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HOUSING GAINS PREDICTED

More modest gains are likely this year, according to the most recent Kiplinger Letter forecast. The national average of appreciation in home values will be up 4 percent-4.5 percent, compared with a gain over 11 percent in 2013.

The top stated reason for this increase is rising mortgage rates, will increase to 5 percent or so for 30-year fixed rate loans by the end of the year. Another possible is that fewer investors are offering all-cash deals, with bargain prices and.

The Kiplinger letter forecasts that new-home building will accelerate again, helping to offset the construction drought of 2008-2012. Keep an eye out for housing starts this year to climb by 15 percent and top 1 million for the first time since 2007. Sales of new homes are predicted to be a bright spot.

Another prediction: More existing homes will go up for sale, as price hikes pull homeowners out from mortgages that are underwater, making them more willing to sell. Sales will climb by 4 percent, but inventory won’t be as tight.

Affordability, though declining, is still better than the historical norm: A median-price home costing 20 percent of household income. In 2013, it took just 15 percent of income to buy an equivalent home. When mortgage rates rise to 5 percent, it will cost 17 percent of income.

More moderate growth this year is not necessarily bad news, it signals a more sustainable, long-term growth trajectory that will help quell fears that another bubble is arising.

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THIS IS AMAZING...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZkHpNnXLB0

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What a year for home design it’s been! A recovering housing market has led more home owners to spruce up their interiors. As designers take a look forward of what will be trending in 2014, let’s take a look back at the design trends that caught on this year that will likely stick around.

Wooded decors: Natural-looking wood grains showed up in more home décor, particularly the kitchen – from the cabinets to butcher block counters. The greater use of natural-looking wood grains offered a light, modern feel while still adding a homey comfort.

Traditional Kitchen by Salem Photographers Tess Fine

Larger sinks: Farmhouse utility sinks have been gaining popularity over the last few years but really caught on in 2013. The deep, double sink offers up clean lines and a classic use.

Traditional Kitchen by Portland Interior Designers & Decorators Garrison Hullinger Interior Design Inc.

Flexible furniture: Furniture that can be shifted, moved, and customized gained popularity. For example, kitchen islands that could be expanded like a dining room table for family gatherings. Regardless of small spaces or large, more home owners also looked to incorporate more multifunctional pieces too, such as an ottoman that could also double up as storage.

Craftsman Kitchen by Portland Photographers Whitney Lyons

Tile explosion: The use of nontraditional tile surged in 2013. Tile with a natural touch continued the wood trend, with grain and uneven edges that mimicked boards. Faux wood tile was incorporated throughout the house too – kitchens, bathrooms, living rooms, and even bedroom walls.

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Tracage Condos are Moving Ahead

For years, plans to build a high-rise luxury condo building known as the Tracage in the Warehouse District stalled in the headwinds of a diving economy. Now, developers say a scaled-back version offering apartments - not condos - will begin construction by mid-2014. The $55 million, 16-story building would be located at Annunciation Street and the Pontchartrain Expressway.

In the nearly nine years since it was first proposed, the project has drawn the ire of some Warehouse District residents who insist the building doesn't fit with the neighborhood character of low-rise condos and apartments converted from historic industrial buildings.

Last week, the Historic Landmark District Commission assented to developers' plans for the 185-foot version of the Tracage, bringing the project closer to construction.  Developers scaled-back the building's height by 300 feet based on neighborhood feedback. The original plans called for a building as tall as 40-stories, which was later reduced to 24 stories, and now 16 stories.

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The Marigny Special...

Faubourg Marigny was laid out in the first decade of the 19th century by eccentric Creole millionaire developer Bernard Xavier Philippe de Marigny de Mandeville on land that had been his family plantation just down river from the old city limits of New Orleans.  In the early 19th century, New Marigny was where white Creole gentlemen set up households for their mistresses of color (and their offspring) in the tradition of "plaçage."

Wide Elysian Fields Avenue, named after the Champs-Élysées in Paris, was designed to be the main street of the Faubourg Marigny. It was the first street in New Orleans to extend all the way from the riverfront straight to Lake Pontchartrain 8 km (5.0 mi) away.

The neighborhood declined badly in the mid 20th century, and the area around Washington Square was nicknamed "Little Angola" (after the prison of that name) for the dangerous criminals there. It came back strongly in the late 20th century. Profiteering around the 1984 World's Fair drove many long-term residents from the French Quarter into Marigny. Frenchmen Street developed one of the city's premier collections of live music venues and restaurants, and is a popular destination with music lovers from other parts of the city and knowledgeable out-of-town visitors in the early 21st century.

Faubourg Marigny is one of the centers for homegrown New Orleans Mardi Gras . The neighborhood is also home to the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts Riverfront facility.

Faubourg Marigny is one of the most colorful neighborhoods in New Orleans, the architecture borrows heavily from the colonial French and Spanish and has elements of the Caribbean, this unique blending of architectural elements over the last three centuries has resulted in an architectural style unique to the city of New Orleans.

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