Houston Office Market (Real Estate Appraisal)

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The downtown Houston office market is a hot topic these days. Recent months have seen a flurry of activity, whether it be leases, move-outs, or acquisitions. It’s no secret that the downtown market continues to be plagued by average vacancies painfully close to 20% and stagnant rents. With the thought that things will improve in the near future, investors have been purchasing properties in earnest. The fourth quarter news was encouraging, notably EPCO, Inc.’s acquisition of 1100 Louisiana, a building in which they have subsequently occupied 300,000 square feet. Also, Wells Real Estate Funds paid the highest per-square-foot price in the Houston office market’s history ($286 psf) for 5 Houston Center. Rumor has it that ChevronTexaco is interested in purchasing the remaining vacant former Enron building, while other energy companies have begun to reclaim shadow space downtown.

Unfortunately, the Central Business District’s recovery is anything but a slam dunk. Two major tenants, Burlington Resources and Bank One, are expected to vacate CBD space in 2006 after acquisitions by ConocoPhillips and Chase, respectively. In the same building Burlington is expected to vacate, Calpine Corp. reduced the amount of space they lease and subsequently lost naming rights to the former Calpine Center, now known by its address, 717 Texas.

Questions still remain about when the downtown office market will see a substantial improvement. It did not happen with the recent influx of New Orleans office tenants, as some thought it would. However, strong job growth has many experts predicting a healthy 2006 for the Houston office market overall, and with the positive fourth quarter numbers, it appears the market is moving in the right direction.

To view this entire article and more market research updates on apartments, offices, industries and retailers and to learn more about the services O’Connor & Associates offers, please visit {A HREF = http://www.poconnor.com}houstoncommercialproperties

About the Author

Patrick O’Connor, MAI is president of O’Connor & Associates. The firm, in business since 1974, specializes in nationwide real estate appraisals, research, and state and federal tax reduction services. O’Connor is frequently acknowledged by national publications as a respected source of information on real estate trends.

Real Estate Appraisal – Housing: New federal agency may order disclosure on appraisal charges

Housing: New federal agency may order disclosure on appraisal charges
While appraiser independence is an important goal, banks and their affiliated management firms are raising the costs of appraisals to consumers without improving services, said Frank Gregoire, a past chairman of the Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board

Real estate firm’s game ad nothing to laugh at
“Appraisers don’t set the real estate market; they reflect what’s happening in the market,” Stephens said in a statement. “Think of the appraiser as a mirror, reflecting the market. Obviously, the market is depressed. Home prices have fallen far

(Real Estate Appraisal)

Introduction to Real (Real Estate Appraisal) Estate Appraisal

Introduction to Real Estate Appraisal This video program is an introduction to Real Estate Appraisal, as taught by Mr. William B. Mansfield, a former real estate appraiser who has been lecturing on various real estate subjects for the past 15 years. In addition to teaching at numerous colleges and for the Learning Annex, he also conducts complete education courses at Jumpstart Seminars in Southern California.

The main purpose of this particular program is to give the viewer an introduction to a very lucrative career in Real Estate Appraisal, showing the basic principles that are involved in the actual practice, the types of education and experience required for licensing, the amounts of money that can be earned and how to develop a client base to build a fulfilling career that affords one not only the luxury of the earnings that can be achieved, but also the time that can be enjoyed by selective scheduling of appointments. Also included in this introduction are the names and websites of numerous organizations that provide books, products, licensing, software and other helpful products for the professional real estate appraiser.

Any person interested in investing in real estate will also find this course extremely useful in determining a property’s value. Additional information has been added for viewers in all 50 United States.

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Anti Monopoly