SHARON WRIGHT BRUEMMER JOINS PAYNE FAMILY HOMES

Payne Family Homes has promoted Sharon Wright Bruemmer as to Community Sales Manager at The Meadows at Ohmes Farm, the homebuilder’s fast-selling community in St. Peters.

Bruemmer previously was Payne Family Homes’ Sales Associate at Tuscany and The Townes at Belleau Creek, both located in St. Charles County.

Bruemmer brings 18 years of new-home sales experience with some of the area’s largest and well-known homebuilders. In addition, she has served as director of sales and marketing with a major builder.

A resident of St. Charles County, Bruemmer is a graduate of Maryille University, where she received a B.A. degree in business administration. She also completed the certified management program while working for a Dallas homebuilder. Bruemmer is an active member of the Sales & Marketing Council of the Home Builders Association of St. Louis and Eastern Missouri.

“I am proud to have been selected to head Payne Family Homes’ sales at The Meadows at Ohmes Farm,� Bruemmer says. “It’s one of the most exciting new-home destinations in the area, with exquisite homes and an exceptional St. Charles County location.�

The Meadows at Ohmes Farm is part of a spectacular master-planned community, showcasing four of St. Charles County’s most respected builders. The tree-lined neighborhood, with convenient access to I-70 and Hwy. 40, offers three lakes and walking trails.

Ed Lott, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Payne Family Homes, notes, “We are pleased to promote Sharon Bruemmer to Community Sales Manager. She has valuable experience in new-home sales throughout St. Charles County. She also is a standout when it comes to making the new home buying process an enjoyable one for our customers.�

Payne Family Homes crafts distinctive homes that are built to stand the test of time, with seven well-located communities in St. Louis County, St. Charles, St. Peters and Cottleville. Their communities include Ashton Woods, Bordeaux Condominiums, The Crossing at Heritage Pointe, The Enclave at Heritage, The Meadows at Ohmes Farm, The Pointe at Heritage Crossing, The Townes at Belleau Creek and Tuscany. All Payne Family Homes neighborhoods are served by an AAA-rated school district and most are located in one of Money magazine’s “100 Best Places to Live in America.� For information call 314-477-1218, or visit www.paynefamilyhomes.com.

“Within a year or so, residential housing problems should largely be behind us,” Buffett wrote Saturday in his annual letter to the shareholders of his Berkshire Hathaway. “Prices will remain far below ‘bubble’ levels, of course, but for every seller or lender hurt by this there will be a buyer who benefits. Indeed, many families that couldn’t afford to buy an appropriate home a few years ago now find it well within their means.”

Record foreclosures flooded a U.S. real estate market already glutted with unsold property, causing housing starts to fall.

“People thought it was good news a few years back when housing starts — the supply side of the picture — were running about 2 million annually,” wrote Buffett, 79, chairman and CEO of Omaha-based Berkshire. “But household formations — the demand side — only amounted to about 1.2 million.”

Buffett built Berkshire into a $198 billion company through takeovers and investments in companies he believes have lasting competitive advantages and superior management.

Berkshire, which has a real estate brokerage, a business that constructs prefabricated houses and units making products used in home building, has suffered in the downturn. Profit at carpet maker Shaw Industries fell 30% last year to $144 million.

He’s very deeply invested in this, said Tom Russo, partner at Gardner Russo & Gardner, which holds Berkshire stock. Across his industrial companies, he’s massively poised to gain from a housing recovery, Russo said.

Buffett wrote that his company should have bought more corporate and municipal bonds last year because they were cheap compared with U.S. Treasuries. When it’s raining gold, reach for a bucket, not a thimble, he said.

Buffett has used past letters to discuss plans for his successor, praise Berkshire managers and confess his failings. Last year he said the U.S. economy was in shambles after reckless lending.

Buffett said this year that the CEOs and boards of companies that failed during the credit crisis shouldn’t be able to pass blame to those below them. Boards should insist on CEOs taking responsibility for risk, he said.

Shareholders weren’t the ones who botched the operations of some of the largest financial institutions, Buffett said, yet they have borne the burden, with 90% or more of their holdings wiped out in cases of failure.

Buffett agreed to his largest deal last year when he arranged the $27 billion takeover of railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe. Berkshire completed the acquisition, which Buffett described as an all-in wager on the U.S. economy, on Feb. 12.

Shares of Berkshire traded at about $15 when Buffett took control in 1965. The class A stock closed yesterday at $119,800, its highest since October 2008. Buffett added class B shares in 1996, and agreed to split them this year to help pay Burlington Northern shareholders.

Local Market Researcher, Zanola Company LLC,  reports Payne Family Homes Was

Fastest Growing Homebuilder in St. Charles County in 2009

2009 Revenues Put Payne Family Among Region’s Top 10 Builders

ST. CHARLES, MO — Payne Family Homes was the fastest-growing homebuilder in St. Charles County in 2009 according to a study completed by residential market researcher Zanola Company LLC.  According to statistics compiled by the St. Louis-based research company, Payne Family recorded 36 building permits in 2009, nearly triple the number it filed in 2008.

Separately, Payne Family reported closing revenues of $7,356,263 in 2009, a figure that ranks it among the Top 10 largest homebuilders in the St. Louis region based on a survey compiled by The St. Louis Business Journal and published in its March 12-18, 2010 edition. As a segmented lifestyle builder, Payne Family Homes offers an array of distinctive product lines including single family homes, low-maintenance villa homes, detached cottage homes and condominium homes out of six well-located communities in greater St. Charles County.

“We turned a corner in the second half of 2009, posting 48 sales,� said Ken Kruse, president of Payne Family Homes. “That heightened level of activity positioned us with a strong backlog heading into 2010, generating positive momentum that has carried forward to the present day.  While reports indicate that overall residential sale results across metro St. Louis have been mixed early in 2010, we are well on our way to a good year.�

The company is jointly owned by local businessmen David Payne and Allan Schroer. Payne is also president of PayneCrest Electric and Communications, a leading St. Louis-based electrical contractor.

Communities being developed by Payne Family Homes across greater St. Charles include: Bordeaux Condominiums; The Townes at Belleau Creek; The Pointe at Heritage Crossing; The Meadows at Ohmes Farm; The Enclave at Heritage and Tuscany.

Payne Family Homes crafts distinctive residences that are built to stand the test of time.  All Payne Family Homes neighborhoods are served by an AAA-rated school district and are located in one of Money magazine’s “100 Best Places to Live in America.� For information call 314-477-1218 or visit www.PayneFamilyHomes.com.

Majority believe prices will be the same or higher during the next year

NEW YORK – Nearly two-thirds of Americans think the time is right to buy a house, with a majority believing prices will be the same or higher over the next year, according to a Fannie Mae survey released Tuesday.

The 64 percent that said it is a good time to buy is just shy of the 66 percent that said the same thing in 2003 as the U.S. housing market was racing higher, said the survey.

However, most of the 3,451 polled said that it would be tougher for them to get a loan than it was for their parents.

The survey comes amid signs that the U.S. housing market is recovering after suffering the worst downturn since the 1930s. But, while home prices in some regions are rising, soaring delinquency rates across the nation mean foreclosures will keep persistent pressure on the market, according to analysts.

Fannie Mae, the largest U.S. mortgage finance company, said that the public still “strongly believes” in upholding their financial commitments, though that weakens once people know someone who is defaulting.

Those who know someone in default are more than twice as likely to have seriously considered stopping payments on their own mortgage, Fannie Mae said.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36192404/ns/business-real_estate/

8.2% gain in February home sales was best
since 2001

Updated 3h 10m ago

By Stephanie Armour, USA TODAY

Home buyers rushed to purchase previously owned
homes in February, a shift hailed as the long-
awaited start of the spring housing market.

The seasonally adjusted index of sales agreements
jumped 8.2% in February to 97.6 from 90.2 in J
anuary, the National Association of Realtors (NAR)
said.

Although many economists had expected a decline,
it turned out to be the second biggest monthly rise
on record behind October 2001.

After an anemic winter, home sales are now likely to
continue showing steady increases, economists say,
as buyers rush to complete purchases before a tax
credit of up to $8,000 for first-time home buyers
expires April 30. They cite other factors, including
more jobs and economic growth, that could
continue to propel a housing recovery.

“What we’re starting to see are people who have their
eye on the tax credit make some moves,” says Joel
Naroff at Naroff Economic Advisors. He predicts
home sales will continue growing: “Job growth, the
economy is coming back; Realtors are listing —
everything seems to be working in the positive side
of the cycle.”

Pending sales rose the most in the Midwest, at
21.8% in February from January. In the West, the
index fell 4.8% in February. The Northeast rose 9%,
and pending home sales in the South increased
9.2%. The data reflect contracts. Closings usually
occur one or two months later.

Cheap home prices could also be drawing bargain-
hunting buyers. Home prices in January fell 0.4%

from December on an unadjusted basis, according
to a report last week from the Standard &
Poor’s/Case-Shiller index.

Anecdotal reports suggest March may also show
gains in home sales, says Lawrence Yun, chief
economist at NAR. That would be critical in helping
reduce the overall amount of housing inventory.
High levels of inventory dampen prices by reducing
competition for homes.

Yun says that there may be some decrease in home
sales in June through August, after the tax credit
expires, and that higher interest rates near the end
of the year could depress sales. Currently, the
average interest rate on a 30-year, fixed mortgage is
5.08%, Freddie Mac says. “I’m optimistic,” Yun says.
“By year end, interest rates could be closer to 6%.
But with the improving economy and buyer
confidence, that shouldn’t be a hindrance.”

The first-time home buyer tax credit applies to
homes purchased on or before April 30 and is equal
to 10% of the home’s purchase price up to a
maximum of $8,000. Congress also approved a
credit for move-up home buyers up to a maximum
of $6,500. The credits apply only to homes priced
at $800,000 or less.

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