Daily Archives: May 6, 2015

Slow but Steady Climb Back to Normal | Pound Ridge Real Estate

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Local economies continue to move toward economic and housing normality according to the NAHB/First American Leading Markets Index. The national index moved one percentage point to .91 in the first quarter of 2015 and 4 percentage points from the same quarter last year.

The index measures proximity to normal through three elementary indicators of economic and housing stability: the level of single-family housing permits, home prices and employment as compared to the last period of normality for each. A value of one means that indicator has returned to normal. The three are averaged for a single measure. More than 350 metropolitan areas are scored in this fashion.

In the first quarter of 2015, 68 markets or metropolitan areas had an index value of one or greater, an increase of 7 markets in one year. The increase is heavily driven by the increase in metro areas employment index. The number of markets back to or above normal in employment levels increased from 30 to 56 over the year. The number of markets returning to house price levels last seen in the early aughts has remained high at 95% of all metros measured. The slowest indicator to return to normal has been single-family permits as only 7% of the listed metros are issuing as many or more permits compared to the early aughts.

The markets leading in recovery are leading in employment and vice versa. Strong employment growth leads to the need for more homes and the markets showing the greatest improvement are in strong employment markets, primarily in energy production and refining. Half of the 68 metros with an index value of one or above are in the oil/energy belt in the middle of the country.

Note: The publicly available data used to compute the LMI reflects the updated boundaries and list of Metropolitan Statistical Areas made by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as a result of the 2010 Decennial Census. The historic data used for comparison were also updated to reflect post-2010 geography.

 

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http://eyeonhousing.org/2015/05/

The Hills Are Coming to Life on Governors Island | Bedford Corners Real Estate

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In the middle of the New York Harbor, where unused, decades-old buildings once stood, four hills are taking shape, sloping up toward the sky and pointing to the Statue of Liberty. The man-made mounds are the newest parkland on Governors Island, and when they open in 2016, visitors will be able to climb 80 feet up to see some of the best views anywhere in the city. Giant slides, wooded pathways, and grassy lawns will cover the hills, which are constructed entirely out of fill and debris from the buildings that used to occupy this part of the island. Dutch architecture firmWest 8 designed the new landscape, and the Trust for Governors Island took the first visitors to the hills last Friday during a Jane’s Walk with the Municipal Arts Society.

IMG_4638.jpg[Looking north from the top of Outlook Hill over the rest of the park toward Manhattan.]

The hills are the final piece of the island’s new 30 acres of parkland, all designed by West 8. Last year, Liggett Terrace, the Play Lawn, and Hammock Grove opened, giving park-goers rolling hills and a forest (well, what will eventually be a forest) with 60 species of trees. The new park was created with climate change and rising sea levels in mind (the Dutch know a thing or to about floods), so the landscape is flood-resistant.

IMG_5523.jpg[Walking through Hammock Grove.]

When the hills open, they will be the southern most feature of the island that is open to the public, though they will eventually be joined by future developments. To get to the hills, visitors walk through the Hammock Grove, where the trees are starting to fill in. Ellen Cavanagh, the Director of Planning at The Trust for Governors Island, explained that since the climate on the island is harsher than inland, they deliberately chose young trees so they can establish their roots and become stronger over time. As such, they only lost eight trees in the first year.

IMG_5527.jpg[At the base of the hills.]

The hills are located just south of the new ball fields, and currently, they are just giant piles of dirt. Grassy Hill, the smallest of the bunch, is at full height, and when you walk to the top, it feels like you’re well above the rest of the island, but Cavanagh points out that the elevation is no greater than the highest point in Hammock Grove, about 27 feet up.

IMG_5533.jpg[Climbing up Outlook Hill.]

At 70 feet, Outlook Hill will be the tallest. Currently, it stands at 50 feet, and it already feels incredibly tall compared to everything else around it. Cavanagh says they have been able to build at 10 feet a month, but after each level of fill is molded into place, they have to pause for it to settle and monitor it so it doesn’t move. All of the fill and debris that the hills are made from came from other parts of the island, including those buildings that they imploded in 2013.

IMG_5547.jpg[On top of Grassy Hill.]

The hills are currently on schedule to open in 2016, but Cavanagh says that could change. “We are designing with nature and nature doesn’t always cooperate with your construction plans.”