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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.

Rents Keep Rising, Even as Housing Prices Fall

Posted: February 27th, 2012

The housing market remains a potent drag on the economy as home prices continue to slip, foreclosed homes fill some neighborhoods and millions of construction workers scramble for jobs.
But one group is sitting pretty: landlords.
Unlike home prices, rents have been rising, up 2.4 percent in January from a year earlier, according to recent data, not adjusted for inflation, released by the Labor Department.
With few rental buildings erected over the last few years, available units are going fast.

U.S. Housing Prices Fell Again in January

Posted: March 29th, 2011

ARTICLE, NY TIMES
Housing prices slid in January for the sixth month in a row, putting them barely above the lows reached in the depths of the recession, according to data released Tuesday.

A Dim View of Betting on Venture Capital

Posted: November 23rd, 2010

ARTICLE, NY TIMES, 11.23.2010
“There’s too much money chasing too few deals.”
Sean Parker, the entrepreneur behind Napster and Facebook now turned investor, was talking about the state of the venture capital industry last week over coffee. At 30, Mr. Parker, who was recently portrayed by Justin Timberlake in “The Social Network,” has been thinking a lot about innovation — or the lack of it — in the United States.

Delinquency Rate on U.S. Mortgages Declines

Posted: November 18th, 2010

ARTICLE, NY TIMES, 11.18.2010
The mortgage delinquency rate in the United States declined last quarter amid hints of improvement in the job market, but headwinds from defaults and a rising rate of new foreclosure applications keep the housing outlook muddied, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Thursday.

Sequoia Investment Partners, October 2010 Investor Market Summary and Forecast

Posted: October 28th, 2010

OPINION, SREP, 10.28.2010
Not surprisingly, the economic data continues to be mixed, with all eyes on the Federal Reserve, to see what, if any, additional stimulus endeavors they undertake. Most anticipate that they will purchase several hundred billion dollars of U.S. Treasuries in an effort to combat weak economic growth and deflation…..

Short Sales Resisted as Foreclosures Are Revived

Posted: October 25th, 2010

ARTICLE, NY TIMES, 10.24.2010
Bank of America and GMAC are firing up their formidable foreclosure machines again today, after a brief pause………..But some major lenders took a quick inventory of their foreclosure practices and insisted their processes were sound. They now seem intent on resuming foreclosures. And that could have a profound effect on many homeowners.

U.S. Housing Starts in August Topped Forecasts

Posted: September 21st, 2010

ARTICLE, NY TIMES, 09.21.2010
Housing starts in the United States increased more than expected in August to their highest level in four months and permits for residential construction also rose, government data showed on Tuesday, suggesting that the embattled market was starting to stabilize following the end of a tax credit.

A Dream House After All: Karl Case Explains Why It’s a Great Time to Buy a Home, or Invest in Housing.

Posted: September 7th, 2010

OPINION, NY TIMES, 09.07.2010
But housing has perhaps never been a better bargain, and sooner or later buyers will regain faith, inventories will shrink to reasonable levels, prices will rise and we’ll even start building again. The American dream is not dead — it’s just taking a well-deserved rest.
Karl E. Case is a professor emeritus of economics at Wellesley and co-creator of Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller housing index.

Bad Debts Rise as Bust Erodes Home Equity

Posted: August 12th, 2010

ARTICLE, NY TIMES, 08.11.2010
The delinquency rate on home equity loans is higher than all other types of consumer loans, including auto loans, boat loans, personal loans and even bank cards like Visa and MasterCard, according to the American Bankers Association…… Even when a lender forces a borrower to settle through legal action, it can rarely extract more than 10 cents on the dollar. “People got 90 cents for free,” Mr. Combs said. “It rewards immorality, to some extent.”

Wall St. Hiring in Anticipation of an Economic Recovery

Posted: July 11th, 2010

ARTICLE, NY TIMES, 06.11.2010
While much of the country remains fixated on the bleak employment picture, hiring is beginning to pick up in the place that led the economy into recession — Wall Street.

Biggest Defaulters on Mortgages Are the Rich

Posted: July 9th, 2010

ARTICLE, NY TIMES, 07.09.2010
Whether it is their residence, a second home or a house bought as an investment, the rich have stopped paying the mortgage at a rate that greatly exceeds the rest of the population.

More than one in seven homeowners with loans in excess of a million dollars are seriously delinquent, according to data compiled for The New York Times by the real estate analytics firm CoreLogic.

Housing Market Slows as Buyers Get Picky

Posted: June 17th, 2010

ARTICLE, NY TIMES, 06.16.2010
Exacting buyers are upending the battered real estate market, agents and other experts say, leading to last-minute demands for multiple concessions, bruised feelings on all sides and many more collapsed deals than usual.

Lengthening the Limbo

Posted: June 1st, 2010

CHART, NY TIMES, 06.01.2010
The average number of days in each state that it takes to go from default to foreclosure and how that’s changed since 2008.

Owners Stop Paying Mortgages, and Stop Fretting

Posted: June 1st, 2010

ARTICLE, NY TIMES, 06.01.2010
Foreclosure has allowed them to stabilize the family business. Go to Outback occasionally for a steak. Take their gas-guzzling airboat out for the weekend. Visit the Hard Rock Casino.

“Instead of the house dragging us down, it’s become a life raft,” said Mr. Pemberton, who stopped paying the mortgage on their house here last summer. “It’s really been a blessing.”

A growing number of the people whose homes are in foreclosure are refusing to slink away in shame. They are fashioning a sort of homemade mortgage modification, one that brings their payments all the way down to zero. They use the money they save to get back on their feet or just get by.

Barry Sternlicht, the Real Estate Bargain Hunter

Posted: May 31st, 2010

ARTICLE, NY TIMES, 05.28.2010
There are no chandeliers on the three-story ceiling, no paintings on the walls. And there is nobody at the front desk to greet visitors. The only sound is the eerie gurgle of a 40-foot waterfall.
None of this deters Barry Sternlicht, the real estate investor who owns the building. “The bones,” he says, gesturing around the room. “The bones are extraordinary!”

Owners Bet on Raising the Rent, and Lost

Posted: May 29th, 2010

ARTICLE, NY TIMES, 5.29.2010
“The landscape has changed dramatically,” P. J. Johnston, a spokesman for the owners, said in an interview. “The economy has taken a major hit. Many properties are facing default.”

But just like Riverton and Stuyvesant Town, the owners of Parkmerced sought to take advantage of a roaring market to replace rent-regulated residents with tenants able to pay far higher rates.