The dollar is falling, good for foreign investors
http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=T&ct=us/0-0&fd=R&url=http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/articles/2008/01/23/us__real_estate_a_bargain_for_foreign_buyers&cid=1126682309&ei=1TeYR4qsOoHo_AHBx5GBBw
Thursday, January 24, 2008
US real estate a 'bargain' for foreign buyers - Boston Globe
Homes see first price drop on record
The worst housing financial crisis in decades is only going to get worse, a Merrill Lynch report said Wednesday.
http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/money_topstories/~3/221779322/index.htm
Prices of homes sold in December registered the biggest year-over-year decline on record, according to an industry trade group, and 2007 is the first year on record that has seen a drop. A report issued Thursday showed the problems in the housing market have not yet bottomed out.
http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/money_topstories/~3/221779322/index.htm
Prices of homes sold in December registered the biggest year-over-year decline on record, according to an industry trade group, and 2007 is the first year on record that has seen a drop. A report issued Thursday showed the problems in the housing market have not yet bottomed out.
http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/money_topstories/~3/222374403/index.htm
Pain relief for mortgage flare-ups
Lenders, foreclosure-prevention groups and the government are all working to ease the shock of upcoming subprime adjustable rate mortgage resets. But the recent plunge in interest rates will also help consumers. Even so, it won't be enough to save many at-risk ARM borrowers.
http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/money_topstories/~3/222215432/index.htm
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Real-Estate Search Engine Roost Launches With Full MLS Listings
Just when you thought the real-estate bubble had burst and the economy was going to hell, here comes another real-estate search engine. Today we see the launch of Roost, a real-estate site inspired by the lean look and feel of travel search engine Kayak. In fact, two of Roost's board members and lead investors from General Catalyst Partners are also on the board of Kayak. Roost was founded in May 2007, and raised a $5.5 million A round.
What makes Roost different is that, instead of trying to list all properties in the U.S. as Zillow or CyberHomes do, or take in feeds from individual real estate brokers as Trulia or Redfin do, it is negotiating with Multiple Listing Services (MLSs) in each metro area to get a comprehensive set of houses on sale. (The MLS is what real-estate brokers contributeto and use to find homes on the market, and up until recently MLS data was well-guarded from the Web). Roost launches with more than a dozen cities/MLSs, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, San Diego, and Washington, D.C. (Notably absent are San Francisco and New York).
Roost is a real-estate search engine with comprehensive for-sale listings in the markets it covers, including for-sale-by-owner listings (which it does not show side-by-side with MLS listings because of industry restrictions). You can see all the photos for a particular house without leaving the search engine, you can see results on a map, and there are sliders (for price, bedrooms, square feet, etc.) to tweak results. It is a pretty-straight-forward site without a lot of bells and whistles. "We are laser focused on search," CEO Alex Chang tells me. "We are not doing valuations. We are not creating heat maps. We are doing high-performance search."
On the back-end, Roost hosts a directory of real-estate broker sites and delivers search traffic to those sites based on a combination of natural results and paid search. "I send qualified traffic to the broker," says Chang. "They are buying clicks from me." That is the business model. But Chang is going to have to crow pretty loud to get noticed by prospective home-buyers who have many other real-estate search engines to choose from these days, and maybe less incentive to go house-hunting in the first place.
What makes Roost different is that, instead of trying to list all properties in the U.S. as Zillow or CyberHomes do, or take in feeds from individual real estate brokers as Trulia or Redfin do, it is negotiating with Multiple Listing Services (MLSs) in each metro area to get a comprehensive set of houses on sale. (The MLS is what real-estate brokers contributeto and use to find homes on the market, and up until recently MLS data was well-guarded from the Web). Roost launches with more than a dozen cities/MLSs, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, San Diego, and Washington, D.C. (Notably absent are San Francisco and New York).
Roost is a real-estate search engine with comprehensive for-sale listings in the markets it covers, including for-sale-by-owner listings (which it does not show side-by-side with MLS listings because of industry restrictions). You can see all the photos for a particular house without leaving the search engine, you can see results on a map, and there are sliders (for price, bedrooms, square feet, etc.) to tweak results. It is a pretty-straight-forward site without a lot of bells and whistles. "We are laser focused on search," CEO Alex Chang tells me. "We are not doing valuations. We are not creating heat maps. We are doing high-performance search."
On the back-end, Roost hosts a directory of real-estate broker sites and delivers search traffic to those sites based on a combination of natural results and paid search. "I send qualified traffic to the broker," says Chang. "They are buying clicks from me." That is the business model. But Chang is going to have to crow pretty loud to get noticed by prospective home-buyers who have many other real-estate search engines to choose from these days, and maybe less incentive to go house-hunting in the first place.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Fed slashes rates to 3.5%
The Federal Reserve slashed two key interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point Tuesday following an unscheduled meeting, citing continued concerns about a weakening economy and turmoil in the financial markets.
http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/money_topstories/~3/220990407/index.htm
Monday, January 21, 2008
Update on Viigo
The latest version on Viigo made some great improvements. I'm also using it as my only feed sourse. The only thing missing, folders...
Saturday, January 19, 2008
REIT sector undervalued: Canaccord Adams
Canaccord Adams real estate analyst Shant Poladian has added his voice to the chorus of Bay St. commentators who maintain the real estate investment trust sector is undervalued.
"Looking for 20% plus total returns once [the] global credit market turmoil subsides," wrote Mr. Poladian in a note investors.
"Canadian property fundamentals are in the best shape we've ever seen and most of our stocks remain poised for healthy organic growth in 2008 and 2009. In our view the REIT sell-off is overdone."
He says recent stock prices are pricing in too large a correction for the drop in underlying property values based on recent real estate transactions. He believes REITs are trading at a 13% discount to net asset value, even after 25 basis point adjustment is made for capitalization rates, the implied rate of return on a property.
"We believe the REIT sector will eventually revert to trading at a modest 5% premium to net asset value, in line with its long-term historic average, which equates to a sector total return north of 20%," said Mr. Poladian, predicting 15% capital appreciation and 8% yield. In fact, he can see returns approaching 30%.
"We see a wall of capital sitting on the sidelines from private equity funds waiting in the wings, large institutional investors deploying capital following raising their real estate allocations, and individual investors eventually redeploying funds that are currently parked in money market investments," said Mr. Poladian.
Despite his bullish stand, the analysts says the turmoil in global credit markets warrants means investors should be defensive and focus on REITs with strong balance sheets, healthy organic growth profiles, strong performance track records and look to medium to larger cap companies.
Garry Marr
"Looking for 20% plus total returns once [the] global credit market turmoil subsides," wrote Mr. Poladian in a note investors.
"Canadian property fundamentals are in the best shape we've ever seen and most of our stocks remain poised for healthy organic growth in 2008 and 2009. In our view the REIT sell-off is overdone."
He says recent stock prices are pricing in too large a correction for the drop in underlying property values based on recent real estate transactions. He believes REITs are trading at a 13% discount to net asset value, even after 25 basis point adjustment is made for capitalization rates, the implied rate of return on a property.
"We believe the REIT sector will eventually revert to trading at a modest 5% premium to net asset value, in line with its long-term historic average, which equates to a sector total return north of 20%," said Mr. Poladian, predicting 15% capital appreciation and 8% yield. In fact, he can see returns approaching 30%.
"We see a wall of capital sitting on the sidelines from private equity funds waiting in the wings, large institutional investors deploying capital following raising their real estate allocations, and individual investors eventually redeploying funds that are currently parked in money market investments," said Mr. Poladian.
Despite his bullish stand, the analysts says the turmoil in global credit markets warrants means investors should be defensive and focus on REITs with strong balance sheets, healthy organic growth profiles, strong performance track records and look to medium to larger cap companies.
Garry Marr
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Mortgage applications up 28%
Read full story for latest details but that's good news for the market.
http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/money_topstories/~3/217634517/index.htm
The Fed will calm a stormy market
The stock market is in turmoil. Banks keep announcing big losses, and economists are raising the odds for a recession. Does that mean you need to be doing a dozen things right now to protect your investments?
http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/money_topstories/~3/217718940/index.htm
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Fed hints at more rate cuts
Ben Bernanke and other Fed members say 'substantial easing' may be needed. But markets, still concerned about recession, plunge.
http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/02/news/economy/fed_minutes_analysis/index.htm?section=money_topstories
http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/02/news/economy/fed_minutes_analysis/index.htm?section=money_topstories
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