D.C. leads nation in office recovery
Washington leads all U.S. markets in the commercial real estate industry’s recovery, according to a quarterly report from Costar Group Inc. Its Commercial Real Estate Repeat Sales Index shows commercial property saw a 5 percent increase in pricing in the fourth quarter of 2010, and for all of last year commercial property rose 15 percent. Since hitting a market low, commercial real estate prices locally have recovered by 19 percent.
By contrast, prices in New York fell 2 percent in the fourth quarter and are up just 6 percent from the market low.
Washington cracks U-Haul’s top 50
Washington was a popular place to relocate in 2010, according to U-Haul International, which tracks the top 50 destination cities every year.
Washington, which wasn’t on the list in 2009, came in as the 41st most moved-to city last year, based on the number of one-way moves using U-Haul rental equipment. Baltimore ranked No. 33 this year.
If the U-Haul gauge is in any way an accurate measure of overall migration, Portland, Ore., has become a very popular city to move to. Portland, ranked No. 30 in 2009, jumped to No. 5 in 2010.
Here are the top 10 U.S. destination cities, according to U-Haul:
Houston
Orlando, Fla.
Las Vegas
Chicago
Portland, Ore.
San Antonio, Texas
Austin, Texas
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Sacramento, Calif.
Kansas City, Mo.
O’Malley urges passage of Invest Maryland
Gov. Martin O’Malley and Maryland economic development leaders urged state lawmakers Wednesday to pass a bill reviving the Maryland Venture Fund with $100 million, a program dubbed Invest Maryland.
The program would raise the money by auctioning off tax breaks to insurance companies. The state would invest half the money through its existing Maryland Venture Fund, which puts money in technology startups based in the state. Private venture capital funds would invest the other half.
