Top of the Tweets: Luxury trending up and World Cup fever
By Camilla McLaughlin
The oil spill got top rating this week, garnering a million tweets in the last month. Casualties continue to mount, including the closing of the 134-year-old P&J Oyster Company in New Orleans http://bit.ly/bmFpBY and the Times–Picayune reports local chefs are getting creative as the supply of seafood dwindles. http://bit.ly/9XFWJh
Lux links this week. It seems that others are catching on to the upward trend in luxury home sales. If you’ve been following our Road to Recovery series, you know we’ve been tracking growing sales in markets throughout the country this year (CLICK HERE for the latest in our series). NAR reports sales of million dollar homes up 54 percent in April 2010 compared to April 2009. ILHM’s Market Report shows list prices continue to decline as new properties come on the market and a greater number of on-market homes have price reductions. The Wall Street Journal’s Wealth Report zeroed in on philanthropy. Charitable giving by wealthy individuals declined by only 0.4 percent last year. But total giving, which includes the wealthy, companies, foundations and bequests, fell by 3.9 percent. Donors are shifting dollars away from standard causes toward health, human services and the overseas poor. http://on.wsj.com/cXxkqp
The top topic for real estate journalists is what will the housing market be like post tax credit. Jobs will matter most. The most recent report on the state of the nation’s housing from the center for housing studies at Harvard and the Kennedy School targets unemployment as a major drag on a housing recovery. http://bit.ly/9D7ylz Weighing in on the debate over home prices in general, @housingwire posted a link to an article explaining arguments on both sides of the issue. http://bit.ly/9FBk3K Steve Harney at the KCM blog takes an in-depth look at the future for housing. http://bit.ly/bqU5ng
Journalists latched onto several tidbits this week, including 50 words New York Times readers don’t know http://bit.ly/bBF5kf. Actually, not to boast, I was surprised to discover that I am familiar with most. A couple of years ago, I used sui generis (no. 3 in the top 30) in a lead for Ultimate Homes magazine. Lately, that phrase seems to be cropping up all over. To tweet or not? The NYT also put the future of the word “tweet” in jeopardy, at least concerning usage by their writers when it refers to Twitter. AP Stylebook recognizes tweet when used as a verb such as “to tweet” in reference to Twitter.
On the green scene, the Department of Energy is proposing a voluntary energy rating system for existing homes. Thanks @NAHBGreen. http://tinyurl.com/27okr5f If you’re looking for unusual flooring using reclaimed materials, @EcoHomeMagazine had an interesting suggestion — reclaimed wine barrels http://ht.ly/1WGB4 Advanced building materials manufacturer Serious Materials has done it again with a new window with an R-value of 20, which is remarkable since most windows have extremely low R values.
World Cup fever has Twitter abuzz. Even @dictionarycom chimed in with a definition of OFFSIDE which it claims is one of the most complex terms in the game. @crunchgear posted “how to’s”
on keeping up with the tournament including a list of helpful websites, mobile apps and podcasts. http://bit.ly/cMfkYM
It’s interesting to follow what’s trending on Twitter. To see what things people do and don’t care to talk about and to see what’s important to the general public (or the part that Twitter represents).