Investment and Vacation Home Sales Soar in 2011
Investment and Vacation Home Sales Soar in 2011
By Les Christie, CNN Money, March 29, 2012
Sales of investment properties and vacation homes soared last year as investors snapped up homes that were selling at beaten down prices. Homes purchased by investors skyrocketed 64.5 percent to 1.23 million in 2011, up from 749,000 the year before, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Consumers More Optimistic About Homeownership
By Leslie Berkman, Press-Enterprise, March 28, 2012
A national poll released this month by Prudential Real Estate found that Americans are significantly more optimistic about homeownership than they were a year ago. The telephone poll was conducted online in February by Palisades Media Ventures and Penn Shoen Berland with interviews of 1,251 people aged 25 to 64 with a household income of at least $50,000 and who recently bought or sold a home or are considering doing so.
Forecast Upbeat on Housing Recovery
By Stefanos Chen, Wall Street Journal, March 28, 2012
The housing market may finally be on the path to a sustainable recovery, according to a new report, but it’s not the cork-popping celebration many under-water homeowners may have hoped for. The Urban Land Institute, a nonprofit land-use think tank, released on Wednesday its real-estate forecast for the next three years, which shows some encouraging trends in both the residential and commercial sectors through 2014.
Grim Housing Data Shows We Have Not Hit Bottom
By Michelle Hirsch, Fiscal Times, March 29, 2012
A new string of grim housing data confirms what economists and analysts have long predicted: the housing market has yet to hit bottom, and once it does, it will be a long slog back to health and stability.
Reality TV Star Kristin Cavallari's Home Foreclosed
By Kelle Hart Kehler, Orange County Register, March 28, 2012
The Laguna Beach family home of reality TV star Kristin Cavallari was foreclosed on about a month ago, according to public records. Sitting high atop the hillside in South Laguna's gated Three Arch Bay community, the property at 96 Vista Del Sol sold to OneWest Bank Feb. 27 for $6.11 million, records show.
Housing Pundit Thomas Lawler and the Genesis of Lawlessness
By Michael Olenick, Calculated Risk, March 30, 2012
While researching a HUD database for clues on Thomas Lawler, the frequently-cited foreclosure and heavy-metal loving “housing economist” often cited by the business media, and a favorite of Calculated Risk, I came across background information that raises more questions than it answers.