Archive for the ‘current events’ Category

The future of Beale Street has been a heavily debated issue by the political figures in Memphis. The idea that private entities could purchase Beale Street has been a worry for many because of the economic stimulation that the tourist area provides. Groups such as Elkington’s Performa Entertainment Real Estate and the Downtown Memphis Commission have both expressed interest in obtaining Beale Street. The Olive Branch movers know that Beale Street attracts about 4 million visitors per year, so the ownership is an essential part of predicting the future of the area.

Beale Street is known as Tennessee’s most visited tourist attraction, even past Graceland. The city would like to maintain ownership of the street and also revamp how the street is governed and managed in the future. Part of these discussions will involve what type of musical acts and entertainers come to the area, as well as other events taking place on Beale Street to attract tourism. Read more about the debates and proposed ideas here.

Shelby County is likely to see property taxes rise in 2014, according to recent reports following the County Commission meeting reviewing the Memphis budget and finances. The Memphis movers have found the tax rate in the proposed budget (created by the Mayor and his staff) would raise property tax rates from $4.02 to $4.35 for Memphis residents and $4.06 to $4.39 for non -Memphis residents. The goal is to balance the area budget and offset $52 million in losses from property tax adjustments.

The budget will need additional work however, as the property tax area of the county is not the only area offset. Reports that the education system will be asking for additional funding have been common discussion, with recent totals for funding totaling around $145 million.

The proposed budget is the first step in determining the county funding that will be allotted to various groups for 2014.

Property values dropping in the Memphis area known as Shelby County has resulted in a drop of all around revenue drops for the region. Appraisal values are calculated and updated in four year intervals, and this year marked the time for Shelby County reappraisals, in addition to Hickory Hill, Whitehaven, and South Memphis residential and commercial properties.

Re-certified property tax rates are reflective of the property appraised within the area, and the findings seem to reflect the lagging recovery to the market fallout of 2008. Lower tax rates on property will be detrimental in the long term because it will amount to a lesser county revenue collection, and it is the first year in quite a while that the county has failed to see either a maintaining of current rates or a growth in property tax. The overall drop in fee collection will amount to approximately 5 percent less revenue for the county. The Germantown movers have learned that the tax rate specifically dropped to $4.02.

The Memphis area real estate industry and manufacturing industry have been bright spots for the local economy, according to data compiled for the Beige Book report by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The Memphis movers have found that the local residential home sales in Memphis has risen 11 percent from month to month comparisons of January 2012 and January 2013. Memphis is in a district of the Beige Book that competes with St Louis and Little Rock.

Housing permits filed were also 9 percent higher in Memphis for the same time period. New home sales were up 18 percent, and commercial real estate remains stable and also thriving. Projection reports clarified that less layoffs are anticipated in the coming months for the local industry operations.

The hopes are high for the Memphis area community banks who have placed a lot of faith in the real estate market and the mortgage arena. Community banks in the Memphis metro area have taken the recent real estate trends as an upturn for the local real estate industry. Low interest rates, residential gains, and lower lending competitors have created an ideal platform for smaller, independently owned community banks to offer desirable mortgage rates for local residents wishing to buy in Memphis.

The Germantown movers have found that banks who were once predominantly signing auto loans are now reaching into the mortgage arena, such as Independent Bank of Memphis, who aims to become one of the top 10 mortgage originators in the area. As long as the consumer confidence remains high, it should be a positive year for the Memphis area real estate market.

Nationwide, home prices are seeing a boost throughout markets as we compare the late 2011 to late 2012 figures. One of the exceptions to this trend is the Memphis metro, which is one of 16 regions out of the top 100 metros to see home prices shift in the wrong direction. On average, sales of residential units in the US rose about 8.3 percent in December 2012, marking the biggest year over year increase in over 6 years. Experts, including the Memphis movers, attribute this to the low supply of homes on the market coupled with increasing demand for buyers.

The drop in Memphis pricing was slight, yet still noteworthy. with year over year prices dropping 0.2 percent. This figure includes sales of all types, including foreclosed properties, short sales, and real estate owned (REO) sales. The trend predicted for real estate this year will likely put a boost back on the market, following the fact that sales of existing homes reached their highest volume in five years throughout 2012. Contractors and investors have also jumped on this trend with home and apartment projects resuming development at the highest level four years.

According to data collected and analyzed for the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index, the affordability of single family homes was at it’s most affordable at the tail end of 2012. What does that mean exactly? Final sales prices for homes that changed hands in the last quarter of the year were at 84 percent affordability, meaning they fell within the “affordable” range for the median income of $59,100. This affordability finding made Memphis the 107th most affordable metro in the country for housing, which was a jump from the third quarter of 2012 which placed Memphis at #143. The Olive Branch movers have hopes that the affordability of the region will carry over into this first quarter of 2013, something we will not have a definite answer for until mid April.

This affordability scale is quite important for the economic stability of a region, because it shows that the home pricing is parallel with the incomes that residents of the region are bringing in. The most affordable housing region in the country is Ogden-Clearfield, Utah, where almost 94 percent of the new and existing homes sold were affordable for median-wage residents. At the other end of the list, the least affordable region was San Francisco-San mateo-Redwood City, Calif., where just under 29 percent of homes sold were affordable to median income households.

Next month, Memphis will play host to realtors from all over with the 10th Annual Commercial Property Forecast Summit. The event will take place at the Germantown Performing Arts Center on February 7, 2013, with special focus on the Memphis area commercial real estate market. The Germantown movers are glad to host the city’s professionals beginning with a breakfast at 8am and followed with speakers recognized as local experts with exciting insights to share about the Memphis commercial market. Keynote presenter will be K.C. Conway, executive managing director of market analytics, valuation and advisory services for Colliers International. Local real-estate industry professionals scheduled to speak include Kemp Conrad, Cushman & Wakefield/Commercial Advisors; Shawn Massey, The Shopping Center Group; Brad Kornegay, Colliers International; Rick Fogelman, Fogelman Properties; Jim Rainer, Grubb & Ellis Memphis; and Jeremy Chism, First Horizon Capital Markets.

Commercial Council members can attend the conference for $50, and non-members have to pay $70. No admittance may be purchased at the door. so please plan accordingly and pre-register here.

2012 data shows that the Memphis area realtors had a strong year, especially towards the end of 2012 when sales were consistent and surpassed 2011 figures by over 26 percent. The Olive Branch movers have learned that the monetary sales volume brought in by the 2012 activity was also 26 percent higher than numbers from 2011. The area certainly improved over the past December, with total residential sales weighing in at $145.6 million.

Looking towards the brokers, they had a stronger year over 2011 by a significant percentage. 17.2 percent more homes were sold in 2012 over 2011 with a grand total of residential sales over the year raking in $1.94 billion. Sales of existing homes were at the highest level in over two years–hopefully 2013 continues to bring the positive real estate trends.

According to data compiled by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the Memphis metropolitan area (which is comprised of 8 counties) saw unemployment rates rise to 8.6 percent, up from the rate of November which was 7.7 percent. The lowest unemployment in the state is in Knox County, with a rate of 5.7 percent.

Throughout the entire state, the Germantown movers have learned there are about 54,000 unemployed people searching for work in the Memphis metro area. The entire state of Memphis carries an unemployment rate of 7.6 percent. The city of Memphis (within Shelby County) carries a high unemployment rate of 9.8 percent, up from 8.8 percent in November.