Fed may not rush to the rescue

Bernanke wants to break assumption that central bank will cut rates whenever there is turmoil in financial markets, according to WSJ.

August 30 2007: 5:01 AM EDT

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -- The U.S. Federal Reserve is not rushing to cut benchmark interest rates because it wants to break investors of the view that the central bank is there to bail them out, an article in the Wall Street Journal said on Thursday.

Fed watcher Greg Ip, without quoting specific sources, said Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke was keen to draw a distinction between keeping financial markets ticking over and ensuring a sound economy.

Click title for more informtion.

OFHEO Home Price Appreciation Slowing But Has Not Stopped

The OFHEO House Price Index (HPI) usually doesn't get too much attention (except here where we regard it as the best, or at least the most interesting of the periodic housing indicators) but this time around people began anticipating it days before it was actually issued and there was speculation that it would be the harbinger of really bad news to come.

The Index, however, did not show a nationwide drop in housing prices as had been expected, just the smallest increase in many years.

The HPI tracks average house price changes from repeat sales or refinancings of the same single family houses as obtained from data collected and maintained by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The data base contains information on more than 33 million repeat transactions over the last 32 years and the "purchase only" index is based on 4.9 million transactions.

http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/8312007_Home_Prices.asp

Central Florida

5,700-Acre Community Planned for Central Florida August 06, 2007
By Michael Fickes, Contributing Correspondent

A 5,700-acre former ranch near Arcadia in Central Florida’s DeSoto County will provide the land for a nine-square-mile master-planned community to be developed by Cameratta Properties L.P. along with The Carlyle Group, a global private equity firm headquartered in Washington, D.C.Located near Arcadia, along major east-west and north-south highways, the new community will include more than 10,000 homes, a town center, government offices, retail stores, commercial office space, schools, houses of worship, a golf course, recreation facilities, athletic fields and walking trails. Financial details of the project were not disclosed.

According to a spokesperson for Cameratta, coastal Florida residents have begun to move to the interior of the state in search of more affordable lifestyles. Cameratta’s new master-planned community will support that trend.Cameratta and The Carlyle Group also worked together in 2003 to develop Southwest Florida’s tallest building: High Point Place, a 32 story luxury high rise condominium project on the waterfront in Fort Myers.Cameratta specializes in the acquisition, development, construction and management of residential and commercial real estate projects.With $71.4 billion under management, Carlyle invests in buyouts, venture and growth capital, real estate and leveraged finance in Asia, Europe and North America.

Port Authority approves bigger budget

August 10, 2007
Wood pellet traffic on the rise
Daniel Carson

Amid expected increased operating revenues aided by new wood pellet traffic, the Panama City Port Authority unanimously approved its fiscal year 2007-08 budget Thursday.

Executive director Wayne Stubbs said the port’s operating revenues are budgeted to increase to $10.54 million in FY 2007-08, up from a projected $8.75 million for this fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.

Operating expenses also are budgeted to rise almost $1.3 million, to $6.6 million, and the port’s 2007-08 capital budget of $10.35 million includes $6 million for the completion of a new bulk warehouse and conveyor system.

Of the roughly $1.8 million increase in operating revenues, Stubbs said about $1.5 million of those dollars would come from docking, wharfage and handling fees related to Green Circle Bio Energy-generated wood pellets.

“We’re basing it on 200,000 tons this fiscal year,” Stubbs said.
Green Circle has announced it could produce up to 550,000 pellet tons annually.

For more information click title

Green Circle Bio Energy facility to open later this year: Wood pellet plant project on schedule

Daniel Carson STEELE CITY, Jul 28, 2007 (The News Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --

For now, Steele City is not the wood pellet capital of the world.

But by this time next year, the small Jackson County enclave should see a substantial rise in log truck and rail traffic, as it becomes home to the world's largest pellet production plant.

That's because Green Circle Bio Energy's 300,000-square-foot wood pellet plant is on schedule to open later this year, project consulting engineer David Melvin said Thursday.

To read rest of story click title

10 exotic, affordable retiree havens

Exciting locales at budget prices could be in your future -- if you're willing to move from the U.S. after your working life is over.

By International Living

Once you allow yourself to look beyond U.S. shores for a place to retire, the choices get downright exciting. Mexico, sure. But how about Panama? Or France? Or Romania?
The right spot can allow you to live the life you'd only dreamed of: crashing surf, mountain air, bustling cities. You can comb beaches to your heart's content, or you can find a place to learn. You can relax, or you can find new opportunities.

Click title for more information...

Rebound Is Possible

By Lauren Baier Kim
Here's a look at what's new in real-estate markets across the U.S. from around the Web. (Some links may require registration or subscriptions.)

Where to spot a rebound

With the housing market in a downturn, where can one expect to first see signs of a housing-market recovery? In more "affordable" markets like Indianapolis and Atlanta, says a Forbes.com article, which includes a slideshow of 10 affordable metro areas in the U.S. As prices fall in these lower-priced areas, more buyers will be able to afford homes, whereas buyers in regions with higher prices may find themselves locked out: "In markets that rely more on credit, any recovery will be more muted if lending standards remain tight or tighten," the article quotes Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, as saying. However, not all markets that made the Forbes list are healthy ones -- both Cleveland and Detroit are suffering from poor local economies and the subprime-mortgage fallout, Forbes.com notes. The Web site identified "affordable" cities by looking at median home price to median household salary ratios and tracking the percentage of homes sold in the first quarter of this year that were affordable to households earning the area's median income, Forbes.com says.... click title to read the rest of the article.

Economic and Commercial Issues

Joint CommuniqueOn Tuesday, July 31, 2001, representatives of the governments of the United States and Uruguay held the inaugural meeting of the Joint Economic Council.This Council is the product of a April 24 meeting between President George W. Bush and President Jorge Batlle in Washington. At that time, the Presidents agreed on the need to strengthen and broaden the economic relations between both countries.The Presidents agreed to create the Joint Economic Council as a distinct forum for sharing and exchanging ideas on a variety of economic topics, including multilateral, regional and subregional issues, as well as shared bilateral issues.In the opening session, the heads of the delegations, Assistant Secretary of State E. Anthony Wayne and Foreign Minister Didier Opertti, provided broad descriptions of the topics to be discussed in the inaugural meeting as well as the overall objective of the Council itself. They concluded that the implementation of this Council enhances the relationship between the United States and Uruguay.

Click title for more information...

Financing

Loan Structures
OPIC Financing offers a variety of loan structures to suit the unique needs of the projects it supports.
Corporate, Project, and Hybrid Loans
Housing and Mortgage Financing
Franchise Loan
Commercial Bank On-Lending Agreements

Fact Sheet: White House Conference on the Americas

Advancing The Cause Of Social Justice In The Americas

Posted: July 9, 2007

"In the coming months, this Administration will convene a White House conference on the Western Hemisphere that will bring together representatives from the private sector, and non-governmental organizations, and faith-based groups and volunteer associations. The purpose is to share experiences and discuss effective ways to deliver aid and build the institutions necessary for strong civil society."
- President George W. Bush, 3/5/07

Going global

Head to Uruguay, Italy, and Malaysia for real estate deals that let you live la dolce vita.

By Michael V. Copeland, Business 2.0 Magazine senior writer
March 23 2007: 12:02 PM EDT

(Business 2.0 Magazine) -- With the U.S. real estate market in the doldrums, look south - way south - to Uruguay. Uru-where? The tiny South American nation is wedged between Brazil and Argentina, whose sputtering currencies have been attracting globe-trotting bargain hunters in recent years. But it's getting harder to find a real deal in those countries, with all the competition from euro-flush investors and increasingly prosperous locals. That makes largely overlooked but delightfully cosmopolitan Uruguay the place to be.

Click title for rest of story

Take charge of your IRA

More and more entrepreneurs are using their IRA funds to invest in real estate, private equity and even their own businesses.

By Jeanne Lee, FSB Magazine
May 30 2007: 10:32 AM EDT

(FSB Magazine) -- Last November, Dave Hanrahan, 37, of Vineland, N.J., decided to try something different to improve the returns in his retirement account. Rather than putting his money into the latest hot stock or biotech fund, Hanrahan used $60,000 in his self-directed IRA to purchase a small residential building lot. Thirty days later he flipped it for a tidy profit.

Ordinarily such a move would result in a capital gains tax. But because the property was held by his IRA, Hanrahan will owe no tax on the gain until decades from now when he starts taking distributions on the account. "Otherwise I would have paid about 30 percent tax on the sale," he says.

Click title for entire story....

Retirement Realty Fiesta

Hugh Bromma, The Entrust Group 07.24.07, 4:45 PM ET

We recently found that 30% of our roughly 30,000 clients who invest in real estate through self-directed IRAs were interested in investing in offshore real estate. While that might seem like a surprisingly high percentage, longtime real estate investors have been seeing the proverbial writing on the wall for some time.

Interest in offshore real estate has been slowly growing over the last few years, and real property investment opportunities for the small investor outside of the U.S. have multiplied. Add in a softening domestic real estate market, and you have the necessary ingredients for a nascent boom in real estate south of the border.

America's Fastest-Growing Suburbs

Matt Woolsey, 07.16.07, 6:00 PM ET

Los Angeles is sometimes called the "Sultan of Sprawl." But you wouldn't know it by looking at the country's fastest-growing suburbs. Not a single one falls in the L.A. metropolitan area.

Instead, Angelenos are packing their bags and heading 60 miles east to San Bernardino, where twelve of the country's 100 fastest-growing suburbs are located. Leading the pack? Beaumont. It has experienced 130% growth since 2000.

It's easy to understand why. Home prices in the Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area are 30% less expensive than in L.A. Add comparable household incomes to the mix, and the move from the basin to the valley makes sense.

You may click title for slide show or click link for chart below

http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/2007/07/16/suburbs-growth-housing-forbeslife-cx_mw_0716realestate_2.html

Real-estate investors' 10 big mistakes

Don't expect to get rich in a hurry, no matter what they say on TV infomercials, and don't let the dog eat your homework. Those are among the common goofs of novice investors.

By Bankrate.com

Once the real-estate market starts to rebound, investing in property will become a more appealing idea -- either as a career or a great side job. Like any other endeavor, though, there's a right way and a wrong way to go about it.

Bankrate spoke with established, full-time real-estate investors and with professionals, such as bankers, to identify the 10 types of traps into which real-estate investors most often fall.

Click Link for more information

Burnt Store Road widening closer to receiving funding

ByCAROLYN QUINN
Staff Writer
The House Appropriations Committee approved $800,000 for transportation projects in Southwest Florida Friday, including the widening of Burnt Store Road in Punta Gorda, according to a statement released Friday by U.S. Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fla. The funding, part of the fiscal year 2008 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Bill, must next be approved by the full House of Representatives. The House is expected to vote on the bill within the next few weeks, according to Mack's statement.
If approved, the Burnt Store project would receive $200,000 to widen the hurricane evacuation route, which serves over 250,000 people in Charlotte and Lee counties. The road currently requires 17.3 hours of clearance time for a category-3 hurricane, which is a hurricane with winds 111-130 mph and flooding near the coast and possibly well inland, during peak hurricane season.
The characteristics of the roadway — two lanes, no shoulders, no divider and no lighting — account for the dangerous clearance time, according to Mack's statement. Additionally, the statement said, the evacuation route is prone to flooding, which added to evacuation times during Hurricane Charley.
In the statement, Mack said, “Southwest Florida is experiencing tremendous growth and we need to do all we can to ensure that our infrastructure can meet the needs of our community. I’m pleased the House Appropriations Committee has included funding for several important transportation projects in Southwest Florida, which will help to lessen congestion in the region and make our roadways safer for all drivers."
The Burnt Store project also received $250,000 in U.S. Department of Transportation funding in 2005.
In September 2006, the Charlotte County Commission unanimously approved the estimated $39 million four-lane expansion of Burnt Store Road from the Jones Loop-Burnt Store Road intersection south to the Charlotte-Lee county line, which, in addition to improving the route for hurricane evacuation, will accommodate increased traffic as more developments are built along the road, said Public Works Director Tom O'Kane.
The county plans to begin to widen a 2.4-mile section of the road from U.S. 41 to Notre Dame Boulevard by April 2008, with preliminary plans to complete the work by April 2010. This segment of the project was estimated to cost $8 million. The county has already identified funds for this segment, including $4 million in state transportation funding.
The county hopes to negotiate agreements with area developers to contribute to the road's second-segment improvements, which include the road's widening to four lanes from Notre Dame south to the Lee County line. This would make the project a collaborative effort between the county and the new projects that are planned along Burnt Store, with some costs to be absorbed by Tern Bay, Bonita Bay and other large developers, in the central portion of the road, O'Kane said.
“They have shown much interest in doing the design and implementation of the widening, which works out very well for all of us,” O'Kane said.
Developers will pay for the road's expansion in front of their respective projects through an impact-fee credit system, he said. “Rather than paying us the money, they would just as soon build the roadway in front of them for whatever their impact fees were,” he said.
Since developers are private entities, they can get permits and approvals faster than the county can, O'Kane said. If all goes according to plan, the developers will pay the equivalent of the impact fees to build the road themselves.
“We're very optimistic that that's going to get a majority of the roadway built,” he said.
The Burnt Store improvements are just part of a regional road enhancement program that includes a $14 million plan to link it with the western extension of Tuckers Grade by 2014

INC's BoomTowns 2007

See INC.com report for Boomtowns 2007. Click title for full report.

Developer cuts back homes to add retail

LAS VEGAS -- A Boston-based company working to transform a 200-acre tract in Charlotte County into a massive mixed-use development has revamped its plans in response to market conditions, adding a shopping center's worth of retail space to its original proposal.The Wilder Cos.' plans now call for 1.2 million square feet of retail space to be a part of The Loop-Punta Gorda, a 20 percent increase from designs unveiled last year.At the same time, Wilder has reduced to 500 the number of new residences that would become part of its massive project, slated for a tract near Interstate 75 and Burnt Store Road. When Wilder's plans were announced last May, plans called for 800 homes.

To read

The Wilder Companies Completes Purchase of 200 Acres in Florida

Published: 2006-12-05 Article Views: 785
The Wilder Companies announced today it has completed the purchase of approximately 200 acres in Punta Gorda, Florida, the high-growth community between Fort Myers and Sarasota on Florida's west coast.
BOSTON, MA (New Urban Observer) December 5, 2006 - The Wilder Companies announced today it has completed the purchase of approximately 200 acres in Punta Gorda, Florida, the high-growth community between Fort Myers and Sarasota on Florida's west coast.The land is located on either side of Jones Loop Road between I-75 and Route 41, the major commercial node in the Punta Gorda MSA. At over two million square feet, the project will be one of the area's largest and most integrated developments. It calls for 1.2 million square feet of retail, 500 residences, offices and a hotel. It is being intricately designed to fit easily and efficiently into its surroundings.

To view more information click title.

Another Loop is Coming

The market is booming in Charlotte County, at the midpoint of Fort Myers and Sarasota on the beautiful west coast of Florida.

Encompassing 200 acres in desirable Punta Gorda is the large mixed-use project, The Loop.
The development is moving forward quickly with Phase 1 slated to break ground in 2007.
The project will contain nearly 1 million sq. ft. of retail, 800 residential units, 100,000 sq. ft. of office and 200 hotel rooms.

Click title for more information

The Loop on Jones Loop

10/28/06The Loop on Jones Loop

By BOB FLISS Charlotte Business Editor

Huge center's name a pure coincidence.

Talk about your happy happenstances.

The Loop -- a huge new retail and condo project designed to become a shopping destination for all Southwest Florida -- is planned for a 200-acre tract on Jones Loop Road just south of Punta Gorda.

Granted that The Loop still has to survive Charlotte County's often-tortuous regulatory review, it still promises to be the most ambitious local retail project since the Port Charlotte Town Center mall.

Indeed, the developer is hoping that The Loop will shift the entire center of gravity in Southwest Florida retailing.

For full article click title

Florida Metropolitan Statistical Areas

Florida’s cities offer a great mix of big-city sophistication and small-town appeal. Each of the state’s 20 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) attracts businesses with its distinctive character and advantages. Defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as urbanized areas of at least 50,000 inhabitants and a total metropolitan population of at least 100,000, the MSAs include areas from contiguous counties if they meet certain criteria such as commuting time to the central counties, population density and prevalence of urban population.

The MSA profiles provide a brief overview of each metro area’s main characteristics such as infrastructure, labor force, education, business environment and largest employers.Please click on an MSA name on the map or on the list below for more information on that specific Florida metropolitan statistical area.

For more information click title

U.S. Market Risk Ranks

With this issue of ERET, we are introducing a new ranking procedure that is designed to highlight meaningfuldifferences between categories of risk while minimizing focus on marginal changes in scores that do not representsignificant changes in an MSA’s risk profile.

Click title for full report

US Market Risk Index Report

Economic and Real Estate Trends Report by PMI

ABOUT PMI
For more than 30 years, PMI has combined its risk management expertise and financial strength to serve the evolving needs of our customers and the world’s financial markets.

Click title for full report