Salient to Investors: An estimated 12 percent of US residents moved in the year ended March 2012, up from a 63-year low of 11.6 percent the prior year. About 1.7 percent moved from one state to another, the most in five years. A lack of migration the past few years
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: A Berkshire Hathaway unit will be the majority owner of a US residential real- estate affiliate network and Berkshire Hathaway Home Services venture with Brookfield Asset Mgmt. Berkshire has been positioning to benefit from US home market recovery by buying a brickmaker, the loan portfolio of Residential Capital LLC at auction,
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities rose 2 percent from August 2011, the biggest year-to-year gain since July 2010, a sign housing will help drive economic growth. Anika Khan at Wells Fargo Securities said the modest momentum will continue. The average rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate loan was
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Albert Sung at Katchum Macro-Economic Blog writes: The Fed can print money but can’t control where it goes. Money is now flowing into Asia – Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Australia are at new highs, while the Hong Kong and Shanghai real estate markets are making new highs. Asian real estate developers in
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Zillow reports US home values in Q3 was the biggest gain since Q1 2006. Growing demand from investors and foreign buyers is raising values in areas hard-hit by the housing crash. Phoenix rose the most, Atlanta dropped the most. Zillow forecasts prices will increase 1.7 percent over the next year. Stan Humphries at
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Technology companies are expanding and investing in real estate, helping a nascent rebound in US office development from the lowest levels since at least 1960 as default rates on construction mortgages decline from a 2010 peak. Jon Southard at CBRE Econometric Advisors said there is a surprising amount of construction,
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Angus Campbell at Capital Spreads said earnings have come back a little, but that is to be expected given the overall growth environment – it’s natural to see profit taking near highs for the year. 80 of 116 S&P 500 companies have posted earnings that exceeded analyst estimates, 33 missed. Investors have pulled $440
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Investors are growing wary of publicly traded securities as interest rate cuts at central banks helped inject liquidity into markets, bolstering bonds and stocks. Scott Kalb at KLTI Advisors said: Sovereign wealth funds are increasing their allocations to alternatives Institutional investors are focusing on hedge funds and private
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: David Brown at LSL said the lack of lending, especially to first-time buyers, is choking off first-time buyer sales outside of prime London. Acadametrics said house prices rose 2.2 percent from a year earlier in September due to a shortage of properties, but the rate of increase is slowing. London average prices
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: PricewaterhouseCoopers ranks London a close second behind New York as a financial center on its economic clout, ease of doing business, innovation and attraction as an international gateway. Toronto and Paris rank 3rd and 4th, Singapore 7th, Hong Kong 8th. Paris topped the livability category. Read the full article at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-12/london-jumps-to-second-behind-nyc-in-pwc-rank-of-finance-cities.html
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