Unique Homes Blog

This week’s Top of the Tweets
By Camilla McLaughlin

Staying Put! Shrinking nest eggs and real estate values have many boomers rethinking their retirement plans, according to a recent Associated Press-LifeGoesStrong.com poll with 54 percent saying they are unlikely to move to a new place during the retirement. The higher their income, the more likely they are to move to someplace new. A tip of the Tweets hat to Prudential’s @reallyearllee for this link. tinyurl.com/3qjh8pd

On balance! Mortgage rates at historic lows have made owning a home less expensive than renting in a growing number of cities, according to recent data from Zillow. Cities where it’s cheaper to own than rent include Orlando, Las Vegas, Mimai, Chicago, St. Louis and Phoenix. @realtors and @WSJ have the story. http://on.wsj.com/snZWOk

Bumping along the bottom. Small positives for real estate continue. Census Bureau stats released this week make it official — sales of new homes rose 1.3 percent in October above the September rate and 8.9 percent above October 2010. www.census.gov/newhomesales Commercial real estate is also on better footing, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) data, which anticipates a growth in commercial markets in 2012. http://bit.ly/v2DlYv Sales of existing homes are also up, according to NAR’s data, with single family sales up 13.8 percent above October 2010. The backlog of homes on the market continues to fall, although it is still above the lows of late 2009 and early 2010. http://bit.ly/uwn2gQ

International buying, how does your state rank? The National Association of Realtors recently compiled state-by-state reports on international business. Each includes data on population demographics, international visitors to the state and price and home buying trends. Check out your state. bit.ly/vGMwTI Thanks to @NAR_Research for the link.

Where do China’s wealthiest want to go? The U.S. and Canada according to @tom_peters and The Wall Street Journal.

Luxury real estate prices to rise in Russia? Moscow will have the steepest price growth in 2012 among the world’s most expensive cities for luxury homes. Expect to see prices rise about 10 percent, advises consultants at Knight Frank LLP. Prices in Shanghai and Hong Kong are expected to fall as a result of government measures to cool housing markets. @BloombergNews has the take on this story. http://bloom.bg/vO3l1z.

Keeping luxury fliers in the air. The Associated Press reports on upgrades for first-class passengers as U.S. airlines try to stay competitive with premium services offered by international carriers. @LuxurySociety links to the story. http://luxurysociety.com/news/21973

Cheers to Felicity Aston, a 33-year-old British adventurer who is setting out to cross Antarctica on foot and alone (pictured). In addition to the 930-mile trek she also will have to drag her gear, food and supplies with her. Along with a bevy of Twitter fans, I’ll be checking @felicity_aston to get updates on her progress. Thanks to @AnarticaNews for the link to this story in the Daily Mail. http://bit.ly/scDSME

“Mad Men” fans probably already know the five things bloggers can learn from Don Draper. No. 4: Surround yourself with talented people, say the bloggers at @_IFBs blogger. Thanks to marketing geek @davepeck for the heads up. http://vsb.li/1z3sCx

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