Economy

Housing Starts – Loan Limits – Prices – Common Sense

by Jeff Brown | January 25, 2011

Most of us here have been reading various reports the last several years showing housing starts, financing trends, underwriting restrictions, and home prices in general. The cold stats are one thing, but it’s the end game analysis that separates us, right? You conclude one thing, your neighbor goes a different way, with both of ya [...]

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Economy

Some End-Of-The-Year Thoughts For Real Estate Investors

by Jeff Brown | November 23, 2010

Since a new year is literally 37 days away, there are some options you may wanna ponder. This is particularly true as it relates to income taxes. The end of a calendar year allows a little more room for planning how you might structure the sale of a real estate investment property. Like some years [...]

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Economy

Unemployment Breakdown by City

by Ryan Moeller | October 9, 2010

I pulled unemployment data from Department of Labor, did a ton of copying, pasting, formatting it in excel then worked my magic. This took me countless hours and now I have created some very useful breakdowns of unemployment in the US. This is the most current data by the way. What I found did not surprise [...]

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Economy

The Paradox Of Our Current Economy – It’s Heaven On Earth

by Jeff Brown | October 5, 2010

First, an apology for not being able to publish what I promised in last week’s post. My travel schedule and workload simply didn’t allow me to do it justice. The long and short of it, is that sometimes I suffer from being the punch line to a good news/bad news joke. The good news? I’m [...]

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Economy

Is California a Model for the Real Estate Recovery?

by Alex Cortez | July 24, 2010

California has 91 out the 100 hottest real estate markets in the country, Is this a sign that the California tax credit for new home and first time buyer has been effective in kick-starting the market?

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Commentary

Short Term Long Term Deep Pockets and Dinghies On Small Docks

by Jeff Brown | June 29, 2010

When Grandma spoke we listened. She was tempered steel wrapped in GrandmaSpeak. Tough? Around our family, nobody, at least out loud, claims real toughness, as the standard set by Grandma is something for which we only strive. One day I was whinin’ about an upcoming American History test. She asked if I was prepared to [...]

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Economy

Europe’s Bad News Apparently Good News For U.S. Mortgage Rates!

by Charles Feldman | May 24, 2010

Surprise, surprise. Now that Europe seems to be falling apart, economically at least, it appears as if its misfortune may be our fortune–at least when it comes to our real estate market. Mortgage rates have been falling, and some think it is due to the financial instability overseas. In case you haven’t noticed, rates are [...]

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Economy

Standard & Poor’s Economist: Housing Stabilized But Prices to Drop 5-6%

by Ryan Hinricher | March 29, 2010

Thursday, I attended Standard & Poor’s Market View of Credit Risk summit here in New York. David Wyss, the Chief Economist of Standard & Poor’s was the keynote speaker giving an economic outlook for the remainder of the year and beyond. Despite him commenting on the overall economy, he spent much of the presentation focused [...]

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Economy

The Shadow Inventory Debate

by Ryan Hinricher | March 22, 2010

I’ve been tracking what people are saying about the shadow real estate inventory that many economists, real estate professionals, and bankers are frightened of. Seems there’s some debate if the shadow inventory, will stymie the housing recovery. First the definition of shadow inventory is up for debate. Depending on who you’re listening to it can [...]

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Economy

When the Fed Stops Buying MBS, How Will Rates Be Affected?

by Ryan Hinricher | March 15, 2010

The Federal Reserve’s purchase of Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) is scheduled to end on March 31st. A few weeks ago I wrote that there was some talk of extending this program. It seems as though most signs are pointing to the market stepping in and taking the place of the Fed in these purchases. The [...]

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Commentary

The American People and Hard Times

by Jeff Brown | March 9, 2010

I was born in the summer of 1951, one of those Boomers who’ve lived the transformation from simpler, more innocent times, to the hi-tech, instant everything, get outa da fast lane if ya can’t go 80, in-your-face 21st century. 1951? Maybe the best debut year in post WW II Major League Baseball, as both Mickey [...]

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Economy

NAR Chief Economist Comments on Housing

by Ryan Hinricher | March 8, 2010

Realtor Magazine recently interviewed NAR Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun. Lawrence gave a glimpse into the recent decline in Pending Homes Sales, impact of weather on the real estate market, new home sales, and the ending of Mortgage Backed Security purchases by the Fed. Here’s a recap of the interview. On Pending Home Sales January’s Pending [...]

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Economy

How Would a U.S. Treasury Default Affect You?

by Brian Brady | February 26, 2010

You gotta be thinking about this…at least I hope you are. If you’re an investor with any portfolio of substance, the unrest associated with the financial institutions was nothing compared to what the sovereign debt default continuum might bring. Here’s how I see it playing out: Sovereign debt is going to default en masse. Greece [...]

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Economy

Fed Lays Groundwork for Higher Rates with Unexpected Hike

by Ryan Hinricher | February 22, 2010

Maybe it was only symbolic move. On Thursday, the Federal Reserve hiked its lending rate for emergency bank loans known as the “Fed Discount Rate” from .5% to .75% in an off-cycle meeting. While this rate affects little in the day-to-day bank-to-consumer lending, the Fed could be prepping us all for changes in its easy [...]

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Commentary

The Economic and other Forces Impacting Your Real Estate Business

by Peter Giardini | February 11, 2010

It seems that everywhere you look now days the news stories, regardless of their source, provide nothing but conflicting points of view regarding the economy and where it is heading. Prices are up, sales are down. We’re at the bottom… no it’s going to double-dip. Credit is available… no it’s not! As a real estate investor, I am [...]

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