Published in Anchorage Daily New on 7.24.24 By Connie Yoshimura Let’s pretend for the next 600 words that we are a first time home buyer family wanting to purchase a single family home in Anchorage. We’ve outgrown our two bedroom apartment Continue Reading
Why Building 1,000 New Housing Units Will Take time and Collaboration
By Connie Yoshimura Anchorage has a long road ahead of them to reach an annual goal of 1,000 new housing units in the coming years. Over the last seven years, Anchorage has averaged only 376 permits, including single family, duplex or multi-family. Continue Reading
Future of Anchorage Housing Hangs on Urgent Need for Affordability Solutions
By Connie Yoshimura Anchorage housing continues its first-class trajectory resulting in more and more buyers shut out of the market. According to MLS statistics, the first five months of 2024 showed an 11.95% increase in closed volume but only a 4.01% Continue Reading
What Home Buyers Really Want…..Continued
Published in Anchorage Daily News on 5.15.2024 By Connie Yoshimura Housing affordability has buckled under the weight of a 30% increase in home prices, according to a National Association of Home Builders 2024 study. Here in Continue Reading
What Home Buyers Really Want
Published in the Anchorage Daily News on 4.25.2024 By Connie Yoshimura The National Association of Home Builders has published a 2024 study on what buyers are looking for in their homes and communities including what amenities are trending and the Continue Reading
… … A Ramble … on Housing … … …
Published in the Anchorage Daily News on 3.21.24 By Connie Yoshimura I have been very fortunate over the past few decades to work for buyers and sellers who have benefited from home ownership as a stepping stone to financial stability. Over 23% of Continue Reading
An Introduction to Commercial Real Estate with Lottie Michael, CCIM & Michael James
Published in Anchorage Daily News on 2.29.24 By Connie Yoshimura Every day we drive past restaurants, office buildings, big box stores and then one day the sign changes and we wonder what happened. Most likely that’s the work of a commercial real estate Continue Reading
An Overlooked Market Opportunity
Published in Anchorage Daily News on 11.29.2023 I have often wondered why first-time home buyers don’t consider purchasing a duplex as their first home. You can live in one unit and 75% of the gross rental income from the other unit can be used for qualifying Continue Reading
Zoning Is Not a Factor in Affordability
That may come as a surprise to some of you, but zoning is not nearly as important as mortgage interest rates, the highest they currently are at 7.8% since the year 2000. And the natural disasters that flood our online and print news will surely create Continue Reading
A Life, Liberty and Property Story
Last year, Mark Tuovinen, a Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Alaska Realty Realtor, was hosting a $200,000 condo off Victor Road when he met Barbara Knapp, a community volunteer who teaches classes on citizenship and helps immigrant families with green cards and Continue Reading