| Click here for yesterday's / today's market indices
|
|
| Suspension of Federal appraisal code sought
|
| Two U.S. representatives have filed a bill that would suspend a controversial real estate appraisal code that some contend is stifling the housing market’s recovery. The bill, filed by Reps. Travis Childers, D-Miss., and Gary Miller, R-Calif., would suspend the Home Valuation Code of Conduct for up to 18 months. The code, which took effect May 1, bans real estate agents, lenders and others from directly hiring appraisers to prevent influencing their appraisals and result in more accurate home values. But homebuilders and Realtors contend it’s led to a spike in abnormally low appraisals that have delayed or derailed sales contracts. Appraisers dispute that, saying their appraisals accurately reflect an unprecedented fall in home values.
|
| @ Bradenton Herald | Posted: 07/01/09 at 0201 EDST
|
| New state program offering $8,000 home buyer tax credit isn't ready to go
|
| A state program that officially begins today promises to advance up to $8,000 to first-time home buyers. But the program has plenty of roadblocks ahead. The cash isn't there to make loans to home buyers, procedures to implement the program are not in place and purchasers may have to race to meet a federal tax deadline of Dec. 1. In addition, the $30 million Florida Homebuyer Opportunity Program replaces what had been a $161 million statewide grant program to help low-income home buyers.
|
| @ Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel
| Posted: 07/01/09 at 0315 EDST
|
| Lee County property values continue to fall
|
| Property values plummeted 22.7 percent on average throughout Lee County, not as bad as the 24.8 percent drop predicted a month ago but still almost twice as much as last year's fall. Final property values in Lehigh Acres, the county's hardest hit area, were worse than initially believed: a 48.7 percent drop, instead of 46.9 percent tumble. Cape Coral took a big hit too, at 32.8 percent, although that was better than the 33.4 percent decline expected a month ago. In Bonita Springs, the drop was 16.6 percent instead of 20.1 percent.
|
| @ Ft. Myers News Press | Posted: 07/01/09 at 0320 EDST
|
| Smokers fuming over Florida's cigarette tax hike
|
| Smokers are socked with $1 increase in the state cigarette tax starting Wednesday, three months after a 62-cent jump in the federal tax.
|
| @ Miami Herald | Posted: 07/01/09 at 0330 EDST
|
| Consumer confidence among Floridians fell three points in June, down to 68.
|
| The performance of the index components was mixed. Perceptions of personal finances now compared to a year ago rose three points to 44 from a revised May reading of 41. This component is still near historical lows. Perceptions of personal finances a year from now fell six points to 84. Perceptions of U.S. economic conditions over the next year fell seven points to 65 – it was 51 at this time last year. Perceptions of U.S. economic conditions over the next five years remained unchanged at 80. Finally, perceptions as to whether it is a good time to buy big ticket items fell nine points to 67.
|
| @ UF Bureau of Economic and Business Research | Posted: 07/01/09 at 0345 EDST
|
| Chicago home prices post record-setting drop in April
|
| Chicago was one of six cities nationwide that posted record-setting, year-over-year price declines, according to Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, released Tuesday. Local home prices fell 18.7% in April, compared to April of 2008. But flat prices locally in April, compared to March, offers a hopeful sign that the local housing market has bottomed out.
|
| @ Crain's Chicago Real Estate Daily | Posted: 07/01/09 at 0400 EDST
|
| McLean Co. ( Bloomington, Il.) unemployment up, but still among state's lowest
|
| The 6 percent jobless rate in May compared to 5.9 percent in April and 4.7 percent in May 2008.
|
| @ Bloomington, Il Pantagraph | Posted: 07/01/09 at 0415 EDST
|
| Stocks Post Gains for Second Quarter
|
| Wall Street closed its first positive quarter in more than a year and a half yesterday, capping a massive rally built on hopes for an economic stabilization that has yet to materialize. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 11 percent during the second quarter, its biggest quarterly jump on a percentage basis since 2003. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index climbed 15.2 percent, its largest quarterly increase since 1998. Financial stocks rose the most during the quarter, jumping 35 percent, though they are still down more than 60 percent from their peak in 2007.
|
| @ Washington Post | Posted: 07/01/09 at 0419 EDST
|
|
|
| China’s Manufacturing Expands a Fourth Month as Economy Revives
|
| China’s manufacturing expanded for a fourth month as a 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) stimulus plan and record bank lending revive the world’s third-largest economy. The official Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to a seasonally adjusted 53.2 in June from 53.1 in May, the Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said today in Beijing in an e-mailed statement. A reading above 50 indicates an expansion.
|
| @ Bloomberg News | Posted: 07/01/09 at 0646 EDST
|
| Prime retail rents slump in Liverpool as landlords fight to fill space
|
| Retail rents in Liverpool city centre have plummeted 15.6% in less than a year, a new report has revealed. In September last year, LDP Business reported that top-end retail rents in the central retail district, including at the Liverpool One development, stood at £320 per sq ft. This has now plummeted to £270 per sq ft as the recession takes a grip. This now leaves it a long way behind Manchester’s Trafford Centre, where rents have remained static at £400 per sq ft.
|
| @ Liverpool Daily Post | Posted: 07/01/09 at 0652 EDST
|
| Canada economy 'not out of the woods just yet'
|
| The Canadian economy shrank for the ninth consecutive month in April, the federal agency reported, contracting 0.1% in April, after falling by an annualized 5.4% in the first quarter and 3.7% in the fourth quarter of 2008.
|
| @ Financial Post - CA | Posted: 07/01/09 at 0655 EDST
|
| -30- |
