Historic Shingle House Available

A for sale sign went up recently on the historic John Hickman Miller House at the corner of Cedar Springs and Sale Street in Oak Lawn. It appears the shingle style house most recently used as an office is a product of foreclosure and currently owned by Bank of America. The asking price is $1.9 million. 

Dallas businessman John Hickman Miller had this home built in 1904 as a wedding gift for his wife Kitty Malone, who died in 1969.

The 6,298 square foot building is registered with the Texas Historical Commission, the National Register of Historic Places and the City of Dallas Landmark Commission. The property features nine executive offices on two stories, an attractive first floor lobby and a large wrap-around porch with excellent views of the Downtown Dallas skyline.

Wouldn't it be grand if someone wanted to make it their private home.

Historic Photos of Dallas in the 50s, 60s, and 70s

Historic Photos of Dallas

Historic Dallas Hotels (Images of America) 

Historic Dallas Hotels (Postcards of America)

Homeownership Rates at 1998 Levels

Homeownership rates are at 1998 levels according to a report released today by the U.S. Census. The homeownership rate of 65.9 percent was 1.0 percentage points (+/-0.4%) lower than the second quarter 2010 rate (66.9 percent) and 0.5 percentage points (+/-0.4%) lower than the rate last quarter (66.4 percent) The homeownership rate reached a record high of 69.2 percent in the second and fourth quarters of 2004. 

Also reported were national vacancy rates in the second quarter 2011 of 9.2 percent for rental housing and 2.5 percent for homeowner housing. The rental vacancy rate of 9.2 percent was 1.4 percentage points lower than the rate recorded in the second quarter 2010 (+/-0.5 percentage points) and 0.5 percentage points lower than last quarter (+/-0.4).

Approximately 85.7 percent of the housing units in the United States in the second quarter 2011 were occupied and 14.3 percent were vacant. Owner-occupied housing units made up 56.5 percent of total housing units, while renter-occupied units made up 29.2 percent of the inventory in the second quarter 2011.

See the Census Report

Fed Says Residential Real Estate Remains Weak

In its July Beige Book report, the Federal Reserve reports most residential real estate activity was little changed and remained weak, although construction and activity in the residential rental market continued to improve since the previous Beige Book.

For six Districts, activity in the nonresidential real estate market has improved slightly for specific submarkets, although conditions generally remained weak across all twelve Districts.

The Fed says since the last Beige Book, overall loan volumes have increased in three Districts, decreased in two Districts, and were relatively flat, often with mixed trends across the banks' portfolios, in five Districts. Credit quality was steady or improving.

Residential real estate sales in almost all Districts were little changed from the last Beige Book. Activity edged up in the Richmond, Atlanta, and Minneapolis Districts. Of the Districts reporting on home prices, most said that they were flat or declining. The Boston and Richmond Districts reported steady prices; the Philadelphia and Atlanta Districts reported that prices were steady to down slightly; and the Kansas City and New York Districts reported that prices were down. Increasing inventories of unsold homes in the Boston, New York, and Kansas City Districts have restrained building in the single-family housing sector. Residential construction activity overall was mixed, though it increased in the Minneapolis District. Since the previous Beige Book, construction and activity in the residential rental market have continued to improve in the New York, Chicago, Dallas, and San Francisco Districts.

Nonresidential real estate activity improved somewhat in the Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago, St. Louis, and Dallas Districts. The Chicago District reported strong demand for industrial facilities, particularly from the automotive sector. The Philadelphia District reported improvements in terms of lower vacancy rates for office space, industrial space, and apartments; the Chicago District reported generally lower vacancy rates. The New York, Richmond, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Kansas City, and San Francisco Districts all reported generally weak activity in nonresidential real estate. Construction in the Minneapolis District stalled in areas because of flooding and unavailability of state building inspectors due to the Minnesota state government shutdown. Health care and apartment construction was a bright spot for the Atlanta District. Activity was weak in the Kansas City District, but firms that supply construction materials reported increased sales and stable prices. San Francisco reported stable but high vacancy rates in many parts of the District.

March Toward Rentership Society Continues

Perhaps another sign of a shift in the federal government toward a rentership society comes with an announcement from Fannie Mae. The company announced that in the first half of 2011, it had issued $10.3 billion in MBS backed by new multifamily acquisitions.

"In today's economic environment, Fannie Mae continues to deliver liquidity to the multifamily housing market and provide investment options to market participants," said Kimberly Johnson, Fannie Mae Vice President for Multifamily Capital Markets. "Through our multifamily MBS issuance (including DUS MBS, GeMSTM structured transactions and portfolio activities), Fannie Mae provided market participants with considerable volume and a variety of execution options in the first half of 2011."

Beginning in 2009, Fannie Mae says it made reinvigoration of its multifamily MBS business and broadening the investor base a top priority. By ramping up its MBS execution and transforming the multifamily capital markets business, Fannie Mae has shifted from being primarily a multifamily portfolio market participant to one that provides liquidity to the multifamily market mainly through securitization.

Fannie Mae provides the largest share of U.S. multifamily mortgage financing, and traditionally has been a leader in this market.

A Faire of Food at Snider Plaza

Snider Plaza in University Park was introduced to me verbally by an acquaintance as I learned about Kuby's Sausage House, a German restaurant and grocery store. We headed over to Kuby's Monday evening, but found it closed. In fact it only appears to be open for dinner on Friday and Saturday.

Deciding to grab some Asian food on the way back to Oak Lawn, plans changed upon spotting a place called Food from Galilee.

Walking into a somewhat dark, but comfortable restaurant, we asked to see the menu. A couple sitting towards the back offered theirs and commented that the food was good and they ate here often. Certainly that made it worth a try.

The lentil soup and salad may have been the best part of the meal, but that's not to discount the entres including stuffed cabbage. The prices are also reasonable, with entres available for around $12.

6710 Snider Plaza
(214) 750-0330

Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey

Mortgage applications decreased 5.0 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending July 22, 2011.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 5.0 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 4.9 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 5.5 percent from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 3.8 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 3.4 percent compared with the previous week and was 2.2 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

The four week moving average for the seasonally adjusted Market Index is down 0.3 percent. The four week moving average is down 0.5 percent for the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, while this average is down 0.3 percent for the Refinance Index.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 69.6 percent of total applications from 70.1 percent the previous week.

The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 6.1 percent from 5.8 percent of total applications from the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.57 percent from 4.54 percent, with points increasing to 1.14 from 0.98 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans. The effective rate also increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 3.67 percent from 3.66 percent, with points increasing to 1.08 from 0.97 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate also increased from last week.

S&P: Seasonal Improvement in Home Prices in Dallas and Elsewhere

Data through May 2011, released by S&P Indices for its S&P/CaseShiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, showed a second consecutive month of increase in prices for the 10- and 20-City Composites. The 10- and 20-City Composites were up 1.1 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively, in May over April. Sixteen of the 20 MSAs and both Composites posted positive monthly increases; Detroit, Las Vegas and Tampa were down over the month and Phoenix was unchanged.

Dalls showed a gain of .4 percent during the month and a 4.7 percent decline over a year period.

On an annual basis, Washington DC was the only MSA with a positive rate of change, up 1.3 percent. The remaining 19 MSAs and the 10- and 20- City Composites were down in May 2011 versus the same month last year. Minneapolis fared the worst posting a double-digit decline of 11.7 percent.

“We see some seasonal improvements with May’s data,” says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Indices. “This is a seasonal period of stronger demand for houses, so monthly price increases are to be expected and were seen in 16 of the 20 cities. The exceptions where prices fell were Detroit, Las Vegas and Tampa. However, 19 of 20 cities saw prices drop over the last 12 months. The concern is that much of the monthly gains are only seasonal.

“May’s report showed unusually large revisions across some of the MSAs. In particular, Detroit, New York, Tampa and Washington DC all saw above normal revisions. Our sales pairs data indicate that these markets reported a lot more sales from prior months, which caused the revisions. The lag in reporting home sales in these markets has increased over the past few months. Also, when sales volumes are relatively low, as is the case right now, revisions are more noticeable.

“Other recent housing statistics show that single-family housing starts were up moderately in June, and are at about the same pace as a year ago. Existing-home sales were flat in June, reportedly because of contract cancellations and tight credit. The S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default indices showed a continuing decline in mortgage default rates since last winter. Other reports confirm that banks have tightened lending standards in the past year, making it harder to qualify for a mortgage despite very low interest rates.

Combined, these data all support a continuation of the ‘bounce-along-the-bottom’ scenario we have witnessed in the housing market over the past two years.

“While the monthly data were encouraging, most MSAs and both Composites fared poorly in annual terms.

Nineteen of the 20 MSAs and the two Composites posted negative annual growth rates in May 2011. The 10-City Composite was down 3.6 percent and the 20-City Composite was down 4.5 percent in May 2011 versus May 2010. Minneapolis posted a double-digit decline in annual rate of 11.7 percent. The only beacon of hope was Washington D.C. with a +1.3 percent annual growth rate and a +2.4 percent monthly increase. We have now seen two consecutive months of generally improving prices; however, we might have a long way to go before we see a real recovery. Sustained increases in home prices over several months and better annual results need to be seen before we can confirm real estate market recovery.”

Real Estate Council Welcomes New Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings

Days after being elected as Dallas Mayor, Mike Rawlings met with members of The Real Estate Council for one of his first official events on June 21 at the Patton Boggs offices in downtown Dallas. The Real Estate Council endorsed Mayor Rawlings, who is committed to issues that the organization supports such as expanding the Dallas tax base by focusing economic development efforts on the underutilized Southern Sector, small business growth and large business relocations.

"I want Dallas to be the best town in America to do business," Rawlings said at the event. "We need to attract those businesses and recognize that Southern Dallas is a resource for our city. It is 60 percent of the land mass representing 15 percent of the population."

Mayor Rawlings also wants to work with the Dallas Independent School District (DISD) on the quality of public education. Although the mayor does not have control over the DISD, Rawlings intends to influence positive change and raise expectations of the educational standard in Dallas. He said he will also concentrate on The Trinity River Corridor Project, which he believes will impact Dallas for generations.