January existing home statistics were released with some interesting and revealing trends. The best part about the numbers is they reveal promising trends for investors. The inventory of unsold homes increased 5.5% from December 2007 to January 2008. Inventory levels from January 2007 to January 2008 were up 18.4%. That means there are a lot more houses available for sale now then there were a year ago. What does that mean for investors? More motivated sellers. It is more difficult to sell a house now, so when someone has to […]

Interesting Data by David Bodamer February 5th, 2008 I’ve been at the MBA’s Commercial Real Estate Finance/Multifamily Housing Convention and Expo in Orlando. I intend to gather my thoughts and put a long post up in a day or so rounding up what I’ve seen and heard. For now, I thought I’d share a couple of charts that I found astounding, in terms of illustrating how small a piece of the residential market subprime loans represent. It’s amazing because that small piece has caused larger problems. It’s also amazing because […]

THE OVER-HOUSED ECONOMY In a recent analysis summary Torto Wheaton Research concluded that a major factor in the housing markets and how soon they would return to more normal markets is the number of vacant homes in the United States.  This inventory of 18 million vacant homes (including seasonal homes) represents 14% of the total housing stock. New foreclosures that are taken back by lenders add to the supply and houses sold and occupied by owners or tenants reduce the supply.  New homes finished by home builders, of course, add […]

SENIOR HOUSING DEMANDS A recent article in “Commercial Property News” reports that by 2010 there will be 100 million people in the U.S. over 50 and that seniors are more active than earlier generations and are demanding different kinds of retirement housing than in the past. The senior’s housing industry is changing from a need-driven market to a choice-driven model according to the article.  Today’s seniors expect more choices and are looking for larger living units with more amenities including spa/wellness centers, media rooms and theaters, libraries, off site transportation […]