Today is April 27, 2012, can you believe the year is one
third done, finished, caputski? I, for one, felt that was enough for a whole
year, not just 120 days (more or less). So, without elaborating anymore, and
after giving an Italian salute, let’s jump into the miscellaneous stuff that
has recently crossed my desk.
Apple “Live Long
and Prosper”:
Apple has decided that they not only need to build a
spaceship in California, they are no longer good enough to eat with the hoi
polloi. They now have to have their own restaurant, off campus, so that
employees can talk shop without being overheard – all Spy vs. Spy stuff if you
ask me. While I am a fanatic Apple fan and geek, I am beginning to think that
they are getting stranger and stranger as their stock climbs. (Click Here)
Smart Growth is
Getting Dumber
One of the great blog sites is NewGeography.com, while it
doesn’t seem to carry a political agenda, it does, and quite often, present
stories that scream, “The emperor isn't wearing cothes!” In an early April
article, Ed Braddy wrote an interesting piece on Maryland’s attempts to thwart
the free market by developing Priorty Funding Areas (PFAs) as a way to control
“rampant” growth and those pesky Maryland citizens who are essential richer
than someone else. The intent of this still draft planning concept is to make
it so expensive to own a home in a low density community that they will be
impossible to develop. And at the same time they have created a “new” planning term
that changes “high density,” a notorious “man the battlements phrase,” to
“compact development,” whatever that
is. (GO HERE)
Trust Me: This
Home Will Save You Money
The Feds in their extreme willingness to help us save
ourselves are now offering loans to insulate, duct tape cracks, put in solar,
replace heating and cooling systems and replace windows, all in an effort to
reduce energy consumption and save the world. The agencies involved are FHA and
Fannie Mae (don’t they have enough on their plate destroying the American
Dream). Yes they are dangling cheap money in front of the home owner to improve the house and
by doing so add value to the product. But the seas are troubled when it comes
to understanding the home buyer. These buyers expect these energy efficiencies in the
house, and are not willing to pay extra as many home builders are finding out.
And the lenders and appraisers are also saying this as well, "we are not going
to add value to a property just because it has solar and better windows". They
expect it to be standard. Like air bags in cars, they are no longer an option.
(GO HERE)
Home Sales Up
This from Builder Magazine, and I quote:
"Contract signings on existing-home sales were up in March, rising 4.1% on a
monthly basis, according to data released today from the National Association
of Realtors (NAR). The change brought NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index up four
points to a reading of 101.4, 12.8% above its year-ago level." (GO HERE)
And from this morning’s Wall Street Journal (and as
always they are weeks behind this blog):
Bidding wars are starting for existing homes. And it’s in
those states that had historic overbuilding, ah markets, ain;t they fun. This
is the formula: No new homes divided by demand equals more money (NNH/D=$$$$).
(GO HERE)
And lastly:
Cram Them In ‘till They Can’t Complain
One of my favorite demographers (everyone should have
one), is Wendell Cox. He and Joel Kotkin have the uncanny ability to look at
census numbers and “noodle” out tidbits and data that tend to glaze over most
of us. Others use this data to justify their positions, Wendell just tells it like it
is. In his second installment on California’s
War on Suburbia, and for a wealth of graphs and reality read his essay. (GOHERE)
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