Awareness Post - 60 Minutes investigatory report on Lumber Liquidators.

We saw this Sunday evening and wanted to share it in case anyone had not seen it. This is a clip on the investigation that was done by CBS 60 Minutes on Lumber Liquidators. This is to put out there for awareness. We expect to hear a follow up on CBS.

CBS Lumber Liquidators clip

We will continue to keep our eyes and ears open for any other awareness real estate news stories that pop up.

Laminate flooring information on wikipedia.

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Looking International from Huntsville Alabama Real Estate Market

Sometimes its best to poke your head out of the sand and see what's going on the in the rest of the world.  That's what this post today will look at.  We've managed to find three articles online and broke them down to give you the relevant information.

The articles talked about China, Italy, & New Zealand.

In China, property values are continuing to rise despite all the effort the centralized government has put to curtail it from getting too expensive for potential home buyers.  The article from the DowJones Newswires put the average of 216 dollars / square meter  converting that for easier consumption for us that would be slightly over 20 dollars a square foot.  China's government has been restricting sales and bank credit in an effort to stop the rising price levels as well as appease its newly upwardly mobile middle class which are having fits in the increase of prices.  Price levels are expected to rise more again in 2013 and beyond.

Tecnocasa, an Italian Real Estate Agency, is predicting a 3-5% fall in sales prices in Italy nationwide.  However in large cities such as Rome and Milan, its expected that prices will stay somewhat stable.  Price declines in Italy are due to its collapsing economy and austerity package which had tax on single family homes included.

New Zealand is having a similar state to China.  There is increased demand for homes driving prices upwards, but there is also rebuilding continuing after over 10,000 homes were damaged in the Christchurch earthquakes of late 2010.  Government is expecting homes sales to drive a stronger economy going forward, but warn against a possible housing bubble.

Today's Tidbit:  Business happens all around the world and become a chain reaction of good or bad if we're not watching out.  So every now and again take a look around outside your local sphere, there might be something out there that could impact you.

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