After years of lecturing America about loose lending, Canada now must confront a bubble of its own. When the United States saw a vast housing bubble inflate and burst during the 2000s, many Canadians felt smug about the purported prudence of their financial and property markets.
During the crash, Canadian house prices fell by just 8%, compared with more than 30% in America. They hit new record highs by 2010. “Canada was not a part of the problem,” Stephen Harper, the prime minister, boasted in 2010………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Commercial-property values in the U.S. probably will climb about 6 percent in the next six months, based on recent trading in real estate investment trusts and fixed-income yields, Green Street Advisors Inc. said.
“The increased optimism being expressed by REIT investors and the decreased skittishness evidenced in the high-yield market should eventually find their way into property valuations,” the Newport Beach, California-based research firm said today in a report introducing its Commercial Property Price Forecast. “That’s a notable improvement over the outlook a few months back.”……………………………………….Full Article: Source

As part of a strategy to improve the U.S. housing market, President Obama announced Wednesday a pilot program that would allow investors to buy in bulk large numbers of foreclosed properties currently owned by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The renewed focus on strengthening the housing market is critical if the overall economy is going to improve. Despite some positive signs at the end of 2011, the U.S. housing market continues to be a drag on the nation’s overall economic recovery………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Recognizing the abysmal state of the U.S. real estate market, President Barack Obama urged Congress to pass legislation to help distressed homeowners refinance debt-ridden mortgages. Obama asked Congress for $5-10 billion in financial aid to help homeowners manage troubled mortgages.
Foreclosures and short sales have driven down real estate prices around the country, with areas like Florida, Nevada, Arizona and parts of California hardest hit because of unsustainable housing booms. With as many as 11 million U.S. homeowners under water, Obama wants to slow the foreclosure crisis that continues to usurp American consumers………………………………………..Full Article: Source

President Barack Obama is escalating the fight over how to revive the housing market, a sector of the economy that has dragged down growth for six years running, eroded consumer confidence and wiped out $7 trillion in American wealth.
Opponents said the president’s plan, announced yesterday, was as much about politics as the policy goal of easing access to refinancing for homeowners with negative equity………………………………………..Full Article: Source

According to a recent Yahoo! Real Estate survey, a majority of Americans believe the Federal Government should do more to assist homeowners. Four out of five adults think the 2012 election will have an impact on the housing market.
The issue, as the same study found, is that nobody can seem to agree on which party, let alone specific policy, is going to help. Said another way, Americans have no idea how to solve the housing crisis, but we’re positive the people we elect are going about it all wrong………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The U.S. real estate market would be expanding if lending standards were more balanced and credit more available, according to Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel Inc.
“We would probably have a housing boom with the rates that mortgage levels are at,” Miller, president and chief executive of New York-based appraiser Miller Samuel Inc., said during Bloomberg Television’s “Surveillance Midday,” with Tom Keene………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The CEOs of some of the nation’s biggest homebuilding companies say the housing market appears to have stabilized. But they are careful not to be overly optimistic even with the spring home-selling season coming up in just a few weeks.
Executives at PulteGroup Inc., MDC Holdings Inc., M/I Homes Inc. and Beazer Homes USA Inc. weighed in on the housing market on Thursday after their companies reported financial results for the October-December quarter………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Predicting the housing market’s fortunes in 2012 on the eve of the spring selling season is like guessing which direction an amoeba in a petri dish will move.
To be sure, most observers aren’t anticipating soaring growth. Strict mortgage lending and wary consumers still challenge the market. The thrum of foreclosures could rise this year and keep a lid on home prices. State attorneys general face a Friday deadline this week to decide whether to join a potential $25 billion settlement with five big banks over alleged foreclosure abuses………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Miami is a playground for the rich and famous. Celebrities flock to parties at South Beach clubs and then return to their $10 million mansions in Miami Beach and Key Biscayne. It’s a leading city in culture, finance and international trade. But away from the glitz and glamor, many ordinary Miamians are struggling.
A crippling housing crisis has cost multitudes of residents their homes and jobs. The metro area has one of the highest violent crime rates in the country and workers face lengthy daily commutes. Add it all up and Miami takes the top spot in our ranking of America’s Most Miserable Cities………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Over 50 years ago, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation that enabled small investors to make investments in large-scale, significant income-producing real estate.
This law, named the REIT Act, combined the attributes of mutual funds and real estate investments allowing average investors to pool their capital and invests in large scale, diversified portfolios of income-producing real estate………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The UK housing market has had a tough time over the last few months. House prices have been falling everywhere except London and mortgages have become slightly easier to get hold off, despite the fact that deposits are still difficult to afford for many.
Many potential homeowners have had to stay within the private rented sector, paying record high rates for rent when it would be cheaper to buy a house in some cases. But that was 2011! What’s in store for 2012………………………………………….Full Article: Source

More people will be making their homes among the banks and insurance companies of central London as a shrinking financial industry and the prospect of leasing out buildings for free prompts landlords to convert offices into luxury apartments.
Developers including Axa Real Estate Investment Managers Ltd., Berkeley Group Holdings Plc (BKG) and Heron International Inc. also plan to build homes in the heart of Britain’s financial services industry, known as the Square Mile, after purchasing obsolete commercial buildings in the area………………………………………..Full Article: Source

German real estate investment volumes in 2012 are expected to match last year’s levels despite the risk of an escalation in the eurozone sovereign debt crisis and its knock-on effect for the economy, according to IVG’s latest Market Tracker report for Germany.
While some economic recovery is expected after the temporary recession at the turn of 2011/2012, a deepening eurozone debt crisis would affect the German economy, causing a drop in exports and another credit crunch, IVG warns………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Spain can expect to see similar muted levels of retail investment in 2012 compared to the 2011 level of EUR 520 mln as the sector continues to see stalled sales, turnover rent performance and continued rental discounts, according to a report by property adviser Savills.
In some cases these discounts have been converted into permanent rental reductions according to the international real estate advisor………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Slovak residential property prices dropped 1 percent in the last three months of 2011, the fifth quarterly decline, as government austerity measures hurt demand, the central bank said.
The average price for residential property declined to 1,236 euros ($1,623) per square meter (10.8 square feet) from 1,248 euros in the third quarter, the Bratislava, Slovakia-based Narodna Banka Slovenska said . Prices fell 2.7 percent on the year………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Demand for commercial property in the UAE has stabilised with rental outlook showing an upward trend, findings of a survey reveal.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, or Rics, said occupier demand in the UAE was judged to have broadly stabilised in the last quarter of 2011 with rental expectations and investment enquiries maintaining an upward trend since 2010………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Construction costs in the UAE will fall in 2012 due to the unexpected slowdown in the country’s projects market in 2011, a new report from construction industry cost tracker MEED Cost Indices (MCI) has revealed.
In the research report published on 30 January, MCI forecasts that construction costs in the UAE will fall by 1.3 per cent in 2012. The drop is the result of a fall in demand for construction materials due to a contraction in the UAE project market, which witnessed a 52 per cent slump in the value of contracts awarded in 2011 compared to 2010. (Press Release)

The Chinese government has banned low-income families from reselling apartments they had bought earlier at subsidised rates. Resale of these apartments, usually smaller than 600 square metres, now has to be done only to the government, officials with the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-rural Development said.
This is Beijing’s second attempt to cool the real estate market. Last February, it had banned local registered families from buying a third apartment and non-local city registered families from buying a second apartment………………………………………..Full Article: Source

While some pundits might see the continued decline in China housing prices as evidence China is on the verge of a U.S. style housing crisis, anti-inflationary policies are largely to blame.
China’s government has forced developers to cut costs and cap prices on new housing. It’s also raised interest rates and taken other fiscal measures to curtail property investment. And again this week, China watchers saw home prices fall again, now down five consecutive months………………………………………..Full Article: Source

According to Jones Lang LaSalle’s latest Q4 2011 Asia Pacific Residential Index, which follows eight luxury residential markets within the region, there was on average a 0.2 per cent increase in capital value in the fourth quarter of 2011.
While Beijing, Bangkok, Jakarta, and Mumbai witnessed an increase, and Kuala Lumpur and Singapore remained stable, Hong Kong and Shanghai slumped………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Property developers seem pessimistic about the outlook for Singapore’s real estate market in 2012, with some analysts foreseeing a five to ten percent drop in property prices this year.
But market watchers also say the strong interest in recent property launches could defy these forecasts and even lead to more cooling measures………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Thinking overseas real estate investments? Think London, Tokyo, New York, Hong Kong, and Paris. These top five cities together garner a quarter of global investments. And more than half of all global real estate investment resides in 30 cities, according to the latest report by Jones Lang LaSalle, a global real estate services firm.
Times are changing and investments are shifting, say analysts at the firm. By 2020, they predict investments will shift toward cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Moscow, and Sao Paulo………………………………………..Full Article: Source