What's New

David Wilkes FRICS says he’s not the predictable choice for a leadership position at the Appraisal Foundation – but he’s glad to accept the challenge of being elected to the position of chairman.

The Green Building Finance Consortium announces the release of Value Beyond Cost Savings: How to Underwrite Sustainable Properties, the first book dedicated to enabling private investors to integrate the value of sustainable property investment into their decision-making. The book was authored by Scott Muldavin, an RICS Fellow and member of the RICS Americas Sustainability Working Group.

RICS CEO Louis Armstrong tells PropertyWebTV what sustainability means to the global property organization and how different countries take different approaches toward achieving their sustainability goals.

While economic recovery remains tenuous, 
China and India will lead worldwide growth, 
writes Sam Chandan Phd FRICS

Oscar is managing director for Integra Realty Resources De Mexico, in charge of all Mexico and international operations.

Real estate professionals expect the number of distressed properties coming onto the market to increase across 19 out of the 25 countries surveyed.

The eyes of the world are on Vancouver, host of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The athletes may be the stars, but the facilities, infrastructure and landscape of British Columbia, Canada, are also on display and under scrutiny, both for how they play host and for the long-term impact the Games will have on the region.

In a development that will bring business valuers worldwide closer together and help align global valuation standards, The Society of Share and Business Valuers (SSBV) and RICS have announced a route to direct full membership in RICS for SSBV members.

Os profissionais ligados ao setor de propriedades na América Latina são os mais otimistas das Américas quanto à perspectiva de mercado, de acordo com a Pesquisa Global Sobre Propriedades Comerciais do Quarto Trimestre de 2009 da RICS.

De acuerdo a la Encuesta Global sobre Commercial Property (propiedades que generan algún tipo de ingreso) realizada por RICS en el cuatro trimestre de 2009, los profesionales inmobiliarios de América Latina son los más optimistas de las Américas en lo que refiere a las perspectivas del mercado.

Property professionals in Latin America are the most upbeat in the Americas about the market outlook, according to the Q4 2009 RICS Global Commercial Property Survey.

RICS Americas announced today the official roster of the organization’s Markets Council and outlined its initial goals. The RICS Americas Markets Council represents members whose expertise includes real estate finance, real estate investment, economics, brokerage/advisory, development, data provision, and corporate owner occupation.

Investor activity rose across 70 percent of the Globe as commercial property recovered as an asset class according to RICS’ Global Commercial Property Survey for the fourth quarter of 2009, released today.

"On one occasion while reviewing the contents of a Florida estate I found blueprints, scale models and letters from Warren E. Hill who supervised the construction of the ironclad USS Monitor for the Continental Ironworks in Brooklyn N.Y. In 1862 the epic battle between the Monitor and the Merrimack in the Hampton Roads went down in naval history."

Sanjay Amin FRICS travelled to Haiti in July 2009 to advise the government on the implementing building codes and improving the country's ability to withstand earthquakes and hurricanes. He writes of his experience in Forbes.com and explains what can be done now to help the Haitian people with their recovery.

From dBusiness News: Catherine House CCIM, FRICS, an investment broker in the San Francisco office of CB Richard Ellis, was elected president of Commercial Real Estate Women – San Francisco (CREW-SF).

RICS Americas announced today that qualifying members of the Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors are eligible for a streamlined qualification process for RICS’s AssocRICS and MRICS designations.

Mr. Fox is the president of Colin Fox & Associates. He has more than 25 years experience in the field of commercial investment brokerage. With offices and strategic alliances in the United States and United Kingdom, Colin Fox & Associates provides real estate services for private and intuitional investors in both countries.

The CCIM Institute and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors have announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding that will lead to greater cooperation and improved benefits and opportunities for members of both organizations.

With the construction industry growing in new markets and more UK companies working overseas, the need for comparable cost data internationally has never been more acute. As a result BCIS has compiled a comprehensive report into international construction cost standards.

The attempt to raise profitability remains the key factor driving the interest in sustainable buildings globally; but the United States is still not placing as much importance on the issue as other markets, according to the latest Global Commercial Property Sustainability Survey, released by RICS today.

More than 80 percent of countries surveyed saw a rise in distressed sales in the commercial property market, according to RICS research published today.

RICS Americas, a division of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the world’s leading membership organization for professionals in property, land, construction and related environmental issues, announced today the launch of RICS Americas Career Center, a new member benefit.

RICS Americas commentary from Stan Mullin FRICS, SIOR, CRE, CCIM. "We know our economy is in the grip of something entirely different than in the recession in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s (in 1989 alone, 534 banks failed). That recession was limited to a collapse in the real property market. Our current economic troubles are a credit problem and credit is the financial “air we breathe” and no one is unaffected."

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors today announced its commitment to taking concrete action in response to the challenges of global climate change.