property

Tallest Skyscraper Yet Going Up In Midland, Texas

"In 1927, when T.S. Hogan announced plans for a 12-story office building called the Petroleum Tower, many here were incredulous. A skyscraper? On the plains of West Texas? But city leaders embraced the building and the status it conferred on the city as the heart of the new Permian Basin oil field, historians say. At least until 1929, when the price of a barrel of crude dropped to 15 cents and the just-opened building sat empty. Eighty-six years later, the Petroleum Tower still stands—and history may be starting to repeat itself." Continue reading →

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Bubble Symmetry and Housing

"Hmm, what would have happened if the Federal Reserve hadn't dumped trillions of dollars into the mortgage market, and the Federal housing agencies hadn't subsidized mortgages and housing with 3% down payments and tax credits? Perhaps all the trillions of dollars of intervention has accomplished is extend Phase 2. Central bank and state manipulation distorted the symmetry of housing's decline, but did they stave off Phase 3 permanently? If bubbles eventually revert to their starting level, Phase 3--capitulation and a return to pre-bubble prices--still lies ahead." Continue reading →

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Rental Investors Find Rich Pickings in Midwest, South

"Investors in single-family rental housing face the brightest prospects for steep returns in a string of cities in the Midwest and South, many of which were hit hard in the economic downturn, according to a study released Wednesday. Foreclosure-tracking firm RealtyTrac ranked the 20 best markets in the country for landlords to buy single-family rental houses by calculating the annual return an investor could achieve from buying and renting out a typical three-bedroom house. Memphis, Tenn., Saginaw, Mich., Toledo, Ohio, and Jacksonville, Fla., were among those on the list." Continue reading →

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Is the Fed Blowing a New Housing Bubble?

"Over the past year, the Federal Reserve has ramped up its policy of quantitative easing, with the result being new stock market highs and surging bond prices. Moreover, housing prices jumped 8%, the biggest annual gain since 2006. The result is that more than a trillion dollars have been added to the market value of single-family homes. Homeowners are now wealthier and according to what economists call the 'wealth effect,' they should be willing to spend more, helping the economy. But recent data released by FHFA suggest that the increase in house prices is not being driven by a broad-based improvement in the economy's fundamentals." Continue reading →

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Bubble, Bubble, Housing in Trouble

"It appears that the Fed’s zero-interest-rate and QE policies have finally achieved its insane goal of re-igniting a housing bubble. The Case-Schiller 20-City Index shows that housing prices increased by 1.2 percent in February and 9.3 percent year-over-year. All cities included in the index experienced substantial gains, which have been driven by staggeringly large increases in the bottom tier of the market. In Atlanta, bottom-tier home prices rose 36 percent year-over-year and at an annual rate of 70 percent in the past three months." Continue reading →

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Feds Threaten Medical Pot Dispensaries with 40-Year Sentences

"Landlords are receiving threatening letters from US Attorney Melinda Haag, warning of forty-year-prison sentences if landlords do not evict their dispensary tenants. In October 2011, Haag and three other US Attorneys declared war on California’s estimated $1.3 billion medical marijuana industry, threatening hundreds of landlords with forfeiture. Hundreds of dispensaries across the state moved or closed. Haag is attempting to seize Harborside Health Center in Oakland, as well as its sister club in San Jose. Last year, California Gov. Jerry Brown said California didn’t need 'federal gendarmes' kicking in the doors of lawful businesses." Continue reading →

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Wall Street betting billions on single-family homes in distressed markets

"Drawn by the prospect of double-figure profit margins on rents and the resale of homes whose prices plummeted in the crash, hedge funds, Wall Street investors and other institutions are crowding out individual home buyers. Real estate executives say institutional investors — who in some cases are bidding on hundreds of homes a day — account for as much as 70 percent of sales in some Florida markets. Over the past two years, analysts say, they also have accounted for a majority of purchases in other parts of the country where housing prices are rebounding sharply." Continue reading →

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German advisors push for ‘wealth tax’ on holiday homes to bail out Greece

"As well as inflaming tensions between Germany and its smaller southern partners, the suggestion could also mean that Britons with holiday homes are dragged deeper into the eurozone crisis. Senior figures in Germany are now arguing that some richer home owners in countries like Spain, Portugal and Greece have so far avoided paying their fair share to rescue the euro, leaving Germany paying too much. Until now, the cost of rescue packages for countries like Ireland, Greece and Portugal has fallen largely on people who invest money in either those countries' bonds or – in the case of Cyprus – bank accounts." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGerman advisors push for ‘wealth tax’ on holiday homes to bail out Greece