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In April, new home sales were virtually unchanged while existing home sales edged up by 3%, undoing the previous month’s decline. More generally, both series seem to have stabilised at low levels.

"I like to believe that my qualifications, experience and enthusiasm are the reason for my career progression, but coupled with the RICS designation, my resume definitely stands out and I have certainly been presented with more opportunities as a result of the RICS."

Existing and new U.S. home sales have held steady in recent months and pending home sales jumped 6.7% in April.

Mark-To-Market requires corporate assets to be valued based upon market evidence. This transparency was meant to aid the investor in understanding the underlying corporate assets of the stocks they are investing in. The Financial Accounting Standards Board wrote rule 157 as guidance to accountants, auditors and corporate leaders on how to apply valuation techniques when required by accounting standards. Unfortunately, these valuation techniques were rarely applied by people trained in...

Though it may be a challenge in the property market at the moment, Cathy McLean, director of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Wales, will be tackling an uphill battle with a difference this June.

"Marc Louargand, co-founder of Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers and its Chief Investment Strategist was essential in the design of the organization and guidance to its success and growth for 15 years...Our efforts grew the business from $800 million in assets under management to $10 billion in AUM while adding REIT investment and global strategies to our competencies.”

RICS Chief Economist Simon Rubinsohn speaks with Commercial Property News' Editor in Chief Suzann Silverman about the latest Global Commercial Property Survey and Sustainability Survey results.

LONDON – May 27, 2009 – Workloads in the first three months of the year continued to weaken across the board, but some key areas, including housing, saw an easing in the pace of the decline, according to the RICS construction market survey, published today.

NEW YORK – May 20, 2009 – Energy supply, transportation and waste management are the top three sustainability issues for clients of property professionals worldwide, according to the first Sustainability Survey conducted jointly by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and Commercial Property News.

NEW YORK – May 19, 2009 – Capitalization rates for commercial property continued to fall in the first quarter of 2009 with the United States and countries around the world hit by falling rental rates, according RICS’s Global Commercial Property Survey. The quarterly survey tracks sentiment among property professionals internationally.

NEW YORK and HOUSTON – May 18, 2009 – RICS Americas, a global organization for property professionals, and ARGUS Software, the leading provider of solutions for managing the value of real estate investments worldwide, today announced an educational partnership that will provide RICS members worldwide with discounted access to the ARGUS library of elearning and virtual training programs.

"I went on a cruise to Antarctica last year, and one evening at dinner ended up sitting next to a woman from Vancouver. She was talking about all her property development partnerships, which seemed like potential business. I explained what I did, and mentioned my association with the Appraisal Institute (she politely nodded) and the ASA (another nod)—I continued with “oh by the way I’m a Chartered Surveyor.” She interrupted loudly “Oh, Chartered Surveyor!” and the recognition was...

Simon Rubinsohn, RICS Chief Economist, discusses the current state of the commercial property sector.

LONDON – May 5, 2009 – Tenant demand across all sectors in the United Kingdom continued to fall in the first quarter although the pace of decline eased back. Surveyors expect rental declines to accelerate on the back of a record increase in available floor space says RICS’ Commercial Property Survey published today.

NEW YORK – April 2, 2009 – RICS Americas, the New York-based 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 appointment of Steve Wolfe to the position of Development Director.

NEW YORK – March 31, 2009 – 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 upcoming April 7 speaker event “Property In Chaos – Where Are We Now?” in Denver, Colo., set to coincide with the organization’s Mountain Chapter launch.

NEW YORK – March 31, 2009 – Buildings with a high Energy Star rating are attracting rental premiums of three percent per square foot compared with non-green buildings of the same size, location and function, according to new research commissioned by RICS, the world’s leading membership organization for professionals in property, land, construction and related environmental issues.

Global Professional Body Launches Valuation Council for the Americas to Assist Financial Recovery

RICS Global Commercial Property Survey reveals continuing challenges for developed countries with the contagion now fully effecting emerging nations Findings Show US Commercial Real Estate Market is depressed across all sectors

Simon Rubinsohn, RICS Chief Economist will be interviewed by the show's three co-anchors - Ross Westgate (London), Brian Shactman (NY) and Christine Tan (Singapore) - to discuss the latest findings from the RICS Global Commercial Property Survey.

New York and Toronto, February 23 2009 - RICS Americas today announced that John Hughes FRICS has been elected chairman of RICS Americas Canadian Board for 2009-2010. Mr. Hughes takes over from David Greenwood FRICS. RICS Americas is the New York City-based division of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), London, UK, the largest global organization for professionals in property, land, construction and related environmental issues.

New York, NY (February 16, 2009) - Following a successful pilot period, RICS Americas, the regional office of RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors), the largest organization for professionals in property, land, construction and related environmental issues worldwide, is to launch a monthly radio show in conjunction with leading commercial real estate authority, Commercial Property News (CPN).

In this article, RICS‐Americas reports that, not unlike the precipitous drop in residential values, the severe softening of US commercial real estate values, is exacerbating the global real estate gloom.

Toward the end of a three-hour seminar held at the UN on Dec. 16th ? ?The Real Estate and Financial Crisis: Causes

New York, 10 December 2008: Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)-Americas - is to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with leading US engineering and construction bodies. The group, comprising the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering International (AACEi), the American Society of Professional Estimators (ASPE), the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the United States General Services Administration and the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS), will...