Real Estate

Foreign Investment In U.S. Real Estate Cools In 2016, But China Still Leads List Of Funny Money

The National Association of Realtors has published its latest survey profiling foreign buyers of U.S. real estate, and the latest data is remarkable for a number of reasons. Not surprisingly, China is still the largest source of foreign investment into U.S. homes and property. Something also worth noting is the decline of to total investment dollars reaching its way into the United States. It appears that the latest global central-bank-sponsored asset bubble may be finally popping once again. This will be a particular cause for concern for those wealthy property owners who have bought into [...]

New Home Sales Decline To 511,000 Annual Rate In March

The Census Bureau reported that new home sales for March declined to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 511,000. This was below expectations of 522,000, but higher than March of last year. The median price of a new home contracted in March was $288,000, a YoY decline of $5,400. The average price of a new home contracted in March was $356,200, $3,500 more than March of 2015. New home sales have remained grounded as the Fed's "wealth effect" continues to diminish within the real economy. New home sales are still hovering around 1991 levels, due [...]

Census: Housing Starts, Permits Decline In March

It appears the 2016 "pent-up demand" story didn't last very long. The Census Bureau just reported that housing starts and permits both fell during March. What is interesting is that single-family starts fell 9.2 percent from revised February numbers, posting at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 764,000 units. Single-family authorizations fell 1.2 percent from February figures.  Housing starts and permits are higher year-over-year, but much of the increase in activity is due to lenders "expanding the credit box", not necessarily from increased demand in general. The mortgage industry realizes that many buyers cannot afford today's [...]

Census: Housing Starts, Permits Stall In January As Economic Backdrop Weakens

The Census Bureau reported that January housing starts and permits fell from downward-revised December numbers. Housing starts posted at a 1,099,000 annual rate in January, down from December's rate of 1,143,000. Housing permits also fell in January, posting at a rate of 1,202,00. Single-family housing completions in January came in at a rate of 693,000, down from December's rate of 703,000. Despite higher year-over-year mortgage purchase applications, new home construction is still struggling in the Fed's echo-bubble of inflated asset prices. This is why you see more advertisements of low-down-payment purchase options and even zero-down [...]

By |2019-02-06T01:46:50+00:00February 17th, 2016|Development, Economy, Real Estate|0 Comments

Mortgage Rates Drop As “Recovery” Drowns In The Sea Of Central Bank Market Manipulations

"Anyone claiming that America's economy is in decline is peddling fiction." Barack Obama - SOTU January 2016 2016 has seen one of the worst starts to a year ever for major U.S. stock indices ever, and that means mortgage rates have continued to fall during the first two weeks of the year. For those who were rushing to lock in a sub-4 percent mortgage, there really was no need to rush. It is now easy to get a 3.75 percent fixed rate 30-year mortgage here in the Houston area. Mortgage rates are driven by demand [...]

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