Premier UK-based property management and real estate firm, Hamptons International, recently opened a new branch in Abu Dhabi. Offering their full spectrum of services, including residential and commercial sales and leasing, property management, valuations and research, mortgage services, mortgage calculator, and global investments and assets management, the move by Hamptons represents the ongoing consolidation of property development sector in the region.
As per usual, the best one can say about the “news” as to whether now is a good time to invest in real estate is at best confusing, at worst deliberately so. But there are some indicators giving an idea as to when and at what price is a good time to consider re-investing in property. Ignoring the obviously “spun” headlines from the government press release farms such as The Times, these are a few recent, factual articles that might be of interest as it would appear that the commercial real estate bubble is now starting to burst – and as predicted will have an impact on the credit availability in the residential sector.
Since U.S. President Barack Obama unveiled his plan to help troubled U.S. homeowners rework their mortgages by underwriting part of the expense for select lenders under very limited conditions, the results have been underwhelming.
According to a June 11th Associated Press release, U.S. foreclosures increased 18% over this time one year ago, and the crisis is now spreading to prime mortgages due to high unemployment.
A cliche, I know, but I was sent a press release recently that caught my attention. Regular readers will know I rarely publish press releases because of the unrealistic nature of the projections in most of them, but this one looks interesting.
It’s true: In some parts of the U.S., houses are going for as little as $1,000.
If you live outside the U.S. you’ve probably seen at least one article describing how some foreign investor is getting rich by snapping up $1,000 foreclosed homes and renting them out or flipping them, but beware. The chances of that actually being true are slim. It’s much more likely that investor is getting rich by selling junk properties to other foreign investors, who then are stuck with lemons they can’t unload at any price.
Yet more property related laws to be introduced in Dubai
According to “The National,” a major Dubai newspaper, Dubai is expected to release yet another set of laws governing the property industry. There is a growing number of disputes between small property investors and developers in Dubai and prices continue to fall. This is what The National has to say:
The Securities and Exchange Commission formally charged Angelo Mozilo, the former CEO of Countrywide Financial Corp., with fraud and illegal trading this past week.
Countrywide was one of the major players in the 2007 subprime mortgage meltdown that kicked off the current global financial crisis. Countrywide COO David Sambol was also charged with civil fraud, as was Countrywide former chief financial officer Eric Sieracki.
Tim Geithner, U.S. Treasury Secretary under President Barack Obama, is walking through a drama all to familiar to all to many ordinary Americans these days.
Geithner took a job out of state (Washington D.C.) and has been unable to sell his five bedroom, NY suburban home ever since, even after dropping the asking price to less than what he paid for it.
