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: 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
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Bloomberg survey of analysts shows they are most bullish on stocks farthest from their highs – banks. Financial institutions remain 58 percent below the record of February 2007 while analysts raised estimates for profit growth to 21 percent for Q3 and 32 percent for Q4 on signs of a housing recovery. Revenue
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Lender Processing Services report home loans were repaid in August at a pace that would erase 25 percent of the debt in a year. Herb Blecher at LPS Applied Analytics said the interest rate environment is favorable to get a new loan even for those who refinanced recently. Home sales increased
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: More than a million of the college graduate class of 2008 have gone back home. The number of 26-year-olds living with parents is up 46 percent since 2007: a quarter of American adults between the ages of 18 and 30 now live with parents. Read the full article at
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: 16 of the 20 cities in the Case-Shiller index showed a year-over-year advance. Karl Case at Wellesley College says US home prices have bottomed but are unlikely to come roaring back, hindered by tight lending standards, slow economic growth and a limited supply of properties on the market. Case cites problems in
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities had its biggest 12-month advance since August 2010. Millan Mulraine at TD Securities says housing has made an important turn that is being sustained. August saw the strongest pace of single-family starts in more than two years, while purchases of previously-owned
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index at a four-month high in September, Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary sentiment index at second highest level in five years – due in part to rising stocks and property values. The Conference Board’s index decreased in August from in July, the biggest drop in 10 months. Andrew
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