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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Case-Shiller: Denver home prices rise 9.2% | Inside Real Estate News

This 2,361-square-foot home in Denver is on the market for $365,000.

Highlights:

Case-Shiller shows Denver home prices rise 9.2% YOY.
Overall increase for 20 MSAs was 8.1% in January.
Denver prices up 34% since 2000.

Denver-area home prices rose 9.2 percent in January, according to the closely watched Case-Shiller index.

That was the biggest year-over-year percentage gain since September 2001, when Denver-are prices were up 9.93 percent on a year-over-year basis, according to the S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Indices, which tracks 20 major metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S.

?A 9 percent increase is nothing short of spectacular, said Peter Niederman, CEO of Kentwood Real Estate.

Overall, Denver ranked 10th of the 20 MSAs in the country, as far as year-over-year appreciation.

The overall increase for the 20 markets was 8.1 percent.

Niederman noted for a long stretch of time, Denver was in the top five markets. In January 2012, for example, Denver was ranked No. 3 by Case-Shiller, with a 0.2 percent, year-over-year gain.

?I?m glad we are no longer in the top five,? he said. ?This means there is a nationwide recovery, instead of just Denver and two or three other cities across the country. A rising tide raises all boats, as they say. This tells me we are seeing a housing recovery all across the country.?

Phoenix, one of the nation?s hardest hit markets, let the nation in January, with a 23.2 percent year-over-year gain.

?Denver does not have these huge swings from peak to trough,? Niederman said. ?If we did, I would be worried about a bubble.?

He said Denver may be in the second year of a seven-to 10-year improving market.

?It feels like it,? Niederman said. ?It seems like we historically have these seven to 10-year cycles. We could be near the beginning of a long, sustainable strong market for housing.?

One extremely positive thing about the Denver market is that it is improving across the board, said Lane Hornung, president and founder of 8z Real Estate.

?Home price appreciation is accelerating in our market,? Hornung said.

?We did not quite reach double digits, but the seasonally adjusted index is at 9.1 percent year over year appreciation and 10 percent is in sight,? Hornung said.

?Price increases are wide-spread, from core neighborhoods out to the suburbs, and evident in all price segments,? he said.

However, there were only 6,786 homes unsold homes on the market in February, according to an earlier report by Metrolist. That marked a 32.7 percent decline from the 10,068 unsold homes in February 2012.

?Unfortunately, inventory levels are dropping, not rising, as demand continues to far outstrip supply,? Hornung said. ??Frankly, it?s getting a bit kooky out there in the market.?

Independent broker Gary Bauer, said the latest Case Shiller report ?is good, positive news,? for the Denver-area market.

?It?s interesting that we?ve got a record (price appreciation) going back to 2001,? Bauer. ?The other interesting thing is that a 9 percent gain puts us in the middle of the pack. Once again, Denver never had the tremendous highs or the tremendous lows of other markets.?

He said the Denver housing market is ?extremely strong with a lot of pent-up buyer demand. Homeowners are looking hard at putting their homes on the market and good share of them are doing that and listing their homes.?? However, that does not appear to be easing the incredible housing shortage.

?Homes that are coming on the market are being gobbled up fast,? Bauer said.

Niederman said one reason that there is so much pent-up demand that some people who lost their homes in foreclosures or short sales starting in 2009, are returning to the market.

Typically, people who lost their homes in a distressed situation have to wait three years before they can qualify for another mortgage, he said. That means last year was the first year they could re-enter the market since the housing recession began.

?The subset of the market who lost their homes from 2009 to 2011, could start returning to the market through 2014,? Niederman said. ?Of course, not all of those people will want to or be able to return to the market, but I think some of them will.?

During the foreclosure crisis, one housing counselor said almost everyone who lost a home looked forward to re-entering the market when their financial situation and credit history improved.

Nationally, the housing market put in its best performance since 2006.

?The two headline composites posted their highest year-over-year increases since summer 2006,? says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. ?This marks the highest increase since the housing bubble burst.

?After more than two years of consecutive year-over-year declines, New York reversed trend and posted a positive return in January. The Southwest (Phoenix and Las Vegas) plus San Francisco posted the highest?annual increases; they were also among the hardest hit by the housing bust. Atlanta and Dallas recorded their highest year-over-year gains.

?Economic data continues to support the housing recovery. Single-family home building permits and housing starts posted double-digit year-over-year increases in February 2013. Despite a slight uptick in foreclosure filings, numbers are still down 25 percent year-over-year. Steady employment and low borrowing rates pushed inventories down to their lowest post-recession levels.?

Have a story idea or real estate tip? Contact John Rebchook at? JRCHOOK@gmail.com. InsideRealEstateNews.com is sponsored by Universal Lending, Land Title Guarantee and 8z Real Estate. To read more articles by John Rebchook, subscribe to the Colorado Real Estate Journal.

Month	How Denver ranked out of 20 MSAs	1-Year Change
January 2010	6	2.6%
February	5	3.6%
March	7	4.1%
April	8	4.4%
May	8	3.6%
June	9	1.8%
July	11	-0.1%
August	11	-1.2%
September	9	-3.1%
October	7	-1.8%
November	6	-2.5%
December	7	-2.4%
January 2011	6	-2.3%
February	5	-2.6%
March	7	-3.8%
April	6	-4.1%
May	5	-3.3%
June	3	-2.5%
July	4	-2.1%
August	3	-1.6%
September	5	-1.5%
October	4	-0.9%
November	3	-0.2%
December	2	-0.4%
January 2012	3	0.2%
February	4	0.5%
March	3	2.6%
April	4	2.8%
May	3	3.7%
June	4	4.0%
July	4	5.4%
August	5	5.5%
September	6	6.7%
October	7	6.9%
November	8	7.8%
December	10	8.5%
January 2013	10	9.2%

Metropolitan Area	Change from January 2000	December-January Change	1-Year Annual Change
Atlanta	-3.0%	1.0%	13.4%
Boston	53.8%	0.0%	4.0%
Charlotte	15.15%	0.2%	6.0%
Chicago	11.62%	-0.9%	3.3%
Cleveland	0.07%	-0.5%	4.8%
Dallas	20.51%	0.0%	7.0%
DENVER	34.17%	0.0%	9.2%
Detroit	-19.99%	-0.9%	13.8%
Las Vegas	4.04%	1.6%	15.3%
Los Angeles	80.23%	0.9%	12.1%
Miami	53.51%	0.8%	10.8%
Minneapolis	24.95%	-0.5%	12.1%
New York	61.64%	0.1%	0.6%
Phoenix	26.69%	1.1%	23.2%
Portland	40.74%	-0.4%	8.3%
San Diego	63.28%	-0.6%	9.8%
San Francisco	47.45%	0.1%	17.5%
Seattle	41.30%	-0.3%	8.7%
Tampa	35.20%	0.9%	8.9%
Washington, D.C.	87.42%	-0.7%	5.9%
Composite -10	58.72%	0.2%	7.3%
Composite - 20	46.14%	0.1%	8.1%

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Women make better decisions than men, study suggests

Mar. 25, 2013 ? Women's abilities to make fair decisions when competing interests are at stake make them better corporate leaders, researchers have found.

A survey of more than 600 board directors showed that women are more likely to consider the rights of others and to take a cooperative approach to decision-making. This approach translates into better performance for their companies.

The study, which was published this week in the International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, was conducted by Chris Bart, professor of strategic management at the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University, and Gregory McQueen, a McMaster graduate and senior executive associate dean at A.T. Still University's School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona.

"We've known for some time that companies that have more women on their boards have better results," explains Bart. "Our findings show that having women on the board is no longer just the right thing but also the smart thing to do. Companies with few female directors may actually be shortchanging their investors."

Bart and McQueen found that male directors, who made up 75% of the survey sample, prefer to make decisions using rules, regulations and traditional ways of doing business or getting along.

Female directors, in contrast, are less constrained by these parameters and are more prepared to rock the boat than their male counterparts.

In addition, women corporate directors are significantly more inclined to make decisions by taking the interests of multiple stakeholders into account in order to arrive at a fair and moral decision. They will also tend to use cooperation, collaboration and consensus-building more often -- and more effectively -- in order to make sound decisions.

Women seem to be predisposed to be more inquisitive and to see more possible solutions. At the board level where directors are compelled to act in the best interest of the corporation while taking the viewpoints of multiple stakeholders into account, this quality makes them more effective corporate directors, explains McQueen.

Globally, women make up approximately 9% of corporate board memberships. Arguments for gender equality, quotas and legislation have done little to increase female representation in the boardroom, despite evidence showing that their presence has been linked to better organizational performance, higher rates of return, more effective risk management and even lower rates of bankruptcy. Bart's and McQueen's finding that women's higher quality decision-making ability makes them more effective than their male counterparts gives boards a method to deal with the multifaceted social issues and concerns currently confronting corporations.

The International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics is available online.

How do people make decisions?

Personal interest reasoning: The decision maker is motivated by ego, selfishness and the desire to avoid trouble. This method is most often exhibited by young children who largely tend to be motivated to seek pleasure and avoid pain.
Normative reasoning: The decision maker tries to avoid "rocking the boat" by adhering to rules, laws or norms. Stereotypical examples of groups that use this form of reasoning include organizations with strong established cultures like Mary Kay or the US Marines.
Complex moral reasoning: The decision maker acknowledges and considers the rights of others in the pursuit of fairness by using a social cooperation and consensus building approach that is consistently applied in a non-arbitrary fashion.

Why should boards have more female directors?

Boards with high female representation experience a 53% higher return on equity, a 66% higher return on invested capital and a 42% higher return on sales (Joy et al., 2007).
Having just one female director on the board cuts the risk of bankruptcy by 20% (Wilson, 2009).
When women directors are appointed, boards adopt new governance practices earlier, such as director training, board evaluations, director succession planning structures (Singh and Vinnicombe, 2002)
Women make other board members more civilized and sensitive to other perspectives (Fondas and Sassalos, 2000) and reduce 'game playing' (Singh, 2008)
Female directors are more likely to ask questions rather than nodding through decisions (Konrad et al., 2008).

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by McMaster University.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

Chris Bart, Gregory McQueen. Why women make better directors. International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, 2013; 8 (1): 93 DOI: 10.1504/IJBGE.2013.052743

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/q2BHzfKSel8/130326101616.htm

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University of California course work: LGBTQ views of pop music

University of California students needing a quick music course to fill out their credit requirements for graduation have an option this summer: Take the ?Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Perspectives in Pop Music? class.

Campus Reform reports that class is a weekly ?survey of English-language popular music in the 20th century, with focus on lesbians, gay men and members of other sexual minorities as creators, performers and audience members.? The cost of the course: It?s $1,395 for U.C. students and $2,085 for non-U.C. students, and at least 55 have already signed up, Campus Reform reports.

It?s part of the UCLA?s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Studies Department, which has already offered classes like, ?Chicana Lesbian Literature,? and ?Psychology of the Lesbian Experience,? Campus Reform reports.

The LGBT agenda isn?t confined to California schools.

The University of Tennessee is going to spend $20,000 from a student fund on a ?sex week? that will include a ?Golden Condom Scavenger Hunt? as well as an ?interactive workshop ? [from] lesbian Bondage, Discipline, Sadism and Masochism expert? Sinclair Sexsmith, Campus Reform reports.

The sex week starts on April 7.

Source: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/mar/25/university-california-course-work-lgbtq-views-pop-/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS

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Indiana court upholds broadest school voucher program

By Stephanie Simon

(Reuters) - The Indiana Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously upheld the nation's broadest school voucher program, which gives poor and middle-class families public funds to help pay private school tuition.

Opponents, including the state teachers' union, had sued to block the program on grounds that nearly all the voucher money has been directed to religious schools.

Voucher systems have drawn criticism across the United States from critics who say they drain money from public schools and subsidize overtly religious education. Supporters say they offer families greater choice on where to educate their children.

In a 5-0 vote, the Indiana justices said that it did not matter that funds had been directed to religious schools, so long as parents - and not the state - decide where to use the tuition vouchers.

"Whether the Indiana program is wise educational or public policy is not a consideration," Chief Justice Brent Dickson wrote. The program is constitutional, he wrote, because the public funds "do not directly benefit religious schools but rather directly benefit lower-income families with school children."

The U.S. Supreme Court used similar reasoning in a 2002 ruling upholding a voucher program in Cleveland. Since then, voucher programs have been challenged in state, rather than federal, court. But opponents have found it an uphill climb.

Just last month, a state appeals court in Colorado upheld a voucher program that helped parents in one of the wealthiest U.S. counties pay private school tuition. The case is on appeal to the Colorado Supreme Court. Another closely-watched voucher case is pending in the Louisiana Supreme Court; a ruling is expected soon.

The Indiana voucher program is considered the broadest in the United States because it is not limited to low-income students or those attending failing schools - and because it is available to children statewide. A family of four with a household income of $64,000 a year is eligible for vouchers worth up to $4,500 per child.

Though more than half a million students in Indiana are eligible for the vouchers, just 9,000 enrolled this school year. Most are from urban communities with struggling public schools, but a sizeable slice live in rural and suburban neighborhoods as well.

Republican Governor Mike Pence has pushed to expand the program by opening eligibility to special-needs students and children in military families if their household income is as high as $85,000 for a family of four.

The Indiana legislature is also considering a bill that would give vouchers to kindergarten students who meet the income guidelines. The program currently requires students to spend a full year in public schools before they are eligible for a voucher.

Nationwide, vouchers are used by more than 100,000 students in a dozen states, including Florida, Georgia, Ohio and Wisconsin. Several other states use tax credits or education savings accounts to help families pay private school tuition.

Public school advocates have complained that the vouchers subsidize parochial schools that use an explicitly faith-based curriculum.

"Just because the Indiana Supreme Court said it's OK by our constitution doesn't mean this is a good idea," said Teresa Meredith, vice president of the Indiana State Teachers Association and a plaintiff in the case. "I don't believe it's a wise use of public money. It's still, at the end of the day, funding religious instruction" with tax dollars.

Supporters of the voucher program predicted that the ruling would clear the way for a rapid expansion of vouchers in Indiana and nationwide.

"Kids and parents won today," said Robert Enlow, president of the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, which supports voucher programs nationally. "Other states should look at this victory and see that the education establishment's ability to obstruct families' freedom to choose is waning."

(Reporting by Stephanie Simon; Editing by Scott Malone, Andrew Hay and Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/indiana-court-upholds-largest-u-school-voucher-program-164056235.html

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Glance: Other Russians whose deaths have rocked UK

LONDON (AP) ? Russia's transition from a Kremlin-controlled economy to a free market free-for-all in the 1990s brought on a wave of contract killings as criminals, entrepreneurs and corrupt officials tried to muscle each other out of lucrative businesses. The death of 67-year-old Boris Berezovsky ? which remains unexplained ? has raised questions about the safety of oligarchs as opposition figures back in Russia have been making the United Kingdom their home.

Here are some other U.K. incidents involving figures from ? or involved with ? the former Soviet Union:

ALEXANDER LITVINENKO

Litvinenko, a former KGB agent turned fierce critic of the Kremlin, died after ingesting polonium in his tea at a London hotel in 2006. His family blames the Russian state for orchestrating his death, and British authorities have named former KGB officer and Russian lawmaker Andrei Lugovoi as their chief suspect. The Kremlin ? and Lugovoi ? deny being behind the poisoning, which drew headlines worldwide. Perhaps mindful of Litvinenko's experience, British police called in a hazardous materials team to examine Berezovsky's home. They later declared the property clear of hazardous materials.

BADRI PATARKATSISHVILI

Patarkatsishvili, an associate and confidant of Berezovsky's, died in his mansion in southern England in February 2008. Police initially said his death appeared suspicious but authorities later ruled the 52-year-old billionaire had succumbed to heart failure. Patarkatsishvili was active in Georgian politics, retained a small army of bodyguards, and often said he feared he would be targeted in an assassination attempt.

ALEXANDER PEREPILICHNYY

Perepilichnyy was found dead outside his plush home in southern England in November 2012. He had been in possession of documents which allegedly blew the lid off a massive Russian tax fraud involving dirty money being funneled into Swiss bank accounts. Post-mortem examinations have so far failed to determine how the 44-year-old died. In a recent report, the BBC said he had had a checkup and was given a clean bill of health only months before his death.

STEPHEN CURTIS

Described by author Mark Hollingsworth as "the lawyer who knew too much," Curtis died when his helicopter crashed in poor weather on its way to his 19th-century retreat in southern England in March 2004. Investigators ruled the crash was an accident, but Curtis was a big player in the murky world of Russian banking and had recently been receiving death threats.

GERMAN GORBUNTSOV

Russian businessman Gorbuntsov was shot six times in London's Canary Wharf financial district in March 2011. Gorbuntsov ? who survived ? blames disgruntled business associates for the attack. So far no one has been brought to justice.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/glance-other-russians-whose-deaths-rocked-uk-173615564.html

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Monday, March 25, 2013

Can We Please Stop Drawing Trees on Top of Skyscrapers?

Just a couple of years ago, if you wanted to make something look trendier, you put a bird on it. Birds were everywhere. I'm not sure if Twitter was what started all the flutter, but it got so bad that Portlandia performed a skit named, you guessed it, "Put a Bird On It". More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/_9Wh54D3EWk/can-we-please-stop-drawing-trees-on-top-of-skyscrapers

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2 heads not always better than one -- like on a shark

Journal of Fish Biology / C. M. Wagner et al

The two-headed bull shark fetus. It's about 8 inches (20 centimeters) from head to head.

By Douglas Main
LiveScience

When a fisherman caught a bull shark recently off the Florida Keys, he came across an unlikely surprise: One of the shark's live fetuses had two heads.

The fisherman kept the odd specimen, and shared it with scientists, who described it in a studypublished online Monday?in the Journal of Fish Biology. It's one of the very few examples of a two-headed shark ever recorded ? there about six instances in published reports ? and the first time this has been seen in a bull shark, said Michael Wagner, a study co-author and researcher at Michigan State University.

Technically called "axial bifurcation," the deformity is a result of the embryo beginning to split into two separate organisms, or twins, but doing so incompletely, Wagner told OurAmazingPlanet. It's a very rare mutation that occurs across different animals, including humans.

"Halfway through the process of forming twins, the embryo stops dividing," he said.

The two-headed fetus likely wouldn't have lived for very long in the wild, he said. "When you're a predator that needs to move fast to catch other fast-moving fish ? that'd be nearly impossible with this mutation," he said. ?[See the two-headed shark.]

Journal of Fish Biology / C. M. Wagner et al

A radiograph of the two-headed shark.

Wagner said the description of the deformed shark may someday help better understand how these deformities arise in sharks and other animals.

Two-headed snakes and turtles can be bought from certain specialty breeders, and there is a small market for such creatures, Wagner said.

Several of the few examples of two-headed sharks available today come from museum specimens from the late 1800s, when deformed animals and other macabre curiosities fetched high prices, he said.

Another reason the two-headed shark likely wouldn't have survived: its small body. "It had very developed heads, but a very stunted body," Wagner said. There's only so much energy that can go into the body's development, and it went into the shark's double noggins, he added.

Email Douglas Main?or follow him @Douglas_Main. Follow us?@OAPlanet, Facebook?or ?Google+. Original article on LiveScience's OurAmazingPlanet

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653377/s/29f9eb2f/l/0Lscience0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C250C17458690A0E20Eheads0Enot0Ealways0Ebetter0Ethan0Eone0Elike0Eon0Ea0Eshark0Dlite/story01.htm

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