Bucking national trends, Nashville’s real estate market is heating up as inventory declines and sales increase. A sales report released this week by the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors (GNAR) on Thursday, also shows a 16% increase in May home sales over April. There were 3,753 home sales closings in May, up 4.2% from May 2005. One of the main reasons for the growth seems to be an uptick in corporate relocations to the area.

Wilson said Nashville’s market continues to grow at a steady, moderate pace, in the opposite direction of the national market. She added the “housing bubble� experienced in many parts of the country has yet to make its way to Nashville.

Wilson attributes Nashville’s diverse economy and increased corporate relocations as a contributing factor in Nashville’s continued real estate growth.

Read the whole article here (The City Paper).

An economic forecast released this week from the Council of Economic Advisers, along with the Department of Treasury and the Office of Management and Budget shows continued robust economic growth and a strong labor market. The report released this week also shows that growth of real gross domestic product (GDP) during the four quarters of 2006 will be about 3.6%, revised up 0.2 percentage point from the last forecast. Real GDP growth is forecasted to be about 3% or higher in each of the next five years – similar to the historical average over the last 20 years.

“We continue to see signs that the U.S. economy is strong and on the right path to sustaining this trend. There can also be no question that well-timed tax relief, combined with responsible leadership from the Federal Reserve Board, has been a key reason for our current economic strength,” said Treasury Secretary John W. Snow.

Read the whole article here (Inman News).

As some coastal housing markets cool down, a new statistical analysis of housing price cycles suggest that the next major housing boom could be shifting to America’s heartland. Christopher L. Cagan, the author of the analysis, examined historical housing price movements and concluded that metropolitan real estate markets can be classified into three distinct behavioral categories: Linear, Cyclic, and Hybrid Markets.

While Cyclical Markets, such as most of Califonia and Washington D.C. have already reached their peak, Linear Markets such as Columbus, Indianapolis, Houston, San Antonio, and Memphis appear to be poised for above-average price increases and home building.

‘’Look at the median home prices in Dallas and Houston. Property there looks cheap'’ from the perspective of California or Washington, D.C., or New York, said Cagan, whose research firm is headquartered in Santa Ana, Calif. — one of the flashiest shooting star markets.

Equally important: The major heartland markets are nowhere near their home price growth limits, based on Cagan’s examination of household incomes. Beyond that, in Cagan’s view, many of the heartland metropolitan areas “are basically very nice places to live and work. They’ve got good schools, lots of parks and open space, plus you can afford to buy a home with a median income.'’

Read the whole article here (Miami Herald).

If you’re an elderly homeowner whose primary asset is your home, should you gift the home to your adult children now, or wait a little longer? Your best plan may be to wait, writes Bob Bruss in Inman Consumer News. If you quitclaim your house to your adult children now, you run the risk of outliving your assets as living expenses constantly increase.

For example, suppose you later decide it’s time for you to move to an assisted-living center where you will enjoy excellent care and three meals a day with no work. If you already gave away your home, where will you find the money to pay for your care?

If you are in reasonably good health, and expect to stay in your home at least five years, please look into a senior-citizen-homeowner reverse mortgage. You can choose from a lump sum to pay for repairs, monthly lifetime income, a credit line (except in Texas), or any combination. To find reputable local reverse mortgage originators, on the Internet go to www.reversemortgage.org.

Read the whole article here (Mortgage 101).

After driving up prices in Idaho real estate, California investors are starting to pull out of the market. Their collective idea seemed sound at the time - after buying up properties, they would rent them out until the appreciation went high enough to resell the properties at a high profit. The only problem with the plan seems to be that appreciation has slowed and profits are getting harder to come by, and some are worried that if the investors pull out now, the market will slow even further.

Higher home prices, rising interest rates and stagnant wage growth are making it difficult for investors to get the rents needed to cover their loans, housing-industry leaders say. And that could cause thousands of single-family homes to be dumped on the market, lowering housing prices and undermining a building boom that has been propping up the Treasure Valley economy.

Tallabas said: “We had some very brash investors come in here thinking that it (the boom) would last for another five years. They scare me now, because they could begin dumping all those homes.

Read the whole article here (Idaho Statesman).

Unlike it’s cousin to the north Seattle (see below), Denver has not reigned in building permits — effectively causing home inventory to skyrocket. Last month existing home inventory hit a record 30,457, compounded by an increase of foreclosures. Rising home prices are also adding to the problem - the median price for a single-family home rose to $250,943 in May, up from $250,000 in April. But brokers do see a turnaround in 2007.

“We might be starting to run into the law of supply and demand,” McGuire said. “As supply continues to increase and demand is lower than in the past, you’re probably going to see an adjustment in prices.”

“People are thinking if they really want to be in a home before school starts, they had better get started,” he said. “Showings are up. That’s an indication people are still focusing on their plans and their dreams.”

Read the whole article here (Denver Post).

Thanks to its strict growth-management policies and healthy economy, Seattle is escaping a housing slowdown that’s affecting much of the region. One tactic the city has used successfully is to limit the number of building permits issued in any given year. By doing so, the city’s new job growth has outpaced building permits for single-family homes and condos by 30% for the past 15 months.

Though single-family home sales fell about 7% in April, compared with April 2005, there’s only a three-month supply of homes in the Seattle market — half the national average. That’s largely why prices rose nearly 18% that month, according to the latest data available. “The restrictions on supply by growth management (are) forcing prices artificially up,” says Bill Riss, CEO of Coldwell Banker Bain. One answer to building restrictions and rising home prices may be higher-density buildings. “We’re in the beginning of a building boom in mid- to high-rise condominiums,” Riss says.

Read the whole article here (USA Today).

It seems that there’s no slowdown in the hot Manhattan real estate sector. Median sales prices for Manhattan cooperatives and condominiums increased 13% in the first quarter to $749,000 compared to first-quarter 2005, the Real Estate Board of New York reported today.

The East Side showed the highest gains with price increases of 24% in the first quarter for apartments and an astounding 35% increase for condominiums.

The price per square foot grew 21 percent to $1,036, for Manhattan condo units, 31 percent to $510 for Northern Manhattan condo units, and 25 percent to $1,061 for East Side condos. Median room prices for Manhattan cooperative units rose 13 percent to $196,000.

Compared to first-quarter 2005, East Side median room prices were up 18 percent to $210,000 in first-quarter 2006, the highest price and percentage increase of the five major market areas.

Read the whole article here (Inman News).

Say you find your perfect country home - a spacious McMansion perched on what was until very recently, working farmland. Everything about the home and the area is wonderful, except for the smell of manure and the loud tractor noises from the neighbors, who happen to still run a working farm. Do you have any legal recourse against them? Not at all, according to this article.

It is up to you to complete due diligence on whatever property you choose to purchase. If you do not like the smell of farms or the noise of factories, it is up to you to not purchase a property within earshot (or nose-shot) of such working institution. Not only is it simple commosense, it’s simply not fair to your neighbors.

It is considered to be unfair to the establishment for people to move next to it knowing full well that it is an operating establishment, and then complain afterwards that they cannot tolerate the noise, odor or other problems relating to the establishment. That is why they say that one cannot move to a nuisance and then complain about the nuisance.

Often, I find that people do not conduct due diligence before they move next to these kinds of operations. The concept of fundamental fairness is just as important here as in any competing legal doctrine. Fairness dictates that if you do not like the manner in which a business is conducted, don’t move along side it.

Read the whole article here (Realty Times).

According to luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers CEO Robert Toll, the current housing slowdown is being driven by two factors: over building by “more aggressive builders” and by speculators who are now selling off their inventory. But never fear - once the market “fights its way through excess inventory,” the situation will reverse itself and the pent-up demand will return the housing market to its previously strong state.

The executive also pointed to favorable demographics, the increasing number of affluent households, a short supply of lots approved for building and increasingly difficult regulatory processes as more positive signs.

Still, Toll thought that the market would burn through the excess inventory faster. “I don’t see this lasting too much longer — the economy is too good,” he said, citing solid employment data.

Read the whole article here (MarketWatch).