www.fiabcinews.com

Please click the links below for great news from our FIABCI Americas Chapters:

BRAZIL
USA

BRAZIL

Construction recovers from the crisis in Brazil

EDUARDO ZAIDAN

The environment of extraordinary growth Brazilian construction experienced from 2007 until mid-2008 suffered a considerable change by the end of last year.

A year ago, the crisis reduced credit, the main nutrient of economic growth. Specifically, it affected credit for businesses, leading to a lack of resources for working capital financing.

A second form of the crisis contamination was a decline in confidence. The uncertainty over the direction of the Brazilian economy inhibited the desire of investors and families that intended to buy properties.

Thus, the indicators of construction activity for 2008 last quarter showed signs of the crisis, although in a substantially smaller way than that observed in the manufacturing industry.

The Brazilian government understood that construction had a high counter-cycle potential to face the situation and contribute to GDP growth. Thus a series of measures were announced:

Creation of a R$ 3 billion credit line to attend the immediate difficulties of financing;
Establishment of the housing program “Minha Casa Minha Vida”(My Home My Life);
Tax reduction of industrialized products on building materials.

In addition, real estate financing never ceased to be offered, although some financial institutions did increase their demands in credit analysis.

These measures contributed effectively to a fresh boost on the construction entrepreneurs spirit and brought better prospects for the sector.

Performance in 2009

In early 2009, construction performance began to show a differentiated dynamic from other industrial segments.

The beginning of 2008’s exceptional growth generated impulses that spreaded into 2009. Companies in the housing segment entered 2009 operating at very strong level, completing the projects launched and started in 2007 and 2008.

However, there is still to be considered an important supply of housing that is not built by construction companies, but results of owners self-production and small contractors. This means that the activities reflect both areas, driven by different dynamics. Family needs were the most affected segment by the increased cost of credit and banking spreads. As a result, the retail market sales of construction materials declined significantly.

The housing program changed the situation significantly, coming in line with the entrepreneurs expectations. It identified new financing sources and fought to solve all major issues that could hinder its operation.

The first evaluations of the program still show some operational difficulties. However they have been extensively discussed with the Caixa Economica Federal, the governmental Bank assigned to operate the program. According to CEF, until October 13, when the program was six months old, it received 1.850 proposals for housing loans, which could provide construction of nearly 348 thousand homes.

Contracts for 95.6 thousand housing units were approved, representing 9.5% of 1 million houses that the program aims to hire until the end of the current government in December 2010. The numbers are still relatively low, but the expectation is of an unprecedented growth.

Employment, statistics, new ventures and materials production

Due to the decrease in residential launches, a decline was expected in construction activities this year. However, it did not happen. During the first months, the companies hired workers again, and in July and August, the pace of hiring intensified. In these two months, 81.4 thousand jobs were generated in the sector, 36 thousand only in real estate. From January to August, employment increased by 7.59% over the same period of 2008.

In São Paulo, the pace has been even stronger. In the same period, employment grew by 9.15%. Between July and August, there were 20.7 thousand new jobs in the sector, all created by construction companies. Real estate was responsible for the larger portion of the generation of employment: it represented 7.2 thousand new jobs to 4.7 thousand in the infrastructure sectors.

Since the beginning of this year, infrastructure has also maintained a steady level of hiring and registers a growth of 13.56% over the same period in 2008, while in real estate the growth was 6.42%.

The acceleration pace of hiring reflects a change in environment, also captured in the latest construction survey. The improved business performance and expectations of entrepreneurs in construction have proved largely positive. This positive perception also began to reflect in new real estate ventures. In August, the number of units launched in São Paulo metropolitan area increased by 81% compared to July and was only 2% below August 2008.

However, despite the growth of employment, production of building materials is still recovering slowly. In August, the index of typical inputs of construction was 8.6% lower than in 2008. The cumulative decline for the year is 10%. In this last quarter, these numbers should improve reflecting, in part, a lower base of comparison, but also a growing activity: construction of infrastructure will begin to add to the program My House, My Life, with significant results throughout the chain.

Perspective

The indicators available so far shows a positive growth of construction in 2009.

For 2010, the election year plus the program My House, My Life should push construction in general to grow between 7.5% and 9%.

EDUARDO ZAIDAN is director of economics at the SindusCon-SP (Union of Construction Industry of the State of São Paulo) and vice-chairman of the Advisory Board of the entity

Photos from lunch meeting with SindusCon-SP - 25th September, 2009

Click any image for an enlarged version

USA

Real Estate Auction Pioneer Sheldon F. Good, “Distinguished Speaker” at Cornell University Real Estate Series, Revealed New Challenges Facing Auctioneers, Tips to Assure Sales; Good Spoke Thursday, October 15 in Ithaca, NY

CHICAGO, October 19, 2009 - - Real estate auction pioneer Sheldon F. Good addressed attendees at the Cornell University Program in Real Estate (PRE) “Distinguished Speaker Series” on Thursday, October 15 in Ithaca, NY.(http://realestate.cornell.edu/index.php/news/news_detail/re_seminar_real_estate_auction_pioneer_sheldon_f_good/)

During his speech, Good revealed some of the new challenges facing real estate auctioneers and offered tips to assure sales in this uncertain economic climate. His speech was entitled, “Understanding Real Estate Auctions – a New Twist.”

For more than five decades, Good has continued to market real estate and counsel property owners and has recently begun counseling realty firms that provide real estate auction services. He founded and was former chairman and CEO of his eponymous commercial real estate brokerage and auction firm (1965-2001) and served as its chairman emeritus until this past summer. Under his leadership, the company became the first U.S. realty firm to develop and successfully apply the auction technique to selling real estate nationwide and around the world. Prior to starting his own firm, he managed commercial real estate brokerage for Chicago’s oldest and largest real estate company.

Good continues to serve in numerous industry leadership roles and was singled out in 1983 as “One of Chicago’s 25 Most Influential REALTORS® in the Past Century” and in 1991 as the Chicago Association of REALTORS’ (CAR) “REALTOR of the Year.”

“Sheldon Good founded and managed the nation’s foremost real estate auction company for nearly four decades,“ said David L. Funk, director of the Cornell PRE. “A real estate industry icon, he drew a standing-room only crowd and provided Cornell students and faculty with unique insights into the real estate auction industry which are not typically offered in a classroom.”

Other featured speakers at the PRE Fall "Distinguished Speakers Series," running from August through December, include prominent CEOs and senior level executives of real estate finance, investment, commercial development and publishing firms in New York, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Washington, DC and Hong Kong.

About Sheldon F. Good, CCIM

Sheldon F. Good is a real estate auction pioneer and an industry leader. He founded and served as chairman and CEO of Sheldon Good & Company from 1965-2001 and was chairman emeritus of the real estate auction and commercial brokerage firm until this past summer.

He was also World President of the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI), a 60-year-old, worldwide federation of 120 professional real estate associations and their members. FIABCI, based in Paris, France, has chapters in 65 countries. During his FIABCI World Presidency, Good, who still serves as a FIABCI delegate to the United Nations, led FIABCI trade missions to 15 countries on four continents.

In other leadership roles, he was chairman of the National Association of REALTORS’® (NAR) Commercial Investment Real Estate Institute (CCIM) and president of the Chicago Association of REALTORS® (CAR). He also founded CAR’s Education Foundation and its Hall of Fame Awards Program, which he has chaired for the past 25 years.

A published author and frequent speaker, he addresses business students at many of the nation’s most prestigious universities.

NAR Convention in San Diego, November 13-16 2009

Pictured in San Diego during the NAR Convention from left to right,
FIABCI World President Lisa Kurrass and Kirkor Ajderhanyan,
Vice-Chair International Relations FNAIM

Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM®) Foundation Names New Officers and Board Members

(CHICAGO, IL, Oct. 27, 2009) – The Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM® Foundation), a non-profit 501(c)(3) public foundation, has named new officers to a two- year term beginning immediately. Edward H. Boudreau Jr., CPM®, chairman of Capital Consultants Management Corporation (CCMC), Dallas TX, will serve as president and Robert B. Toothaker, CPM®, chairman of Real Estate Management Corporation, AMO® as well as CB Richard Ellis, South Bend, AMO®, will serve as vice president.

Commenting on his new position, Boudreau said: “During my presidency, the Foundation will remain focused on increasing its impact on the real estate management industry through grants and scholarships, special publications and other initiatives that will attract young people into the business, develop and nurture future leaders, and encourage a more diverse workforce. We are grateful to the individual IREM members, IREM Chapters, corporate sponsors, and private contributors whose generous financial contributions help support our ever-expanding efforts.”

Boudreau’s firm, which specializes in homeowner associations and is headquartered in Scottsdale, manages more than 120 communities with over 80,000 housing units in nine states from Florida to Nevada. As its chairman, he provides strategic guidance to the board of directors and senior management. In his prior role as CCCM president, from 1973 to 2005, he initiated business expansion, manager training and senior staff development. He also worked directly with prominent national development firms in the formation, budgeting, initial development, and management of complex homeowners associations throughout the United States. His list of clients has included Disney Development, Mobil Land, Suncor, Lyle Anderson, Sunbelt Holdings, Puite Homes, and MCO Properties.

Boudreau is a licensed real estate broker with over 30 years of experience managing all types of real estate. He has held many volunteer leadership positions within the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM®), served as the organizations 2002 international president, and was honored in 1979 with its “Professional Achievement Award.”

Boudreau has served on the boards of the Greater Dallas and Texas Apartment Associations, and the Richardson Youth Council. He was a contributing author to Community First, a recently published publication of the Community Associations Institute (CAI), developed the original content for the organization’s Web site, and has been a frequent speaker at CAI events.

Boudreau has been married for 40 years, has six children and makes his home in Dallas.

TOOTHAKER IS VP
Toothaker has been in the real estate business since 1978. He served as 2002 international president of IREM and just completed a one-year term as 2009 chairman of the Realtors Commercial Alliance of the National Association of Realtors®. As well, he recently was appointed to the board of the Open Standards Consortium for Real Estate (OSCRE) as IREM’s representative.

Toothaker is a charter member of the Indiana Commercial Board of REALTORS and was named the group’s “REALTOR of the Year” for 2004. He has served as president of the local chapter of the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) and is a licensed real estate broker in Indiana and Illinois.

Active in civic and community affairs, he is a board member of the Housing Authority of the City of South Bend, the Studebaker National Museum, and the Indiana Historical Society. He also is immediate past chairman of the Northern Indiana Historical Foundation and the Business Development Corporation.

Toothaker holds Bachelors and Masters degrees from Illinois State University.

SEVEN NEW BOARD MEMBERS NAMED
Joining Boudreau and Toothaker on the Foundation Board for two-year terms are:

Robert D. Demson, CPM®, Owner/Partner, R/A Consultants, Phoenix, AZP
Gail Duke, CPM®, 2nd Vice President of Corporate Leasing for New York Life Investment Management LLC, New York, NY
Richard L Elam, CPM®, President and CEO, Grubb & Ellis, Dallas, TX
James Evans, CPM® , IREM 2010 Secretary/Treasurer; also, President and CEO of Bruce G. Pollock & Associates, Realtors, as well as KEB Investments, Grand Blanc, MI
John N. Gallagher, Executive CPM® and Senior Vice President of Property Management, Polinger, Shannon & Luchs Company, Chevy Chase, MD
Pamela W. Monroe, CPM®, IREM 2009 International President and Senior Vice President of Community Realty Management, Inc., Pleasantville, NJ
Victoria R. Parmentier, CPM®, President and CEO, RE Management, Green Bay, WI

Print this page

Click HERE for Advertising Info | Newsletter Sponsored By: