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Apartments Single-Family Housing Permit Issuance Office Buildings Retail Centers Industrial Facilities Vacant Land Economic & Financial News Potpourri Click here for a PDF (printable) version of this report.

Apartments

According to www.oconnordata.com, April 2010 O’Connor & Associates data indicates that Greater Houston apartment market occupancy has increased 0.5 percentage points from the previous month and is currently 86.08% occupied, while overall rents stand at $0.881 per square foot.  Class A rates witnessed the largest increase over the month ($1.162) from March’s rate ($1.156).  Class C rates increased by $0.001 to $0.723, while Class B rates decreased by $0.001 to $0.832. Class D rates have not changed this month and are currently at $0.631.  Pre-leasing is currently underway in sixteen communities (4,828 units) city-wide.  Overall occupancy is expected to decline further in the coming months as these new communities are completed and delivered to market.

Apartment Developments

• Simmons Vedder Partners (713-626-9102) has completed construction on Domain at CityCentre (17764), a 370-unit development located at 811 Town and Country Blvd in the Far West submarket (489D). The community features one-, two- and three-bedroom units with an average size of 973 square feet and average rental rates of $1.74 per square foot. The property is currently 56% occupied. Common area amenities include an outdoor fireplace and patio bar with grill, fully equipped fitness center, recreational game room with billiards, movie screening room and business center and conference room with internet access, fax and copy machines. Unit amenities include expansive ten-foot ceilings and eight-foot doorways, granite slab countertops, designer wood cabinets, modern brushed stainless steel appliance package, and a full size washer and dryer in every unit.
  
  
• Alliance Residential Company(713-599-0280) has completed construction on Broadstone 2525 (18169), a 307-unit development located at 2525 S Voss Rd in the Woodlake submarket (490V). The community features one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranging in size from 632 to 1,445 square feet and rental rates ranging from $1,150 to $2,250. The property is currently 29% occupied. Common area amenities include a resort-style pool with outdoor cabana and pool side WiFi access, fully equipped fitness center, executive business center, private conference room, and a multi-level parking garage with remote-control access. Unit amenities include expansive ten-foot ceilings, granite slab countertops with tile back splash, custom cabinetry with under cabinet lighting, complete whirlpool appliance package, and a full size washer and dryer in every unit.
  
  
• Camden Property Trust (713-354-2500) has completed construction on Camden Travis Street (17068), a 253-unit development located at 2700 Travis St in the Midtown submarket (493T).  The community features one- and two-bedroom units with an average size of 819 square feet and average rental rates of $1.94 per square foot. The property is currently 36% occupied. Common area amenities include a resident gaming lounge, high-endurance fitness zone, TAEXX in-wall pest control system, parking garage with direct apartment access and a dog run. Unit amenities include gourmet kitchens with granite countertops, crown molding, individual intrusion alarms, and spacious walk-in closets.
  
  
• Midway Companies (713-629-5200) has completed construction on Lofts at CityCentre, The (17513), a 250-unit development located at 12808 Queensbury Ln in the Far West submarket (489D).  The community features one-, two- and three-bedroom units with an average size of 908 square feet and average rental rates of $1.72 per square foot. The property is currently 47% occupied. Common area amenities include four resident terraces, an on-site fitness facility, and resident lounges with Wi-Fi and flat panel TV’s. Unit amenities include gourmet kitchens with custom granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and premium side-by-side refrigerators.
  
  
• Grayco Partners (713-426-2004) has completed construction on Belle Meade at River Oaks, The (17539), a six-story 119-unit development located at 2929 Westheimer Rd in the River Oaks submarket (492T).  The community features one- and two-bedroom units with an average size of 1,412 square feet and average rental rates of $1.92 per square foot. The property is currently 46% occupied. Common area amenities include a resort-style swimming pool with grilling area, private cabanas and WiFi, state-of-the-art fitness facility, and executive business center. Unit amenities include ten- and twelve-foot ceilings, stained oak hardwood floors in living, dining and kitchen areas, self-cleaning ovens with ceramic glass cook-tops, and a full size washer and dryer in every unit.
  
  

The following chart illustrates historical apartment rental rates.

Apartment Sales

• RRE Parks Holdings LLC, an entity of Resource Real Estate, Inc (215-231-7050), has purchased Parkway (3152), a 36-building, 348-unit apartment complex located at 6601 Harbor Town Dr in the Sharpstown/Westwood submarket (530F), from Prudential Mortgage Capital Company (973-802-6000). The 28-year-old, Class B complex is currently 69% occupied with average rents of $0.85 per square foot.
  
  
• RRE Parks Holdings LLC, an entity of Resource Real Estate, Inc (215-231-7050), purchased Parkgreen (3151), a 32-building, 307-unit apartment complex located at 8100 Bellaire Blvd in the Sharpstown/Westwood submarket (530F), from Prudential Mortgage Capital Company (973-802-6000). The 42-year-old, Class C complex is currently 69% occupied with average rents of $0.76 per square foot.
  
  
• NASA Road Apartments LLC has purchased Seatree (4110), an 18-building, 220-unit apartment complex located at 2800 Nasa Rd 1 in the Clear Lake/League City submarket (620N), from Frisco-based Seatree Apartment Properties Ltd, an affiliate of Hall Financial Group, Inc (972-377-1100). The 26-year-old, Class B complex is currently 85% occupied with average rents of $0.95 per square foot. NASA Road Apartments LLC plans on upgrading the property. Hendricks & Partners brokered the transaction on behalf of the seller.
  
  
• CONTI Organization (972-386-0161) has purchased Villa Ana (FKA: Star Crossing) (3070), a 12-building, 176-unit apartment complex located at 10101 W Sam Houston Parkway in the Sharpstown/Westwood submarket (529V), from Prudential Mortgage Capital Company (973-802-6000) for $3.4 million. The 31-year-old, Class B complex is currently 69% occupied with average rents of $0.79 per square foot.  CONTI plans to invest about $800,000 for renovation of the property through its newly launched construction division.  Boston Real Estate Solutions brokered the deal.
  
  

Apartment Financing

• LMI Capital (281-363-4920) has secured over $4.46 million in debt for refinancing of Palms at Chimney Rock, The (3284), a 125-unit apartment complex located at 6700 Chimney Rock in the Gulfton submarket (531F).  The 41-year-old, Class C complex is currently 97% occupied with average rents of $0.72 per square foot. Brandon Brown of LMI Capital arranged the financing, in addition to negotiating an extension on the existing payoff, for LGP Chimney Rock LLC, an affiliate of LGP – Legal Gold Properties (480-203-2650).  The non-recourse, permanent HUD FHA 223(f) loan carries a fixed rate of 5.50% with 31-year amortization.
  
  
• LMI Capital (281-363-4920) has secured $8 million in debt for the acquisition of Rolido Parque (2235), a 369-unit apartment complex located at 2929 Dunvale in the Galleria submarket (490U).  The 33-year-old, Class B complex is currently 85% occupied with average rents of $0.89 per square foot.  Jamie Mullin of LMI Capital arranged the financing, for Siaram Rolido Parque Apartments LLC, an affiliate of Nova Property Management (713-464-7779). The three-year interest only term loan carries a fixed rate of 6% with an extension option.

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Single-Family Housing

MLS home sales increased further in March as 4,057 existing homes were sold, compared to 2,681 homes sold last month, according to the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR).  Sales for March 2010 were also up 14.4% from March 2009.  The median price of an existing single-family home sold in March was $144,900, up 9.4% from the same time last year, while the average home price – $198,271 – was up 12.2% from the March 2009 level.
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Note: MLS sales include primarily existing home sales throughout the Houston region. Historical comparisons are offered solely for informational purposes and may not truly reflect growth in sales.

According to American MetroStudy, net sales of new homes increased by 7.91% in March 2010 to 1,637, and are up over 17% from March 2009.  Realtor co-op sales represented over 66% of gross sales for the month, up 3.21% from March 2009 level.  Traffic declined 8.61% from last year to 16,517 in March 2010.  The inventory of completed speculative homes (1,175) is down 24.44% from March last year.  There are 1,898 spec homes under construction, which is up over 63% from March 2009.  Overall, the 3,073 specs (both completed and under construction) are up 13% from March 2009.
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Note: the 23 homebuilders in this survey account for approximately 55% of housing starts in Houston.

Nationwide sales of new single-family homes increased in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 411,000 – 26.9% above the revised February sales rate of 324,000 and 23.8% above the March 2009 figure – according to a release by the US Department of Commerce.  The median sales price in March was $214,000.  Privately owned housing starts were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 626,000 in March 2010, which is 1.6% above the revised February estimate and 20.2% above the revised March 2009 rate.  Privately owned housing completions were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 656,000 in March, 3.1% below the revised February figure and 21.2% below the revised March 2009 figure.

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, a monthly measure of builder confidence, increased to 19 in April 2010, on a scale where any number greater than 50 indicates that builders view sales as more good than poor.  The index measuring current sales of new single-family homes increased to 20, the index measuring sales expectations for the coming six months increased to 25, and the index measuring the traffic of prospective buyers is currently at 14, four points up from the revised March 2010 figure.

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), 5,350,000 existing homes were sold in March 2010, up 6.8% from February sales and up 16.1% from the 4,610,000 homes sold in March 2009.  The median sale price was $170,700, which represents 0.4% increase from sale prices last year.

According to the most recent report by RealtyTrac, 367,056 foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices, and bank repossessions — were reported during the month of March 2010.  This figure is up 19% from the previous month and up 8% from March 2009.  Texas is among the nation’s 27 highest states in total foreclosure filings in March 2010.

The following chart illustrates historical existing home sales.

Source: Houston Association of Realtors

• Jeff Paul Homes (281-367-0316) has begun developing custom homes within Woodforest (936-447-2800), a 3,000-acre mixed-use, master-planned golf course community development of The Johnson Development Corp (713-960-9977) located five miles north of The Woodlands in Montgomery County (185R). The builder is offering floor plans which range in size from 3,800 to 4,300 square feet and priced from the upper $600,000’s in its Inspiration Series. Three prototypes have been developed.

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Permit Issuance

The City of Houston issued permits to build 364 private single-family houses and 11 private multifamily buildings in March.  Demolition permits were issued for 100 private single-family houses and five multifamily structures.  In addition, 185 permits were issued for privately owned non-residential construction totaling $54,347,877 and 20 permits were issued for public non-residential construction.  Additions, alterations, and conversions totaled $68,696,054 for the private sector and $46,404,514 for the public sector.

Cost of Construction*
	2008	2009	2010
Month of March	$432,942,708	$456,878,126	$276,955,045
Year-to-Date	$1,529,284,630	$1,116,373,975	$705,939,851

*The figures in this section include all categories of buildings and non-building structures

*The figures in this section include all categories of buildings and non-building structures

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Office Buildings

According to the O’Connor & Associates First Quarter 2010 Houston Office Data Program, citywide occupancy for Houston area multi-tenant office buildings is 83.10% (Class A = 85.09%; Class B = 81.24%; Class C = 80.96%; Class D = 78.23%).  The citywide quarterly multi-tenant office rental rate is $20.79 per square foot (Class A = $23.66; Class B = $18.81; Class C = $15.00; Class D = $13.21).
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Note: The office buildings listed herein are followed by their representative sector code and identification number as they appear in the O’Connor & Associates OfficeLink Online Data platform and are provided for subscriber cross-referencing. The property information contained within this database is updated on a monthly basis and accessible over the web. (Please contact us for more details.)

Office Developments

• No office developments were recorded for the month of April.
  

The following chart illustrates historical office rental rates.

Office Sales

• Florida-based Beacon Investment Properties LLC (954-454-4665) has purchased One Park 10 Plaza (1442), a 163,000-square-foot Class B office building located at 16225 Park Ten Place in the Park 10 sector (447Y), from Mississippi-based Parkway Properties (713-850-0300) for $15.7 million.  The 28-year-old, eight-story building is now about 94% occupied with J Connor Consulting and GGS Spectrum as its major tenants.  The buyer was represented in-house, while H Dan Miller and Trent Agnew of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler represented the seller.
  

Office Leases

• Sterling Bank (713-466-8300) has leased 118,986 square feet at Brookhollow Central II (1274), a 305,000-square-foot Class A office building located at 2900 North Loop W in the North Loop/Northwest Freeway sector (452S), from an affiliate of Thomas Properties Group Inc (213-613-1900).  The 14-story, 31-year-old building is over 92% leased with asking rents at $14.00 per square foot.
  
  
• Sterling Bank (713-466-8300) has leased 92,357 square feet at Brookhollow Central III (1275), a 301,000-square-foot Class A office building located at 2950 North Loop W in the North Loop/Northwest Freeway sector (452S), from an affiliate of Thomas Properties Group Inc (213-613-1900).  The 12-story, 29-year-old building is over 86% leased with asking rents at $14.00 per square foot.
  
  
• Aon Corp (312-381-1000) has leased 46,797 square feet at Marathon Tower (497), a 1,070,000-square-foot Class A office building located at 5555 San Felipe Street in the Galleria sector (491Q), from Hanover Real Estate Partners (203-661-6076). The 41-story, 26-year-old building is over 92% leased with asking rents at $17.50 per square foot.  David Bale and Ronnie Deyo of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the tenant, while John Pruitt and Jessica Ochoa of CB Richard Ellis represented the landlord.
  
  
• Lorance & Thompson (713-868-5560) has renewed its lease of 21,263 square feet at Brookhollow Central II (1274), a 305,000-square-foot Class A office building located at 2900 North Loop W in the North Loop/Northwest Freeway sector (452S), from an affiliate of Thomas Properties Group Inc (213-613-1900).  The 14-story, 31-year-old building is over 92% leased with asking rents at $14.00 per square foot.  Dan F Boyles Jr and Josh Cheatham of NAI Houston represented the tenant, while Chip Colvill, Michael Anderson, and Win Haggard Jr of Colvill Office Properties represented the landlord.
  
  
• Compucom (972-661-8294) has leased 16,168 square feet at Southwest Corporate Center (1807), a 536,000-square-foot Class A office building located at 9700 Bissonnet Street in the Southwest Freeway sector (530S), from Woo Westwood LP, an affiliate of Manhattan-based YoungWoo & Associates (212-477-8008). The two-building, 35-year-old office property is over 66% leased with asking rents at $15.50 per square foot. Jon Lee and Bonnie Kelley of CB Richard Ellis represented the tenant and landlord in the transaction.
  
  
• GBH CPAs PC (713-629-8300) has leased 12,074 square feet at ne Oak Park (2448), a 153,000-square-foot Class A office building located at 6002 Rogerdale Road in the Westchase sector (529G), from Means Knaus Partners LP (713-355-9100). The newly developed, six-story building is currently 45% leased with asking rents at $21.00 per square foot. Anthony Squillante of Stream Realty Partners LP represented the tenant, while Chip Colvill and Michael Anderson of Colvill Office Properties represented the landlord.
  
  
• SunGard Consulting Services (713-350-1000) has renewed its lease of 10,579 square feet at Millennium Tower (1937), a 361,000-square-foot Class A office building located at 10375 Richmond Avenue in the Westchase sector (489Z), from Millennium-Windfall Partners Ltd, an affiliate of BMS Management Inc (713-621-3222). The 21-story, 27-year-old building is over 68% leased with asking rents at $18.00 per square foot. Jeffrey E Mack of GVA Smith Mack represented the tenant, while Kristen Rabel, Louann Pereira,and Steve Rocher of CB Richard Ellis represented the landlord.
  
  

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Retail Centers

According to the O’Connor & Associates First Quarter 2010 Houston Retail Data Program, citywide occupancy for Houston area multi-tenant retail buildings is 83.80% (Regional = 85.98%; Community = 86.62%; Neighborhood = 82.16%; Strip = 80.64%).  Occupancy is down 0.82 points over the last quarter and down 0.16 points over the first quarter 2009.  The citywide quarterly multi-tenant retail rental rate is $1.56 per square foot (Regional = $2.28; Community = $1.70; Neighborhood = $1.28; Strip = $1.29).
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Note: The retail centers listed herein are followed by their representative identification number as they appear in the new O’Connor & Associates RetailLink Online Data platform and are provided for subscriber cross-referencing. The property information contained within this database is updated on a monthly basis and accessible over the web. (Please contact us for more details.)

Retail Developments

• No retail developments were recorded for the month of April.
  

The following chart illustrates historical retail rental rates.

Retail Sales

• The New York City-based Investcorp Real Estate (212-599-4700) has purchased Deerbrook Marketplace (499), a 349,000-square-foot community shopping center located at 20202 Eastex Freeway in the Northeast sector (335R), from the New York City-based DRA Advisors(212-697-4740). The 15-year-old center is 98.5% occupied with major tenants including Sports Authority, Bed Bath & Beyond, Best Buy, Marshall’s, PetSmart, OfficeMax, and Old Navy. Mortgage financing for the acquisition was provided by Capital Trust Inc (212-655-0220). The leasing and management services for the property will be provided by Global Realty & Management TX Inc (281-840-5363).
  
  
• Westwood Financial Corp (310-820-5443) has purchased Memorial Collection (1680), a 103,000-square-foot neighborhood shopping center located at 14600 Memorial Drive in the Far West sector (488H), from Regency Centers (904-598-7000). The 36-year-old center is now 96% occupied with tenants including Randall’s and Walgreens. The buyer was represented in-house, while George Cushing and Wendy Vandeventer of Grubb & Ellis represented the seller
  
  

Retail Leases

• Twin Peaks Restaurant (972-941-3150) has leased 86,893 square feet at Webster Town Center (2868), a two-year-old, 156,603-square-foot community shopping center located at 20915 Gulf Freeway in the Far Southeast sector (658B), from Newquest Properties (281-477-4300). Nick Hernandez of Paige Partners represented the tenant, while Mark Sondock represented the landlord in-house.
  
  
• The Woodlands Children’s Museum (281-465-0955) has leased 11,169 square feet at Panther Creek Shopping Center (633), a 27-year-old, 166,000-square-foot community shopping center located at 4775 W Panther Creek Dr. in Far North sector (251E), from Regency Centers (904-598-7000). The center is currently over 98% occupied. Denise Ksiazek of Cypressbrook Co represented the tenant, while Ben Brown represented the landlord in-house.
  

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Industrial Facilities

According to the O’Connor & Associates Fourth Quarter 2009 Houston Industrial Data Program, citywide occupancy for Houston area operating multi-tenant industrial facilities is 83.98% (Flex = 82.36%; Bulk = 84.05%; Manufacturing = 89.98%, Service = 87.16%, Distribution = 73.97%, R&D = 84.99%).  Occupancy is down 1.08 points over the last quarter and down 1.91 points over the first quarter 2009.  The overall quarterly rental rates is $0.51 per square foot (Flex = $0.50; Bulk = $0.41; Manufacturing = $0.37, Service = $0.61, Distribution = $0.41, R&D = $0.91).
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Note: The industrial facilities listed herein are followed by their representative identification number as they appear in the O’Connor & Associates IndustrialLink Online Data platform and are provided for subscriber cross-referencing. The property information contained within this database is updated on a quarterly basis and accessible over the web. (Please contact us for more details.)

The following chart illustrates historical industrial rental rates.

Industrial Developments

• No industrial developments were recorded for the month of April.
  

Industrial Sales

• Sysco Corp (281-584-1390) has purchased Sysco Center (4988), a 669,000-square-foot research and development facility located at 24500 Northwest Freeway in the Far Northwest sector (367F), from RED Cypress Creek Ltd.  The 30-year-old facility, previously occupied by Hewlett Packard, will be occupied by Sysco before end of the year to start a call center and offices for administrative staff.  J Holmes Davis of Binswanger brokered the sale.
  
  
• The Houston Food Bank (713-223-3700) has purchased Houston Food Bank (6598), a 36-year-old, 273,000-square-foot warehouse located at 535 Portwall Street in the Near Northeast sector (495F), from Sysco Corp (281-584-1390). Rob Stillwell with the Global Logistics division of Grubb & Ellis represented both the buyer and seller in the transaction.
  
  

Industrial Leases

• Qualified Contractors leased 33,600 square feet at Greens Road Industrial Park Bldg A & B (6629), a newly developed, 68,000-square-foot office/warehouse facility located at 2446 Greens Road in the Far North sector (373R), from Capital Commercial Investments (512-472-6990).  Gray Gilbert of CB Richard Ellis represented the tenant, while Mark Nicholas and Richard Quarles of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the landlord.
  
  
• DHL Express (USA) (954-888-7000) has leased 32,968 square feet at IAH Cargo Port (5811), an eight-year-old, 166,000-square-foot warehouse located at 18705 Lee Road in the Far North sector (375A), from Industrial Properties Corp (972-447-2660). Chris Kugle and John Ferruzzo of NAI Houston represented the landlord.
  
  
• Tampa-based AVI-SPL (713-395-0975) has leased 14,849 square feet at Beltway 8 Service Center II (20), a nine-year-old, 44,000-square-foot office/warehouse facility located at 11275 W Sam Houston Parkway S in the Far Southwest sector (570A), from a division of The Richland Companies (713-682-5707). The property is now 100% occupied. Jimmy Garvey and Lara Sieder of CLW Real Estate Services Group in Tampa and Bruce Thomas of Yancey-Hausman represented the tenant, while Mickey Meyer-Sturgis and Kyle Geary represented the landlord in-house.
  
  

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Vacant Land

• HEB (210-938-8357) has purchased 14.6 acres of land, located at FM 1488 and Kuykendahl Road in The Village of Alden Bridge in Montgomery County (216G), from The Woodlands Development Co (281-719-6300). HEB has purchased this site with plans to develop its third location in The Woodlands. The buyer was represented in-house, while Todd Edmonds and Cody Christoph of Colliers International represented the seller.
  
  
• Channelview Independent School District (281-452-8002) has purchased 40 acres of land, located at Wallisville Road east of Beltway 8 in Houston, Harris County (457V) with plans to develop a future campus. Ron Simons and Tom Johnson of McDade, Smith, Gould, Johnston, Mason + Company (713-622-1400) represented the seller.
  

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Economic & Financial News

The total number of nonagricultural wage and salary jobs in the ten-county Houston area increased by about 14,800 jobs to 2,506,700 in March 2010, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.  This month’s total is 60,200 fewer jobs than the 2,566,900 jobs at this time last year.  Of nonagricultural employers, the Leisure and Hospitality sector posted the largest gain over the month at 5,700 jobs, while the largest year over year increase occurred in the Education and Health Services sector, which added 12,300 jobs.

The following chart illustrates total non-agricultural employment in the Houston MSA.

Source:  Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

Advance estimates reported by the U.S. Department of Commerce show that seasonally adjusted national retail and food services sales for March were $363.2 billion, an increase of 1.6% from February and 7.6% above March 2009.  Retail trade sales in March were up 1.8% from February and 8.2% above last year’s level.

Personal income increased $36.0 billion, or 0.3%, and Disposable Personal Income (DPI) increased $32.3 billion, or 0.3%, in March 2010, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.  Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) increased $58.6 billion, or 0.6%, in March.  Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Labor reports that the seasonally adjusted Consumer Price Index (CPI) for urban consumers increased 0.1% in March and is 2.3% higher than March 2009.

The latest Conference Board Survey indicates that the Consumer Confidence Index increased to 57.9 in April 2010, up 5.6 points from March.  The index is an indicator of consumers’ overall assessment of current conditions, relative to a figure of 100 in 1985, the base year.  The Index of Leading Economic Indicators increased 1.4% in March, following a 0.4% increase in February and 0.6% in January.  The index is an indicator of direction the economy is expected to take in coming months, relative to a figure of 100 in 1996, the base year.

According to the Federal Reserve, industrial production increased 0.1% in March 2010 from previous month and is up 4.0% from the March 2009 level.  Output in the manufacturing sector increased 0.9%, output at mines increased 2.3%, while output of utilities decreased 6.4% in March.  The rate of industrial capacity utilization was 73.2% in March, which is up 0.2% from February’s revised level but down 1.2 points compared to the previous year’s level.

Freddie Mac reports that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.10% in April 2010, up 0.13 points from March 2010 and up 0.29 points from one year ago.  The average for the 15-year FRM averaged 4.42% in April 2010, up 0.09 points from March 2010 but down 0.08 points from April 2009.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis (U.S. Department of Commerce) reports that advance estimate of the real GDP, the output of goods and services produced by labor and property in the United States, increased at an annual rate of 3.2% in the first quarter of 2010, compared to 5.6% increase in the fourth quarter of 2009.  This increase in GDP in the first quarter primarily reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), exports, private inventory investment, and nonresidential fixed investment.

The BU.S. Department of Commerce reports that construction spending during March 2010 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $847.3 billion, which is 0.2% above the revised February estimate ($845.5 billion).  The current figure is 12.3% below the March 2009 estimate of $966.7 billion.  Private residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $251.8 billion in March, 1.1% below the revised February estimate of $254.6 billion.

The Baker Hughes count of active domestic rotary rigs stands at 1,479 for April 2010.  The current rig count is up 48.6% from last year’s figure of 995 rigs.  The rotary rig count is a census of the number of drilling rigs actually exploring for or developing oil or natural gas in the United States.

The National Restaurant Association’s Restaurant Performance Index(RPI) stood at 100.5 in March, up 1.4 percent from the previous month and its strongest level since September 2007.  The index is a monthly composite index that tracks the health and outlook for the U.S. restaurant industry.  This is the first time in 29 months that the RPI rose above 100.

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Potpourri

According to the monthly Monster Worldwide Inc Employment Index, online job demand increased by eight points in the month of April 2010.  The index currently stands at 133 and is 13 points above April 2009, an increase of 10.83%.  Online demand for workers increased in 27 of the 28 major U.S. metro markets.

According to the March 2010 Architecture Billings Index, developed by the American Institute of Architects, March reported an index of 46.1, up 1.3 points from the previous month (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings).  Both the project inquiries index and the inquiries for new projects score was 58.5.

Joe Rothchild, previously with RE/MAX, has joined Keller Williams Realty Inc (512-327-3070) and will lead the firm’s Signature office in Houston. Jeff Majewski, previously with CB Richard Ellis, has joined Grubb & Ellis (713-626-8888) as Executive Managing Director, debt and equity finance division. John English and Rene Capistran, both with SpawGlass Construction (281-970-5300), have been promoted as President of the senior living and campus housing division and President of the firm’s South Texas Region, respectively.

Please direct any questions regarding content in the Houston Real Estate Trends to Scott Sherrill at 713-375-4264 or ssherrill@poconnor.com.

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