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With the U.S. housing market completely (or at the very least, nearly) recovered, it’s may seem like it’s getting harder and harder to find good investment properties. But the truth is, with the increase in rents, now may still well be a great time to invest in property. Canadian Business wrote an article with their…

With the U.S. housing market completely (or at the very least, nearly) recovered, it’s may seem like it’s getting harder and harder to find good investment properties. But the truth is, with the increase in rents, now may still well be a great time to invest in property. Canadian Business wrote an article with their…

A tangential item of note that’s come up a few times is that the size of the average American home is on the rise — in fact, up almost 30% since 1970. And that’s averages — new homes are up 60% compared to the early 70s. One interesting side effect of this is that we’ve…

A tangential item of note that’s come up a few times is that the size of the average American home is on the rise — in fact, up almost 30% since 1970. And that’s averages — new homes are up 60% compared to the early 70s. One interesting side effect of this is that we’ve…

As we reported Friday, it is true that at least statistically it is harder for blacks and hispanics to get mortgages than it is for whites and asians. However, while the news isn’t necessarily good, it’s not completely dire, either. At least we can say that the picture is improving. Conventional loans for blacks, for…

The problem with averages is that pretty much no one is average. While it’s fairly clear that the housing market as a whole has recovered, Business Insider correctly points out that the recovery is divided by age, race, and location. The location part is fairly obvious, as could be seen in yesterday’s blog post. We touched…

As you’ve seen, the data are up and down on the state of the housing market. The Economist has done an exciting job of aggregating data from Zillow, and producing five interactive charts. The charts cover data from Q1 1980 all the way through Q2 of this year. They also address 24 major markets, and the U.S.…

As you’ve seen, the data are up and down on the state of the housing market. The Economist has done an exciting job of aggregating data from Zillow, and producing five interactive charts. The charts cover data from Q1 1980 all the way through Q2 of this year. They also address 24 major markets, and the U.S.…

Freddie Mac reported a $475 million net loss for Q3  That net loss is actually based on a $4.2 billion gross loss on derivative investments. What’s a little weird about this is that the derivative investments were a hedge against interest rate fluctuations. But of course, interest rate fluctuations are in large part controlled by the…

As you may recall, there was much uproar at the time of the mortgage crisis, blaming Standard & Poor’s ratings firm for making false statements about risky mortgage “derivative” products. A federal appeals court had originally ruled in favor of S&P in a lawsuit filed by the Boca Raton Firefighters & Police Pension Fund. This…