Salient to Investors: Home prices rose in the year ended in September by the most since July 2010 and in Q3 2012 by the most since Q2 2010. 18 of the 20 cities in the S&P/Case-Shiller Index showed a year-over-year gains, led by Phoenix. New York and Chicago posted the two decreases in
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Moody’s forecast home equity lines of credit will rise 30 percent in 2012 to the highest level since the start of the financial crisis in 2008, and rise another 31 percent in 2013. Mustafa Akcay at Moody’s Analytics said lending will keep rising if house prices continue to rise. The Mortgage Bankers Association forecast
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: London rents have risen more than 6 percent in the past year to a record despite employment in the financial-services industry at a 20-year low. Lender restricting mortgages to all but the most creditworthy customers has encouraged individual investors and companies to enter the rental market as central
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Miami’s roller coaster real estate market is booming again. Condo Vultures said the average rent for a 2-bedroom apartment increased 6 percent to $2,568 a month in Q3 versus a year ago. Peter Zalewski at Condo Vultures said any developer building near the water in Florida is likely building rentals for the
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Purchases of existing houses in October exceeded the median economic forecast, property values rose over the past 12 months by the most in seven years, and inventories dropped to the lowest level in almost a decade. Ward McCarthy at Jefferies said housing is cheap, borrowing is cheap, and it’s a
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: S&P/Case-Shiller said home prices in 20 large metropolitan areas gained 8.8 percent from February through August. The share of all non-agency loans between 30 and 60 days past due rose 0.44 percentage point to 3.54 percent, the highest since February 2010. JP Morgan said: A record number
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Mark Vitner at Wells Fargo Securities said housing will move significantly higher over the next year driven by low mortgage rates, a gradual improvement in the labor market, and very low inventories. The S&P Supercomposite Homebuilding Index is up 70 percent since year-end 2011 versus the 8.1 percent gain for the S&P 500.
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Jonathan Gray at Blackstone said: Investors have less than 2 years to buy foreclosures before competition and rising prices shrink the pool of cheap assets. The opportunity for funds to buy homes at discounts could last less than 2 or 3 years and the recovery in house prices could surprise people. The
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Home Depot Q3 profit topped analysts’ estimates. The US housing market is healing, with new-home sales rising to the fastest pace in two years and construction starting at the fastest rate in four years. Americans’ real estate holdings have risen in value for two straight quarters. CoreLogic said over
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Two states voting to legalize recreational use of marijuana marks the beginning of the end of the war on drugs – which has cost $1 trillion over the past four decades. The OECD says the US has over 3 times as many prisoners per capita as it did in 1980, and 10 times as many as
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