Real Estate Directory

Real Estate Property Rights

In a key test of city rights, and of how far governments can go in trying revitalize areas.The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that governments can seize property to make room for private development projects to try to boost the economy.

The Fifth Amendment allows government to take property/ real estate as long as "just compensation" is paid and the property is converted to a "public use." The dispute in the Connecticut case was over whether a city's seizure of land for private economic development was a legitimate public use.

The 5-4 ruling gave the court's blessing to cities across the USA that have sought to use their powers of eminent domain not just to clear the way for public projects such as roads and parks, but also for private developments involving hotels, offices and retail centers.

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor warned that it will allow local governments to seize any property simply to allow developers to upgrade it. "Nothing is to prevent the state from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton, any home with a shopping mall, or any farm with a factory," said O'Connor, who was joined by Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas in a dissent that emphasized the rights of property owners.

$90 million home sets US property record

Ninety Million Dollars for a 40-acre estate Hamptons - the Long Island summer retreat of New York's rich and famous, has been sold for $US90 million, a new US record for a residential property.

The New York Post cited sources close to the deal as saying the purchase was made by a Swedish industrialist who has rented the estate for the past few summer seasons.

• Westchester NY Homes
• Larchmont real estate

California real estate agents

California's real estate business is exploding -- 22,000 applicants took the state's real estate test last month, up three-fold from April 2003. There are 437,000 agents now competing for 680,000 listings statewide. The National Association of Realtors has seen a 50% jump in its membership since 2002. It has 1.4 million members now.