Dallas, Collin, Tarrant and Denton counties did increase 12% from the same period a year ago, according to research by Addison-based Foreclosure Listing Service Inc.
Austin Real Estate Broker Kenn Renner Signs National Book Deal With Intermedia Publishing Group
Austin, Texas - Jul 24, 2009 (PRN): Top Austin real estate broker Kenn Renner recently signed a publishing and distribution deal to promote his first book with Intermedia Publishing Group out of Phoenix, AZ. The book is entitled: “First Time Home Buying Secrets Revealed.” Intermedia will be publishing and distributing the book in bookstores such as Barnes & Nobles and Borders as well as Internet portals such as Amazon.com and Target.Com. The e-book version will also be available at the same time the book is released in print. “The book is very timely,” mentions Larry Davis, CEO of Intermedia. “We look forward to working with Kenn on this book and the series of books he plans on writing in the future,” Davis adds.
Kenn has self-published many books and booklets regarding a myriad of topics including real estate and personal achievement. His popular seminars have attracted thousands over the years where he breaks down complicated subjects into easy to understand presentations that inspires and motivates attendees. “The first seminar I ever produced was a first time home buying seminar in 1994,” Renner explains. “I went on to produce many other seminars, but it all started with the first time home buying seminar.”
Kenn’s book will cover topics that are crucial to a successful home buying experience. His book will uncover industry trade secrets that can help a savvy home buyer thousands of dollars on the purchase of a home. “Some of the secrets I will reveal may be somewhat common, but many of the secrets uncover will be big ‘Ah-Haa’s!’ to many homebuyers.” According to the National Association of Realtors, 53% of the current home buying market comprises of first time homebuyers. “First time home buyers are key to helping pull this economy out of the doldrums,” Renner further explains.
Among the subjects revealed in “First Time Home Buying Secrets” will be:
1. Who to Trust?
2. Ten steps to buying your first home
3. Ten secrets real estate agents don’t want you to know
4. Ten secrets home builders don’t want you to know
5. Ten secrets mortgage lenders don’t want you to know
6. Credit repair secrets – revealed!
7. The truth about the $8000 federal tax credit
Renner adds, “I have spent 25 years in the real estate and mortgage industry and I am very excited about the revelation that this book will provide homebuyers around the nation.” He will be releasing several chapters as he writes them and they can be downloaded at his website, http://www.FirstTimeHomeBuyingSecrets.com.
Trio forms company to invest in industrial buildings in TexasAustin Business Journal - by Jennifer Dawson Houston Business Journal
Trident Equity eyes industrial properties in North Texas
Three well-known Houston real estate professionals have formed a new company to acquire industrial buildings that are expected to become available when owners are unable to secure additional financing on maturing debt.
Allen Crosswell, Tod Greenwood and Troy MacMane created Houston-based Trident Equity Partners LLC to invest in industrial properties throughout Texas on behalf of high-net-worth individuals and pension funds.
MacMane expects that at least half of Trident’s assets will be in Houston, with the rest in Austin, San Antonio and Dallas.
Crosswell and Greenwood are well-versed in raising capital to buy land and develop retail projects through their Houston-based company, Crosswell Greenwood Commercial Development LLC, which has developed retail projects in 10 states worth more than $200 million.
AP analysis: Foreclosures stabilize in key states
By MIKE SCHNEIDER and CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER, Associated Press Writers Mike Schneider And Christopher S. Rugaber, Associated Press Writers – Mon Aug 3, 1:52 pm ET
Even as Americans suffer rising unemployment, foreclosure rates in three states hit hardest by the housing bust — California, Arizona and Florida — stabilized in June, offering hope that the worst of the real estate crisis is over, according to The Associated Press' monthly analysis of economic stress in more than 3,100 U.S. counties.
The latest results of AP's Economic Stress Index show foreclosure and bankruptcy rates held steady from May in some states. Yet mounting unemployment is hampering an economic recovery in some regions, especially the Southeast and industrial Midwest.
The AP calculates a score from 1 to 100 based on each county's unemployment, foreclosure and bankruptcy rates. The higher the score, the higher the economic stress. The average county's Stress score rose to 10.6 in June, up from 10 in May, mainly because of rising unemployment.
In June 2008, the average county's Stress score was 6.7. The pain was lower then because the economy was still expanding. In fact, the second quarter of 2008 was the last time the economy grew.
Under a rough rule of thumb, a county is considered stressed when its score zooms past 11. In June, 41 percent of the counties scored 11 or higher, up from 36 percent in May and 34 percent in April. The latest reading was slightly worse than for February and March, when nearly 40 percent of counties met or exceeded that threshold.
The national economy, meanwhile, shrank at a pace of just 1 percent in the second quarter of the year, according to figures released Friday. It was a better-than-expected showing that provided the strongest signal yet that the recession is finally winding down.
In June, foreclosure rates held steady for Arizona, California and Florida at 4.1 percent, 3.5 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively, according to Realty Trac, which maintains a nationwide database of foreclosures.
"It's obviously good news to stop the losses," said Jim Diffley, a regional economist at consulting firm IHS Global Insight.
He cautioned, though, that even as foreclosures level out in some states, they're doing so "at very high levels."
Other figures from the past two weeks suggest that the housing market is recovering in many areas.
Nationally, seasonally adjusted home resales in June were up 9 percent from January. New-home sales surged 17 percent in the same period. Construction is up nearly 20 percent since the year began. And prices rose in May for the first time since June 2006.
The housing bust struck first in states such as California, Arizona and Florida, which had seen outsized price increases during the real estate boom.
Now, California's real estate market, for one, is improving by most measures. Sales increased 20.1 percent in June, and prices rose for the third straight month, according to the California Realtors' Association.
"It looks like we're past the peak in foreclosures," said Steve Goddard, president-elect of the realtors' association. "Most bank-owned properties are receiving multiple offers."
Still, foreclosure rates are rising in other states, such as Nevada, Georgia and Utah. Nationwide, Diffley and many other economists say rising unemployment may push foreclosures higher into next year.
Meanwhile, the sharpest year-to-year rise in bankruptcy rates in June occurred in counties in California and Nevada that have been the epicenter of the housing bust, along with areas of Georgia and Tennessee that tend to have high bankruptcy rates.
Among states, Nevada, Michigan and California showed the most economic distress, with Stress scores of 20.41, 18.34 and 15.78, respectively.
In June, Nevada had the nation's highest foreclosure rate (7.3 percent) and the fifth-highest unemployment rate (12 percent). Its counties have absorbed some of the sharpest growth in bankruptcy filings this year.
Michigan had the nation's highest unemployment rate in June (15.2 percent) and the sixth-highest foreclosure rate (2 percent). California also had among the nation's highest unemployment rates (11.6 percent) and foreclosure rates (3.5 percent).
North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska showed the least economic distress in June with Stress scores of 5.23, 5.43 and 6.14, respectively.
The states with the biggest year-to-year change for the worse were Nevada, Oregon and Michigan.
For a third straight month, Imperial County, Calif., topped the list of stressed counties of more than 25,000 residents, with a Stress score of 31. Imperial is among the most impoverished U.S. counties.
It was followed by Merced County, Calif. (25.73), Yuma County, Ariz. (24.56), Yuba County, Calif. (23.76) and Lauderdale County, Tenn. (23.46).
"We've had a couple of factory closings which have impacted a lot of our workers — mainly automotive supply parts and printing," said Leslie Sigman, president of the Bank of Ripley, in western Tennessee's Lauderdale County.
Riley County, Kan., home to the Army's Fort Riley and Kansas State University, had the nation's lowest Stress score in June (4.04) in counties with more than 25,000 residents.
It was followed by Brown County, S.D. (4.07), Brookings County, S.D. (4.12), Ward County, N.D. (4.22) and Burleigh County, N.D. (4.27), home of the state's capital, Bismarck.
These counties are part of an economic "safe zone" stretching from the Plains to Texas that has been largely shielded from the recession because of high energy and crop prices.
Counties with the biggest year-to-year change for the worse were: Howard County, Ind., Williams County, Ohio, Union County, S.C., Chester County, S.C., and Noble County, Ind. At least a third of the jobs in those counties involve manufacturing.
Texas hit hard in commercial real estate spiral
12:00 AM CDT on Thursday, June 25, 2009
By STEVE BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
stevebrown@dallasnews.com
Commercial real estate values are continuing their downward spiral, dropping 8.6 percent in April, according to a report released Wednesday by Moody's Investors Services and Real Estate Analytics.
That's the largest one-month nationwide decline on record.
And the Southern region of the U.S., which includes Texas, is seeing the worst declines. Prices for investment properties in the Southern sector of the country are off more than 20 percent in the last year, Moody's researchers said.
U.S. commercial real estate values are down 29.5 percent from their peak in late 2007. "The question is will this mark the bottom or not," said Neal Elkin of Real Estate Analytics.
The biggest declines have come in the office sector, where prices are down about 29 percent nationwide from a year ago. And shopping center values have fallen 18.5 percent.
Another recent commercial property report predicts that the Dallas area will have the largest decline in office prices in the country during the coming year. That forecast last week by PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts that the commercial real estate market won't begin to recover until 2011.
Some industry watchers are even more pessimistic.
The top analyst for Deutsche Bank's Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities operation predicted last week that the U.S. property market won't recover until 2017.
"We are currently in something which is comparable to what we saw in the 1990s and potentially worse," Richard Parkus said at a New York real estate summit sponsored by the Reuters news agency.
Dallas real estate broker envisions Texas Riviera for Love Field site
12:00 AM CDT on Wednesday, June 24, 2009
By DAVE LEVINTHAL / The Dallas Morning News
dlevinthal@dallasnews.com
Dallas real estate broker Randall Turner has a $26 billion dream. He calls it the Texas Riviera.
In it, he envisions thousands of reasonably priced housing units, office parks, a golf course, a minor league baseball park, 100-lane bowling alley and entertainment complex – all in the heart of Dallas surrounding a massive San Antonio-style River Walk. A 1,300-acre Midtown Manhattan for Dallas, he posits.
And Turner wants to shut down city-owned Dallas Love Field to do it.
Love Field, as in the headquarters airport of Southwest Airlines. The nation's 47th-busiest airport in terms of passenger traffic. The recipient of hundreds of millions of dollars of public bond funds for a massive remodeling effort now under way.
"The Texas Riviera could be one of the greatest projects in Texas of all time," said Turner, chief executive of Dallas-based Harvard Companies Inc. "I see no negatives whatsoever. Sure, it would be painful to move Southwest Airlines. But in the long term, it'd benefit everybody."
Turner has no funding, no master developer of record, no discernable public support.
But in recent days, Turner has aggressively attempted to curry the favor of city officials and area businesspeople. Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and Forest City Enterprise vice president of development Jim Truitt are among those on Turner's list.
Turner's correspondence to Leppert includes suggestions that he's secured "significant interest" from Forest City to develop the Texas Riviera and is pursuing a partnership with the Walt Disney Co. The Texas Riviera, Turner wrote Leppert earlier this month, would create up to $26 billion in new development in northern Dallas and represent more than $100 million in annual property tax revenue to the city.
In essence, Turner suggests Dallas Love Field's entire operation could be transferred to Dallas Executive Airport in southern Dallas. No matter that Dallas Executive has but one main runway whereas Love Field has two – Dallas could build a new one using bond money now earmarked for Love Field reconstruction.
Leppert, Truitt and a Southwest Airlines official offered Turner little hope that the Texas Riviera will ever become reality so long as they're around.
Turner "brought his idea by and showed it to me, and I told him that if the city is interested in closing Love Field, then we'll be interested in discussing it," Truitt said.
Is the city interested in closing Love Field?
"No," said council member Angela Hunt, whose District 14 includes the airport.
Said Leppert, "Clearly, there would be many challenges to overcome. It would be difficult to do."
And is Southwest Airlines interested in moving its Love Field operations?
"No. We would not want to move from here or support any such plan," Rogers said.
Where does this leave Turner?
Undaunted.
"Every issue can be overcome. We need to be willing to work together," Turner said.
