Salient to Investors: At the current pace, the US population will grow by 7.3 percent during the decade, the lowest level since the 1930s. William Frey at Brookings said mountain states in the West were among the fastest-growing places. Read the full article at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-31/u-s-on-pace-for-slowest-decade-of-population-growth-since-1930s.html. Click here to receive free email alerts of articles as soon as they
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values increased 4.3 percent from October 2011, the biggest 12-month advance since May 2010. David Blitzer at S&P/Case-Shiller said the housing recovery is gathering strength, confirmed by strong performances in the southwest and California. Property values will keep rising as record-low mortgage rates, a growing
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: New York Fed President William Dudley said the gap between bond yields and home-loan rates is blunting the economic benefits of the Fed’s record accommodation. Stephen Stanley at Pierpont Securities said banks are disinclined to lower mortgage rates. David Cannon at Royal Bank of Scotland said banks are reluctant to hire
READ MORE... →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: 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: 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
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