DSNews.com reports that billionaire investor, Wilbur Ross, says that the U.S. is at the very beginning of a "huge crash in commercial real estate" and that he would exercise "extreme caution" before investing in this sector of real estate. "All of the components of real estate value are going in the wrong direction simultaneously," Ross said in a Bloomberg interview. "Occupancy rates are going down....

Congress passed a compromise measure extending unemployment benefits and the $8,000 tax credit for qualified first-time homebuyers, in spite of recent revelations on widespread mistakes and suspected fraud in the popular program. The tax credit program was scheduled to end on Nov. 30, 2009, but the homebuyer extension will cover homes under contract by April 30, 2010. In another welcome development for...

An article published recently in the Louisville Courier-Journal reported that Louisville Metro Planning and Design Services' staff are studying better zoning for homes in the Prewitt Acres subdivision. The merger of city and county zoning classifications that happened decades ago led to the subdivision near Southside Drive and New Cut Road zoning for industrial use instead of residential. Design...

The Wall Street Journal reports a bit of news that discount real estate brokerages have been eagerly looking forward to for some time. The article said that the Federal Trade Commission has ordered an affiliate of the National Association of Realtors in the Detroit region to stop certain practices that the federal agency determined illegally discriminated against discount real estate brokers. The FTC...

The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis's Burgundy Book—a financial report issued quarterly about economic activity in Louisville, Little Rock, St. Louis and Memphis—said that the health of Louisville's economy was mixed this past summer. Published in September, the report said that car dealerships and general retailers declared some successes that were tempered by low sales in some sectors....

One Louisville commercial real estate property owner said he hadn't been able to find a tenant for his small retail building he co-owns on Shelbyville Road in 15 months. This Louisville Courier-Journal article reports that the owner's building had never been vacant for longer than a month in 25 years. "That ought to tell you something," the developer said. "I believe it's a sign of the market." He...

Foreclosed homes in Louisville that have been sitting vacant and tough to sell are selling unexpectedly well at local real estate auctions. Online real estate auction company, Auction.com, held an auction at the Seelbach Hotel recently that brought out a wide range of people interested in buying Louisville foreclosed homes. "They bid on the property and if they win the property we put them in contract...

Members of the Greater Louisville Association of REALTORS® sold 15 percent more homes in September 2009 than they did the previous September, which represented the third consecutive month of improvements in sales. Louisville REALTORS® sold 1160 homes and condos that month, compared to 1012 Louisville homes and condos sold in September 2008. Jan Scholtz, president of the Louisville REALTORS®, said...

As the federal tax credit program for first-time homebuyers is ending, some Louisville homebuyers are taking advantage of Kentucky's lesser-known $5000 tax credit for buying a new house. Kentucky's tax credit went into effect last July 26 and although it cannot be combined with the federal tax credit, Louisville real estate professionals say it is having a positive impact on home sales. The state's tax...

Real estate professionals have known for years that a furnished home sells much faster than a vacant one. Homeowners and real estate professionals across the country are turning to the process of virtual staging in an effort to sell the many thousands of vacant homes across the country. According to testimonials from real estate agents using this technique with great success, it generates strong buyer...