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Foreigners Make Run on US Housing Market
Falling home prices may be plaguing the US economy, but they are candy to foreign investors, who already have a weak dollar on their side. Buyers from overseas spent roughly $41 billion on US residential real estate last year, a bump up from the previous year. US real estate agents report a surge this Spring especially, as foreign buyers see continued pressure on home prices and ample bargains.
New Push to Unload Bank-Owned Properties Squeezes Out Investors
As big banks and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac spacer push foreclosures through the pipeline, the inventory of REO (bank-owned) properties is rising. That pushes distressed and overall home prices down.
Short Sales Surge, But No Thanks to Government Program
Any time I see a 74 percent jump in anything, I hear alarm bells, so when the Treasury Department reported just that big a jump in its Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program, I figured there had to be something really big behind it. And I was wrong. There's nothing big behind it, in fact there's something very small behind it: Small numbers.
Predicting Home Prices is Now Impossible
Now we have a new dip in home prices, which is putting more borrowers in a negative equity position. There is more concern of more borrowers hitting that "stress threshold," as one panelist put it, where they just quit paying on their loans.
Predicting Home Prices is Now Impossible
Now we have a new dip in home prices, which is putting more borrowers in a negative equity position. There is more concern of more borrowers hitting that "stress threshold," as one panelist put it, where they just quit paying on their loans.
And the REIT Winner Is — Storage?
REITs overall are on a tear, with the FTSE NAREIT All Equity REITs Index up 14.13 percent on a total return basis in the first five months of the year. But when I read down the fact sheet to the winners and losers, imagine my surprise to see the least sexy of the bunch at the top of the list: Self storage.
Falling Mortgage Rates Spur Serial Refinancing
Andrew and Peggy Sheren can't resist a good deal, especially when it comes to financing their McLean, Virginia home. They have refinanced their home four times in four years, taking equity out only the first time for a renovation, but essentially cutting their interest rate in half.
Spring Housing Season
With the Spring housing season coming to a end, the vaunted S&P Case Shiller Indexes called a "double dip" and the New York Times reported persistent weakness in the real-estate market. Suddenly, housing watchers are nervous again.
Your Home As Corporate Housing: It Just May Get You A Job
Temporary corporate housing is seeing a boom, and it's not just in big rental apartment buildings. Job seekers are actually renting out their own homes as corporate housing, so they can take a job somewhere else and not have to sell at a loss.
