Embarking On A Gambling Venture
A report from the New York Observer. “Flipping a Manhattan townhouse, on the other hand, is supposed to be easier than flipping a burger. But things are not always as they seem, as celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse recently discovered. The bam bam man just sold his Gerogian style townhouse at 158 East 61st Street for a disappointing $11.5 million, the same price he paid for the 6,900 square-foot manse back in 2009, according to city records. He was rumored to be on the hunt for something smaller, which is probably a good thing given that he won’t be pocketing any extra cash from this sale (just the opposite—besides inflation, he’s paid out years of carrying costs and a broker’s fee).”
“The townhouse’s less-than-stellar performance after four years of ownership is actually perplexing, particularly given the luxury market’s near supernatural rebound after the recession.”
Larry Brown Sports on New York. “According to TMZ, Stephon Marbury owes just over $844,000 on his New York City condo and hasn’t made payments since March 2010. Marbury purchased the unit in 2006, which is around the time the real estate market was booming. Though the market has made a comeback this year, his property is likely worth less now than what he paid for it seven years ago.”
“US Bank reportedly wants Marbury to either pay the full amount owed on the property or get out so they can sell it in an auction. Marbury also lost a home in Los Angeles to auction last year. Maintaining a high credit score clearly is not among his top priorities. Marbury has been playing basketball in China and enjoying his status as a star in the enormous country.”
The Boston Herald in Massachusetts. “A dramatic increase in flood insurance rates under a new federal law and a redrawing of flood lines by the Federal Emergency Management Agency could harm property values and lead to a new spate of foreclosures just as Massachusetts is beginning to recover from the Great Recession, several speakers told a state legislative panel.”
“‘This affects buyers and sellers,’ said Kimberly Moccia, a mortgage consultant at Radius Financial Group. ‘Sellers are having to make reductions in prices … My concern is we’re going to see an influx of foreclosures.’”
The Lowell Sun in Massachusetts. “Through the first seven months of this year, home prices in the region have risen more than 12 percent from a year ago, interest rates have jumped more than a full percentage point and the Massachusetts unemployment rate has continued to hover at or around 7 percent. Real-estate agents say the phone is ringing, and at the other end of the line — more often than not — is a prospective home seller.”
“There are signs the recent surge — the median price for a single-family home sold in the NEAR region was $360,000, or about equal to its high-water mark achieved in mid-2006 — will, at the very least, taper off. Richard Howe Jr., register of deeds at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds, said home sales for the 10-community region his office serves were lower in August when compared to the same month a year earlier. ‘What happens in September becomes important, as we will see if this is a trend or an aberration,’ he said.”
“Sales are still numerous but fall into one of three categories: long-term sales, where retired people with paid-off mortgages are cashing out; institutional sales of previously foreclosed property, as when a bank sells to a regular homeowner; and people who bought between 2003 and 2008 who owe still more than their properties are worth but who are looking to get out from the underwater investment.”
“‘If they have the means, then they are doing that,’ Howe said, adding they often bring a ‘five-figure check’ to closing to ensure their debt is fully paid.”
The Boston Globe in Massachusetts. “More than a few buyers are wondering what’s next and worried they could lose their savings if the market heads down again. Astrom is looking to buy a house in the Boston area but fearful that he could wind up in the red. ‘I am trying to buy a house right now for a long-term residence in a good school district to provide my kids with decent education and my family with decent housing, but I feel like I am embarking on a gambling venture that may either spell financial ruin or conversely nice profits depending on what cards are dealt to me.’”
“More than 60 towns and neighborhoods in the Boston area have already blown past records set during the bubble years, according to Warren Group. Overall, Boston area prices are just 15 percent below their 2005 peak. OK, but the bad news? Sure, home prices in Greater Boston have been more consistent than in many other major metro markets over the past decade — consistent as in consistently high.”
“All the talk of bidding wars and soaring prices apparently has swollen the heads of some sellers. There’s growing chatter in the business media about signs of a cool down. The August falloff was more dramatic than in past years, Redfin says in a new market survey. Anyway, the usual culprits are being trotted out — rising interest rates and soaring prices to name the top two.”
“But we are also seeing the return of the greedy seller, a favorite villain, who typically makes an appearance when buyers start getting edged out.”
“Housing is never an investment. Housing is a depreciating asset and a loss, always.”
Exactly. Houses depreciating just like automobiles. The difference is that losses on housing are crushing and last a lifetime at current grossly inflated asking prices.
This notion of buying a retail item like a house and expecting to resell it for more is sheer fantasy.
“If you buy a house right now in the current environment, you will be scammed out of hundereds of thousands of dollars.”
You better believe it mister.
“If you buy a house right now in the current environment, you will be scammed out of hundereds of thousands of dollars.”
You better believe it mister.
If you buy a house right now in a decent location let alone a outstanding location you will make many in 5 years with out question.
We are doing okay right now in housing, believe me it couldn’t be worse times with this administration, we are inching forward.
All have learned a painful lesson from the past, the future is all about America, that is why anywhere in the world they still want to invest here. In 5 years or sooner the dollar will make a vibrant come back.
It is the only currency the world really looks at, jobless rate will be below 5.5% and savings rates will be 6%.
Seniors will be spenders again and the youngster’s always like to buy when they have a job, which they will by 2017 or sooner.
Negative is everywhere at any time in life, it is the positive window rich folks look at down the road, and America is still the open window to the world.
China, do you really think they can ever really close that window on us and survive with there communist gov’t and currency. Europe will always be Europe, who is left, the good old USA, we are not without fault for sure, but there is nothing better on this planet, unless you know a place?
Considering prices are still at the massively inflate levels of 2004, prices have a long way to fall to get back to the long term trend at 1997 prices.
“If you buy a house right now in a decent location let alone a outstanding location you will make many in 5 years with out question…”
If I buy a house right now I will make many WHAT in 5 years with out question?!? Tears? Turds? Margheritas? Bitter, angst-filled memories? Spit it out man! You must tell me!
“In 5 years or sooner the dollar will make a vibrant come back.”
When and if the dollar comes back, prices will look high for foreign investors. It will be a good time for them to sell, and a poor time to buy. U.S. home prices will also want to decline at the point the dollar strengthens.
High taxes will reduce the selling price of a house
High insurance fees will reduce the selling price of a house
Well, at least in the bad old days it did.
Until government took over the housing and mortgage market.
PS. There is a reason people only used to build summer crack shacks on the beach and why the “old time” beach resorts were well AWAY from the beach.
————————-
“‘This affects buyers and sellers,’ said Kimberly Moccia, a mortgage consultant at Radius Financial Group. ‘Sellers are having to make reductions in prices … My concern is we’re going to see an influx of foreclosures.’”
That is OK.
Because average wages in the area are around $120,000.
Correct???
—————-
“There are signs the recent surge — the median price for a single-family home sold in the NEAR region was $360,000, or about equal to its high-water mark achieved in mid-2006
‘Connecticut was among the nation’s top-ranked states for homes with a foreclosure filing in August, a report released Thursday shows. First-time filings jumped 50 percent.’
http://articles.courant.com/2013-09-12/business/hc-ct-foreclosure-august-20130912_1_foreclosure-activity-foreclosure-documents-foreclosure-crisis
‘The figures for Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland counties reveal the ongoing trend of a sluggish housing market compared to the rest of the state and the nation. In Cape May County, for example, the median home sale price dropped to $369,275 in the 12-month period ending in August, a 12 percent decline, the NJAR data show. Atlantic County’s median sale price increased by $7,200 to $214,900, while the overall number of sales dropped about 2 percent during that time. Cumberland County saw sale prices drop $13,000 — or nearly 9 percent’
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/business/real_estate/n-j-realtor-figures-show-stronger-housing-market-though-south/article_eb022380-2320-11e3-8dee-001a4bcf887a.html
‘Summer may be winding down across New England, but there are still parts of the Massachusetts housing market that are prime for both buyers and sellers. Hopkinton may be beginning to slow down a bit. Home prices in this town have fallen to just over $600,000, compared to $620,000 this time last year. Sales also slightly decreased while the MSI is now up over 5, shifting this market more favorably to buyers.’
‘Ashland and Natick have also experienced year-over-year price drops, similar to Hopkinton. In Ashland, median price dropped 20 percent to $319,950 ($401,500 in July 2012)’
‘ Sherborn and Southborough are great towns for buyers looking to make a move because there’s more to choose from; inventory has increased in both areas. In Sherborn, inventory increased more than 270 percent however, year-over-year median home prices have also increased this year from $738,000 (July 2012) to $755,000 (July 2013).’
‘In Southborough, MSI increased dramatically by 133 percent this year vs. last year. Median home prices also went up this year ($486,000 in 2012 vs. $695,000 in 2013), which could explain why the number of homes sold this year vs. last was also down by 9.5 percent.’
http://www.milforddailynews.com/business/x1803294226/Certain-towns-remain-red-hot-in-the-real-estate-market
“Sales are still numerous but fall into one of three categories…”
REOs and short sales are dominating the market, yet are not included in the price statistic. Priceless.
“He was rumored to be on the hunt for something smaller, which is probably a good thing given that he won’t be pocketing any extra cash from this sale (just the opposite—besides inflation, he’s paid out years of carrying costs and a broker’s fee).”
Sounds like he just got broker.
“The townhouse’s less-than-stellar performance after four years of ownership is actually perplexing, particularly given the luxury market’s near supernatural rebound after the recession.”
Lessons learned:
1) Gravity matters.
2) What goes up, must come down.
3) Sell first and fast or get priced into your losses forever.
‘given the luxury market’s near supernatural rebound’
Yeah, it is perplexing. I mean, we use words like supernatural to describe our real estate! And couldn’t this guy just kick it up a notch - BAM!
Our Real Estate is Unreal.
It was interesting that the article at least mentioned the costs to “carry” a house for several years.
Houses make you poor.
“Houses make you poor”
Not if you buy at a reasonable price and live in it as a home. Renting can KEEP you poor as well. The comments on this blog that housing is always a lost is ridiculous. We made quite a bit of money moving up on the housing chain. Housing is broken, granted, but we paid cash for this humble home and remodeled with proceeds from housing, and other investments.
In the past homeownership was a good move.
Present, it depends.
Future, who the hell knows. Might as well ask your Ouija board. With the ptb, life is a crapshoot.
‘Not if you buy at a reasonable price’
That’s the question, isn’t it?
‘We made quite a bit of money moving up’
But where did that come from, the money tree in the back yard? Or was it from somebody else borrowing it? In the past, people didn’t rake in a small fortune jumping from house to house.
At the start of every century their is change to be accounted for. Change happens slowly and folks get hurt, they lose jobs, businesses etc.
Capitalism is about one step back two steps forward, but Capitalist never stand still like most of the world. If you want safe life, good pay, and a content ending and blame rich people for your woes in life then you are a socialist, you can be that in America, without changing the system.
If you are a venture Capitalist, you take risk, the bank takes risk, etc. The problem with the crash, everybody became a venture capitalist, they thought there was no risk in it, these people were closet Socialist who really wanted BMW’s and luxury homes.
They forgot to read contacts and watch trends, they have no one to blame but themselves, nobody broke their arm to buy overpriced real estate and a fancy car?
…..and its still crashing.
“At the start of every century their is change to be accounted for.”
Their you go again!
But where did that come from, the money tree in the back yard? Or was it from somebody else borrowing it? In the past, people didn’t rake in a small fortune jumping from house to house.”
I guess it’s the government wanting Americans to own homes so it back stopped the 30 year mortgage.
When will the government decide it doesn’t want to do this anymore ? has bigger problems to take care of like Obama care ? sell the whole thing to private industry? Or has it already ?
“this humble home and remodeled with proceeds from housing…”
The issue isn’t that you rolled money over from another house into this one, or that this one is somehow less extravagant than the last. Good for you arranging to be out of debt at last.
The issue is that you have poured a ton of money into making over the house and bringing it up to date. You were able to keep this money aside the whole time you were renting and now the house has vacuumed it all up and you have to work as a clerk or a salesperson to make ends meet when you could be retired if you still had the money. It is a perfect example of a house making you poor.
But where did that come from, the money tree in the back yard?
The repeal of Glass-Steagall, among other financial “innovations.” While it’s easy to want government to get out of the way, the repeal of regulations helped to enable the creation of trillions of dollars in *poof* money.
“The townhouse’s less-than-stellar performance after four years of ownership is actually perplexing, particularly given the luxury market’s near supernatural rebound after the recession.”
Actually, it’s not perplexing at all. What the median never shows is that people have been getting nicer and nicer properties for the price. He is lucky he actually got what he paid for it, minus the PITI+maintenance.
And the rehab work he did.
“Marbury has been playing basketball in China and enjoying his status as a star in the enormous country.”
You have to wonder whether he is in on the action snapping up empty Chinese housing units at bubble premium prices?
‘Marbury owes just over $844,000 on his New York City condo and hasn’t made payments since March 2010′
I’m confused. Why doesn’t he just sell it? Aren’t these condos being snapped up in hours? And the same with the house in LA.
He’s busy looking for Chinese investors… at their source
That probably is the Chinese meme, isn’t it? ‘Hordes of filthy-rich Americans, flying in on their private drones and stealth aircraft, resplendent in their solid gold clothing are snapping-up Chinese real estate with all-cash, 100% over asking price offers…’
“…a redrawing of flood lines by the Federal Emergency Management Agency could harm property values and lead to a new spate of foreclosures just as Massachusetts is beginning to recover from the Great Recession, several speakers told a state legislative panel.”
Perhaps those who live in the Massachusetts flood zone could cover their own insurance liability, rather than siphoning off federal tax dollars to cover the expense?
An 800% increase in flood ins would devastate local revenues and make it impossible to sell. Since, the flood maps affect inland properties as well as expensive coastal areas, all income types are hit with the same increases. Additionally ,if lower priced properties foreclose and become abandoned the lost revenue to gov’t flood insurance would still keep the dept. in red ink. There are no easy answers to this problem.
There is an easy answer; have the government pay for it. But some of us are sick of paying to rebuild these areas every time they flood. Anyway, if you can afford an $800k house looking over the water, you can afford to pay the insurance.
Agree, a local river near me (the Russian River) has a major flood every decade or so and the taxpayers end up paying a fortune for home repairs, raising them on stilts etc….historically the houses were small inexpensive vacation/weekend cabins for middle class people from San Francisco, cheap to build and repair for the owner and they DID make some sort of sense considering the flood risk and were priced as such…now there are many large expensive houses where small cabins were.
Having gone through a massive flood in 2007 (though I had no property damage/loss), I found that a lot of the houses which flooded badly were built fairly recently in stark contrast to many of the properties which did not flood that were built on ground which is high and dry in the early 1900’s.
“More than a few buyers are wondering what’s next and worried they could lose their savings if the market heads down again.”
How is this even possible? As many property owners pointed out here in their posts yesterday, home equity is different than savings.
In particular, if your money is safe in the bank, then a downswing in the value of your home will not affect it.
It is because the “You” is a debt donkey.
‘I am trying to buy a house right now for a long-term residence in a good school district to provide my kids with decent education and my family with decent housing, but I feel like I am embarking on a gambling venture that may either spell financial ruin or conversely nice profits depending on what cards are dealt to me.’
That is one of the most insightful comments I have ever seen by a prospective home debtor.
‘we are also seeing the return of the greedy seller, a favorite villain, who typically makes an appearance when buyers start getting edged out’
This is the Boston snobbish snark. A favorite villain for you landless peasants, when you are getting edged out. It will only make it that much more enjoyable when they go whining to the government. Oh, they already are:
‘Sellers are having to make reductions in prices … My concern is we’re going to see an influx of foreclosures
“‘Sellers are having to make reductions in prices … My concern is we’re going to see an influx of foreclosures”
Boo fawkin’ hoo. Are you ‘afraid’ too?
I thought all the loan owners in Massachusetts were rolling in money? Why would they stop making their payments?
The supernatural houses might be haunting them.
The villains are also the lackwits that pay these ridiculous prices. Can’t have one without the other.
BINGO
Dumb.Borrowed.Money. better known as Debt Donkeys…….
….speaking of……where are my mules today?
inventory lowest ever in my hood- 15 miles south of MOkCBA ___DC
Where did all the real estate investment boosters go today? This place is like a ghost town. Happy Halloween!
Blue you’re providing nice stuff to develop new material…… Haunted house, house will make you poor., etc
Keep going.
Oh, the deliciousness of it all:
‘Oaktree Capital Group is leading an effort to put up for sale roughly 500 fully-leased homes, an indication some early investors are looking to cash-out on the recovery in U.S. housing prices, according to sources familiar with the market.’
‘Oaktree, which manages about $76 billion, and its partner Carrington Mortgage Services are entertaining bids for the portfolio of fully-leased homes as they seek to exit from the buy-to-rent trade that has become popular the past two years with hedge funds and private equity firms.’
‘The homes, mainly located in several western U.S. states, is being shopped to other large investors in foreclosed homes, said three sources, who asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.’
http://kfgo.com/news/articles/2013/sep/23/exclusive-oaktree-group-to-sell-us-foreclosed-homes-sources/
AGOURA HILLS, Calif., Sept. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/
American Homes 4 Rent(NYSE: AMH) (the “Company”) today announced the formation of American Mortgage Investment Partners, LLC (”AMIP”), a joint venture established by the Company and Johnson Capital Residential Investments, LLC (”JCRI”), an investment entity formed and capitalized by a group of mortgage servicing and real estate finance professionals. AMIP was formed to manage multiple investment funds focused on the acquisition and resolution of distressed residential mortgage assets in the United States.
Full text of the release:
http://www.bloomberg.com/article/2013-09-17/agbHl0ReaIHA.html
The best part is the ‘Forward Looking Statements’ disclaimer at the bottom of the news release:
‘Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward looking statements.” These
forward-looking statements relate to beliefs, expectations or intentions and similar statements concerning matters that are not of historical fact and are generally accompanied by words such as “estimate,” “project,” “predict,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” ,”potential,” “plan,” “goal” or other words that convey the uncertainty of future events or outcomes. Examples of forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, among
others, whether AMIP will be able to find and acquire any assets that meet the Company’s underwriting and other criteria and whether any mortgage assets acquired will be successfully converted to real estate owned by the Company. The Company has based these forward-looking statements on its current expectations and assumptions about future events. While the Company’s management considers these expectations to be reasonable, they are inherently subject to risks, contingencies and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the Company’s control. Investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. All information in this press release is current as of the date of the release. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to conform to actual results or changes in its expectations. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of the Company in general, see the Company’s
prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 2, 2013 and its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.’
Looks like its about time to issue some IPO’s to the GFs into this Ponzi Scheme while the body still breathes.
Beginning to see some high end homes hitting the market here. There’s something in the wind, and it smells bad.
Agoura Hills that explains everything…
Agoura hills is next to Calabasas where Country wide was set-up.
Remember them ?
“Calabasas / Countrywide”
As they say, location, location, location!
Looks like it’s bursting a lot more quickly this time. Maybe I will actually get to own a house before I die, no mortgage needed.
‘Oaktree Capital Group is leading an effort to put up for sale roughly 500 fully-leased homes, an indication some early investors are looking to cash-out on the recovery in U.S. housing prices, according to sources familiar with the market.’
Tiptoeing towards the exit, are we?
Exit? They just want to share this moneymaking opportunity with others!
Oaktree Capital Group is leading an effort to put up for sale roughly 500 fully-leased homes, an indication some early investors are looking to cash-out on the recovery in U.S. housing prices, according to sources familiar with the market.’
Oh no maybe Calpers will buy this? they buy anything knowing they are back stopped by the tax base…
They’ve, no doubt, experienced first hand the costs and hassles associated with landlording and are running for the hills. This never made any sense in the first place, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they actually lose money after all is said and done.
Let the musical bag handling commence!!
‘Over the past few years, several hundred Rhode Island homeowners have sought to avert foreclosure through the federal courts. But action “reluctantly” taken by U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell Jr. on Sept. 3 probably means that most with cases still pending will now lose their homes.’
‘While some borrowers almost certainly turned to the federal court to delay or avoid paying, Ms. Sherman reported that most were employed, and could afford to remain in their homes with mortgage modifications.’
http://www.providencejournal.com/opinion/editorials/20130923-a-foreclosure-setback.ece
Morgan Stanley….”sell stocks till your hands bleed”. My, how times have changed.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/morgan-stanley-contrarians-sell-stocks-150406239.html
full disclosure: I am short right now (since friday)
If you happen to be a contrarian, you should probably sell stocks till your hands bleed, and then sell some more. Why? All the five seasoned investors representing large pools of money on the panel I moderated at our 4th annual Global Economics & Strategy Day in Frankfurt on Friday were constructive on equities, and almost all of the around 200 investment professionals in the audience seemed to agree.
While I have a strong contrarian streak, I confess I side with the consensus at the moment, along with our own strategists who are constructive on developed-market equities. ”
I don’t read this guy is selling ..
Nearly every person who is bullish and pimping stocks in public is secretly selling. They are trying to set up buyers to unload their holdings onto. Same as people who are very bearish in public. They are hoping to cause a lot of selling so they can buy low.
”sell stocks till your hands bleed”
If a major investment bank is dispensing such advice, isn’t it quite likely they are currently buying?
Every trade needs a counterparty.
We’ve got’em all here. Housing Hookers, Phoney Financing Floozies, Debt Donkeys, Junkies riddled with housing tracks, paid media fraudsters, Pandering Pimps, etc
What’s the big attraction you liars?
The worm is turning.
ft dot com
September 23, 2013 7:17 pm
US housing: Content to rent?
By Anjli Raval
Americans are increasingly abandoning property ownership as investment increases in the rental sector
Sandie Crisman sees the headlines hailing the US housing rebound and wonders when she will get her share of it. The 60-year-old Florida resident is one of the tens of thousands of Americans burnt by the housing bust that wiped out $7tn in homeowner equity and is still suffering from its fallout.
“If I could do it all over again, I wouldn’t be a homeowner,” she says. “What’s the point if you can’t guarantee your house will be worth what you paid for it in five or 10 years time?”
Ms Crisman moved to the US from the Netherlands in 2002 after she married her American husband Alan. The couple bought a house close to her parents-in-law in a small former steel town north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. For a few short years Sandie lived her version of the American dream.
But the financial crisis hit the family hard. Tough times compelled Mr Crisman, who is an aircraft engineer, to move to Alabama in 2010 and then Florida for work. His wife and stepdaughter soon followed.
“We left Pennsylvania but we just couldn’t sell our house. To this day it is still underwater,” says Ms Crisman, a personal assistant.
The family, which owes more on the house then it is worth, became what housing sector analysts call “accidental landlords”. They rent out the Pennsylvania house but the income does not cover the mortgage. “We are having to supplement payments at the same time as we are paying rent on another property in Florida,” she says. “The situation is incredibly frustrating.”
Ms Crisman gave up her job in Pennsylvania but, unable to find work elsewhere, she began to max out credit cards, spoiling her credit rating. Her savings were drained. Ms Crisman says she is now a renter for life.
“Once our property is sold I will never buy another house again. I refuse to take on the risk,” she says.
But Ms Crisman is not the only one. The US home-ownership rate has dropped to an 18-year-low at about 65 per cent – down from a peak of 70 per cent before the crash – and economists say it is set to fall as low as 60 per cent. Some industry watchers are now asking if the US, after a multi-decade push towards home ownership, is shifting towards being a nation of renters.
“With the housing bubble bursting, the home-ownership rate was always going to drop. In some respects this has been healthy as the country has been reversing some of the excess. Not everybody should have been homeowners,” says Michael Gapen, senior economist at Barclays. “But there is now an open question about where it will settle.”
But even as record-low mortgage interest rates, an improving jobs market and rising consumer sentiment have propelled more Americans to buy houses after years of staying away, the recovery in US housing has not reached all corners of the country. While bidding wars and double-digit price rises are typical in the most sought-after locations, shrinking towns and stagnant neighbourhoods are prevalent elsewhere.
In recent years a sharp increase in foreclosures, amid job losses, decreased incomes and reduced asset values, has forced many one-time homeowners to rent. For each percentage point decline in home ownership, there has been a shift of approximately 1.1m households to the rental market. To meet this demand new construction of multi-family apartment blocks has surged 353 per cent since the housing market trough, while groundbreakings of single-family homes has risen 78 per cent, commerce department data say.
Some industry experts say the trend towards renting will persist. If they are correct and more Americans – like Ms Crisman – decide to give up on the idea of owning a home, it will represent a major shift in US society.
“Home-ownership isn’t bringing a lot of happiness,” said Vishaan Chakrabarti, director of the Center for Urban Real Estate at Columbia University in New York. “We went through decades of thinking that houses would appreciate in value. We cannot guarantee this any more.”
He added: “For the first time since the 1920s, cities are growing faster than suburbs. More and more people are renting, from striving graduate students to the working poor, and the government needs to recognise this change.”
…
This is turning on a dime.
Homebuyer Traffic Slows, Real Estate Investor Activity Drops: Survey
BY Shanthi Bharatwaj | 09/23/13 - 09:57 AM EDT
Stock quotes in this article: XHB, IYR, SPY, DIA, BLK
Find out if (XHB) is in Cramer’s Portfolio.
NEW YORK (TheStreet) — Homebuyer traffic slowed in August, according to the latest survey from Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance.
The survey found that all three groups of homebuyers — current homeowners, investors and first-time homebuyers — pulled back from the housing market, a sign that future sales activity might weaken.
The sharpest falloff in the HousingPulse homebuyer traffic index was seen among current homeowners, the largest group of homebuyers.
…
Yippee! Home sales are back to their level as of February 2007 — just before the onset of the great big crash!
Economy
What housing slowdown? Home resales jump to 6.5-year high
Published: Thursday, 19 Sep 2013 | 10:00 AM ET
Jonathan Alcorn | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A ‘for sale’ signs stand outside a home in Arcadia, California.
U.S. home resales hit a 6-1/2 year high in August as buyers flocked back to the market to lock in cheap borrowing costs amid rising mortgage rates, a signal of continued strength in the housing market recovery.
The National Association of Realtors said on Thursday existing home sales increased 1.7 percent to an annual rate of 5.48 million units last month, the highest level since February 2007 when property values began to decline after the sector’s boom and bust.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected home resales to rise to a 5.25 million-unit rate. The housing recovery has helped shore up the economy by bolstering household finances and supporting consumer spending.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the housing market may be experiencing a temporary peak as would-be buyers sitting on the fence are pushed to close deals ahead of likely price and borrowing cost increases.
“Rising mortgage interest rates pushed more buyers to close deals, but monthly sales are likely to be uneven in the months ahead from several market frictions,” he said, pointing to tight inventory limiting choices in many real estate pockets.
…