Warren Buffett appeared live on CNBC’s Squawk Box this week. During the interview, he was asked about the current real estate market and whether he felt now was the time to buy. His response was rather emphatic and has been used as a headline in hundreds of articles since the interview:
“If I had a way of buying a couple hundred thousand single-family homes I would load up on them.”
However, throughout the interview, he addressed the market from a few angles. Here is what he said:
Why invest in real estate now?
“It’s a way, in effect, to short the dollar because you can take a 30-year mortgage and if it turns out your interest rate’s too high, next week you refinance lower. And if it turns out it’s too low, the other guy’s stuck with it for 30 years. So it’s a very attractive asset class now.”
Is buying your own home better than investing in stocks right now?
“If I knew where I was going to want to live the next five or 10 years I would buy a home and I’d finance it with a 30-year mortgage… It’s a terrific deal.”
Should we buy multiple houses?
“If I was an investor that was a handy type and I could buy a couple of them at distressed prices and find renters, I think it’s a leveraged way of owning a very cheap asset now and I think that’s probably as an attractive an investment as you can make now.”
Over the last couple of months, there have been more and more financial analysts coming to the same conclusion: It’s time to buy real estate.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Year-End Home Sales Highest in Three Years
Utah home sales in 2011 were the highest they’ve been since 2007, according to a new report from the Utah Association of Realtors. The report indicated that Utah Realtors sold nearly 33,000 homes last year, up from the final tallies in 2010, 2009 and 2008.
Compared to 2010, sales were nearly 9 percent higher, the result of increased homebuyer confidence, affordable home prices and record-low interest rates. Even though sales faltered during the spring, they picked up significantly at the end of the year.
Since July, monthly home sales have recorded double-digit gains compared to the prior year. Including the 9 percent increase from June, statewide sales have been up for seven straight months.
Among property types, single-family homes had the highest sales increases, up more than 10 percent compared to 1 percent for condos and townhomes.
The trend of rising sales should continue into this year. Pending sales, which measure contracts that have been signed to buy properties, were up more than 11 percent in 2011 compared to 2010.
The year 2011 was also significant because the market began to absorb excess supply. At the end of December, inventory levels were down nearly 24 percent. For the past 10 months, inventory declines have been in the double digits, with levels falling for more than a year. The number of homes on the market has not been this low since March 2007.
The effect of the steep inventory drop was to bring supply and demand more in line. The 20,243 homes listed for sale at the end of December represented a 7.2-month supply of inventory. That’s down more than 31 percent from the 10.5-month level in 2010. Traditionally, a market is balanced between buyers and sellers when the inventory represents a supply of about six months.
While prices remained weak in 2011, the reduced supply and increased demand suggest that trend will not continue. A new report from Fiserv and Moody’s Analytics this week predicts Utah home prices will have increased by the end of summer, with the state having the seventh-highest appreciation in the country.
The organization says from third quarter 2011 to third quarter 2012, Utah home prices will have increased 1.5 percent. During that same period from 2012 to 2013, Fiserv says values will be up 7.4 percent.
Of course, the forecast varies depending on the area. Fiserv says St. George will have the state’s strongest home price appreciation. By July, prices are expected to increase 4 percent from the previous year. Coming in second is the Logan metro area at 2.3 percent. In Ogden-Clearfield, Provo-Orem and Salt Lake, prices are expected to see slight increases, with no major Utah metro area forecasted to have a price decline
Read the full article here
utahhousingtracker.com
Compared to 2010, sales were nearly 9 percent higher, the result of increased homebuyer confidence, affordable home prices and record-low interest rates. Even though sales faltered during the spring, they picked up significantly at the end of the year.
Since July, monthly home sales have recorded double-digit gains compared to the prior year. Including the 9 percent increase from June, statewide sales have been up for seven straight months.
Among property types, single-family homes had the highest sales increases, up more than 10 percent compared to 1 percent for condos and townhomes.
The trend of rising sales should continue into this year. Pending sales, which measure contracts that have been signed to buy properties, were up more than 11 percent in 2011 compared to 2010.
The year 2011 was also significant because the market began to absorb excess supply. At the end of December, inventory levels were down nearly 24 percent. For the past 10 months, inventory declines have been in the double digits, with levels falling for more than a year. The number of homes on the market has not been this low since March 2007.
The effect of the steep inventory drop was to bring supply and demand more in line. The 20,243 homes listed for sale at the end of December represented a 7.2-month supply of inventory. That’s down more than 31 percent from the 10.5-month level in 2010. Traditionally, a market is balanced between buyers and sellers when the inventory represents a supply of about six months.
While prices remained weak in 2011, the reduced supply and increased demand suggest that trend will not continue. A new report from Fiserv and Moody’s Analytics this week predicts Utah home prices will have increased by the end of summer, with the state having the seventh-highest appreciation in the country.
The organization says from third quarter 2011 to third quarter 2012, Utah home prices will have increased 1.5 percent. During that same period from 2012 to 2013, Fiserv says values will be up 7.4 percent.
Of course, the forecast varies depending on the area. Fiserv says St. George will have the state’s strongest home price appreciation. By July, prices are expected to increase 4 percent from the previous year. Coming in second is the Logan metro area at 2.3 percent. In Ogden-Clearfield, Provo-Orem and Salt Lake, prices are expected to see slight increases, with no major Utah metro area forecasted to have a price decline
Read the full article here
utahhousingtracker.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)