Double Dip Has Come and Gone
July 2, 2011 by Hudson Watts · Leave a Comment
The S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Indices reported Tuesday are, as usual, so far behind the curve that not only did they miss the “double dip” that has come and gone, it will be at least July or August before it reports an apparent upturn in prices in March and April. S&P’s view of the data was dour. “There is very little, if any, good news about housing. Prices continue to weaken, trends in sales and construction are disappointing, ” said S&P’s David Blitzer. “The 20-City Composite is within a hair’s breadth of a double dip.”
There’s just one problem with that. Other price indicators that are not constructed with the Case Shiller’s large built in lag, passed the 2009-2010 low months ago. The FHFA (the Federal Agency that runs Fannie and Freddie) price index showed a low in March 2010 that was broken in June 2010 and never looked back. That index is now 5.6% below the March 2010 low. Zillow.com’s proprietary value model never even bounced. It shows a year over year decline of 8.2% as of February. Zillow’s listing price
UAE extends visas for property investors
July 2, 2011 by Charlie Stedman · Leave a Comment
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has taken the decision to extend the length of property investors’ visas to three years – up from six months – in a bid to boost the nation’s real estate market. Chairman of one of the region’s largest development companies Emaar Properties Mohammed Alabbar stated that the visa extensions will “significantly enhance investor confidence and drive the growth of the country’s property sector”. Meanwhile, Citigroup suggested that while the move could aid residential real estate in the UAE, it is likely to be restrained by an oversupply in the market. Rather than having to renew their visas every six months, foreign investors will now be entitled to a three-year multiple-entry visa – as long as they own property worth more than one million UAE dirhams (£169,040). The UAE was among the biggest fallers in the Knight Frank Global House Price Index Q1 2011 published earlier this month. According to the organisation, residential property values in the nation dropped by 8.2 per cent year-on-year.
Burton Malkiel’s Contradictory Advice
July 2, 2011 by Laura Reveley · Leave a Comment
Burton Malkiel’s brilliant book A Random Walk Down Wall Street has, over the years, convinced legions of investors the wisdom of settling for average returns by investing passively through broad-market index funds. So, it is with some sadness that one notes that Prof. Malkiel, who is also the chief investment officer of the China-focused indexing firm AlphaShares owns the Guggenheim China All-Cap ETF , which tracks the AlphaShares China All-Cap Index) , is now recommending — surprise! surprise! — investors add more China to their portfolios. In a recent interview with IndexUniverse.com, Prof. Malkiel maintains that he prefers broad-markets index funds:
Well, you probably know me as someone who loves the broadest-possible ETFs. I don’t believe that people can time and I don’t believe that people can get into exactly the right sectors.
So far, so good. It’s the Prof. Malkiel we knew or thought we did. But now, he has modified his tune a little bit. In response
The Great Debate: Flipping versus Holding
July 2, 2011 by Hudson Watts · Leave a Comment
Some investors focus on flipping — that is, turning properties over quickly, rather than keeping them long term. In most cases, holding property generates more long-term wealth for you than flipping. Therefore, you may consider flipping some properties and holding others. On the other hand, you may consider using the flipping strategy a while, and then begin holding rental properties later. The big question is, “When should you hold versus when should you flip?”
The Advantages of Flipping. The main advantage of flipping is that you get your cash out immediately rather than later. For many people, the certainty of getting a paycheck right away is highly appealing. Flipping takes the real estate market per se out of the equation. If you buy a property correctly, whether the market is rising or falling is almost irrelevant, except for how long it will take you to resell the property. (Of course, if you buy cheap in a soft market, you can afford to hold a property longer.)
Flipping is generally good for your cash flow, which is important in any business. If yo
Can you still make money on eBay?
July 1, 2011 by Charlie Stedman · Leave a Comment
eBay fees are being revamped, but how will it affect you?
Over the years there has been a stealthy increase in fees and decrease in advantages for the average eBay seller. With the recent announcement that eBay is introducing a new ‘change’ in fees, what will this mean for those trying to make a bit of extra money?
‘Change’ is reputed to be a good thing in some circles, however ‘change’ in the world of eBay actually just means ‘increase’. The change applies to the private sellers and means that they will be paying more in Final Value Fees when they sell an item in a fixed price listing.
If you are new to eBay, the billing system works like this. You list an item for sale, either in an auction format or with a fixed price, called a Buy It Now (BIN) price.
You will usually pay eBay a listing fee (although there are plenty of free listing day promotions to take advantage of). Then, if the item sells, you will pay a Final Value Fee. This used to be