Across the country, sale were up 44.1% from November 2008 to November 2009. Realtors attribute this to the availability of the federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers, low interest rates, price stabilization, and a generally improving economy.
According to survey information, first-time homebuyers accounted for 51% of the sales in November of 2009.
Meanwhile, rates ticked up slightly, from a national average of 4.81% to an average of 4.94%. While still at historic belows, many analysts predict that rates will continue their climb early next year, landing above 6% eventually
Housing researchers still express caution about announcing a market recovery, especially when economic indicators are mixed, housing prices remain low, sales are still sluggish when compared to pre-crash levels, and a national forelosure backlog of 1.7 million homes is sitting in the pipeline.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Campus District Concept Gains Traction in Cleveland
The Quadrangle takes new shape as The Campus District, just east of downtown Cleveland
By Jim Nichols, The Plain Dealer
December 9th, 2009
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The eastern-downtown area that has long wanted to be known as The Quadrangle now has a new name: The Campus District.
It also is moving toward a much more forceful mission: To create the next big, hip and exciting destination area in Cleveland, spanning from St. Vincent Charity Hospital on the south to the lakefront on the north. Within that 500-acre swath: Cleveland State University, Cuyahoga Community College and a sea of disconnected, underdeveloped neighborhoods, property and people.
The community development corporation now known as The Campus District can -- and must -- plow away the malaise and sew together the sprawling corridor along East 22nd Street, consultant Chris Ronayne told its board today.
The keys he identified to doing that: creating a new a streetscape spine bridging the Innerbelt, and combining the power of the institutions along that corridor into a redefined authority with new powers -- including the power to buy and redevelop land.
All of that will translate into new people -- new residents to repopulate the eastern fringe of Cleveland's central business district, said Ronayne, who is president of University Circle Inc. and formerly was a top City Hall official.
"We've got some real possibilities," Ronayne told board members and guests at the organization's annual meeting at The Plain Dealer.
When Ronayne finished his presentation, the former Quadrangle board voted unanimously to change a name that has never really gotten city-wide traction or identity.
Whether that board and the businesses, colleges and nonprofits it represents will rise to new prominence and power remains to be seen, said Campus District Inc. board member David Chilcote, president of The Chilcote Co. near CSU.
"Everybody has their own interests and agendas, but this is a good start," Chilcote said in an interview.
Among the "connection" strategies Ronayne said the organization should focus on:
•Persuading the Ohio Department of Transportation to build a "cap" over the Inner Belt at East 22nd Street. Columbus has already accomplished this over its Interstate 670 just north of downtown, Ronayne said. Doing so here would heal Interstate 90's deep cut between downtown and the fast-growing, 5,000-employee area around Tri-C and St. Vincent.
•Turning East 22nd into a two-way pedestrian- and bike-friendly "main street" into the CSU campus and downtown -- a north-south copy of, and complement to, the new Euclid Avenue.
•Extending the Regional Transit Authority's free E-Line trolley-bus line up East 22nd from Euclid Avenue to Orange Avenue to create a continuous loop between Public Square and the hospital/Tri-C campuses.
•Expanding the Campus District's staff, budget and authority so that the agency can offer new services to members -- lobbying, cohesive development planning, community affairs, endowment-building and grant-making, and special "signature" events such as a neighborhood fair. Ronayne suggested copying University Circle Inc.
The organization should conceive of a way to fund that expansion through dues, property assessments or fees for services, Ronayne suggested. Then it should work with developers to build according to unified design standards, and also work to promote a new image, or brand, for the area.
A start: today's launch of the new Web site: http//campusdistrict.org
Ronayne contended that a successful Campus District brand, and the progress needed to create and burnish it, could help counter the government bias toward suburban sprawl, which he called "one of the root causes of the financial meltdown of the last two years."
Urged Ronayne: "Make it a live-work space. Make it known. Brand the heck out of it, and sell, sell, sell this place."
Ward 5 City Councilwoman Phyllis Cleveland said she was excited at what she heard.
"It is a great vision," she said. "And we're at a point where we all realize we're on the same page, all dependent on one another and on the verge of doing some really good things here."
By Jim Nichols, The Plain Dealer
December 9th, 2009
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The eastern-downtown area that has long wanted to be known as The Quadrangle now has a new name: The Campus District.
It also is moving toward a much more forceful mission: To create the next big, hip and exciting destination area in Cleveland, spanning from St. Vincent Charity Hospital on the south to the lakefront on the north. Within that 500-acre swath: Cleveland State University, Cuyahoga Community College and a sea of disconnected, underdeveloped neighborhoods, property and people.
The community development corporation now known as The Campus District can -- and must -- plow away the malaise and sew together the sprawling corridor along East 22nd Street, consultant Chris Ronayne told its board today.
The keys he identified to doing that: creating a new a streetscape spine bridging the Innerbelt, and combining the power of the institutions along that corridor into a redefined authority with new powers -- including the power to buy and redevelop land.
All of that will translate into new people -- new residents to repopulate the eastern fringe of Cleveland's central business district, said Ronayne, who is president of University Circle Inc. and formerly was a top City Hall official.
"We've got some real possibilities," Ronayne told board members and guests at the organization's annual meeting at The Plain Dealer.
When Ronayne finished his presentation, the former Quadrangle board voted unanimously to change a name that has never really gotten city-wide traction or identity.
Whether that board and the businesses, colleges and nonprofits it represents will rise to new prominence and power remains to be seen, said Campus District Inc. board member David Chilcote, president of The Chilcote Co. near CSU.
"Everybody has their own interests and agendas, but this is a good start," Chilcote said in an interview.
Among the "connection" strategies Ronayne said the organization should focus on:
•Persuading the Ohio Department of Transportation to build a "cap" over the Inner Belt at East 22nd Street. Columbus has already accomplished this over its Interstate 670 just north of downtown, Ronayne said. Doing so here would heal Interstate 90's deep cut between downtown and the fast-growing, 5,000-employee area around Tri-C and St. Vincent.
•Turning East 22nd into a two-way pedestrian- and bike-friendly "main street" into the CSU campus and downtown -- a north-south copy of, and complement to, the new Euclid Avenue.
•Extending the Regional Transit Authority's free E-Line trolley-bus line up East 22nd from Euclid Avenue to Orange Avenue to create a continuous loop between Public Square and the hospital/Tri-C campuses.
•Expanding the Campus District's staff, budget and authority so that the agency can offer new services to members -- lobbying, cohesive development planning, community affairs, endowment-building and grant-making, and special "signature" events such as a neighborhood fair. Ronayne suggested copying University Circle Inc.
The organization should conceive of a way to fund that expansion through dues, property assessments or fees for services, Ronayne suggested. Then it should work with developers to build according to unified design standards, and also work to promote a new image, or brand, for the area.
A start: today's launch of the new Web site: http//campusdistrict.org
Ronayne contended that a successful Campus District brand, and the progress needed to create and burnish it, could help counter the government bias toward suburban sprawl, which he called "one of the root causes of the financial meltdown of the last two years."
Urged Ronayne: "Make it a live-work space. Make it known. Brand the heck out of it, and sell, sell, sell this place."
Ward 5 City Councilwoman Phyllis Cleveland said she was excited at what she heard.
"It is a great vision," she said. "And we're at a point where we all realize we're on the same page, all dependent on one another and on the verge of doing some really good things here."
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Universitycirclecondos.com - a neighborhood and real estate guide brought to you by you know who
Progressive Urban Real Estate's new website features neighborhood and real estate guides that include a history of each community, a list of features and amenities, and a desciption of available housing options including new developments. Check it out at http://www.universitycirclecondos.com. On the PURE website, you can also learn about other neighborhoods in the city of Cleveland, as well as inner ring suburbs such as Cleveland Heights.
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