Newspapers thrive catchy headlines that can sum up the drama of the day. But it’s important to read with a critical eye, especially when you see a blanket statement at the top of the page like “National Home Sales Plummet.” The headline looks good, and it’s likely to turn heads, but how true is it? It may be true on average in recent years that fewer homes are being sold across the United States, and at lower prices. But many large markets across the nation are doing well, or improving. Unfortunately nothing gets in the way of a good headline like subtlety, and those inconvenient subtleties have forced the media to cast a shadow over some very bright real estate stories.

One of those bright stories is the Kansas City, Missouri real estate market. Home sales here have been espeically strong in recent years, and show no signs of slowing. The area’s strong economy is attracting new residents from across the nation, and home construction has risen to meet the demand for real estate. Kansas City’s central location on the U.S. map also makes it an ideal spot for corporate headquarters, with five Fortune 500 companies, and the privately owned Hallmark Cards, based here. Spread across more than 500 square miles, Kansas City offers a lot of room for expansion, and more than 150 attractive neighborhoods.

Kansas City is more than just an isolated success story – it’s good example of why the national real estate market appears more stalled than it really is. Home prices here didn’t skyrocket during the real estate boom of the early part of the decade, and were unaffected when the markets softened in other parts of the nation. Instead, local home prices have risen steadily through the boom and afterwards, making the area particularly attractive to investors.

While more expensive real estate markets such as Marin County California, and Montgomery County, Maryland, have slowed, many affordable markets, like Kansas City have thrived. The Kansas City example is mirrored on a larger scale in Detroit, Michigan, where home sales have risen nearly ten per cent annually in recent years. Other strong markets after the boom include Madison, Wisconsin, and Phoenix Arizona.

While it’s clear some real estate markets aren’t as strong as they were a few years ago, areas like Kansas City, and Detriot can show us how national average home values could fall while still being as strong as ever in many places. That’s something the newspaper headlines don’t always mention.

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The top real estate news from India for this week are:

.Five lakh low-cost houses to come up in Mumbai

The city is all set to witness the mushrooming of affordable housing with five lakh units of middle and lower income housing expected to come up in the next five years. Announcing this, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad said this move is expected to bring down the cost of housing in the city.

.Triangle realty fund buys 27% in Prozone arm

The real estate fund, co-promoted by ICS Group and Old Mutual Investment Group Property Investments, has inked an agreement to invest Rs 457 crore for a 27 per cent stake in a Prozone Enterprises. The firm has stake in four projects being developed in Aurangabad, Indore, Nagpur and Jaipur, covering approximately 16 million sq ft.

.Indiabulls gets shareholders’ nod for acquiring Dev Property

The company has received shareholders’ approval for the acquisition of Dev Property Development Plc for 138 million pounds. The shareholders have approved the acquisition of all shares of Dev Property.

.Mantri Realty to invest 500 cr in Madhya Pradesh

Real estate firm Mantri Realty plans to invest Rs 500 crore at Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh to set up a residential township and an IT SEZ. The township, christened Mantri City, would comprise of 10,000 houses on 16 million sq ft, while the IT SEZ would cover 5-million sq ft.

Other important real estate news from India include:

.Pune Builders join hands to float national association

In the first week of March, seven city real estate associations signed bilateral agreements with the newly formed National Association of Realtors – India (NAR- India), which in turn has forged an alliance with National Association of realtors, USA to give itself an international appeal. NAR-India has also kick-started the process of training estate agents for transnational referrals.

.Emaar MGF join hands with Marriott to develop hotels

The real estate developer has partnered with Marriott International Inc to design, construct and equip luxury-branded JW Marriott Hotels with total investment of over $400 million. The hotel projects are likely to be completed by 2010 end and will come up in New Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata and a Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in Amritsar.

For more details on Real Estate News India, log on to magicbricks.com

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First, you need to make your mind on what will be the primary purpose of this property? Would you be using this place a lot, as a vocation spot? Will it serve mainly as a place away from home and the normal hectic life? Or, the sole purpose of this purchase is getting income? Ideally, if you are going to buy a vocation property, it should be intended (and able) to serve both purposes, so that you’ll be able to derive some value from this investment, in any case.

Location:

Whatever your intended future usage of vacation property is, the location is going to play an important role. Being a vocation property, it is supposed to be at a less crowded area, away from the normal hustle and bustle of urban cities. It can be a small hill station (especially if you are looking for a vocation property in South Asian countries like India & Pakistan), a cottage at some beach or a farmhouse in some peaceful vicinity. You should make a choice after considering both, your inclination and the investment viewpoint. Also, keep in mind the travel factor.

Price:

Prices depend mostly on the popularity of area and the number of visitors it get. The availability of the basic necessities like electricity, gas, clean drinking water or the facilities like internet access and security, also matter. If you can foresee some place getting more tourists in the future (for example a new road is under construction, which will make it more convenient to reach there), you can expect significant hikes in near future. Generally, the closer some vacation spot is to a big city, the higher its land and properties will be priced.

Types of Vacation Property ownerships:

You can own a vocation property in more than one ways, in accordance with your budget and usage. For example “timeshare”, where more than one party use the property for a prearranged, fixed period. You can use it personally or rent it out for the time period allotted to you. You can also go for fractional ownership, where you actually own a fraction of property (in contrast with timeshare, where you are entitled to “use” the property for only 1 – 2 weeks in a year).

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An overview of the market and economy:

Have a close look at the ongoing situation of real estate market; do you see a bullish or bearish trend? Do you think this trend is going to continue in coming days or there are some signs of change? The overall economy has a direct effect on real estate as well, if there is economic growth in some regions, real estate prices are supposed to grow as more and more people and businesses will step in to take advantage of the growing economy. If you can retain a residential or commercial property or even some vacant land in this region, it can bring huge yields. Projecting a bullish or bearish trend is not an easy task unless you have got the drift of economic ups and down. However, you can take help from some experts (though, they might get it wrong as well).

Vacancy rate, Rentals, Prices:

If you are looking for short term investment, where you wouldn’t have to wait for longer period before you start earning, then look for these indicators. Vacancy rate of a real estate market is obtained by dividing the unoccupied units to the total units available in the market. You can have an idea of the existing property prices and the possibility of rise or decline in rentals or property prices, in near future. A significant change in mortgage rate can also boost or reduce sales.  

You should also check for the infrastructure and development work going on in the real estate market and adjoining areas, in particular if some big companies have recently entered or left the market.

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Did you know that women who live alone are more likely to own their homes than single men? It’s true, statistics show that women are the second largest home-buying force next to couples, and the percentage of female homeowners is growing. So how are women buyer’s needs different, and what special challenges might home ownership present to them?

Women buy homes for all the same reasons anyone does: for stability and as an investment. But there area lot of factors that might come into play that affect where, what and when they buy. Women may be buying in an area that is close to their aging parents. While grown children of both genders may well take care of their parents, single women do so more often than their siblings with children. This is probably because the demands of children are a huge challenge in themselves, taking time away from helping out the grandparents.

Many women are also buying homes that are close to their jobs. Very few people enjoy a long commute, and a downtown living situation is very suitable to a single person, whereas a family with young children might sacrifice the convenience of being close to work for the benefits of having a bigger, private yard. If the home owning woman in question is a single mother, then being close to a good school is probably very high on her list of priorities. The perfect home would be close to both her work and child’s school, to minimize commutes between the two.

As sad as it is, it’s still a reality that women’s wages are a fair bit lower than men’s, on average. This impacts home buying, in that women buyers often choose modestly priced homes or condos. But modest prices doesn’t mean cheap homes. Women want something that’s low maintenance. This isn’t said to perpetuate a stereotype that women aren’t as handy at fixing things as men, because actually, quite the opposite is true. The growing number of women becoming skilled at home repair and other Do-It-Yourself building is matching, if not surpassing, the growth of women buying homes. So while a woman may not want to be fixing the leaky roof of a dive in her off time, when it comes to improving an already nice home, statistics show they are quite motivated.

Women often choose condos, or smaller, two bedroom homes. Interestingly, women are less likely to buy new construction. This may be because of cost, or maybe because the home just isn’t tried and tested. It could also be out of ecological concerns, preferring something pre-existing to a freshly bulldozed site. Or perhaps because most new development is out of the downtown core. It’s hard to say.

Wherever and whenever, women buying homes are looking for, and getting, financial freedom. As they get older, home equity, or the income from a rental home, will prove to be a valuable addition to their retirement fund.

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