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
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: 48 of 49 economists predict the FOMC will buy Treasuries to increase its program to buy $40 billion in mortgage bonds each month, and expect the Fed to wait until its March 19-20 meeting before adopting thresholds on unemployment and inflation.The median economist expects Fed purchases at least through Q1 2014. Economists expect a
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Hawaii tourism revenue is at a record, spurring real estate investments. Oracle founder Larry Ellison this year bought 98 percent of the island of Lanai. Goldman Sachs lent $1.85 billion to a once-distressed hotel portfolio with five Hawaiian properties. Companies from Walt Disney Co. to Starwood Hotels are expanding resorts. Hospitality Advisors says demand has
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Knowledgeable, cash-rich investors are leaping headlong into buying houses. Private-equity giants and hedge funds have spent billions of dollars on thousands of foreclosed single-family homes. Jade Rahmani at Keefe Bruyette & Woods said they have raised as much as $8 billion to invest The Blackstone Group has spent more than $1
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Homeowners and banks are accelerating short sales as the 2007 Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act expires at year-end, after which homeowners will be taxed on the forgiven principal and short sales will drop and foreclosures rise. Short sales and sales of bank-owned homes accounted for 41.5 percent of home purchases in
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Goldman Sachs said homebuilders have already priced in the housing recovery, so investors need to look beyond these stocks for the ripple effects of housing stabilization – like certain versions of the ABX and US domestic banks. Kyle Bass at Hayman Capital Mgmt said senior-ranked subprime debt offer
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The flood of foreclosures predicted by experts two years ago has failed to materialize. Instead, the number of properties for sale shrank to the fewest in a decade, prices appreciated at the fastest pace since 2005, and the gradual healing of the housing market helped boost consumer confidence
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Jeffrey Gundlach at DoubleLine Capital says: The first phase of the coming debacle was the 27-year buildup of corporate, personal and sovereign debt to 2008. The third phase will be deeply indebted countries and companies defaulting sometime after 2013. Buy gemstones, art and commercial real estate and other hard assets. Chinese
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Andrea Guzzi at IST Investmentstiftung fuer Personalvorsorge said the global economy is recovering and healing, thanks to the US and the emerging markets – more people are becoming wealthy, less and less are poor. Guzzi said many countries have oversized banking sectors. Gala Prada at Fiatc Mutua de Seguros y Reaseguros expects
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: In a Bloomberg global poll of investors: 75% expect a short-term agreement to avert the fiscal cliff, 6% expect to go over the cliff and into a recession. 40% expect financial markets to rise after a short-term tax-and-spending deal, 28% see no significant market reaction, 26% say markets would fall. 7% see no sweeping accord, 50%
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