The spotlight will soon turn on to the property analysts across the country to give their 2011 predictions for the market. But with the unpredictability that saturated the industry in 2010, many will be apprehensive about giving concrete opinions regarding how the market will evolve over the next 12 months.
The National Association of Home Builders just released its latest numbers on the housing market. The overall index slumped to 13 from 14, compared with expectations for a slight increase. That’s the worst level going all the way back to March 2009.
I don’t usually print other people’s articles, but as we all start looking towards the future (hopefully having learned something from the past) I thought it appropriate to do so. This is a letter by Prudential’s COO Bernard Winograd and worth reading. I will be seeking out other opinions in the future to republish.
More on Property Investment – The Credit Crisis and – The Future Part One
Whatever happened to getting a loan to buy an investment property with? They went out of the window with the world’s financial health when Lehman brothers bit the dust, that is what. The continuing devaluation of real estate around the world is continuing to put pressure on the loan markets and the credit crunch is still affecting property investment markets. The banks are well aware of the likely losses in the commercial property sector that are – as we speak – being announced. So, they are hoarding their money for the time when they must announce more losses and write off more outstanding debts.
To listen to some of the headlines produced around the latest CB Richard Ellis report on Singapore’s property investment market, you could be forgiven for thinking the second coming had arrived.
More on Investment properties in Singapore start selling again
The over valued, over leveraged buy-to-let property market in the UK is now coming to terms with a new reality. The lenders had written clauses into many buy-to-let mortgages which insist on a certain level of equity being held in a property, and most buy to let mortgages taken out in the last few years are now falling below that ratio. Terms vary, but several banks have already exercised their right to insist on a capital injection from the borrower, as property prices in Britain continue to decline.
One thing about the global downturn that could be considered positive is the amount of scams and cons coming to light, and the small property investor has certainly been prey to many. In a booming economy, many of these were written off and the injured parties pleas for assistance were ignored.
More on Property Investing News – Fighting Back Against the Scammers and Con Artists
It looks as though even the ruling family of Dubai is not immune to the stunning amount of lawsuits and court cases flying around the property investment world at the moment. An Iranian businessman is suing members of Dubai’s ruling family for close to two billion dollars over real estate investments, in a case which opened on Wednesday.
Numis Securities, a City investment bank, expects amateur buy-to-let landlords to begin “panic selling,” their investment properties as house values continue to decline in the UK, causing the average home value to fall below £100,000. Their recent report stated:
More on British Property Prices could fall another 55 percent
Thinking of buying an investment property in Dubai? Wait and see is our best advice right now. The credit crunch is having a big impact in the UAE, and particularly in Dubai, where many ex-pats went to work in the construction and real estate sector, only to discover they had 30 days to find another job or get out of the country when their job vanished along with the rest of the credit market.
