Location, location

October 23, 2007
Developments offer amenities closer to home
By Ed Offley

PANAMA CITY BEACH
The rules for success in local real estate development have changed, and they are transforming the face of Panama City Beach and nearby Bay County.

Where once a builder simply could acquire land and throw up a mass of single-family homes or a high-rise condominium tower, the tightly competitive housing market is driving developers to embrace the new urban village concept.

Best Cities for Job Growth

By Mary Lorenz, CareerBuilder.com writer
Florida isn't just for vacationers and retirees anymore. It seems the Sunshine State is also a hub for employers and businesses eager to expand and hire more workers.

Forbes.com recently released its annual list of the 200 Best Places for Businesses and Careers, and, among those places, five Florida cities ranked in the top 10 for U.S. cities with the highest job growth. Cape Coral, Fla. held the top spot for cities with the highest job growth. Las Vegas, Nev. ranked second, followed by Naples, Fla. and Sarasota, Fla. McAllen, Tex. rounded out the top five.

Malta homes among world’s most affordable… so far

by Francesca Vella
Malta is one of the 25 most affordable housing markets worldwide, according to a Home Price Comparison Index (HPCI) study published by premier real estate provider Coldwell Banker. However a report published in Business Week hinted that this could be due to the fact that the country has not yet joined the euro area.

Apart from 317 American housing markets, the 2007 HPCI study evaluated affordability in 77 international housing markets in 28 nations outside the US.The most expensive studied international markets included (prices converted to US dollars as of 7 September this year): Dublin ($2.13 million), Milan ($1.91 million), Rome ($1.79 million) and Paris ($1.67 million), On the other hand, the most affordable international market tracked was Bogotá, Colombia, at $140,100, followed closely by Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt ($144,896) and Granada, Nicaragua ($190,000).

Foreclosure suit imperils condo development on Manatee River

Article published Oct 17, 2007

By MICHAEL BRAGA
STAFF WRITERSmichael.braga@heraldtribune.com

BRADENTON -- One of the region's largest condominium projects is the target of a foreclosure suit by one of the nation's biggest banks.If Wells Fargo's suit against the 700-unit Riviera Southshore is successful, Riviera Southshore will be the most prominent Southwest Florida project to date to succumb to the pressures of a sagging real estate market.Other projects have died, and in recent months about 200 homeowners a month have been losing their homes to foreclosure in the region.Exactly how developer Frank Maggio will respond to the suit from the nation's fourth largest bank is unclear: he did not return calls on Tuesday for comment.But people who have followed the project closely are not optimistic about its chances for survival given the state of Florida's real estate market.Maggio defaulted on a $22.3 million loan from the bank, according to the suit filed earlier this month by Wells Fargo."We would have hoped that he was better capitalized than that," said Bradenton Mayor Wayne Poston. "A lot of approved projects are not being built. All of Florida is facing that now. We're being impacted just like other communities."It would mark the end of a project that generated strong passions.

‘Perfect storm’

October 22, 2007

Beach becomes buyer’s market
By Ed Offley

PANAMA CITY BEACH
Back in the days of the thriving beachfront condominium construction boom, Realtors joked that the overhead construction cranes adorning the skyline should be designated as the official city bird.

Today, the condo crane is on the endangered species list.
In 2004, there were at least three dozen resort condo projects under various stages of construction along Bay County’s western beachfront, each one with one or two of the signature horizontal jib cranes towering overhead. Now, from St. Andrews State Park west to the county line, only the Tropic Winds condo project under development still sports such a device.

How Ecuador can take your breath away

BY AMANDA J. MILLER
Cox News Service

QUITO, Ecuador -- High above the city, 72 feet to be exact, I'm inching around the 2-foot-wide ledge of the 17th-century bell tower of the Iglesia de la Compania, trying without much success to tamp down vertigo. Oddly, I feel both terrified and exhilarated.
The tower is the perfect vantage point to view the city's crazy quilt of centuries-old buildings and modern construction.

Ecuador is noted for its outdoor travel opportunities, especially for seeing exotic animals and swimming with sea lions and giant tortoises in the Galapagos Islands. In this small country of 13 million people, you can also trek in the Amazon jungle or get close to whales cavorting off the coast. Who knew there would be nearly as many thrills in its capital city of 1.4 million people and the volcanic region around it?

A visit to Quito, designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1978, blends history and adventure in unexpected ways.

THE ELEVATION
The city is at a breathtaking 9,300 feet, almost twice that of ''mile high'' Denver and so high some people might suffer minor altitude sickness -- fatigue or mental confusion from thin air.
Susan Carter of Gardendale, Ala., had a mild bout when she first arrived for a visit last year with her daughter Julie, a graduate student at Auburn University who was in Quito working for the summer.

''It's just a weird feeling,'' she said, trying to describe the sensation of lightheadedness. Even climbing stairs takes an effort and your mind goes goofy, is how I'd describe it, though the symptoms dissipated within a few hours.

It's perks plus at new downtown condo developments

Services meant to cater to residents' every need will be offered: a 24-hour concierge and doorman, limousine and valet service and on-site IT concierge.

"Mandarin Oriental is often rated the top hotel group in the world, so as the five-star brand's first venture in the Midwest, this building will usher in a new era for sophisticated and gracious city living. As far as its level of service and amenities, Mandarin Oriental Tower, Chicago is poised to be the only building of its kind not just in Chicago, but throughout the entire Midwest," said Chris Kenny, chief financial officer for Palladian Development.

For information, call (312) 540-1515 or log onto www.mandarinorientaltower.com.

For complete article click title.

Las Vegas Realtors Implement New Procedures to Accommodate Foreign Buyers

High prices in international housing markets, combined with the weakening US dollar and the current slump in US housing values, have foreign investors taking another look at American real estate investments, according to local Las Vegas agent Diann Tonnesen who has noticed a marked increase in international enquiries over the past few weeks. In response, her company has put in place a new system to streamline foreign national purchases which can be a bit more complicated.

Las Vegas, NV (PRWEB) October 2, 2007 -- With the high price of foreign property, investors are bargain shopping in the United States to take advantage of the favorable rate of exchange while it lasts. One of the most popular housing areas being scrutinized is the Las Vegas real estate market, said Glen and Diann Tonnesen of Prudential Americana Group Realtors, who have been local agents for more than 24 years and have a team of agents who work with them. "Over the past few weeks we have suddenly been deluged with requests from Canada and the UK in particular. Earlier this year we would maybe get five or six international emails a week. All of a sudden we are getting four or five a day. Most seem to be looking for second homes that are relatively inexpensive compared to their native countries."

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/10/prweb557520.htm