Category Archives: Street Talk
Trend Spotting: Strip Malls Increasing in Appeal for Private Investors
When Alvin Mansour, senior vice president of investments and senior director of Marcus & Millichamp Real Estate Investment Services makes a move, real estate investors sit up and take notice. So when Mansour recently closed $44 million worth of transactions on 11 different strip malls throughout the country, most analysts agreed that this indicated a … Continue reading
10 Percent of NYC Mortgages Seriously Delinquent
According to a regional housing market analysis released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York this week, one in every 10 residential mortgages in New York City is “seriously delinquent,” meaning that it is more than 90 days overdue[1]. And in some areas of the region, like Long Island, more than 10 percent of … Continue reading
Florida Property Tax Relief Could Force Layoffs
Thanks to a $210 million tax relief bill signed into law in Florida Wednesday, people in the South Florida Water Management District will get a 30 percent property tax bill reduction[1]. In fact, all four of Florida’s water management districts will have tax revenue reduced and tax bills will fall as a result. However, some … Continue reading
Foreign Investors Double Down on Anticipated U.S. Commercial Recovery
Last year, foreign investment in U.S. real estate more than doubled, and international investors show no sign of slowing down when it comes to taking advantage of the widely-predicted U.S. commercial real estate market recovery[1]. According to Jones Lang LaSalle, foreign investment in U.S. real estate doubled last year to $13.37 billion, and that trend … Continue reading
Critics Allege Tax Lien Buyers are Costing Cities Money
One expert believes that city governments are actually losing money by selling tax liens because tax lien investors “tie up the most valuable properties” in an area and foreclose on others, ultimately “costing the city more money than the properties are worth.” Bill Patteson, a spokesman for Jefferson County, Kentucky attorney Mike O’Connell, believes that … Continue reading
Florida’s Real Estate Inventory Shrinking
The number of homes for sale in South Florida has shrunk to the lowest number since 2008, with about 49,900 residential properties on the market as of last week[1]. That is less than half of the number for sale in November of 2008. Peter Zalewski, a principal with Condo Vultures, credits foreign buyers who are … Continue reading
Real Estate Scam of the Day: Agents Beware
In Idaho, real estate agents are encountering a new type of scam perpetrated though websites like Zillow and Trulia[1]. In the scam, a real estate agent is contacted through the website instead of emailed directly, and the “buyer” expresses interest in working with a real estate professional in order to buy property. By making contact … Continue reading
Bank of America Accused of Hindering Federal Foreclosure Review
According to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Bank of America did everything possible – from dragging its feet on providing information to deliberately leaving out facts and denying access to employees – to interfere with a federal review of its foreclosure processes and history[1]. “Our review was significantly hindered by Bank of America’s reluctance to … Continue reading
Analysts Call Rentals the Next Hot Market
Economists and real estate industry leaders are pointing to rental real estate as the next “boom” market, according to Stan Humphries, Zillow’s chief economist[1]. Humphries spoke to the National Association of Real Estate Editors yesterday. According to Humphries, 1.2 to 2.2 million people are “transitioning out of homeownership and into the rental market” after going … Continue reading
Silicon Valley Home Sales, Prices Boom
While the real estate market may not be booming yet, in Silicon Valley prices held steady in May with median resale values for single-family homes at $585,000 – the same as in May 2010[1]. While that might not seem, at first, like a huge improvement, Silicon Valley is in much better shape than much of … Continue reading