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Your Fall Housing Market Update
Every few months for the past couple of years, I’ve made it a point to update you on the state of the housing market. I feel it’s essential to do so because …
• You may be buying, selling, or holding a primary residence or vacation home.
• You probably have a mortgage, and maybe a home equity loan.
• And you’re probably concerned about the broader economy, which the housing and mortgage markets significantly impact.
So where do we stand now?
Well, the stabilization and very mild recovery I first told you was coming back in the spring, continues apace. Sales have generally…
30Oct2009 | Money and Markets | 1 comment | ContinuedHousing Industry Painting a Mixed Picture
Disturbing reports regarding the first-time buyer program…
In early 2007, after the real estate bubble began bursting and the extent of the problems from sub-prime mortgages became clearer, I predicted the aftermath would have the economy in the worse recession since 1973-74 by the end of the year (2007).
At the time, I also said the problems for the economy began in the housing industry and the recovery would also eventually begin in the housing industry.
Continuing to emphasize the importance of the housing industry, in predicting in February of this year that the stock market would launch into a substantial rally…
The China Files (Special Project): Real Estate
Today I offer you an insightful look at China’s real estate market – a "burgeoning bubble" that deserves a close eye as the possibility for breaking increases. Remember the chaos in Japan after their own housing dreamscape got violently yanked back to earth? As investors, we have to recognize opportunities – and know what to avoid. With a global economic crisis – and now surging housing prices in China – investors in any global market need to keep watch on political and economic developments around the world.
Today’s analysis comes courtesy my friends at STRATFOR, a global intelligence company. They provide…
17Oct2009 | Outside the Box | 0 comments | ContinuedHousing Market Stabilization on Track
Almost four months ago, I made one of the most dramatic shifts in my investment outlook ever. After warning — in advance — that we would experience a devastating housing and mortgage market crash … and after repeatedly refuting all the early — and wrong — bottom callers during the four-year collapse, I wrote the following in my Money and Markets column four months ago:
28Aug2009 | Money and Markets | 2 comments | Continued“It’s time to signal another important shift in my thoughts on the housing market. Namely, that the nexus of the real estate downturn is shifting and that the residential market is poised to stabilize in the coming…
Overvalued Timber REITs: Why Timber Investing Isn’t What It Used To Be
Ten years ago, it would be hard to imagine a more stable investment than timber, or those Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) that bought millions of acres of harvestable trees.
The 1990s were an ideal period to have timber as an investment:
- Housing was doing well, and growth was beginning to take off in major cities.
- The world was still pre-digital, and business still relied heavily on shuffling paper.
- Electronic news was still a novelty; magazines and newspapers were still going strong.
What a difference a decade makes…
- Housing is in the dumper, with no clear sign of a resurgence on the horizon.
- Business has embraced the…
The U.S. Housing Market: Three (More) Reasons Real Estate Isn’t Rebounding
If ever an off-the-wall indicator existed to predict the fate of the U.S. housing market, I found it… You see, business is booming in one particular niche of the real estate industry – shrink-wrap.
That’s right. Contractors and developers are wrapping mothballed building projects in plastic, literally – from single-family homes to 25,000 square foot commercial properties.
The beneficiary? Privately-held Fast Wrap – a leader in shrink-wrap protection and weatherization. Traditionally its products are used to protect lawn furniture, cars, boats, motor homes or industrial vehicles from the elements. But now, the bulk of its new business comes from the real estate…
4Aug2009 | Investment U | 1 comment | ContinuedWhat It Will Take For The Housing Market To Recover
Break out the tissues, folks… Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner can’t sell his house.
Frustrated at not being able to sell his $1.6 million New York mansion after three-and-a-half months on the market, Geithner has yanked down the “For Sale” sign. And that’s after he and his wife lowered the price to below what they paid for it in 2004. Having taken out a $1.25 million mortgage at the time, they’re now apparently renting the home at a loss.
Doesn’t Tim read the papers? He didn’t seriously expect to sell Fort Geithner in such a short time in a market like this, did…
30Jul2009 | Smart Profits Report | 1 comment | ContinuedHousing Nightmare
For years, home ownership has been seen as the surest path of rising into the middle class and the most significant source of savings for many families. So how could it be that buying a single-family home has made so many people in this country worse off?
The answer is simple, according to John Wasik, author of a recently released book that examines the housing crisis, "The Cul-De-Sac Syndrome: Turning Around the Unsustainable American Dream."
"The whole premise of the ‘Cul-De-Sac Syndrome’ is we hit a dead end," he said. "We hit a wall of unaffordability. I want to convey the…
9Jul2009 | The Real Deal | 1 comment | ContinuedYour Summer Housing Market Update
Every few months, I feel it’s my duty to let you know the latest about what’s going on in housing. There is simply so much off-the-wall blather, bogus data, and downright misinformation out there that if I don’t cut through it, I don’t know who the heck will!
In a nutshell, we’ve gone from housing Armageddon to a market marked by some stability. Not a big improvement. Not a huge recovery. Just some stability. But if I’m right about the future, it’s going to be a LONG time until we see a real rebound in housing prices … thanks to several…
6Jul2009 | Money and Markets | 1 comment | ContinuedHome Ownership: Do You Have The Courage To Buy Into This Housing Market?
Almost half of all American adults no longer believe that home ownership is a realistic way to build wealth.
That’s according to Gail Cunningham of the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, quoted in Barron’s this week.
Given that home ownership is a cornerstone in almost every wealth-building plan, this is astonishing. Even if the days of selling a house for an enormous profit are over, building equity in a home beats the pants off paying rent.
Of course, home ownership is not always better than renting, but in most cases, it still is. And even if home prices are flat, building a little bit…
2Jul2009 | Smart Profits Report | 1 comment | Continued
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