http://www.visualtour.com/shownp.asp?t=2995322&prt=10003

January 2013 | By Gary Thomas NAR President

As the fiscal cliff debate raged, the National Association of REALTORS® was intent on not adding to the confusion by speculating on what might happen given one scenario or another. Yet, I can’t overstate how much work was happening behind the scenes to minimize any potential impact on real estate.

The result was that on Jan. 2, the same day the House passed the bill to avert the fiscal cliff, we were providing information to all of our state and local associations about specific provisions of the bill that affected real estate.

While the debate was underway, we felt it was a good time to reaffirm our support for the mortgage interest deduction. Although discussions to limit the MID never progressed to an actual proposal, we wanted to remind lawmakers that the MID benefits primarily ­middle-income families, and any change to it could harm housing and the economy as a whole.

While the legislation that was signed into law in January did not affect the MID, its passage represents a step in a continuing effort by NAR to protect the ability of American families to own a home. The legislation also extended several tax measures of critical importance to our businesses:

•Mortgage cancellation relief is extended for another year. Households that have mortgage debt forgiven by a lender in 2013 as a result of a modification, short sale, or foreclosure will not have to pay tax on the amount forgiven.

•Mortgage insurance premiums ­remain deductible. Tax filers making less than $110,000 who pay for mortgage insurance can deduct the cost of their premiums on their 2012 and 2013 tax returns.

•15-year straight-line cost recovery on leasehold improvements is extended. For qualified leasehold improvements on commercial properties, 15-year depreciation is extended through 2013 and made retroactive to cover 2012.

•Energy efficiency tax credit remains in force. The 10 percent tax credit, up to $500, for home owners who make energy efficiency improvements to an existing home is extended through 2013 and made retroactive to cover 2012.

Debate will continue in the coming months on long-term solutions to the issues left unresolved by the fiscal cliff bill. As Congress addresses those issues and broader tax reform, you can bet that we’ll continue our vigilance.

The Top7 Intelligent Communities of the Year
The following communities, drawn from the Smart21 of 2013, were named to the Top7 Intelligent Communities of 2013 based on analysis of their nominations by a team of independent academic experts:

Columbus OH, USA: With an economically and racially diverse population, the city trails the US average in terms of per capita income, but has America’s highest concentration of Fortune 1000 companies per capita.

The city has led in job creation over the past decade,, adding 15,000 net new jobs while much of the rest of the state has struggled with industrial decline and home foreclosures.

Being the state capital has helped, but the success of Columbus has been forged through collaboration among city government, academic institutions, businesses and nonprofits.

Government has reduced spending in the recession but also raised taxes to fund development. That includes investments in workforce development to meet the needs of advanced manufacturing, logistics and information technology companies.

Business and institutional leaders have created nonprofits that engage in downtown development, education, healthcare and cultural projects.

Columbus has traditionally struggled to commercialize technologies created in its schools and universities, but a public-private venture called TechColumbus is working effectively to leverage the region’s research and technology assets into startup companies.

Ohio State University has re-energized its technology transfer office and holds monthly forms for entrepreneurs, while joining forces with Ohio University to create a venture capital fund.

Manufacturing remains challenged: regional employment in that sector declined 30% from 2001 to 2011. But manufacturing productivity has increased 43% per employee and the region is seeing a dramatic rise in job openings for advanced manufacturing, automation, electronics, robotics and industrial design.

Columbus is also reaching out to neighboring municipalities, including Top7 Dublin, to collaborate on building a broadband ecosystem serving the entire region.

Having added 29,000 new jobs from 2010 to 2012, the Columbus metro region is one of few old industrial regions to reverse a “brain drain” and show net in-migration for the first time in decades.

http://www.columbus.gov

Oulu, Finland: The mobile communications business has been good to Oulu, and the mobile business has become a threat to its future. The “Nokia risk” as Oulu’s leaders called it, materialized in the new century as the company failed to adapt to the rise of the smartphone. Yet Oulu has created 18,000 new high-tech jobs since 2007, thanks to a decades-old culture of public-private collaboration and its many high-quality educational institutions.

Stratford, Ontario, Canada: At the turn of the new century, Stratford had a reputation for being quaint, cultured and out of the way, home to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and a 90-minute drive from Toronto, the business capital of eastern Canada. Strategic planning, beginning in 1997, has focused on preserving Stratford’s enviable quality of life while leveraging ICT to transform its economy.

Taichung City, Taiwan: When the city and county of Taichung merged in 2010, it created a huge metropolis uniting completely different economies: a major seaport city where 70% of employees work in services, and a rural county where 50% work in industry and agriculture is a significant source of income. The city’s leadership, under Mayor Chih-Chiang (Jason) Hu, was determined to create a whole much greater than the sum of its parts.

Tallinn, Estonia: Estonia saw a major boom from 2004 to 2007, as loan capital poured in from Scandinavian countries. But when the financial crisis came, it hit Estonia and its principal city of Tallinn very hard. Yet beneath the froth, Tallinn has put into place the foundations of ICT-based growth that is generating a strong comeback.

Taoyuan County, Taiwan: Home to the international airport serving Taipei, Taoyuan County is an industrial powerhouse, with more than 24 industrial parks, 44,000 companies and 10,000 factories. The county is also home to 15 colleges and universities, which graduate 25,000 students every year. To upgrade the skills of traditional industrial workers and the unemployed, it offers vocational training as well as a range of digital literacy programs for all ages.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Canada’s largest city and financial capital, as well as the political capital of the Province of Ontario, Toronto is one of the world’s more successful places. But it is also challenged to maintain its edge. The city, provincial and Federal governments are addressing these challenges with a development strategy stressing ICT, environmental sustainability and innovation. A key component is Waterfront Toronto, North America’s largest urban renewal project.

“2012 exceeded our expectations,” said Chris Pedon, President of the Columbus Board of REALTORS®. “Sellers
opened their doors, buyers brought their confidence, lenders gave their best rates and REALTORS® worked eight
days a week.”

The average sale price of a home sold in central Ohio in 2012 was $167,459, which is 7.2 percent higher than in
2011. The average sale price for the month of December was $158,898 – a 7.5 percent increase over the same time
last year.

to view complete report go to: http://columbusrealtors.com/NewsDetail.aspx?article=93618176

The prospects for the Ohio housing market over the next couple of years are bright, the chief economist for the National Association of REALTORS told the state’s real estate professionals.
NAR’s Lawrence Yun told attendees at the Ohio Association of REALTORS Winter Conference that home values could jump 15 percent and is looking for sales activity to increase more than 20 percent over the next three years.
He noted that Ohio was an “improving market in 2012,” with “more room to improve” going forward. “There are good signs that we’re moving in the right direction,” Yun added. He expects the Ohio marketplace to outperform the rest of the country.
Among his key projections:
• Inflation will be notably higher by 2015, rising to 4 to 6 percent. As a result, Yun expects interest rates to rise beginning in July and moving higher over the next few years. He forecasts a 5.5 percent rate by 2015.
• Meaningfully higher home prices due to increased demand and decreased supply. Nationally, home sales are expected to reach 4.69 million units in 2012 and increase to 5.1 million in 2013, 5.4 million in 2014 and top 5.7 million units in 2015. Yun noted that rising household formation, an improved job picture and lower housing inventory levels will contribute to higher prices.
• We will see more unequal wealth distribution between renters and homeowners. “Renters do not accumulate wealth and the renter population is rising,” Yun noted. He cautioned that tighter lending standards is posing a threat to many people looking to become homeowners.
Yun noted that there are potential “hiccups” that could derail the housing market’s full recovery — notably the ongoing fiscal battles in Washington, D.C. and the possibility of the mortgage interest deduction being eliminated or altered in an effort to raise revenue. With today’s historic low interest rates, the deduction has a price tag of $90 billion annually. If rates were to revert back to their historical average, the mortgage interest deduction would tally $300 billion in extra revenue.

Reprinted from OAR (Ohio Association of Realtors)

Take a look, the pictures really help sell that these are really bad ideas.

http://www.hgtv.com/decorating-basics/25-biggest-decorating-mistakes/pictures/index.html

November sale prices for homes sold in central Ohio were up for the tenth consecutive month. The average sale
price of $165,444 was 8.6 percent higher than in November 2011.

The average sale price of homes sold January through November 2012 was $168,198, up 7.2 percent from last year
($158, 929).

“The month of November (through February) are traditionally slower months for home sales,” says Jim Coridan,
President of the Columbus Board of REALTORS. “However, with a vitalized housing market, buyer confidence on the
rise and mortgage rates still at an all time low, we just may break away from tradition this winter season.”

The inventory of homes for sale continues to decline. There are now only 10,110 homes available for sale in central
Ohio, 20.2 percent less than November 2011.

“With the combination of increased sales and low inventory, our months supply is down to 5.5. Any time the supply
gets below 6 months, we have a sellers market,” said Coridan. “With a seller’s market, we are going to see home
prices continue to rise.”

In the latest December/Jan issue of this re-spun mag are the “2012 Made in the South Award Winners”– an impressive array from, yes ,a hand-made, and may i say beautifully crafted, must-have ax, to exquisite hand-loomed blankets, luscious hand-tooled shoes and presumably yummy artisinal cheese. Wow! To name but a few…

Check it out!

http://gardenandgun.com/gallery/meet-winners-2012-made-south-awards

Single family lot sales were up 22 percent to 506 sales from 414 in 2011. And single-family building permits were up 24 percent with 1,293 permits issued vs. 1,039 in 2011.

Condo activity was also elevated during the first six months of the year. Condominium sales were up 9 percent (401 sales in 2012 vs. 369 in 2011) and permits were up 50 percent (387 in 2012 vs. 258 in 2011). The 1,111 multi-family condo permits issued January through June of 2012 represented a 104 percent over the previous year.

The Columbus Board of REALTORS® reported closed sales for first and second quarter were up 18 percent from 2011 and in contracts were up 58 percent. The median sales price of a home sold in 2012 was $135,000, a 6.3 percent increase over last year. The current central Ohio supply of inventory is at 6.6 months, down 43 percent from last summer.

Last week, the Columbus Dispatch reported sales-tax collections for the first part of the year in Franklin County were the best they’ve been since 2007 – up 7 percent.

The Dispatch report also indicated it was the best second-quarter collection in five years, beating out other surrounding counties in Ohio, which together averaged an increase of 6.3 percent.

reprinted from CBR