25 American Cities with the Biggest Rent Hikes

Posted on March 23, 2011 by admin

No. 4 Biggest Rent Hike: Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, Ore.-Wash.

Annual increase: 8.1%
Average monthly rent: $875
Vacancy rate: 4.7% (6.3% in 2009)
Average concession: -2%

Recent occupancy gains in Portland have allowed owners to raise rents, according to R. Tom Smith, senior adviser with Coast|Sperry Van Ness Commercial Real Estate Advisors in Vancouver, Wash. "With private-sector employers no longer shedding jobs, the local economic outlook has improved, giving households who doubled up during the recession the confidence to lease individual apartments," he writes. Rents in parts of the Tigard, Oswego, and Wilsonville areas jumped by 9.4 percent in 2010, the biggest hikes in the area, according to AXIOMetrics. The unemployment rate in November, 10.1 percent, was unchanged from a year earlier, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Read more

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Pepsi Reveals World’s First 100% Plant-Based Bottle

Posted on March 17, 2011 by admin

Live Green In Portland

PURCHASE, N.Y., March 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Building upon its heritage as an innovator and leader in environmental sustainability, PepsiCo (NYSE: PEP) today announced it has developed the world's first PET plastic bottle made entirely from plant-based, fully renewable resources, enabling the company to manufacture a beverage container with a significantly reduced carbon footprint.

PepsiCo's "green" bottle is 100 percent recyclable and far surpasses existing industry technologies. The bottle is made from bio-based raw materials, including switch grass, pine bark and corn husks. In the future, the company expects to broaden the renewable sources used to create the "green" bottle to include orange peels, potato peels, oat hulls and other agricultural byproducts from its foods business. This process further reinforces PepsiCo's "Power of One" advantage by driving a strategic beverage innovation via a food-based solution.

"This breakthrough innovation is a transformational development for PepsiCo and the beverage industry, and a direct result of our commitment to research and development," said PepsiCo Chairman and CEO, Indra Nooyi. "PepsiCo is in a unique position, as one of the world's largest food and beverage businesses, to ultimately source agricultural byproducts from our foods business to manufacture a more environmentally-preferable bottle for our beverages business – a sustainable business model that we believe brings to life the essence of Performance with Purpose." Read more

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RMLS Market Action Report February 2011

Posted on March 15, 2011 by admin

Portland Market Action RMLS

While there were fewer active and new listings on the market, sales activity in Metro Portland showed an improvement in closed sales in February 2011. Closed sales this month were above levels from both last February and the month prior, January 2011. Also notable in February was a slight decrease in inventory, down from 11.3 last month and the lowest of the previous two Februarys. Closed sales were up 5.8%in February 2011 compared to February 2010. Pending sales were down 13.9%, and new listings dropped 26.1%. Comparing the previous month of January 2011 with February 2011, closed sales grew from 1,035 to 1,074 (3.8%). Pending sales alsoincreased from 1,489 to 1,592 (6.9%). New listings dropped from 3,128 to 2,883 (-7.8%). At the month’s rate of sales, the 11,746 active residential listings would last about 10.9 months. Sale Prices Average sale price for February 2011 declined 10.5% compared to February 2010. Median sale price also fell 9.1%. Month to month, comparing January 2011 to February 2011, average sale price went down from $248,900 to $244,500 (-1.8%) while median sale price slightly decreased from $215,000 to $213,700 (-0.6%). Year-to-Date Comparing January-February 2011 with the same period in 2010 shows closed sales increased 5.4%. Pending sales were down 8.3%, and new listings decreased by 23.6%. A comparison of year-to-date totals between 2011 and 2010 shows average sale price dropped 10.7% and median sale price went down 8.9%. Learn more

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Homes in 2015

Posted on March 15, 2011 by admin

2015 homes

What a new home will look like in 2015

The current housing downturn has affected not only the number of new homes that are built each year, but also the characteristics, features, and size of the ones that do get built. Many in the industry are wondering about how the new home will evolve over the next few years and whether those changes will stick once the economy bounces back to a more solid footing. In 2010, NAHB conducted a survey that sheds light on the likely characteristics of the average, new single-family detached home in 2015. This article summarizes the findings of that survey, which were released in December 2010 in a report titled The New Home in 2015 [1] .

Some of the most relevant findings include:

* The average, new single-family home will be smaller and have more green features
* The living room will either vanish or merge with other spaces in the home
* The “Great Room” is the likeliest room to be included in the average new home
* Low-e windows and engineered wood products are the likeliest green features
* A double sink, recessed lighting, and table space for eating are very likely in kitchens

Read more

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Thinking about remodeling your home?

Posted on March 15, 2011 by admin

remodeling your home

8 reasons to invest in your home

(MONEY Magazine) — Not long ago, you could have your big remodeling project and get your money back too. Owners recouped an average of 87% of home improvement costs at resale in 2005, according to Remodeling magazine.

But by 2010 the magazine had pegged the typical payback at just 60%. Hardly the right time to tackle the new kitchen or master bathroom you've been dreaming of, right?

Not so fast, says Kermit Baker, senior research fellow at Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies.

"In many cases, these projects make more sense now than they did at the height of the market," he said.

Assuming you like what you can't change about your home — the neighborhood, the school district, the proximity to things that matter to you — and you're planning on staying for five or more years, improving your home is a smart move. Here's why.

1. Funding is cheap
2. Eager contractors are discounting
3. Materials have come down
4. You'll cut your energy costs
5. Fixing up costs less than trading up
6. You can keep that sub-5% mortgage
7. Smart projects still add value
8. You get to enjoy the results

Read more

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Portland Farmers Market

Posted on March 12, 2011 by admin

A week from today the PSU Farmers Market will be open for the 20th season!

Saturdays, March 19 through December 17

8:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. (Mar. through Oct.), 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. (Nov. & Dec.)

SW Park Ave & SW Montgomery St,
Portland, OR, 97201

Link

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Case for Green Buildings Grows in the Commercial World

Posted on March 11, 2011 by admin

"The kind of benefits we see from green building might include increased tenant retention, faster absorption and higher rents based on higher productivity as tenants gain experience in better work environments," said Norm Miller, vice president, analytics, CoStar Group. "Right now, there are clear advantages through increased absorption and higher rents for most but not all markets, and there’s a significant payoff for long-term oriented owners. But we're going to continue to monitor and study these benefits and costs." Read more

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Banking Giant Moves into KOIN Center

Posted on March 10, 2011 by admin

Wells Fargo Advisors signed a lease for the top two office floors of KOIN Center, totaling 25,439 square feet, in the class A office building at 222 SW Columbia St. in Portland, OR.

The 35-story building totals 411,000 square feet in the CBD submarket. The property was built in 1984 on less than one acre.

Wells Fargo’s lease includes the entire 18th floor and about 6,433 square feet on the 19th floor, with options to expand into the entire 17th floor – which is currently vacant.

Doug Deurwaarder and Thomas Usher of Cushman & Wakefield represented the landlord, American Pacific International Capital. Eric Turner and Scott Madsen of Capacity Commercial represented Wells Fargo in the transaction. Link

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FREE your home

Posted on March 9, 2011 by admin

FREE Energy Saving Kit – Reduce energy with a twist of your wrist by installing the compact fluorescent light bulbs and energy-saving showerhead and faucet aerator included in this free kit.

Receive $50 for your old refrigerator – Recycle your old, working refrigerator or freezer – we’ll pick it up for free and send you $50 cash.

FREE Home Energy Review – We’ll send a trained energy advisor to your home for a one-hour visual evaluation of your home’s energy-efficiency needs.

Learn more

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Cheaper Mortgages for Greener Homes

Posted on March 8, 2011 by admin

Homebuyers who choose energy efficient dwellings will save on heating, cooling and electricity bills. That’s always been true. Now they can save more on mortgage costs as well through a new Green Purchase Incentive at Portland-based Umpqua Bank.

The bank recently began offering a credit off closing costs for homes that have received any of a number of green certifications – LEED, Energy Star, Built Green or the Oregon-developed Earth Advantage. Borrowers can save 0.375 percent of the purchase price, capped at $1,564. A $300,000 home would get a $1,125 discount.

“We want people to be aware of the energy efficiency of their home,” said Sean Brennan, a loan officer at the bank. “This is our way of encouraging them.”

It’s also a way to attract customers. “Their consumers are interested in this,” said Dakota Gale, a finance program manager at the non-profit Earth Advantage Institute who helped develop the program. “The people they’re attracting to the bank drive Priuses and want green homes. So it’s a customer acquisition strategy.”

Umpqua offered the credit for Earth Advantage certified homes last fall but only recently expanded to include other green programs. In the future it may offer it for refinancing as well, Gale said. Read more

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