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Featured Real Estate Articles

Booming Real Estate Profits From Baby Boomer Investing
In last week's article, called "Irrational Exuberance, Part II?," I discussed some of our concerns about what is happening in the preconstruction investment real estate market. What many people have asked me is "if you're so concerned about the real ...

High-Tech Real Estate Marketing
A quick glance through the Sunday real estate ads reveals that most homes are sold the old fashioned way. By print ads and word of mouth. Truth be told, placing your home in the Sunday paper does little more than quench the ego of the agent listing your ...

The Real Estate Bubble Fallacy
There has been a lot of talk lately about the "Real Estate Bubble", and a lot of folks are asking the question: "When it is going to burst"? They are saying that the market just can't sustain this level of growth and appreciation much longer, and I heat ...




Interest Rate Hikes Send Mixed Signals To Real Estate Investors
 
December 20, 2005 - Successive interest rate increases by the Fed have left everyone wondering what is going to happen next with Real Estate. Will the boom continue or is this the beginning of a gradual slow down?

As Jim Jubak, writing in Jubak's Journal, points out, the effect of steady increases will have a much broader impact than just on those who have adjustable-rate mortgages or are locked in because of bad credit ratings. He reports that many large mortgage companies are now selling off riskier holdings to third and fourth parties -- parties prepared to put their faith in the ever upward march of prices. But as Jubak says, "It's never a good sign when the folks that know an asset best are selling."

**Commercial Real Estate Prices in Japan Show Increase**

Tokyo's commercial land prices are still down 80 percent from the peaks of 1990, but are starting to make a come back. With interest rates at record lows and Japan's economy showing growth for four straight years, commercial property prices have actually increased this year for the first time in 15 years.

As a sign of their confidence in the Japanese economy, American International Group Inc., the world's largest insurer, has begun negotiations for the purchase of a $3.4 billion office tower in downtown Tokyo.

**Builder Confidence Declines Slightly in US**

Builders of single-family homes across the US showed slightly decreased confidence in the market going into December. According to a recent survey of members, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing market Index (HMI) showed a slight decline from November.

The December index was down from 61 to 57, with anything above 50 indicating "good" sales conditions. Ratings are based on total traffic, resistance to current pricing, interest rate concerns and several other factors. While December's number is still above 50, it is at its lowest point since April, 2003. The national average was brought down by a 33 reported for the Midwest.

**Magna owner misused influence according to minor shareholder**

The founder of Magna International Inc, Frank Stronach, is being accused of misusing the assets of MI Developments, a publicly-traded company that acts as the real estate wing of Magna International.

According to lawyers for Greenlight Capital, Inc., a 10% owner of MI Developments, Stronach used "oppressive conduct" to direct the resources of MI Developments towards propping up another of his companies, Magna Entertainment Corp. This third company runs several racetracks across North America.

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Real Estate News


Press-Enterprise

REAL ESTATE: California receives up to $18 billion in multistate settlement
Press-Enterprise
“It is a good first step but only a step toward the solutions we need,” said Kevin Stein, associate director of the California Reinvestment Coalition, a real estate consumer advocacy group. In California, the banks have guaranteed more than $12 billion ...
Will bank settlement help Florida's real estate market?Palm Beach Post (blog)
$25B settlement reached over foreclosure abusesSacramento Bee
States, banks reach foreclosure-abuse settlementAlbany Times Union
msnbc.com -LoanSafe
all 2,842 news articles »

Fort Worth Star Telegram

Evangelical real estate developer brought Santorum to North Texas
Fort Worth Star Telegram
If Rick Santorum eventually wins Texas Republicans over, one of Texas' leading real estate developers should share credit. Last month, Jeff Blackard of the McKinney-based Blackard Group went undercover in South Carolina as a walk-in Santorum volunteer.
Donald Trump: Rick Santorum 'Wants To Be President? Give Me A Break' (VIDEO)Huffington Post

all 461 news articles »

Bloomberg

Shrinking the foreclosed real estate glut
Boston Globe
But it isn't going to fix the nation's residential real estate mess. That mess - millions of homeowners underwater on their mortgages, a stagnant residential sales market that lacks buyers and a clog of foreclosed property - can't be cleaned up with ...
REAL ESTATE: Refinancing program expands for Fannie/Freddie borrowersPress-Enterprise

all 160 news articles »

The Free Lance-Star

Vakos Real Estate opened this week in the Southpoint II shopping center.
The Free Lance-Star
BY BILL FREEHLING BY BILL FREEHLING One of the Fredericksburg area's oldest and most prominent development firms has started a full-service real estate brokerage arm. Vakos Real Estate opened this week in a 5200-square-foot space next to a Tropical ...
Who's who at new Vakos Real Estate firmFredericksburg.com (blog)

all 4 news articles »

Real Estate Agent Highlights New Technologies by Bicycling 700 Miles to Mid ...
MarketWatch (press release)
His route takes him across the breadth of four states and through 12 overnight stops, ending on stage before an expected 4000 attendees of the Coldwell Banker Real Estate's International Business Conference. Dyer aims to use a 150-year-old ...

and more »