Ted Regencia Reports

Chicago home sales up; but overall real estate market a mixed bag

tedregencia — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 22:25:52 +0000

Text and photo by Ted Regencia

Written for the Business and Economics Reporting Class

at Columbia Journalism School

Around this time a year ago, Kevin Anderson, a broker at Chicago’s largest residential real estate company @properties, was feeling downcast. A historic snowstorm had just hit the Windy City and he had only managed to list or sell two properties. As 2012 enters its second month, Anderson is more upbeat. So far he has four units listed or under contract.

“It is a buyer’s market,” Anderson said. “We have not seen this in decades, so it’s a great time to buy if you can.” Consumer sentiment is also up, he said.

For Anderson and other Chicago real estate agents, there is some reason for optimism. According to a Feb. 9 report by the Illinois Association of Realtors, home sales was up 14.8 percent statewide during the final quarter of 2011. Within the city, 4,225 single-family homes and condominiums were sold during the same period, up 11.1 percent from the 3,804 units sold in the four quarter of 2010.

Anderson said he observed an upswing in the last six months, adding that he expects a modest growth this year.

Part of that increase in sales may be attributed to the drop of home prices, the lowest in the Chicago area since May 2001, according to a Standards and Poor/Case Schiller study. The most recent data available showed that as of Nov. 2011, prices across the board in Chicago were down 5.9 percent from Nov. 2010.

Aside from Chicago, other cities with the biggest year-over-year price decline are Atlanta, Seattle, Tampa and Las Vegas.

In terms of actual median price in Chicago, that translates to $159,999, down 8.6 percent from $175,000 in the fourth quarter of 2010.

“Prices have come down and the interest rate is at a historic low,” Anderson said. “That means the home affordability is much better for the average person.”

According to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, interest rate for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4 percent in the North Central Region of the U.S. during the fourth quarter of 2011, giving more incentive for new buyers to re-enter the market.

As for the sharp drop in home prices, Anderson explained that he sees it as a “price correction” rather than a sign of a depressed market. He also pointed out that the remaining foreclosure sales are dragging down home prices, thus making the market “favorable” to qualified buyers.

“One of the problems with all the foreclosures is that people are getting home loans that they should never have gotten before,” said Anderson referring to the sub-prime mortgage lending. “There were many people who still bought properties even though they could not afford to continue payments.”

Despite some head winds including foreclosure and abnormally high unemployment in the Metro Chicago area, which is up 9.3 percent as of Dec. 2011, Anderson said he expects the real estate market to pick up steam in April, May and June. He also pointed out that home inventory in Chicago has also gone down from 15 months to nine months.

“It is obviously not what it used to be and it is still a long way to go to full recovery, but it is getting better,” he said.

Meanwhile, economist told Bloomberg News that construction of single-family homes will grow five percent this year, allowing the housing industry to contribute to economic growth for the first time in seven years.

The NYPD ‘Third Jihad’ film flap: Perpetrating Islamophobia

tedregencia — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 22:20:45 +0000

Text and photo by Ted Regencia

Written for an Opinion Writing Class at Columbia Journalism School

In light of the revelation that New York City’s top cop, Raymond W. Kelly appeared in a film depicting American Muslims as extremists out to dominate the U.S., it will serve the world’s most diverse city, if Mayor Michael Bloomberg terminates police spokesman Paul J. Browne, orders an independent probe and revisits police actions towards the city’s Muslim population. Left unresolved, the issue poses a corrosive effect on the fragile relationship between the city and the many marginalized minority groups here.

The screening of the film within the confines of the NYPD was wrong. It perpetrates Islamophobia and could elicit more discriminatory acts against American Muslims.

Prejudice and hate towards the Muslims have been on the rise since 9/11, said Prof. Craig B. Futterman, a civil rights professor at the University of Chicago. That should stop. Spreading inaccurate stereotypes and playing upon fears using those kinds of videos only reinforces those prejudices.

On January 25, Commissioner Kelly was forced to apologize for appearing in the documentary “The Third Jihad.” The film was shown to more than a thousand New York police officers as part of their training. The 72-minute film claimed that mainstream Muslim groups in the U.S. are part of a covert “1,400-year war” against the West.

But Kelly did so only after months of denial by his main flak, Browne. When first confronted of the issue, Browne offered different versions of misleading information.

As it turned out, at least 1,489 police officers saw the film, which was played repeatedly at a Brooklyn police facility for close to a year starting in January 2010. Browne also did not disclose that in 2007, he arranged a 90-minute interview between Kelly and the film producers.

Why it took the NYPD leadership more than a year to reveal the truth raises more questions.

Taxpayers, including Muslim New Yorkers, shell out an estimated $200,000 a year to employ Browne. At the very least, they deserve someone who can square with the truth. Kelly deserves a better spokesman and Browne should be held accountable for deceiving the public. He must resign, or else Bloomberg should fire him. Mayor Bloomberg himself said, “somebody exercised some terrible judgment,” in screening the film.

According to Kelly, the screening of the film was “never approved” and the sergeant who played it acted alone. Coming from Kelly, who is known in the force as a micro-manager, that sounds less genuine. Who that “somebody” is remains a mystery that can only be determined with authority and credibility through an independent investigation.

As Marjorie Dove Kent of the Jews Against Islamophobia said, the Jewish community suffered similar discriminatory treatment, because of “rabidly bigoted material” being produced the promoted hatred against Jews.

It is true that Kelly and Mayor Bloomberg have reached out to the Muslim community before. But that is not enough. Their words should be coupled with action. So far their actions only raises more suspicions than confidence from the community.

The film controversy certainly does not match with the mayor’s rhetoric. Taken in context with the Associated Press’ report on the NYPD spying in Muslim communities and mosques, it raises more questions about the policies towards the Muslim community.

In a city like New York, which experienced the unimaginable catastrophe of 9/11, anti-Muslim sentiments exist in the fringes. Like the anti-Japanese or the anti-Jewish bias of the past, however, it cannot be allowed to encroach into the larger community to the deprivation of law-abiding citizens of all persuasions. Everyone is afforded in the Constitution basic civil liberties, including freedom of religion and equal protection against discrimination.

Economists predict weak U.S. jobs numbers for January 2012

tedregencia — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 22:14:19 +0000

Text and photo by Ted Regencia

Written for the Business and Economics Reporting Class

at Columbia Journalism School

Coming off the heels of a busy holiday season that saw a gain of 200,000 U.S. workers in December, economists estimate a sluggish January 2012 job market, with only over 100,000 jobs added and an unemployment rate inching up a tenth of a percent from last month to 8.6.

As the gift-giving period ended, as many as 40,000 couriers and messengers hired late last year were most likely left without work by January, slicing 20 percent from the December figure, according to Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington D.C. Additionally, the construction sector also slowed down due to the weather and the already weak building activity across the country.

“I think we’re probably going to get somewhere in the range of 100,000 to 120, 000 jobs,” Shierholz said referring to the job increase.

While the health sector is expected to see some growth, along with trading and manufacturing, they will be offset by the losses of jobs in state and local governments, she added.

“We’re adding enough jobs to keep things from getting worse,” said Shierholz. “But we are not adding enough to start digging our way out of the hole we are in.”

The “hole” Shierholz refers to is the remaining labor market gap of over 10 million jobs, which was lost during the recession. Just to hold the unemployment rate steady, the U.S. economy needs 90,000 jobs a month.

But even using the December hiring rate of 200,000 as a reference point, it will take until 2019 to return to the pre-recession level. To get back to full employment in four years, the economy needs to add 320,000 jobs a month.

As it is now, the “minimal growth” in the labor force, which is “a sign of little confidence in the health of the job market,” is worth noting, said economist Ryan Sweet of Moody’s Analytics.

“Typically we wanted to see stronger labor force growth as the recovery matures,” Sweet said, offering similar observation as Shierholz.

Sweet is even more conservative in his January 2012 estimates, predicting a non-farm payroll of 100,000.

“The labor market is improving but at a glacial pace,” Sweet said. Temporary factories hiring in December were unwind their work in January, so a weaker employment in inevitable, he said.

One solution Sweet proposed is the extension of the payroll tax holiday until the end of 2012. The current payroll tax holiday is set to expire in February and the debate over the issue is creating too much uncertainty among business owners, he said.

“If they don’t extend the payroll tax holiday, I think it will be potentially too much for the economy to adjust and that it would increase the odds of another recession,” Sweet said.

Sweet also warned that the ongoing European crisis could also drag down the U.S. economy and stall the recovery. “Europe is already in recession and that’s going to reduce U.S. exports, which will hurt hiring,” he said.

Sweet predicted the U.S. Federal Reserve will remain aggressive in the event of a job market slowdown. Should that slowdown happen, he said, the Fed will implement a third round of quantitative easing, by printing more money to circulate in the economy.

In Washington D.C., Shierholz is calling for a “substantial” stimulus package to generate more jobs and bring the unemployment down, saying it is the right fiscal policy.

“The first one was too small and tt stopped too early,” Shierholz said. “We should be doing substantial additional stimulus. The economy can totally handle it. In fact, it’s exactly what the economics calls for.”

In batting for more stimulus money, Shierholz said, at this time, the budget deficit should be less of a worry than return to recession. Still, Shierholz conceded Washington is in no mood for such a proposal because of the political fight between Democrats and Republicans.

“They’re settling for years of extremely elevated unemployment, needlessly condemning millions of families to unemployment,” she said. It doesn’t have to be this way, but it’s what we’re making.”

Far from the corridors of power, Yolanda Regis, a 42-year-old resident of the Bronx, awaits her return to the job market. She lost her job as a manager at a laundry shop, but did not want to remain unproductive. On January 31, Regis will finish a four-month green jobs training program organized by the Sustainable South Bronx.

Regis is applying for a job installing new energy-efficient appliances and weatherizing windows for the winter season.

Despite the odds, she said, she is hopeful to find a job. “I’m very flexible and I am strong,” said Regis. “If I put my mind to it I can do it.“

(This article was also published in People’s Daily Online and Shanghai Daily)

Tablet Magazine: Mosque, ultra-Orthodox synagogue share one roof in the Bronx

tedregencia — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:03:03 +0000

By Ted Regencia and Lindsay Minerva

(Photography by Ted Regencia)

To read the full story, please visit Tablet Magazine

Stimulus money creates green jobs in South Bronx

tedregencia — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 23:55:27 +0000

Text and photo by Ted Regencia

In the borough where the unemployment rate hovers around 12.3 percent—the highest in the state–“green-collar” jobs in heating, cooling, and window retrofitting are still experiencing modest growth. That’s due in large part to 2010 federal stimulus money earmarked particularly for the environmentally friendly industries, according to the Hunts Point-based Sustainable South Bronx advocacy group.

“We are at 70 to 75 percent of people getting jobs,” said Annette Williams, training director at Sustainable South Bronx. “Within the last month, we have gotten 13 people hired.”

Williams’ organization advocates environment-friendly solutions to the chronic joblessness endemic to the South Bronx. Eight years ago the group initiated a green jobs program that trains unemployed and low-income residents in building maintenance, urban forestry, landscaping and hazardous waste cleanup. In 2010, the organization received an extra $150,000 windfall from President Barack Obama’s $396 million federal green technology stimulus funds for New York State.

To read the full story, please visit BronxInk.org

Images of the Libyan conflict find a South Bronx audience

tedregencia — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 07:09:00 +0000

Text, video and images by Ted Regencia and Diane Jeantet

World Press Photo award winner Tim Hetherington was killed in Libya on April 20, not long after he took the image above. (By Ted Regencia)

One image shows an elderly man and two boys posing with spent mortar shells. Another captures a family fleeing a wrecked building, terror etched on their faces. In still another, a young soldier brandishes a machine gun, bullets wrapped around his body.

These full-color photos from the recent civil war in Libya are on display in Mott Haven as part of “Visions: Tim Hetherington,” the inaugural exhibition of the Bronx Documentary Center that opened on October 22, to honor the slain photojournalist and award-winning director of the documentary, “Restrepo,” a feature-length film on a U.S. platoon in Afghanistan.

To read the full story, please visit BronxInk.org

A view from the Bronx: The 2011 New York City marathon

tedregencia — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 06:59:02 +0000

Text and photo by Ted Regencia

NEW YORK — With their running shoes ready and their energy in high gear, this year’s 47,000 plus New York City marathoners gathered last Sunday in Staten Island for the 41st time that the race has been held.

In South Bronx, home to a number of top African competitive runners, local residents lined up the intersection of 3rd Avenue and 138th Street, near the 20-mile marker, to cheer on the runners.

To see the full photo gallery, please visit BronxInk.org

After midnight with the fishmongers in the Bronx

tedregencia — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 05:10:17 +0000

Text, photo and audio by Ted Regencia

NEW YORK — It’s been almost six years since the New Fulton Fish Market moved to The Bronx on Nov. 14, 2005 after 180 years of smelling up lower Manhattan. The $86-million, half-mile long facility houses more than 30 wholesale distributors, bringing over a billion dollars in annual revenue. Critics contend it lacks the character of the old market by the Brooklyn Bridge, and its remote location contributes to a recent slump in sales. Others say the city-owned Hunts Point warehouse has modern amenities that keep the produce fresh and in high demand. Most recently, one operator declared bankruptcy leaving the warehouse 15 percent empty. But on a midnight visit not too long ago, the market still pulsates with energy. And with the thick smell of the sea wafting over the vending spots, there’s no mistaking this is the world’s second largest fish market.

Also published in BronxInk.org

Despite controversy, nun still calls Hunts Point home

tedregencia — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 05:03:43 +0000

Text and photo by Ted Regencia

NEW YORK – On a warm and sunny morning a few Sundays ago, Sister Thomas found herself resting on a chair while overseeing the weekly rummage sale at the garage next to the red brick St. Athanasius Catholic Church in Hunts Point. The cramped structure serves as a storage facility for donated items that her group sells every Sunday. At 78, Sister Thomas is still as involved as she was 49 years ago, when she first arrived at the South Bronx neighborhood.

Only now, she’s no longer welcomed by church’s new pastor.

On July 1, 2010, the Rev. Jose Rivas of the neighboring St. John Chrysostom took over following the death of Rev. Bill Smith. Immediately after taking office, the Colombian-born priest dismissed long-time staff and informed Sister Thomas that her services were no longer needed.

To read the full story, please visit BronxInk.org

Yemenis in South Bronx can’t forget the turmoil they left behind

tedregencia — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 04:53:48 +0000

Text by Ted Regencia and Mahmoud Sabbagh/Photo by Ted Regencia

NEW YORK — “Papa, take me with you,” Abu Hamad recalled his five-year-old son pleading with him on the phone from Sana’a last Oct. 10. The Hunts Point shopkeeper’s half smile could not hide the worry in his dark round eyes. His three young children and wife are still living in the capital of Yemen, he said. And not even his American citizenship could help them out of the mountain city that is reeling from an increasingly violent civil uprising.

On Sept. 24, Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen’s president for the past 33 years, returned to his homeland after a brief medical exile in neighboring Saudi Arabia. He was forced out of the country after an assassination attempt. The departure raised hopes for reform in the Arabian Peninsula nation of 24 million people. But his abrupt return has sparked fresh violence, which has already claimed close to 2,500 causalities since February. On Oct. 16, 18 more people were killed and 30 others were wounded in clashes between Saleh’s troops and his rivals, according to news reports from the region. (With reporting from Mahmoud Sabbagh)

To read the full story, please visit BronxInk.org