North Alabama Economic News and Reinforcing National Real Estate Numbers

Short bits for today...

On the east side of Decatur there's been a proposal to build a 1.3 Billion dollar retail center which has a possibility to bring in over 4 thousand jobs.  The location has been placed at the intersection of I-565 and I-65 Interchange.  The Decatur city council vote of approval give the mayor the ability to continue negotiations with the developer.

Local groups comprised of academic, industry, and non-profit groups are trying to put together a presentation to have the North Alabama / Huntsville Metro Area acquire new factory otherwise known as smart manufacturing centers.  The industry sector is ready to put money into the project, but are waiting to get the question answered of what will their return on investment will they get.

S&P/Case Shiller has released a new report showing national price increase by 0.2%, after Dec had a price increase of 0.9%.  For the final quarter home prices jumped 2%.

Today's Tidbit:  A fantastic article on the passing of former US Surgeon General C. Everett Koop.

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

Huntsville's Mayor Battle sends out Sequestration message from DC

Just a quick post today.  Last night, Huntsville's Mayor Tommy Battle released this statement from Washington DC where he went to Capitol Hill to discuss the Sequestration.
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One thing is for certain; there is a wealth of diverse opinions in Washington, D.C.
Madison County Commission Chair Dale Strong, Enterprise Mayor Kenneth Boswell (Fort Rucker), Retired General Rod Wolf (former president of AAAA) and I met with seven House and Senate offices today. The topic was sequestration and its effect on our local economy.

For more than five years the Defense Department and the rest of the U.S. government have been limping along on a Continuing Resolution (CR) on spending. When Congress raised the debt ceiling in 2011 and could not come to an agreement on debt reduction, part of the deal included an imposed sequestration; a series of harsh budget cuts totaling $1.2 trillion (through 2021) that would take effect January 2, 2013.

Evenly split between defense and domestic discretionary spending, the proposed cuts were so drastic, no one in Washington thought they would ever be allowed to take effect. Leaders mistakenly believed the threat of a sequester would force Congress to agree on a reduced budget plan. Instead, Congress extended the sequester start date to go into effect March 1. As a result, the Congressional paralysis and the threat of sequestration have been crippling our local businesses.

Top firms in are area holding back on hiring and future planning, including expansions, because they don’t know what the U.S. government is going to do. The first effects of sequestration will be shouldered on our federal employees. Notices went out today warning of furloughs. We are told this means federal employees will work a 32-hour week and receive a 20 percent pay cut. I think most offices will still expect employees to accomplish the same amount of work that they had in a 40-hour week. Temporary employees will lose their jobs and term employees will not be rehired.

The military armed forces (Army) would start feeling the effect in FY 2014. The talk on Capitol Hill is that active duty rosters will be cut from 540,000 to fewer than 400,000.

Sequestration also affects schools. The Huntsville City School system will lose $1.7 million and the Enterprise School system will lose around $1.5 million. These will be difficult cuts to absorb in systems that have already endured systematic cuts throughout the recession.

The overall sentiment in the Congressional offices we visited today is that our country will go into sequestration on March 1. Some of the offices believe it will take about 30 days for the real impact to hit.

A few offices were hopeful that Congress would turn the situation around by the time the CR ran out on March 27. The hopeful ones were those representatives with a heavy military presence in their congressional districts. Those without military bases gave the impression they are “okay” with sequestration staying in place.

There is some talk of a defense appropriation bill by Hal Rodgers that would be combined with a CR for the rest of the budget. Some offices believe this might work if it follows the guidelines of National Defense Acquisition (NDA) that passed the House last December. Most were skeptical of the ability of the House to put that together.

There is a lot of finger pointing and “we vs. they” talk throughout the delegations. The promising part was the fact that two offices made statements about “forgetting party lines,” and “we have to do something.” The House has terrific distrust for both Administration and the Senate. They fear both parties are working to make them look bad.

The common thread we discovered is that these Congressional offices are not getting any public feedback on this issue. There is a lot of noise about gun control and immigration, but no public outcry about sequestration. If anything is going to happen, the public has to get involved and they need to speak up quickly. Several of the offices said it would up to the Senate to start the negotiation process to come up with a budget or even a CR. The two Senate leaders that have the might and clout to do that are Alabama’s Senator Richard Shelby and Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski.

Our “ask” of the legislative offices today was not to “kick the can down the road.” Good, bad, or indifferent, we need a budget. Our military commands will adapt. Our local businesses will adapt. The uncertainty of a CR is worse than sequestration.

Our other “ask” was that Congress not burden the civilian workforce with all the pain. It is not fair. Less pay and a mandatory shortened workweek is something we would not do in private industry and it should not be done in government. 

We don’t know the full effect of our visit, but we did everything in our power to make certain our message was heard in Washington, D.C. We recognize the country must come to grips with its financial future. Let’s do so in the right way.

Tommy Battle
Mayor

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Huntsville Metro Area Homes

Nationwide Real Estate Numbers

A new report from the National Association of Realtors have stated sales of existing homes has gone up by 0.4 % from the previous month.  In hard numbers its about 4.92 million homes.  Since January 2012, overall nationwide inventory has fallen by 25 %, this includes new construction.  NAR is reporting that new home construction is expected to continue to be a driving force in the real estate market and be even larger than last year.  This is from current homeowners who are underwater in their mortgage and cannot afford to sell their homes unless they're willing to take a hit.  As these inventories continue to drop, the prices will be pushed higher.

Today's Tidbit:  One of our team members came across this and may be helpful to someone who's making a large purchase at Sports Authority.  20% off a purchase of over $100.00

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

Quick News of Huntsville and Alabama and its Impact on Huntsville Real Estate

It seems like there has been a lot of news of Alabama and Huntsville, so let's do a quick fly by in case you missed it.

Standard & Poor's reaffirms Huntsville's AAA Credit rating with a stable future outlook.  Moody's gave the city a Aaa with a negative outlook due to the city's indirect ties to the federal government.  The high credit rating give the chance for the city to get loans at a much lower interest rate than other cities with a worse credit rating.   City Financial Director Randy Taylor says the city will refinance 21 million dollars that went to the Madison County Jail construction.

Management Training Consulting Firm, Afterburner, will be franchised next in Huntsville according to the Atlanta based company.  This is due to its strong military presence.

Wells Fargo is reporting that if the federal government's sequestration hit, Alabama and Huntsville in particular could be one of the hardest hit due to the exposure of the aerospace industry in the defense cuts that would take place.  Other places to get hit: New Mexico, Virginia, Maryland, South Carolina, and on the same level as Huntsville would be St. Louis Missouri.

Good news out of Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta in report they're highlighting from Univ. of Alabama's Center of Business and Economic Research.  They're also agreeing with it, although the Reserve Bank branch in Birmingham is more cautious of the latter part of the year.  Dr. Addy positive news from CBER highlights':

• The state's economy will continue to show improvement in both output and employment during 2013. Real gross domestic product growth of 1.7 percent to 1.9 percent is forecast for 2013, about the same pace of expansion as in 2012.
• The pace of job growth is expected to pick up modestly from the 11,300 jobs added in 2012. About 15,000 to 20,000 jobs could be added in 2013. However, the unemployment rate will remain around its current seasonally adjusted level of 7.8 percent as individuals enter or reenter the labor force.
• Large transportation equipment-related manufacturing and service-providing employers will be the major economic drivers in 2013. These include firms in industries such as automotive manufacturing, shipbuilding, steel, tourism, healthcare, and business services. Exports should also continue to boost the Alabama economy.
• Alabama's private contractors and government facilities engaged in aerospace and defense-related projects will remain cautious about hiring or making new capital investments until they get some clarity on federal spending plans.
• The state's economy will continue to show improvement in both output and employment during 2013. Real gross domestic product growth of 1.7 percent to 1.9 percent is forecast for 2013, about the same pace of expansion as in 2012.
• The pace of job growth is expected to pick up modestly from the 11,300 jobs added in 2012. About 15,000 to 20,000 jobs could be added in 2013. However, the unemployment rate will remain around its current seasonally adjusted level of 7.8 percent as individuals enter or reenter the labor force.
• Large transportation equipment-related manufacturing and service-providing employers will be the major economic drivers in 2013. These include firms in industries such as automotive manufacturing, shipbuilding, steel, tourism, healthcare, and business services. Exports should also continue to boost the Alabama economy.
• Alabama's private contractors and government facilities engaged in aerospace and defense-related projects will remain cautious about hiring or making new capital investments until they get some clarity on federal spending plans.

The German Consul General, Christoph Sander will be visiting Alabama this coming week to tour the Mercedes-Benz plant in Tuscaloosa County.  Usually these higher ups come to check on investments and see if they've paid off and made the right decision.  From this point, investment can increase depending on a positive review or be pulled if there are many problems. 

This is vast amount of economic news to come out about Huntsville and the state of Alabama.  In terms of real estate, if sequestration hits (depending on the financial situations) we may see a large or small bump in activity.  Considering that the news has been talking about sequestration for over four months now, its possible that we may only see a small bump.  However, depending on what defense contracting companies do and how deep the cuts to civilian workers hours in the defense department, it is this that will determine what the real estate outlook in short term will look like.

Overall its best to say the crystal ball looks murky and the Magic 8 ball says "ask again later".

Today's Tidbit:  The Land Trust of North Alabama is now nationally accredited through the Land Trust Accreditation Commission, a program of the Land Trust Alliance.  Just over 200 Land Trust groups exist in the United States. 

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

Freddie Mac publicly reporting on state of real estate

Yesterday Freddie Mac came out and publicly reported from their Chief Economist Frank Nothaft that "Across the nation, most local housing markets have room for sustainable growth, particularly in home construction and sales."  This comes as Freddie Mac's US Economic & Housing Market Outlook reveals that the level of buyer affordability is showing continued improvement in home prices and strong sales growth and construction. Freddie Mac also expects housing this year to increase to 950,000 units, about 22% higher than 2012 levels. Meanwhile, existing-home sales are projected to pick up as the housing-price recovery allows home owners who had been forced on the sidelines by negative equity to get back into the market.

Facts and quotes have come from the Dow Jones Newswires.

We believe this is the third iteration in which we've seen positive talk about new construction affordability being a driving point.  We are though, continuing to wait and see if existing home sales increase or will continue to lag behind new construction sales.

Today's Tidbit: We would like to congratulate local dentist Dr. Vicki Vest. for competing with her black Russian terrier, Zoe in the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.  Zoe won best in black Russian terrier breed.

We would also like to welcome Rolando McClain to the Huntsville Metro Area as the former Alabama star has bought a 1M dollar property in Clift's Cove subdivision.

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

Highlighting a Community under Active Construction: Lendon at Jones Valley

This week we take a quick peek at one of South Huntsville's newest communities, Lendon at Jones Valley.
This new construction venture in the Jones Valley Commercial District has been called the Providence of South Huntsville.  Meaning it will have a similar layout and type of community as was constructed in Providence community on University Drive.  The location of Lendon at Jones Valley will be between Four Mile Post Road and Carl T. Jones, behind Target, Barnes & Noble, Pets Mart, and movie theater.

Currently Lendon is offering Square Footage as low as 600 in a Carriage House to the limit of 5200 for an Estate House.  However, it was discussed that there are possible home sites holding up to 8000 sqft.

Construction started just over 1 month ago on the 250 home sites with 100 flats on 80 acres.  According to representatives of Lendon the styles of architecture will be Classical Traditional, Neoclassical, European and American.  These new homes will be expected to have upkeep of strict landscape and hard scape to maintain the standard of living that the Lendon wants to present.

We wish the developers all the best in this new endeavor.

More information about Lendon can be found with this link.

Today's Tidbit:   For Valentines Day today, a simple video.

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

A Look at the Twickenham Historic District

The Twickenham Historic District was the first historical district established in Huntsville, Alabama.  This subdivision features Greek Revival, Victorian, and Federal architectural types brought into the city by Virginia architect George Steele in the early 1800s.  It covers 12 blocks and 300 buildings.  The Twickenham Historic District contains the most dense concentration of antebellum homes in Alabama. This subdivision was placed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

These are beautiful and expensive homes which are kept to code by regulations set forth by the Huntsville Historic Preservation Commission.

Map of the Twickenham Historic District

More reading material can be found with the National Register of Historic Places document on the Twickenham Historic District.

Additional Statistical Data can be found at city-data.com

Today's Tidbit:  The Twickenham Historic District offers walking tours through the subdivision and is a great opportunity to gain more information about the subdivision, its homes, and former residents.

Huntsville Metro Area Homes

Even Real Estate Agents Get Telemarketer Calls

Yes even Real Estate Agents get telemarketing calls!  Overall they're more rude than ones that go out to the general public.  Most of the time our telemarketer calls get stopped by the front desk.  Then there are other times when they call on the cell immediately and constantly, or even leave voicemails.  From personal experience of their calls they are usually very rude and feel they know better than you.  Such corrupt people and their organizations by a few names are Z57 and top of the page.  You don't have to take my word for it, Z57 complaints can be found here, here, and here.  When in doubt ask around or do research, you might find out you can do a lot yourself without paying others.  We are glad to have administrative staff around us to lookout for us.

Z57 is a lead promiser. They send you lots of leads, but they're essentially worthless as the people they give you seems like they got out of a telephone directory.  Some leads aren't in your area, some are dead, some just bought a house.  They are disgusting at worse and disheartening at best.  Corrupt telemarketers like Z57 take thousands of dollars from agents without any compensation in return.

Top of the Page is another type of telemarketer.  Top of the Page isn't really into leads but more into advertising and promising you'll be on top of all the search engines.  Now that is one thing that is physically impossible.  That will only happen through paid links through the search engine itself not a third party fly by night organization.  It is possible to get to the top of the search engines for different searches and that's through hard work on your bio, your website and other social media.  Granted you won't be on every top page as not every search can be guessed on what the user will put in, but you'll have a better shot.  In addition, there are other agents and businesses fighting to get to that same spot. as well as search engine algorithms are always changing as well as how much work/effort those people are putting in.  Agents know their clients and know what types of clients they have.  Third party websites or organizations have no idea whose clients are whose and what the audience the agent is speaking to.  This works on most spectrum of business.

If agents treated their clients like telemarketers treated people, there wouldn't be any clients.  Clients should be treated with care and respect, they are seeking help.  Telemarketers only seek money.

Today's Tidbit:  People or clients may not tell you up front that they need help.  Sometimes they need assurance that they won't be cast off just as another number.  People are special and should be treated like an individual not someone standing in line at the DMV.  Once you communicate more and more with them you can build a certain level of trust, and in a successful business relationship, trust is one if not the most important piece of that relationship.  Its an investment of money and time.  The value must be worth the input to have a successful relationship.

Huntsville Metro Area Homes