The run-up in U.S. real estate prices could potentially amplify any future economic downturn, a Federal Reserve official said on Tuesday, urging regulators globally to consider tools beyond interest rates that could help cool the sector. A sharp downturn in U.S. residential and commercial property prices in 2007 and 2008 rocked banks that were highly leveraged in the sector, sparking the global...
US Property Market
Home sales in the United States probably fell last month, while orders for long-lasting goods climbed, a reminder that housing lags behind manufacturing as the US recovery strengthens, economists said before reports this week. Combined purchases of new and existing homes fell 2 per cent to a 5.5-million annual pace, according to the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Durable-goods...
Higher rates lead to this year's biggest slowdown in refinancing and new home purchases The number of mortgage applications in the United States fell last week by the most this year as higher lending rates led to a slump in refinancing. The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) index declined 16.5 per cent in the week ended Nov 26, figures from the Washington- based group showed yesterday. The gauge of...
United States commercial property prices rose 4.3 per cent in September from the previous month, the biggest gain in a decade of records, Moody's Investors Service said. The Moody's/Real Commercial Property Price Index climbed 0.3 per cent from a year earlier as a small number of high-priced deals drove up values, Moody's said in a statement this morning. The measure had fallen to an eight-year low in...
Home sales in the United States probably increased last month, a sign the real estate market is stabilising after the expiration of a tax credit caused demand to plunge, economists said ahead of reports due to be released this week. Purchases of new and previously owned homes rose 7 per cent to a combined 4.395 million annual pace, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. A separate...
Housing as a luxury item or a staple - it may boil down to what numbers you believe Of all the uncertainties in the halting American economic recovery, the housing market may be the most confusing of all. At times, real estate seems to be in the early stages of a severe double dip. Home sales plunged in July and some analysts are now predicting that the market will struggle for years, if not...
Unruffled by the moribund United States housing sector, New York's residential property market is booming. With mortgage rates and property prices at historic lows, the city's affluent residents are cashing on the economic conjuncture to get a pad at bargain values. Real estate agencies are reporting a surge in activity in private home sales in the Big Apple in recent months. "Right now we are actually...