real estate

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DC Office Prices About to Pass NY

Falling banks, rising government shifts real estate market

(Newser) - Washington, DC, is on the verge of passing New York as the priciest place to rent an office in the country. Rents were down pretty much across the board in the latest figures from Reis, a New York-based research firm, but DC saw only a mild 3% decline, to an...

Record $330K Paid for Virtual Space Station
 Record $330K Paid 
 for Virtual Space Station 
'REAL' ESTATE BOOM
Jan 5, 2010 2:34 PM CST

Record $330K Paid for Virtual Space Station

Online game player is confident his investment will pay off

(Newser) - The virtual Entropia Universe—Planet Calypso, in particular—might be entering a real estate boom with the recent purchase of the Crystal Palace space station for $330,000, a record for a virtual item. That’s right: A player who goes by Buzz “Erik” Lightyear paid the sum for...

Mortgage Defaults Top 1M, Keep Rising

Even those with lowered payments are defaulting

(Newser) - The number of troubled home loans continued to rise in the third quarter, despite the Obama camp's efforts to stem the tide by mortgage modification. For the first quarter ever, the number of homes in foreclosure with mortgages serviced by US banks topped the 1 million mark, the Los Angeles ...

House-Flippers Target Foreclosure Sales

Big profits loom as lenders offload homes at auction

(Newser) - House-flipping is making a comeback as investors seek fast profits from foreclosure auctions. Lenders are overwhelmed with property, especially in foreclosure hotspots like California, Nevada, and Arizona, and their haste to sell off their huge supplies of homes can mean big flip profits for investors with knowledge of local markets,...

FHA Helps High-End Buyers
 FHA Helps High-End Buyers  
Nov 20, 2009 5:34 AM CST

FHA Helps High-End Buyers

Raised guarantee limit may be tough to roll back

(Newser) - When the government last year doubled the amount the FHA will guarantee on a home loan, to more than $700,000, it moved the agency into uncharted territory: backing loans for the middle-class and the wealthy, too. It also moved the FHA, designed to help low-income buyers who can't raise...

Renters Feel the Landlord Love
 Renters Feel the Landlord Love 
Nov 2, 2009 6:19 AM CST

Renters Feel the Landlord Love

In soft market, tenants offered flat-screen TVs, cash, reduced rent

(Newser) - Time was, the landlord's knock could inspire dread and bogus excuses. But as apartment vacancies soar, these days he's more likely to drop by to offer you a flat-screen TV, cash, or reduced rent if you re-up your lease. "Many companies are doing whatever they can to keep units...

Condos Under SF Bridge? Blogosphere Loves It

The Bay Line, aka Bay Bridge to Nowhere, is catching on

(Newser) - With the eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge due to go out of commission when its replacement is completed (current ETA: 2013), a campaign is amping up in the blogosphere to keep it around as a pimped-out version of New York’s popular High Line. The Bay Line—...

Home Prices Climb in August
 Home Prices Climb in August 
Oct 27, 2009 9:03 AM CDT

Home Prices Climb in August

Nearly every major city gets a boost

(Newser) - US home prices rose for the third straight month in August, data released today showed, a key sign for a broad and sustained housing recovery. The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index of 20 major cities climbed 1% from July to a seasonally adjusted reading of 144.5. While prices are...

How Australia Dodged the Recession

How one country ducked the economic downturn

(Newser) - Australia has weathered the financial crisis better than any other developed country. Last week its central bank raised interest rates, indicating its primary concern is now inflation, not growth. What were the keys? Phil Dobbie of BNET explains:
  • Befriending China: Australia used to export much of what it made to
...

World's Priciest Apartment Sells for $56M
 World's Priciest Apartment 
 Sells for $56M 
WHAT HOUSING BUST?
Oct 15, 2009 5:50 AM CDT

World's Priciest Apartment Sells for $56M

Hong Kong duplex goes to mainland Chinese buyer

(Newser) - A mainland Chinese buyer has purchased the most expensive apartment in the world, a duplex at the top of a Hong Kong highrise selling for $56.6 million. Hong Kong exited recession in the second quarter and its property market has rebounded strongly, although with prices up 30% this year...

Vacancy Rate Hits 23-Year High as Renters Fade

So now's the time to get that place in NYC

(Newser) - Apartment vacancies have hit a 23-year high, as rampant unemployment continues to drive down demand, according to a New York real-estate research firm. That’s brought rents down an average 2.7% compared to last year—and the 7.8% vacancy rate is expected to climb. “The experience was...

Feds Weigh New Bailouts for Smaller Banks

Congressional Dems on board with plan to help institutions hammered by real estate

(Newser) - With the residential and commercial real-estate markets continuing to hammer smaller US banks, the Treasury and other federal agencies are trying to diagram help for institutions considered too much of a gamble under original bailout terms. Congressional Democrats are “very, very supportive” of such a move, a source tells...

Blue Dog Gets Real Estate Windfall From Drug Company

USA Drug overpaid for Ross' wife's pharmacy

(Newser) - Arkansas Rep. Mike Ross, a Blue Dog Democrat who’s taken a leading role in the health care debate, sold a piece of commercial real estate to a pharmaceutical company for an eye-popping sum in 2007, Pro Publica reports. USA Drug paid $420,000 for the property in Prescott, Ark....

House Next to Obamas' Chicago Digs Hits Market

Agent calls area 'the world's ultimate gated community'

(Newser) - Got a couple million and think you can pass a Secret Service background check? The house next door to President Obama’s Chicago digs is on sale, the Tribune reports. Round-the-clock protection puts the 17-room brick home in the city’s Hyde Park neighborhood in “the world’s ultimate...

Old Capone Hideout for Sale
 Old Capone Hideout for Sale 
Sep 9, 2009 2:14 PM CDT

Old Capone Hideout for Sale

$2.6M gets you 407 acres and nostalgia in Wisconsin

(Newser) - For a minimum bid of $2.6 million, a remote 407-acre Wisconsin lodge where Al Capone stayed while on the lam can be yours, the Chicago Tribune reports. “Al Capone's hideout retreat,” proclaims an ad run in that paper by a small Wisconsin bank that had the luck...

Inside the Madoff Homes
 Inside the Madoff Homes 
Slideshow
Sep 9, 2009 8:13 AM CDT

Inside the Madoff Homes

The government prepares to auction off the Ponzi penthouse

(Newser) - America’s most luxurious crime scene is for sale. The US Marshals Service will auction off Bernie Madoff’s 4,000-square-foot Manhattan penthouse duplex this week, and it gave AP photographers a look inside the premises, which Madoff valued at $7 million. For photos of the swank pad, along with...

China May Invest in Bargain US Real Estate

Sovereign-wealth fund to ramp up spending after quiet 2008

(Newser) - China’s sovereign-wealth fund has its eyes on US real estate, the Wall Street Journal reports. China Investment Corp. laid low throughout 2008 as the global economy teetered but is now opening its coffers. And depressed US commercial property values—off 35% from their peak—coupled with cheap government financing,...

Madoff's $8.75M Beach House Not All That

Marshals Service puts property up for sale

(Newser) - Those who see Bernard Madoff as an evil purveyor of excess might be disappointed by his beach house: It's not that palatial. At 3,014 square feet, the home is cottage-size by super-rich standards. There's no garage. Not even a walk-in closet. But the 1.2-acre lot sits closer to...

How to Spend Your $333M Mega Jackpot

Lottery pot now tops $333M

(Newser) - With the Mega Millions jackpot at $333 million, ABC News investigates the best ways to spend it:
  • A new pad: "I would think they'd want to own a truly extraordinary home," says a real-estate agent. How about 3 townhouses in Greenwich Village, at just $16 million a pop?
...

Churches Put Faith in Housing Biz
Churches
Put Faith
in Housing Biz
Aug 8, 2009 10:39 AM CDT

Churches Put Faith in Housing Biz

More launch own programs to provide affordable homes

(Newser) - Churches that have long called for an increase in affordable housing have started taking matters into their own hands, the Washington Post reports: A growing number of them have launched their own housing projects, partnering with developers to build whole communities. Their weekly flow of donations allows them to qualify...

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