Research

Here you can find articles & video with the latest news that's important to real estate investors, charts to make the information clear and papers from the best minds in the industry. Click on the headlines to open the full story.

Fed to keep interest rates low through 2014

Posted: August 13th, 2012



The Federal Open Market Committee said it will keep interest rates low at least through 2014 but will not yet act on further stimulus to a slow-growing economy.

“The Committee will closely monitor incoming information on economic and financial developments and will provide additional accommodation as needed to promote a stronger economic recovery and sustained improvement in labor market conditions in a context of price stability,” according to the FOMC release Wednesday.

Mortgage Rates Keep Falling

Posted: August 18th, 2011



ARTICLE, CNN
Just when it seemed mortgage rates weren’t going to get any lower, they started testing new lows.

In the tumultuous days following Standard & Poor’s debt downgrades, rates on 30-year fixed mortgages fell to 4.32%, down from 4.39% last week and closed in on a record low of 4.17% set last November, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

Rates on 15-year fixed mortgages set a new record for the second week in a row, falling to 3.5%, down from 3.54% last week.

Blackstone Leads Buyout Firms Expanding Into Property

Posted: April 22nd, 2011


ARTICLE, BLOOMBERG
Blackstone Group LP and Carlyle Group are leading a record number of private-equity managers aiming to raise real estate funds as the world’s top buyout firms accelerate an expansion beyond corporate takeovers.
Blackstone, the biggest private-equity firm, is planning to raise its next real estate fund, with a target of about $10 billion, later this year. Carlyle is in the process of raising a new fund for U.S. property deals, said a person briefed on the plan who asked not to be named because the fund is private.
The two are among 439 private-equity real estate funds seeking a combined $160 billion, the largest number on record, according to London-based researcher Preqin Ltd. KKR & Co.

Sequoia Real Estate Partners, Q1 2011 Investor Market Summary and Forecast

Posted: April 5th, 2011



OPINION, SREP
In the same week the sobering Case-Shiller housing data is released, Fortune Magazine’s cover reads, “The Return of Real Estate”, with the accompanying story captioned “Real Estate: It’s Time to Buy Again”. And, if that were not enough to cause confusion, my beloved Costco Connection (yes, I am an Executive Member) runs a story, “What’s Up with Real Estate”, the article’s central premise being that now might be a good time to buy a home.
Indeed, 2011 has thus far been a “head scratcher,” with nobody, especially economists and the so-called market analysts able to agree on what all this contradictory information means. Frankly, I am not sure I am in any better position to do so. However, what I can say, without equivocation, is that my views on the residential rental market, including the buy/hold/rent strategy of single-family residences, remain unchanged. With the continued fear and uncertainty in the real estate market I am just as bullish as I was back in 2010, when we started the Sequoia Fund.

Fed boss: Regulators looking into foreclosure mess

Posted: October 25th, 2010


ARTICLE, ASSOC.PRESS, 10.24.2010
Preliminary results of the in-depth review into the practices of the nation’s largest mortgage companies are expected to be released next month, Bernanke said in remarks to a housing-finance conference in Arlington, Va.
“We are looking intensively at the firms’ policies, procedures and internal controls related to foreclosures and seeking to determine whether systematic weaknesses are leading to improper foreclosures,” Bernanke said. “We take violation of proper procedures very seriously,” he added.

Where to Buy a Home for Less Than $800 a Month

Posted: September 15th, 2010


ARTICLE, U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT, 09.15.2010
Lower property values and dirt-cheap mortgage rates have combined to restore affordability to many real estate markets that were once wildly overpriced. “Right now, housing is about as affordable as it has been since at least the 1970s,” says Patrick Newport, a U.S. economist for IHS Global Insight.

Fed sees weakening of western real estate market from spring

Posted: July 29th, 2010


PAPER, FEDERAL RESERVE, 07.28.2010
Demand for housing in the District appeared to deteriorate somewhat from the previous period, while demand for commercial real estate was largely unchanged at very low levels. The pace of home sales remained mixed across areas but appeared to decline on net, even as home prices edged up further in some parts of the District.

Fed Raises U.S. Growth Range, Sees Lower Unemployment

Posted: May 20th, 2010


ARTICLE, BLOOMBERG BUSINESS WEEK, 05.20.2010
Federal Reserve officials raised their U.S. growth estimates for 2010 and lowered forecasts for unemployment and inflation, according to minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on April 27-28.

Designing Loan Modifications to Address the Mortgage Crisis and the Making Home Affordable Program

Posted: December 3rd, 2009


PAPER, FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF D.C., 12.15.2009
This paper presents preliminary findings and is being distributed to economists
and other interested readers solely to stimulate discussion and elicit comments.

Negative Equity and Foreclosure

Posted: June 6th, 2008


PAPER, FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF BOSTON, 06.05.2008
Christopher L. Foote and Paul S. Willen are senior economists and policy advisors