Daily Archives: August 19, 2013

Feds seized $2.9M in Bitcoin funds from Mt. Gox, court docs show

"The federal government sent a strong signal to Bitcoin traders earlier this year when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security seized an account belonging to Mt. Gox, the most popular exchange for people to buy and sell the crypto-currency. It was unclear at the time just how much currency the government confiscated. But a new filing in Baltimore federal court shows the feds seized $2,915,507.40 held in an account controlled by Dwolla, a third-party payment platform similar to PayPal. The funds belonged to Mutum Sigillum LLC, a U.S. subsidiary of Tokyo-based Mt. Gox. It’s unclear what will become of the funds." Continue reading →

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What The 25% Collapse In Homebuilder Stock Prices Tells Us

"The most important factor that sets the fate of the homebuilder stocks is the housing market. If the housing market has growth potential ahead, then you can bet on homebuilder stocks to provide a stunning performance to the upside. If it’s the opposite scenario, with the housing market looking shaky, then homebuilder stocks usually tank. In other words, homebuilder stocks are very fickle, but they are also a great indicator of future activity in the housing market. Since mid-May, the Dow Jones Home Construction Index has plummeted roughly 25%, and it’s in negative territory year-to-date." Continue reading →

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California adds 500,000 renters while homeownership declines amidst a boom

"The California housing market is providing us with two different pictures. First, home prices have surged and inventory is still very low. However, the homeownership rate continues to decline from the peak reached in 2006 of 60.2 percent. Since 2007 California has added a net of 500,000 renter households while losing a net of 233,000 homeowners. Yet the market continues to boom in the face of a declining homeownership rate. As we look at the market today we start seeing a slowdown in the speed in which flips are being accepted and inventory is rising. With higher interest rates and the fall season just before us, will the market thaw or continue to accelerate?" Continue reading →

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You Have To Use This Checklist When Buying A House

"There's no way to predict if housing is going up or down. So you need to get Death, Debt, or Divorce on your side. These are basically the ONLY ways you can guarantee you are getting a better deal than anyone else. If every house in an area is going for $400,000 then you want to make sure you don't pay more than $200-250,000. That's called 'good investing'. Good investing is not about predicting the future, it's about getting a deal. This is an important concept no matter what you are investing in and it's the concept everyone forgets. Don't buy a house unless you are getting a deal, even if you've convinced yourself you will living there for 30 years." Continue reading →

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Monthly Home Payment Soars 40% To 2008 Levels

"The following chart from Credit Suisse fully explains why the US housing 'recovery' has just ground to a halt: in a few short weeks, US housing affordability (a topic we first covered a month ago) has collapsed as a result of the monthly payment on the median home sold soaring by nearly 40% from under $800 to just shy of $1100, a level not seen since 2008. Now if only US personal incomes would keep pace, instead of doing this." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMonthly Home Payment Soars 40% To 2008 Levels

King of My Castle? Yeah, Right

"The City by the Bay is going through one of its worst housing shortages in memory. With typical high demand intensified by a regional boom in tech jobs, apartment open houses are mob scenes of desperate applicants clutching their credit reports. The citywide median rental price for a one-bedroom is $2,764 a month, but jumps to $3,500 in trendy areas. One reason for the shortage? Me. I’ve recently joined the ranks of San Francisco landlords who have decided that it’s better to keep an apartment empty than to lease it to tenants. Together, we have left vacant about 10,600 rental units. That’s about five percent of the city’s total." Continue reading →

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The most expensive home styles in America

"Most people know that a mansion costs much more than a farmhouse. What many might not be aware of is that the style of a home can also have a major impact on its price. A Mediterranean-style home sold in the U.S. costs an average of $1.32 million, while a ranch-style home costs less than a fifth of that. Real estate site Trulia provided 24/7 Wall St. with data on the price and popularity of different home styles for which the average price listed by Trulia was greater than $650,000. Descriptions of home style characteristics and history came from groups including Realtor Magazine and Better Homes & Gardens." Continue reading →

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In homebuying, cash is king again

"If you’re looking to buy a home right now, you'd better find some cash and you'd better find it fast. Right now homebuyers across the country, already in frenzied bidding wars for homes, are increasingly losing out to the almighty all-cash buyer. These folks are mostly investors -- but not just the monolithic, institutional investment investors that have been snapping up distressed properties and foreclosures over the past few years. There are also a slew of well-heeled individuals with extra cash to invest, and they believe the real estate market is the place to put it. In fact, many of the buyers paying cash don’t plan to actually keep all that cash in the house." Continue reading →

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List of top places with bargain homes; don’t look for California cities

"Looking for a cheap fixer-upper? You might check the list of the 15 best cities for do-it-yourself housing bargains, published this week by RealtyTrac, the Irvine-based real estate data firm. Shocker: No California cities made the list. The five best cities to find a bargain home are in the Rust Belt: Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, St. Louis and Cincinnati. The rankings come from the number of bank-owned homes that were built before 1960 and are valued under $100,000. There are 3,773 such homes in Detroit, which is more than double Chicago's inventory, which is ranked just below the Michigan city." Continue reading →

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NYC goes Tokyo: Micro apartments proposed as solution to overcrowding

"Tiny — and affordable — modular living spaces could soon become the latest real estate craze in the highly crowded city of New York. Fifty-five micro apartments are being constructed in Manhattan to test whether New Yorkers are willing to follow the example of Tokyo and Mumbai. According to Bloomberg News, micro apartments at the new 'My Micro NY' building will be only 250 to 370 square feet. Rents will range from $939 to $1,873. Currently, the average monthly rent for a studio is more than $2,000." Continue reading →

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