real estate trends, announcements and numbers from Texas to China
• Inside the Bubble.
Dallas homes are more undervalued than in any other large
metropolitan market, according to survey by Global Insight and National City
Corp. The survey found that Dallas real estate is 19 percent undervalued,
which should help it weather a nationwide housing recession. Source: City of
Dallas Office of Economic Development
• New Meaning of Open House. National real estate brokerage ZipRealty has
added a “Client Ratings” feature to solicit feedback about its properties
from potential buyers. Registered users to www.ziprealty.com can post
positive or negative reviews. The new website is attracting controversy,
according to The Wall Street Journal “Some agents and homeowners already are
howling that the reviews are hatchet jobs, perhaps motivated by spite or a
desire to discourage competing bids for property the reviewers want to buy.”
• Dallas Top for Corporate Relocations. Dallas-Fort Worth can expect more
Fortune 500 companies to move their main operations here. The local
relocation trend is expected to continue, according to Steve Van Amburgh,
CEO of Koll Development Corp., which specializes in building new corporate
headquarters. At a recent meeting of commercial property brokers, Van
Amburgh said Dallas-Fort Worth is in the “corporate bull’s eye” for
relocations. Source: Dallas Business Journal
• Baby Boomers Downsizing. Many of the 78 million baby boomers — the first
of whom turn 60 this year —will sell their homes over the next 20 years,
according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. The
problem is who will buy their 34 million homes? Demographers say there are
not enough potential homebuyers from the younger generations. Source: The
New York Times Magazine