Salient to Investors: Zillow expects home values to continue to rise in 2013. Low interest rates, improving employment and prices almost 30 percent below the July 2006 peak have attracted buyers and a limited inventory of homes for sale have pushed up prices. Stan Humphries at Zillow said housing has turned a corner in 2012, as historic affordability and
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: 27 US states showed signs of economic improvement. Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois posted four of the eight biggest gains for Q3 over Q2. California, District of Columbia, Florida, Arizona and North Dakota improved. The largest declines were in Vermont, followed by New Mexico, Alaska, Wyoming and New Hampshire. Florida’s
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: California has a good chance of emerging as the nation’s top oil producer in the next decade. The EIA says the Monterey shale formation could hold 15.4 billion barrels of oil, or 64 percent of all estimated US shale oil reserves. Fracking has found trillions of cubic feet of gas and billions
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The Census Bureau’s new projections show: The US population of just 399.8 million in 2050 versus 439.0 million projected in 2008. 90 percent of the US population in 1950 was white, versus 64 percent in 2010. (Beginning in 1980, whites are non-Hispanic white) Non-Hispanic whites will peak
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The National Association for Business Economics expects: The US economy to grow 2.1 percent in 2013 – 1.6 percent in Q4, 1.8 percent in Q1, 2.4 percent in Q2, 2.6 percent in Q3, and 3 percent in Q4. Unemployment will average 7.7 percent in 2013. Housing to again be
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Rightmove said: London home sellers cut asking prices by the most for a December in five years due to an influx of supply and seasonal factors, but prices are up 6.8 percent from a year ago. Average prices in England and Wales fell by the most since January 2002 but
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Hedge funds and private-equity firms are buying delinquent home loans sold by the FHA, paying an average of 36 cents on the dollar and a low of 26 cents. The FHA doesn’t have the legal authority to use workout tactics like principal forgiveness, and is not allowed to rent homes back to
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Investors said the S&P lowered outlook for the UK’s credit-rating will have little impact. Stuart Thomson at Ignis Asset Mgmt doesn’t see the downgrade as significant for gilts – a move from AAA to AA+ has lost its impact, if it ever had any, and the impact on default is virtually
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: CBRE said office space in San Francisco rose the most in the world in the year to September 30 fueled by technology companies. Seattle had the 4th largest rise. Asieh Mansour at CBRE said the U.S. high-tech sector has matured, with new applications for even traditional businesses. Mansour predicts San Francisco’s gains and Asia-Pacific expansion will slow
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: RealtyTrac said home seizures had its first annual increase since October 2010, as lenders seek to manage the flow of distressed properties without disrupting the housing recovery. Default, auction and repossession notices were down in November, down 19 percent from a year ago, and the 26th straight month with an annual
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