World Famous Blog about everything Real Estate
Real estate starts in Canada declined There was a boost of 7.5% in January, with 189,000 starts. This was accompanied by a rise of 6% in February, to a total of 200,400, the first time that the 200,000 level was overtaken since October 2008. Read the rest of this entry »
WCI Homes Come Complete with Communities and Over-the-Top Amenities at up to 40% Off
BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Smart shoppers who are looking for the most value for their dollar are finding jaw dropping value with WCI Communities, a 60-year veteran of the real estate and development industries that filed for reorganization in August. In these economically uncertain times, consumers can now benefit from home prices discounted from 20 to 40% for resort style living and service in over 20 different communities – complete with golf pros, social directors and concierge – in coveted destinations like riverfront on the Hudson, on a Florida nature preserve, in an exclusive Palm Beach County Golf Club and oceanfront on the Atlantic.
Some individuals are complaining that banks are not lending money. This claim is simply not true. Yes, banks have tightened lending standards after a period in which standards were too lax. And yes, some of the more crappier banks may not have the cash. But, according to Federal Reserve data, bank credit has actually increased over the course of this recession, and business lending is trending up modestly so far in 2009. Also, mortgage finance volume is booming as a result of low interest rates and low home prices.
I happen to know that some people are getting mortgage money from local and state banks. Eventually, these numbers will grow as well.
As the real estate markets begin to rebound late this year, money will be made available as bad debts are dissolved. But, you have to remember to get your credit scores up, folks!!!! You can’t get your hands on these funds if your documentation shows you to be a bad credit risk. We discussed this two years ago. But, here it is again in simplified format. Read the rest of this entry »
The recent bankruptcy filing by short-lived Arlington, Texas, home builder Wall Homes Inc. is bad news for private-equity outfit Warburg Pincus LLC.
Wall Homes owes the firm about $42 million, according to court papers. Warburg Pincus’s investment, which helped launch the closely held builder at the top of the housing market in 2005, is unsecured and “subordinated to secured lenders.” Read the rest of this entry »
During the work day I usually keep CNBC on to see if the Talking Heads are doing something entertaining on any given day. Usually I keep the volume low or muted until a story or person of interest pops up. As the latter hours of the morning were coming to a close the CNBC “Real Estate Task Force” with Re/Max CEO Margaret Kelly and Charles Cohen from Cohen Brothers Realty popped up.
I figured on my way out to lunch I would at least give this motley crew a few seconds of my time. I didn’t listen to the whole thing when I started to realize that lending a few seconds of my time was turning into destroying a few points of my IQ. Lucky for us it didn’t take long into the segment before Diana Olick began to spew pure comical economic ignorance out of her mouth.
Olick was quoted as saying, “We thought that commercial [real estate] was going to do far better because the theory was that commercial didn’t overbuild the way that residential real estate did.”
Here’s a link to the full clip.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1021445476&play=1 Read the rest of this entry »
The housing bubble was caused by poor lending standards, lax regulation, and low interest rates. Poor lending standards have met a natural death, lax regulation is irrelevant now — it turns out banks do self-regulate when lower executive bonuses are suddenly on the table — but today’s low interest rates should surely impact housing prices.
But is it enough to save the housing market? And what does it mean to your stock portfolio and your real estate business?
Professional property managers are experts in the field acquiring and keeping paying tenants for real estate investors. They are knowledgeable about the local rental market, vacancy levels, and rental price trends. But most of all, the property manager you use for your real estate business should excel in leasing and managing rental property.
Read the rest of this entry »
HSBC has done well to style itself the great subprime survivor. But the world’s biggest bank is less special than it thinks. True, its shares have outperformed almost every banking index around. And its core tier one capital ratio – 7.8 per cent at the end of September, towards the top of its target range – is on the high side, versus western peers.
But as HSBC has three-quarters of its loan book in the benighted US and UK, that target may be a moving one. A note to third-quarter accounts shows that the carrying value of US consumer loans was $111bn, but that the market value was $34bn lower. Fine: these are banking assets, not held for trading, so the group does not have to account for them at fair value. But if you were to tot up HSBC’s subprime losses taken so far through its P&L, then add the reported fair-value deficits not recognised on balance sheet, the sum would be almost $70bn – higher than Merrill, Citi or UBS, and second only to Wachovia. An accounting confection, of course, but it does throw a light on the scale of HSBC’s exposure to US subprime and the potential for further impairments.
- Lex – www.TheFlipBoard.com
A market analyst from Wachovia Bank said yesterday that he feels real estate is about to hit the bottom. I agree and disagree at the same time. Yes, some specific niches of real estate may bottom out, but some still have a good way to go. Read the rest of this entry »
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