Signs of Recovery Appear In Charlotte | Special to The Wall Street Journal

Signs of Recovery Appear In Charlotte

By Maura Webber Sadovi Special to The Wall Street Journal

After a wave of mergers cemented Charlotte, N.C.'s position as the nation's second-biggest banking center in terms of assets, after New York City, the economic boom petered out in 2000 as a slump in the manufacturing and transportation sectors helped put the brakes on the region's above-average job and population growth.

Last year the economy began to turn around, and the region gained 26,880 jobs for the 12 months ended in June. The region's overall job growth of 3.5% outpaced the national rate of 1.5%, according to consulting firm Economy.com. The pace of job growth in Charlotte's financial sector remained above average at 3.7% for the year through June, though it has dropped off from an annual rate of 7.5% from 1994 through 1999 and 4.8% from 2000 through 2004.

Joint Property Ownership Picks Up, Lifted by Boomers | The Wall Street Journal Online

Joint Property Ownership Picks Up, Lifted by Boomers
From The Wall Street Journal Online

By Jennifer S. Forsyth

Cathy Scullin was in a pickle.

Enticed by high prices, the Beverly Hills, Calif., commercial real-estate broker began selling off pieces of her small southern California real-estate portfolio about two years ago. Only then did she realize she couldn't use the profit to buy another property.
"Everything I found needed an enormous amount of work and, in my opinion, was way overpriced," says Ms. Scullin. If she didn't reinvest in real estate quickly, she would have to pay capital-gains taxes on the proceeds.
Her solution: a Tenant-in-Common transaction, where she joined a group of investors who each bought a fractional share of investment property -- in this case a small retail center.

A Tale of Two (types of) Cities | NAR: Research: Real Estate Insights: Chief Economist's Commentary

"A Tale of Two (types of) Cities"
NAR: Research: Real Estate Insights: Chief Economist's Commentary:

by David Lereah, Chief Economist

Well, the boom is over and most of our nation’s hot housing markets are cooling. Home sales are off 5 to 20 percent in some markets that were once setting annual sales records. But there have been no signs of bubbles bursting as of yet. Real estate activity began slowing about six months ago, and – perhaps with some fingers and toes crossed – our nation’s housing industry is managing a soft landing. And quite nicely, thank you. It is true, some of those “hot hot hot” markets are experiencing more of a cooling down than are others, but there is also a silver lining to that: some of America’s non-boom markets are showing signs of life.

During the real estate boom’s five-year run (2001 to 2005), about 65 of the 135 metropolitan areas on which the National Association of REALTORS® tracks price data experienced robust price appreciation. The households living in – and investors investing in – those 65 boom markets during those five years enjoyed substantial equity gains on their properties and no doubt engendered the envy of non-boom homeowners and investors. Indeed, to the dismay of the remaining 70 metro areas, the boom seemed to discriminate as it passed over them. But today, the housing coin has flipped – sales are softening in (former) boom cities and gaining momentum in non-boom cities. It appears the haves and the have-nots have reversed places.

What is driving that reversal of fortune? The answer is: affordability. Quite simply, affordable metros are in favor and unaffordable metros are experiencing a correction. Let’s look at both situations.