Archives for December 2015

NAR’s legislative and regulatory agenda continued to focus on creating a fundamentally sound and robust U.S. real estate market while protecting the business interests of members and consumers.
NAR achieved several accomplishments and set the foundation for many important issues moving forward, including Waters of the United States, Terrorism Risk Insurance, and commercial use of drones.
During the 114th Congress, NAR’s legislative and regulatory agenda continued to focus on creating a fundamentally sound and robust U.S. real estate market while protecting the business interest of members as well as consumers. NAR achieved several accomplishments and set the foundation for many important issues moving forward.
NAR issue brief includes:

• FHA Implements New Condo Policies
• G-Fees Removed as a Financing Mechanism from Transportation Bill
• Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rule Implementation Halted
• Terrorism Risk Insurance Act Becomes Law
• FHA Mortgage Insurance Premium Reductions Finalized
• TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) Rule Implementation Delayed, Written Guidance Issued
• Protection of Homeownership and Real Estate Investment Incentives
• New Net Neutrality Rules Preserve Equal Access to the Internet
• Tenant Star Bill Becomes Law
• Federal Housing Finance Agency Announces New Non-Performing Loan Requirements
• Creating Common Sense Patent Litigation Reforms
• Engaging with the FAA on Drones

Read December summary: 2015 NAR Issue Brief
By: National Association of REALTORS®
Click here to read source PDF.

SANTA FE, N.M. —The cost of living is higher in Santa Fe than almost any other New Mexico city.
“Rents are going up year after year and people are being displaced,” Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales said.
Gonzales is trying to change that.
Right now, developers have to include a certain percentage of affordable housing in any new rental property they build.
So projects have to be bigger if they want to profit.
But big buildings don’t fit into Santa Fe’s identity, forcing many developers to bypass the city.
Instead, the mayor wants to allow those developers to simply pay a fee to an affordable housing fund to pay for new apartments, and subsidize rent in existing ones for those who need it.
City officials have several locations in mind to build regular and affordable housing, and one of them is right in the center of town near the Railyard.
“We plan to work with neighborhoods, business owners and developers to identify areas where high density development can happen,” Gonzales said.
He said nearly 6,000 people spend half their income just on rent.
Gonzales hopes that having more apartments in town will drive prices down.
“Allow for more people who live outside of Santa Fe to move back to the city,” Gonzales said. “That’s good for our economy.”
By: Lida Alikhani (KOAT 7)
Click here to view source article and video.

Renia Ehrenfeucht, a professor who teaches about cities and urbanization, isn’t afraid to deconstruct the old adage often evoked by economists, real estate developers and city leaders — essentially that cities must grow and grow quickly, or they die.

Ehrenfeucht is the new director of community and regional planning at the University of New Mexico’s School of Architecture and Planning. She said Albuquerque must stop trying to be a Denver or Portland — cities that are known for quick growth and booming economies — and learn to grapple with slower growth in a thoughtful way.

Renia Ehrefeucht is the new director of community and regional planning at the University of New Mexico’s School of Architecture and Planning.
“We look all over the country and some places are going to grow and some will lose population. That’s the nature of it. They say if you’re not promoting growth you’re giving up, and that’s wrong. We need to not think that way,” Ehrenfeucht said.

She said slow growth can create opportunity, and provide citizens time to reflect on what they want their city to look like in 20 years.

Ehrenfeucht grew up in the Los Angeles area and most recently, spent time as a professor at the University of New Orleans. She said she sees many similarities between New Orleans and Albuquerque.

“Like New Orleans, Albuquerque has this real sense of cultural richness and uniqueness of being local. When you’re here, you know you’re here and that really matters to people,” Ehrenfeucht said.

Also like New Orleans, she said, Albuquerque has lost some of its millennials as they’ve moved to other states for jobs and more opportunity.

Ehrenfeucht and her colleagues studied young professionals in New Orleans, interviewing them over five years. They found that those who chose to stay said they didn’t want to leave their sense of community behind.

“It was really having a connection and professional and friend network that caused them to stay. These were career-oriented people but they were making career tradeoffs that were worth it to them,” she said.

Still, as a planner, Ehrenfeucht said it’s important to understand why millennials are leaving New Mexico.

“We live in a mobile era where people move. But they should move because there are opportunities to move for part of their life, not because they have no option here,” she said.

She said many urban planners pay attention to attracting the creative class, but she believes solving the problem of New Mexico’s population loss has to be looked at through multiple sides.

“Cities are putting a lot of emphasis on policies that are really attracting people who are well off, rather than policies that are ensuring people who have fewer resources have access to education and health care. It’s about creating opportunities for everyone. As a state we want to make sure all kids get a good education and families aren’t burdered with high housing costs or can afford food,” Ehrenfeucht said.

By: Stephanie Guzman (Albuquerque Business First)

Click here to view source article.

For the first time since oil prices started falling 18 months ago, production levels in New Mexico are faltering — a shift that could be detrimental to industry in the state.

Despite prices that have hovered around $40 per barrel for both Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate crude, production levels in the state have survived rigs being laid down and layoffs at companies such as Halliburton (NYSE: HAL), ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) and others. In fact, production levels in the state have been on track to outpace levels not seen since the 1970s.

For the first time since oil prices started falling 18 months ago, production levels in New Mexico are faltering – a shift that could be detrimental to industry in the state.

According to data from the Oil Conservation Division of the New Mexico Energy, Mineral and Natural Resources Department, 12.7 million barrels of oil were produced in the state in August — a number that fell to 12.1 million in September. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows a sharper drop in those numbers with 13.1 million barrels produced in August and 12.6 million barrels in September.

If production levels continue dropping and the price of oil fails to increase, which some experts say is likely, New Mexico businesses will be affected. From layoffs in the actual industry to a decrease in construction, to a decrease in the amount of traffic that restaurants and retail outlets in oil town areas see.

Since June of 2014, the price per barrel of WTI crude has dropped from $106 in June 2014 to $37.65 at the close of the markets Monday. Brent crude dropped below $40 per barrel on Monday for the first time since 2009 following Following OPEC’s (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) decision that it would not decrease its oil production levels in 2016, thereby further hampering the U.S. oil industry.

By: Sal Christ (Albuquerque Business First)

Click here to view source article.