Demand for U.S. real estate by foreign investors has exploded over the last year. The first reason has been the weakness of the U.S. dollar. That has allowed foreign buyers to invest in U.S. real estate that produces favorably high yields, as well as profiting from the currency trade. These two factors compound to...
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Somewhere just after the housing bubble burst in 2008 or so, I started hearing institutional investor types considering how they could use their cash to accumulate distressed real estate assets. Funds emerged Waypoint, Colony, BlackRock, heck even John Paulson – he of the Greatest Trade Ever – flipped from shorting sub-prime to going long...
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By now it should be clear to everyone that a multi-year home price rebound started in January of 2012. It should also be obvious to everyone that home prices in 2013 are on a tear. The rest of 2013 will remain strong, with rising home prices. The data is already in and it is...
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Hundreds of thousands of homes in the US are now labeled as “zombie” foreclosures. That’s when the owner of a foreclosed home leaves only to find out years later that he or she still legally owns the home and is on the hook for property taxes and other fees. Such cases occur in more...
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The first quarter of 2013 is almost over and so far, a few trends have emerged in real estate. These trends are not set in stone, nor can we be sure that they will continue on the same trajectories throughout the rest of the year. As with any other major part of the economy,...
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As we all know, America’s housing market has been in a slump for many years. Years of negative news made home buyers and real estate investors nervous about the future of the U.S. housing market. However, the following infographic should bring optimism back to most people. This infographic reports the opinions of real estate...
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Quit your yapping about how strong the real estate market is, Simonsen. It’s a fake rally. There is no actual demand. That’s the bearish argument I’ve been hearing lately. I’m not buying it. For years we’ve been watching the phenomenon of “Shadow Inventory” of potential homes that need to be sold, and looking for...
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For a good number of real estate professionals, 2012 wasn’t a great year. We were still on a downward spiral towards the bottom of the real estate market. This wasn’t exciting news for real estate investors looking to make profitable deals investing in real estate. But as we move deeper into 2013, it’s becoming...
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The budget shenanigans in Washington so far haven’t had an effect on the recovery, but an extended period of lower government spending and job cuts will quickly lead to economic stagnation. The economy is a self-reinforcing mechanism, a small dip in growth will be followed by further declines, even if the first dip was...
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I’m in Washington DC to talk to the National Association of Business Economics on the state of the housing market. I ran into Lawrence Yun, the chief economist for the National Association of Realtors and he mentioned that he just raised his forecast for 2013 from 4% year over year to 7-8%. That’s pretty bullish....
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