Property/Assets/Rights

China reverts to credit as property slump threatens economy

"New housing starts fell by 15pc in April from a year earlier, with effects rippling through the steel and cement industries. Land sales fell by 20pc, eating into government income. The Chinese central bank has ordered 15 commercial banks to boost loans to first-time buyers and 'expedite the approval and disbursement of mortgage loans', the latest sign that it is backing away from monetary tightening. The authorities are now in an analogous position to Western central banks following years of stimulus: reliant on an asset boom to keep growth going. Each attempt to rein in China’s $25 trillion credit bubble seems to trigger wider tremors, and soon has to be reversed." Continue reading →

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Loan Program For Investors With More Than 4 Properties Financed

"In 2009, Fannie Mae rolled back a mortgage rule that prevented real estate investors from financing more than 4 properties at once. At the time, investors were limited to 4 properties financed, which included their primary residence. Today, the maximum number of allowable, simultaneously financed properties is 10. You wouldn't know it, though -- few banks actually offer the program. This article describes how to get a mortgage if you have 5-to-10 homes in your portfolio. So, why don't all banks participate in the 5-10 Properties Financed program? The probable answer is that underwriting a 5-property-owning investor's mortgage application can be very hard work." Continue reading →

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Housing in U.S. Cools as Rate Rise Hits Sales: Mortgages

"After a roller-coaster decade of boom-bust-boom, the U.S. housing market is going downhill just when many economists thought annual sales would be heading up. Sales of previously owned properties in March tumbled 7.5 percent from a year earlier to the slowest pace in 20 months, while purchases of new houses sank 14.5 percent from February, according to reports this week. Mortgage applications to buy homes plunged 19 percent from a year earlier, indicating slowing demand during what is typically the busiest season for deals. Mortgage interest rates are rising from record lows as the central bank withdraws its stimulus, and investors are now retreating." Continue reading →

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Austrian Economics, Central Bank Disasters and the Housing Bottom

"Business cycles are in a sense predictable because the entire economic environment is structured via central bank money printing. It is this artificiality that makes Austrian economic forecasting viable. What one can never predict, of course, is the timing of the 'turning.' Exactly where we are in the business cycle is uncertain, though again, one can certainly point out that we are in a precious metals bull market, even despite the recent difficulties of gold. This particular pro-metals market started early in the 2000s and may well continue until we reach a precious metals 'mania' of sorts as we saw in the 1970s. The only way to puncture something like that in the short term is to raise interest rates." Continue reading →

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Pittsburgh Residents Being Fined For Parking In Their Own Driveway

"It sounds absurd: tickets and warning letters for parking in your own driveway. But Pittsburgh City Councilman Corey O’Connor says it’s happened on two city streets – one in the West End and one in Squirrel Hill. A pregnant mother of seven who lives across the street is trying to follow the rule, but can’t get out of the driver’s side of her van anymore. She has to crawl out of the passenger’s side when she parks the vehicle between her home and her neighbor’s. O’Connor says the tickets and warning letters are issued by the Bureau of Building Inspection. KDKA was unable to reach anyone from that office Wednesday night. He says one family ended up paying a $2,400 fine." Continue reading →

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Just Say the Magic Word

"When your government starts arbitrarily seizing skyscrapers, the time to start thinking about and devising an internationalization strategy was yesterday. If you have not already started, I'd suggest that it is high time to get going. This goes double for libertarians and anyone else who could one day become the government's next enemy du jour. All the government has to do is say the magic T-word, and poof: your rights, your assets, and even your life can be taken from you in an instant, without due process, and the vast majority of people will approve of it." Continue reading →

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Mortgage slowdown forces new layoffs at Wells Fargo

"The ax is falling again at Wells Fargo's mortgage origination unit, as refinancing activity continues to slow. The bank on Wednesday sent 60-day notices of displacement to 1,800 employees across the country, citing a slowdown in activity throughout 2012 and early 2013. It's unclear how much Wells Fargo—the nation's largest mortgage provider—needs to rightsize to adjust to the new normal. The bank has already cut 3,000 jobs in origination and servicing, but activity has been bouncing around. Other Wall Street banks are making similar moves, as a sharp rise in rates has kept consumers from taking out or refinancing mortgages. JPMorgan laid off more than 2,000 employees in early August." Continue reading →

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Home-Loan Drop Pushes Fed Away From Mortgage Bond Taper

"A surge in mortgage rates to two-year highs has undercut borrowing, pushing down refinancing by more than 70 percent since last September. Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) said this month originations may fall 29 percent this quarter, while JPMorgan Chase & Co. said volumes may plunge 40 percent in the second half compared with the first six months of the year. Builders began work on fewer U.S. homes than projected in August and applications for future work declined more than forecast, the Commerce Department said today. Housing starts rose 0.9 percent to a 891,000 annual rate, following the prior month’s 883,000 pace that was weaker than previously estimated." Continue reading →

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The Joke Shack of the Housing Sector

"REITs, or real estate investment trusts, are companies that own and manage real estate. Before December of last year, there was no such thing. Now there are three, with more on the way. Do these vehicles deserve a spot in your portfolio? I’m going to make the case that they do not. I say this as someone who has been a housing bull. I still think housing is OK, but not as attractive as it was. The investment case for rental homes was plain and I made the case a number of times in these pages in 2011 and 2012. I even bought a rental property for myself. And it’s worked out very well so far. I was far from the only one who saw such an opportunity." Continue reading →

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World’s first ‘invisible’ skyscraper planned for South Korea

"Architects in South Korea are going to need one big invisibility cloak. Seoul will soon add a 1,476-foot tower to its skyline, you just may not be able to see it. The international architectural firm GDS Architect received the green light to begin building the 'world's first invisible tower.' The glass-encased Tower Infinity will use cameras to snap real-time pictures of the area directly behind the building and project them back onto the building's reflective surface. This will create the illusion that viewers are looking straight through the building." Continue reading →

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