Asia, solid investor optimism in the housing market

Asia, solid investor optimism in the housing market

From the Real Estate Market Survey of RICS Global Commercial fourth quarter shows that the real estate market of northern Asia remains solid. In particular, China, Hong Kong and Japan have shown a sharp rise in sentiment in the rental market and investments. The Survey indicates, however, a more negative trend for the Singapore market, with some key indicators that showed further deterioration.

China

In China, demand for rentals has risen slightly after the slowdown in the third quarter, with net income up to +20. The availability of space is increased. Although expectations on rents remain on a positive territory, the increase in new construction will affect sull'outlook rents in the future. Even the confident investors saw a marked improvement, with a sharp increase in demands and expectations of transactions. The increased appetite for investment is spurring expectations on the capital value.

Hong Kong

In Hong Kong, the requests for rent have recovered at a faster pace in the fourth quarter. The space available has increased but not enough to weaken the outlook rents. Rising demand continues to support the expectations on the values ​​of rents. In terms of investments, the trend is more positive. There was a strong rebound in investment requests, with a net balance rising to +52. The investment market for commercial real estate has benefited by implementing further tightening measures, including stamp duty for buyers and a number of Special Taxes Stamp sales of residential apartments which came into force last October. This has contributed to a sustained rise in inflows of investments in commercial real estate. The principal amount may continue to rise, as indicated by the most positive indicator on future transactions.

Japan

As regards Japan, the net balance of the request rents continue to rise and a faster pace than the available space. This results in a positive performance expectations on rental growth. Investments in commercial real estate remained positive compared to other asset classes volatile, lower efficiency. Investors are increasingly attracted by the commercial real estate market, with the upward trend in investment requests and expectations on future transactions. However, the most promising developments in the investment market have not yet fully impacted the value of capital, which for the moment remains stable.

Singapore

In Singapore, the demand for space in the fourth quarter weakened again, given that the net balance fell further to -38. They grew still spaces available. The outlook for the rental growth has deteriorated further. However, on the investment front, the picture is more favorable. Specifically, investor demand remained strong while expectations on future transactions rose further. In fact, the indicator of the capital value expectations remained positive due to increased appetite for risk.

Six million euro for a castle in Bavaria offered for sale by Porsche

Schloss Bullachberg

When an investment becomes unproductive is the case to discard it and so Porsche has decided to sell his castle in Bavaria, purchased in 2006, for six million euro. The automaker had in fact bought the castle, Schloss Bullachberg, close to Neuschwanstein Castle, the most famous of Bavaria, with the intention of turning it into a luxury hotel with 180,000 square meters. The idea was started by former president of the group Wendelin Wiedeking, but the renovations were never parties, and the company has now decided to sell it.

The automaker is due so retrace his steps after an investment property that proved to be too expensive.

Now the castle is for sale and given the environment fairytale may soon find the right buyers can turn it into a luxury hotel or a private residence by real king.

Real Estate, 5 Tips To Help You Save Foreclosure

There are lots of things that people don't know about the foreclosure process that can be extremely damaging and can mean the difference between saving your home and losing it if you don't get educated. If you are going through a foreclosure there are 5 key elements that you need to understand in order to prevent the bank from taking back your home.


Foreclosure! It can be a scary and an extremely frustrating procedure. There are confusing words and terminology used that most homeowners don't understand along with the mountain high stacks of paperwork being mailed and delivered to you on a weekly basis. It is enough to make you want to scream. The two most critical things you can do during the pre-foreclosure process is to constantly educate yourself and to keep in close communication with your bank. Below are 5 key items you need to know and understand about the pre-foreclosure process and how you can avoid it like the plague.

1. Understanding when the bank will move forward with the foreclosure. The easiest way to get this information is to contact them and find out what their guidelines are. When the foreclosure starts depends on the lender. Some will move forward with it after 90 days of not having received a payment. Other lenders will take longer. Talk to you lender and get informed about how to stop it.

A lot of it also depends on your commitment to work with the lender. If you can convince them that you are willing the work with them then they may not start the foreclosure process at all. Some banks will try and work out a solution that works best for you and your current situation. If you keep them up to date about what is happening with you, your odds will increase dramatically of getting a payment planned worked out.

2. Figure out the length of the foreclosure process in your area. It is different from bank to bank and again, the best thing I can suggest is that you call the bank directly to find this information out. Try and contact somebody directly in the foreclosure department. Some can get it done in as little as 21 days and others may take 6 months or more. It varies from bank to bank.

3. Find out if you have an alternative to foreclosure. There is more than one way to skin a cat and there is more than one way to stop a foreclosure. The options you have depends on your situation. This includes examples like what your debt on the house is, is your financial situation permanent or temporary, would you like to stay in the house or not. Speaking with the bank and a foreclosure attorney will assist you in deciding what your best available option is and how to solve your current situation.

4. Find the right person to talk to at your bank. This is something that may change throughout the foreclosure process. If you contact the bank before the property goes into foreclosure then you might talk to somebody in the workout department. If the property actually falls into foreclosure, then you will more than likely get sent to the foreclosure department. Stay in constant contact with your lender at all times and make sure you are dealing with the correct department at all times. It would be a total waste of your time if you start faxing paperwork and mailing information to the wrong department. If there is one thing I know about the foreclosure process it's that time is definitely not on your side.

5. Figure out what all the paperwork you are getting means. Throughout the foreclosure, you will be getting tons of letters and postcards from attorneys who work with the bank. If possible, hire a foreclosure attorney yourself so that you will know exactly what everything means. If it is not possible to hire an attorney, try and do some of the research yourself so that you have a better understanding of the meaning behind what you are getting. Having knowledge of what is getting mailed to you is vital to knowing exactly where you are at in the foreclosure process.
More information, please visit : http://www.StLouisHomebuyersLLC.com

Green Home Renovation Ideas

There are many houses out there, which are completely un-befitting in their environment and have been constructed with harmful synthetic materials. People, of course, have the right to buy a house which pleases or delights them, but what if the same house poses threat to their health and environment? This is the reason why today a growing number of people are renovating and upgrading their houses in an eco-friendly way. In fact, the numbers of companies, which specialize in producing and selling green renovation materials, have also increased significantly in the recent couple of years. The green products sold by these companies are not actually treated with toxic chemicals that can result in damaging consequences to the environment.


For instance, traditional paints that involved environment controversy for a very long time are now available with no VOC's. Nowadays, some companies even make insulation using recycled materials, like cork, bamboo, cotton etc. There are loads of eco-friendly materials being sold in the market, which can surely suit your individual requirements. Wood is another very important material in renovating a house. Green companies do make sure that the environment is not disturbed while harvesting trees. There are also other companies, which use recycled goods, such as plastics, for creating household construction products or items. Not many know that it is also possible to install kitchen counters made with the recycled paper.

When choosing the green materials for renovating your house, you would find lots of materials that are not only safe for the environment but also more durable and easier to maintain, as compared to the traditional renovation materials. As the markets for sustainable materials are lesser than the traditional materials, you may have to perform some extra online searches and look for a good building supply company to get what you are seeking. Apart from employing green home renovation materials and products, there are numerous other ways in which you can make your house environmentally sound. For example, for brightening up your house, you can install skylights that use the natural sunlight, rather than the traditional lighting which consumes a lot of energy.

You can use the solar energy, not just to heat your outdoor pools, but also the interior of your house. There are many companies out there which offer services to integrate the solar panels on the roof of a house in such a way that they seem like the normal roof tiles. These solar panels use the energy of the sun to heat the house and thus, contribute in considerably reducing the monthly electricity bills. In addition, replacing traditional windows with dual-pane windows, opting for natural insulation and choosing flooring options made from recycled materials, are all the ways to make your house environment friendly. Being eco-conscious and going for greener alternatives, while renovating one's home is the best way to support the "green movement". So, implement these green home renovation ideas and see what difference they make to your life.
More information, please visit : http://www.harjirealtors.com/sunny.php

Good for Greg Mankiw...

..for supporting marriage equality.

Why is the luxury housing market recovering so well?

The fashionable thing to say is because of foreign money.  I suspect the actual reason is that the one percent have gotten 122 percent of the recovery (h/t/ Tim Noah).

The demand curve for housing among the rich has shifted out.

Norway estate boom!

Norway big city skyline

The Norwegian regulators should impose more restrictive rules for the housing market compared to those in force abroad. This is because house prices and private debt have reached record levels, very different from those reported in the rest of the Old Continent. To make known, Bloomberg agency reported, was Morten Baltzersen, the number one of the Authority for the Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) in the Nordic country.

"Our starting point is some concern for the growth of private debt and real estate prices in Norway," he said. And the measures taken will not be in line with the rest of Europe because - he said - the starting situation is very different.

 

To contribute to a lending boom of the families were very low interest rates, falling unemployment and rising wages in a country that is ranked fourth in the world for per capita income. And while the rest of the continent was gripped by the eurozone debt crisis, Norway real estate prices have gained 30% since 2008.

Last year, the authority has received from the Government with the task of drawing up new rules for the issuance of bonds, literally exploded since 2007.

 

A concern is the increase in the use of loans as collateral. Baltzersen preferred not to disclose details of the proposed agency, which will be presented in early March.

 

Another idea being considered by regulators mail is to modify the risk weighting of loans in such a way as to require banks to set aside larger capital reserves to protect themselves from losses, dampening the boom in the provision of real estate loans.

A nice sit-com to about real estate agents

"vendesi" - main actors

Often we have heard that real estate agents are not a profession "funny". Without a doubt, this injury was aggravated during a period of great difficulty of the real estate market like the one we are living because, as pointed out by a survey conducted some time ago in the United States own a real estate agent, the dislike of the category comes most of the time not so much the lack of professionalism of the agent or real character of the individual components, but the fact that the real estate broker represents for many the personification of dreams and expectations dashed. On the one hand those of the owner that he wanted to get a higher price (even if unrealistic) from the sale of your property and, second, those buyers who may be forced to give up the house they wanted or discount which had aimed .

That is why it really interesting experiment placed online these days by a couple of Italians real estate agents who, with the declared intention of making nice to the whole profession and to provide practical help and free to all those who are struggling with the purchase, sale or lease of a property, have created the first website dedicated to this Italian-com sector.

It is 10 episodes (for now only the first online) a small sit-coms, whose transmission is provided only via the web, through the dramatization of real events to the two professionals in their work, said some key issues in real estate transactions, such as the deposit, the energy certification or expenses.

Sit-com webstite: http://www.vendesi.tv/

The future of efficient transportation

Might look like this:

I heard a lecture from Alain Bertaud on how networked, scheduled transportation is not a good solution for many people--even in poor parts of the world.  And I can testify that auto rickshaws are often the best way to get around cities in India--they are quick, cheap, and when fueled by natural gas, environmentally not too bad (those with two stroke engines are a whole other matter).

One of the most provocative things I learned from Alain is that buses are often less fuel efficient than cars--for a bus system to work, they have to run at periods where demand is fairly low.     As it happens, while sitting at dinner in downtown Los Angeles last night, we watched bus after bus on 6th Street go by nearly empty.

Economy. Journey to the roots of the crisis, European banks have been up to?

a black cloud over the world

The chronicle and political force us daily to deal with words and concepts related to economic matters. Terms and expressions borrowed from the colorful jargon of finance or economic doctrine, have become commonly used on the basis of the violent changes in place for some years, but their meaning is often shrouded in the mists for those not into the matter.

TOXIC AND MALE INCOME SECURITIES

Never like today is very timely, as a result of recent developments in the case of European banks, hear about "derivative" investments classified as financial products created in 1920 and in the years to come, purchased by banks around the world. It should, however, do so clearly on the subject to understand what a derivative and by whom it has been used over the years by dragging the entire global financial system to the economic meltdown. The term "derivative" or "derivate" refers to a financial product identified as speculative title contains within itself a large number of subtitles at great risk. This appears to be the result of a finance called "creative" that produced disastrous effects on markets and financial centers defined strategic, among them New York and London. The already dangerous product itself has become devastating when it has approached banks behaviors unclear and even little lawful. And 'the beginning of the new millennium that some of codeste banks gave start to what today we can clearly define "economic decline". It all started with the U.S. such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, banks defined sisters, and the famous Lehman Brothers founded by two German brothers. Once again the "families" in American society are confirmed carriers of dangerous mishaps despite the same America you define in the eyes of the world, a big family.

So while Lehman Brothers was ordered by the General Court of the United States for misconduct in 2000, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac specializzavano in the supply of subprime mortgages, outstanding loans granted without receiving any guarantees in this regard. Only in the period from 2002 to 2006 's provision of these loans has increased from $ 38 billion to 90. U.S. banks to protect savers become true generating and sellers of "bad economy."

LEHMAN BROTHERS. OR THE TAIL OF THE DEVIL AND THE BIG STORY

Lehman Brothers is the name most frequently used in a negative way in economic history that goes from 2000 to 2008, a period in which the investment bank leading the United States will be declared bankrupt, September 16, 2008 due to insolvency, causing the biggest economic disaster of the financial crisis that has been recorded by the U.S. in 1929. This is despite Alan Greenspan, one of the best governors of the Central Bank of the United States, had cut interest rates the Fed at a record low of the last 45 years bringing the percentage of the one.

Events have also contributed to the fall of the world economy. The tragedy of the Twin Towers, September 11, 2001, and all outbreaks of wars that have resulted from it, have helped to drag the economy into the "financial storm". The term today is frequently used and is linked to the name of a Russian-born economist Nouriel Roubini, then unknown, but only predict two years in advance of the severe economic turmoil in September 2008. It 'just the story, with its disasters, to offer an additional side to creative financing and its toxic assets, effects of the derivative. With the destruction of the Twin Towers disappeared forever some of the best financial minds, settled just inside the two structures, which operated for commercial banks and monetary-financial companies with global interests.

Lehman Brothers and investment banks clones taking advantage of the special and delicate historical moment have flooded the market with additional financial toxic assets. E 'enough to consult the Federal Reserve data to verify the progressive and destructive course: the only period 2003 - 2007 subprime mortgages flowed from 332 billion to 1.3 trillion dollars.

GET THE CONTAGION

In the course of just six years, Lehman Brothers rises exponentially in the sale of toxic assets in the enterprise involving unscrupulous banks of the affairs of other countries. The follow Japan's Nomura, today all over the papers for the scandal MPS, and many other sisters triggering that effect "domino" that currently can be seen on all financial markets from Europe and overseas and levied in those dominated by market economy .

Lehnman Brothers & C generated children and stepchildren who currently do not enjoy good health at all, in fact, need rigorous treatment to prevent their evil becomes even more serious in fact causing a further deterioration of the state of the world economy.

The action of this perverse financial world has brought with him, like a tsunami, other illustrious victims, in the insurance and real estate. AIG, a leading American insurance company, declared bankrupt in 2008, is one of these victims. Martyr also its own insurance of subprime mortgages. Following the collapse of Lehman Brothers the current Governor of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke, Greenspan's successor, it was the protagonist of the first operation to rescue the U.S. economy measure in evaluating the $ 750 billion, a figure of fact, far lower than that of loans issued and never guaranteed.

Unjustifiable myopia

And European banks as they reacted to the crisis? The German, English, Irish, French, Spanish, Belgian and Dutch to avoid bankruptcy by toxic assets held in the financial statements have been nationalized or acquired by the State with the pragmatic consequences for the debt of sovereign states. In front of this mess is a question of obligation: "Where were all these years supervisory bodies of central banks and national banks?" Answers will vary, but none, absolutely none, can never justify what for many years has happened, is happening and will happen unfortunately.

Luxury villas and homes, sales increase in Italy

luxury house with pool

The luxury real estate market does not seem to have suffered from the crisis, indeed.

The analysis conducted by an indipendent observatory analyzed the sales of luxury real estate in Italy (here some examples of luxury homes and villas in Italy), recording an increase of 16% between 2011 and 2012.

You can buy real estate property and more throughout the boot and especially from abroad, particularly from Russia. Data that bode well for the industry in a time when other properties are still on the other hand if not in decline: Istat has photographed the real estate market in the same period that saw a decline in sales of 23.6%. Italy thus confirming land of beauty, able to attract foreign investors, attracted by the beauty of our country and the most exclusive houses.

The types of luxury homes in Italy ranging from ancient to modern, following the most beautiful routes in our country. The archaeological wonders, cultural and gastronomic traditions, natural beauty, ranging from the sea to the mountains, the reasons for living in Italy are many, especially for foreigners who have bought more prestigious properties between 2011 and 2012. The figure that emerges from the research speaks of buyers in the United States increased (+9%) and England (+3%). The most significant of these is Russia, which is an increase in double figures with a + 12% of searches on the portal, in particular from Moscow (+55%) and St. Petersburg (+30%).

Different types of luxury homes affecting buyers from Russia are wondering designer villas, while the British confirmed the charm of the Tuscan countryside (Chiantishire) or the cities of art, primarily Florence, Venice and Rome, while the U.S. recall Made in Italy remains the strongest.

Even the location vary according to the groups of buyers with a preference of Russian classics of Italian luxury in places like Lake Como, the fashion district of Milan and Sardinia, while the British link historic houses and castles of the Tuscan hills, the masserie or historic buildings in Venice, followed by the Americans who alternated historic farmhouses to villas and housing design.

Always the Russians are also distinguished by the greater purchasing power for luxury homes ranging from 10 thousand to 15 thousand euro per square meter, exceeding 15 thousand when it comes to villas in Costa Smeralda: the lower the average expenditure of British and American between the 8 thousand and 12 thousand euro per square meter.
 

Black numbers for housing market. Crisis!

Crisis make me cry

ITALY - Black for the housing market crisis, which also affects a small part of the demand for mortgages.

A enderlo known is the Fiaip Federation (estate agents referring to cercacasa.it) which publishes the data on the year 2012, emphasizing a reduction of 11, 98% of real estate prices and a reduction in the number of sales of 17.22% compared to 2011.

The effects of the economic crisis are also found from the analysis of a larger period, ie the five-year period 2008-2013 (according to the experts, the period of real economic crisis), where the only housing prices have fallen by 20-25 %, even the sales have been reduced by 40%. Compared to 2012, net also decrease the prices of rentals, from -5.6% of the locations for housing to -12.5% ​​of the leases for commercial use.

Fiaip appears slightly confident hope of a slow recovery in the second half of 2013 will persist if the conditions of political and economic stability. The real estate market of non-residential showed a decrease in the price of 14.89% for the shops, 15.27% for offices and of 15.04% for construction, with a decrease in sales which amounted on average around 20%.

43% of the trading is done with the use of mortgages and loans, but with a slight reduction in requests and disbursements compared to 2011. Among the cities, the gold medal for the decline in residential property prices in Perugia, the Umbrian capital is recording a peak of -17.13%; reverse speech to Taranto where property prices have fallen by "only" 2 %.

Italy - Black year for the housing market, house prices collapse: Rome -15%

Italy - Black year for the housing market

Fiaip: in contrast Taranto. For the first half of 2013 the market still

Rome, February 15 (TMNews) - Black Year, 2012, for the housing market: the sales fell by 17.2% and housing prices have fallen by 11, 9%. To provide the data is Fiaip (Italian Federation of Professional Real Estate Agents) which released the report on the progress of urban real estate market scenarios for 2012 and 2013.The 2012 "closes with a market stagnation in a context in which the indicators marked a decline in real estate prices in the residential and commercial real estate market," said the Federation. For the trades "there is an average trend of falling prices of '11.98% for houses, while falls the number of sales that amounted to -17.22% in 2012." Sharp decline, then the price for leases for housing and commercial leases -5.60% -12.5% ​​compared to 2011.

House prices fell throughout Italy in 2012 and even in big cities, with record declines in Perugia (-17.1%) but also in Rome (-15%) and Milan (-14.2%). From the 2012 report Fiaip there was a strong general decrease in all cities, "with the exception of Taranto who photographs a reality in contrast." The remaining reductions ranging between -5.75% -14.36% of Avellino and Palermo, passing between -8% of Florence - 8.43 of Venice, -11.11% of Salerno - 12% Genoa - 12.83 Udine, -12.86 of Siena - 13% of Naples - Bologna 13.74 - 13.75 Torino - 14% Cagliari.

"Although the market has discounted the beginning of the crisis to date, more than 40% decrease in the volume of trade and a decline in values ​​that on average amounted to about 25%, the brick - said the Fiaip - guaranteed Italy in a "holding" higher than other forms of investment, through the support of a "demand-established" that contained further declines preventing the occurrence of the explosion of so called "bubble".

Last year, property transactions fell to share 470mila. For the first half of 2013 the market is expected to remain firm: Potential buyers are discouraged and wait "at the" possible new sull'Imu of the next government and the arrival of better times. A benefit is, therefore, the rental market. For Fiaip "only the political and economic stability will enable the start of a slow recovery in the second half of 2013."

Where's the monopsony?

President Obama, Paul Krugman and Robert Reich have all been pushing for an increase in the minimum wage.  I want to agree with them, and Krugman is certainly correct that the preponderance of empirical evidence shows that the minimum wage's impact on total employment is negligible.

But the question is, why?  Krugman's statement that human beings are not Manhattan apartments is true, and allows him to support the minimum wage while being appropriately skeptical of rent control, but it doesn't give a satisfactory answer as to why putting a floor on the price of labor would not create excess supply of labor.

There is in economic theory a set of circumstances, however, under which an increase in the minimum wage might raise employment.  If an employer has a market largely to itself--if it has monopsony power--then it will both pay its workers less than their productivity warrants and not hire enough workers to be at the most efficient level of employment.  Raising the minimum wage would then both increase pay and induce more workers into the labor market, hence increasing employment.  If government could nail the minimum wage to the marginal revenue product of the least productive  workers, the minimum wage could produce a first-best outcome--one where pay and employment levels were efficient.

For the argument to work, the demand for labor needn't be perfectly monopsonistic, but rather less than perfectly competitive.  The fact that wages and labor productivity seem to have less and less to do with each other is evidence that the demand for labor is not competitive, but it would be nice to have further, detailed evidence of the industrial organization of labor demand.  

Should college be subsidized?

Mark Thoma has a very nice piece today about how Cal State-Chico changed his life.  One of the reasons it changed his life is that he could afford it--it cost $100 per semester when he went there.  The story is heartwarming, to say the least.

I have always struggled with how much college should be subsidized.  People who go to college almost certainly create positive externalities, and so Pigou would say there should be some subsidy.  But people who go to college also earn substantially more over their lifetimes than those who don't.  Low income people who pay state sales taxes thus subsidize high income people.  Hence the idea that people graduate with debt seems reasonable to me, because the value they get from college far exceeds what they need to invest in college, and it means they are reducing the tax burden of those who don't go to college [I should note that I was among the lucky people whose parents paid for college, so perhaps I am in no position to comment].  On the other hand, if high prices keep 18 year olds from going to college, one of the most important routes to social mobility is blocked.

In any event, a government economist friend of mine has the obvious solution to the problem of the regressive nature of subsidizing college: progressive taxes.  

Will smart phones be the end of built in automobile NAV systems?

Four years ago, my wife bought me car for my birthday.  She reasoned that as a newly minted Angeleno, I would be spending more time in my car than ever before (she was right), and so that I might tire of my slightly beat-up Corolla.

She got me a Honda Accord with all the trimmings, including a NAV device, which I enjoyed very much.  And four years later, I continue to love the car.  But I recently downloaded WAZE to my phone.  WAZE provides crowd-sourced information on traffic, and allows one to find the fastest route from place to place with remarkable dependability.  It provides turn by turn directions, but will change the directions on the fly when traffic conditions change, a regular feature of life in LA.

WAZE is, by the way, a free app.  It also takes us one small step closer to self-driving cars.  By guess is the built-in NAV system, as it currently exists, is a dinosaur.

Bankers and tail events

I participated in a panel last note hosted by the German American Business Association.  Overall, I had a nice time.

But before the panel, a managing director from a very large bank gave a speech, and he was trying to make some sort of point about tail risk.  The example he used is going to jail in Monopoly, an event for which the average probability is four percent.

Maybe I am being picky here, but two points.  One: four percent is not that far out on the tail.  I suppose it would be good if banks tried to avoid things that happen four percent of the time or less.  Two, and more important: random events in Monopoly come from a finite state space, so risk can be completely characterized.  We know with a great deal of certainly the probabilities of particular events happening in Monopoly.

Banks have to deal with uncertainty--random shocks that are not easily characterized by well defined distributions of outcomes.  The Monopoly metaphor is thus a bad one.