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getting very frustrated with my

lack of success in finding the

right place. She leaves no

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Eric. V

In This Issue

• Buying Your First

Home.

• Montenegro…...

“the black forest.”

• Self-Care Goals.

• National Association of

Realtors report.

• Global Economy –

Where are we

heading?

Buying Your First Home Getting a foothold in the property market can be a daunting and challenging pro-spect, so the need to have your finance in order can’t be stressed enough. Your lender will need an accurate picture of your current financial situation, such as evidence of your savings, assets, income, budget and existing debts. Don’t make the mistake of viewing your hunt for a home as a lifetime choice. Staying in a home 40-50 years is increasingly becoming less common. NAR report shows that people stayed in their homes only six to seven years before the hous-ing downturn began. After 2008 this increased to nine years, as many remained in their houses because their mortgage balances exceeded their property values. Just prior to 2007, the average tenure in a home was only six years. The perfect house is not always easily accessible when starting out, established suburban units represent good entry-level opportunities for first homebuyers. The main consideration will be a purchase that won’t empty your pockets with ongoing fix-es you can’t afford. The other important aspect is knowing where to buy for your price range. The need to have proper representation is very necessary, a good property consultant knows the pitfalls and the neighborhood statistics you need to consider, in addition an experienced property consultant has the ability to ne-gotiate, and to deliver a professionally handled and successful closing.

First things to consider when Buying First Home. • Have I considered my budget?

• Do I have my finance in order?

• Have I contacted a helpful realtor?

Buying Your First Home - Ready to talk with a Realtor?

PROJECT PEGASUS INC - GLOBAL BOUTIQUE REALTY Newsletter Apr / May 2019 Issue

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Montenegro….“the black forest.”

Montenegro is a small country in Southeast Europe on the Adriatic Sea. It de-clared independence from Serbia in 2006, and borders Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest; Serbia and Kosovo to the east, Albania to the south and Croatia to the west. Montenegro has an area of 13,812 square kilometres, with a popula-tion of less than one million people (644,578 (July 2016 est). The legend-ary English romantic poet Lord Bryon once described the region this way: ‘At the birth of the planet the most beautiful encounter between land and sea must have been on the Montenegrin coast’. This is a testament to the country’s striking beau-ty, with some of the most amazing terrain in Europe, which is no doubt one of the primary reasons why it attracts millions of visitors. Montenegro has both a pictur-esque coast and a mountainous northern region, the country’s name literally translates to “Black Forest.” National Geographic Traveller (edited once in dec-ade), features Montenegro among the "50 Places of a Lifetime."

The culture of Montenegro has been shaped by a variety of influences throughout

history. The influence of Orthodox, Ottoman (Turk), Slavic, Central European, and seafaring Adriatic cultures (notably parts of Italy, like the Republic of Venice), have been the most important in recent centuries. The city of Kotor is a must see, a UNESCO world heritage site with ancient streets and historic buildings. The Venetian fortress town is walled and dates back to 168 BC. Perast is also a must see, all the buildings in the town are made of the original stone and this preservation has given the town UNESCO Heritage protection. The city of Budva is 2,500 years old and is also known for its ancient walled city, but with sandy beaches and diverse nightlife it is much more of a tourist hub. Tourists enjoy a panoramic drive around Boka Bay photographing the picturesque coast. Sveti Stefan is favorite spot for sightseers, a tiny islet and a former town con-nected to the mainland by a small land bridge. It was a small town but was turned into a hotel and it rapidly became a favorite spot for Hollywood stars and royalty. You can take a boat cruise on Lake Skadar which is the largest lake in the Balkans and stunningly beautiful. Tara Canyon, is also worth seeing, next to the Grand Canyon it’s the second deepest canyon in the world and the deepest in Europe. You can enjoy rafting the rapids of Tara river or see it from the Tara Djurdjevica bridge.

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Self-Care Goals

Self-care is often described as the steps you take to help optimize your physical and mental health, but what does the term really mean? In a nut-shell, it means putting yourself first and taking care of your needs before you spread yourself thin to help others. A list for proper self-care should in-clude:

*Treating yourself.

One of the easiest ways to prac-tice self-care is to treat yourself. Enjoy a manicure, massage, a facial or a haircut, or do some-thing you’ve wanted to do but haven’t done for whatever reason.

*Stepping out of your comfortzone.

This might seem detrimental to self-care, but it’s not. Stepping out of your comfort zone and traveling to another country or city can be a great way to take care of yourself.

*Trying meditation.

Meditation is a great tool for self-care. It makes you slow down and focus on yourself rather than try-ing to keep up with the world around you.

*Writing it down.

Journaling, writing or dumping your mind out on a sheet of paper at the end of the day is a great way to keep track of your thoughts and make sense of everything that happened during the day.

*Learning to say no.

It’s tempting to say yes to every-thing that people ask of you, but it often ends up being detrimental to your own mental and physical health. Learning to say no is the best application of self-care that you can learn to do.

Perast - Montenegro.

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NAR Focus on Transportation and Infrastructure.

NAR is working to be at the fore-front of discussions as Congress and the White House seek agreement on a comprehensive national infrastructure package in 2019. The effort to ensure the voice of REALTORS® is heard as the federal government turns its attention to infrastructure is a top federal public policy priority of NAR in 2019.

Infrastructure ranked high on the NAR Member Survey and a number of NAR committees will be reviewing issues related to it. The issue is expected to be one that Congress and the White House will take up in 2019 and it’s crucial that REALTORS® be leaders in the conversation.

NAR believes that more should be done to level the playing field with respect to funding highways versus public transit and other sustainable transportation modes. Additionally, transporta-tion plans should reflect a broad community vision that takes all transportation users into account as opposed to simply developing added road capacity. NAR sup-ports a modest increase to the federal motor fuel tax and annual adjustments for inflation to help communities achieve their sus-tainable transportation and infra-structure goals.

Favorable Conditions Help Home Sales Rebound.

National Association of Realtors WASHINGTON (June 21, 2019) – Existing-home sales rebounded in May, re-cording an increase in sales for the first time in two months, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Each of the four major U.S. regions saw a growth in sales, with the Northeast experiencing the biggest surge last month.

Total existing-home sales1, https://www.nar.realtor/existing-home-sales, com-

pleted transactions that include single-family homes, town homes, condomini-ums and co-ops, jumped 2.5% from April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.34 million in May. Total sales, however, are down 1.1% from a year ago (5.40 million in May 2018).

Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said the 2.5% jump shows that con-sumers are eager to take advantage of the favorable conditions. “The purchas-ing power to buy a home has been bolstered by falling mortgage rates, and buyers are responding.” The median existing-home price

2 for all housing types

in May was $277,700, up 4.8% from May 2018 ($265,100). May’s price in-crease marks the 87th straight month of year-over-year gains. Total housing inventory

3 at the end of May increased to 1.92 million, up from 1.83 million ex-

isting homes available for sale in April and a 2.7% increase from 1.87 million a year ago. Unsold inventory is at a 4.3-month supply at the current sales pace, up from both the 4.2 month supply in April and from 4.2 months in May 2018.”

Though inventory is up, the months’ supply numbers remain near historic lows, which has a direct effect on price, according to Yun. “Solid demand along with inadequate inventory of affordable homes have pushed the median home price to a new record high,” said Yun. Properties remained on the market for an av-erage of 26 days in May, up from 24 days in April and equal to the 26 days in May of 2018. Fifty-three percent of homes sold in May were on the market for less than a month. Given that housing and properties have been selling so quickly, Yun continues his call for new construction. “More new homes need to be built,” he said. “Otherwise, we risk worsening the housing shortage, and an increasingly number of middle-class families will be unable to achieve home-ownership.”

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Global Economy– Where are we heading? The global economy started 2018 with strong, synchronized growth. But as the year progressed, momentum faded, and growth trends diverged. Top 10 economic forecasts for 2019 from IHS Markit;

1. The US economy will remain above trend. The impact of the fiscal stimulus will still be felt in 2019 but will diminish as the year progresses. As a result, we ex-pect growth of 2.6% in 2019 - less than in 2018, but still above trend. 2. Europe’s expansion will slow even more. Further decline is predicted to 1.5% in 2019. Political uncertainty, including Brexit, challenges to Emmanuel Macron's government, and the winding down of Angela Merkel’s chancellorship, are contrib-uting to a decline in business sentiment. 3. Japan’s recovery will remain weak. Its economy will grow less than 1% in 2019. The slowdown in China’s economy and the fallout from trade tensions be-tween the US and China are drags on growth. 4. China’s economy will keep decelerating. On an annual basis, the pace of expansion has slowed from 6.9% in 2017 to 6.6% in 2018 and will fall further to 6.3% in 2019. In response to recent economic shocks - including the impact of US tariffs. 5. Emerging market growth will decelerate to 4.6% in 2019. Going forward, emerging markets face a number of headwinds, including slowing growth in ad-vanced economies, the pace of world trade; the strong US dollar; tightening finan-cial conditions; and rising political uncertainty. 6. Commodities markets could be in for another rollercoaster ride in 2019. Volatility in commodity markets will continue in 2019, the risks to prices of oil and other commodities are predominantly on the downside, given slowing demand growth and rising supply. 7. Global inflation rates. Over the near term, we expect global inflation and de-veloped economy inflation to remain close to 3.0% and 2.0%, respectively. 8. The Fed will raise rates, and a few other central banks may follow. US Fed-eral Reserve is likely to raise rates three times in 2019. Other central banks, includ-ing the Bank of England (depending on the Brexit process), the Bank of Canada, and a few emerging market central banks - such as those in Brazil, India and Rus-sia - may also raise rates. 9. The US dollar will hold at current elevated levels for much of 2019. Contin-ued above-trend US growth and more rate hikes by the Fed are the primary rea-sons for this anticipated strength. 10. The risks of policy shocks have risen, but probably not enough to trigger a recession in 2019. Policy mistakes remain the biggest threats to global growth in 2019 and beyond. Potential missteps by key central banks also pose threats to the global economy. Nariman Behravesh, Chief Economist, IHS Markit.

Global Economy - Despite Slowdown No Recession Forecast for 2019. ProjectPegasusInternational.com

Info@ProjectPegasusInternational.com

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