On Monday, AIG announced that it would sell foreign life insurance business Alico to MetLife (MET, Fortune 500) for $15.5 billion. Last week, AIG said it reached an agreement to sell Asian life insurance giant AIA for $35.5 billion. That’s $51 billion that AIG said will eventually be used to pay down its debt to the… [Read More]
CORPORATION + PRIVATE CASH SAVINGS UNLEASHED
This morning’s Wall Street Journal reports that one year removed from the trough of the recession, American corporations continue to hoard more cash than ever. There are now tentative signs that they are finally comfortable using the money to do some shopping. The 382 nonfinancial firms in the Standard & Poor’s 500 that have… [Read More]
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL vs. THE NEW YORK TIMES
Rupert Murdoch made official on Tuesday what has been widely reported for the past few months: The Wall Street Journal will be launching a New York section in April. Speaking at a midtown gathering of the Real Estate Board of New York, the News Corp. chairman lauded the real estate industry—a likely source of… [Read More]
LUXURYLETTER MARCH 2010: WHAT'S THE MARKET UP TO?
In this month’s LUXURYLETTER ( see www.luxuryletter.com) the reports indicate a moderately healthy market, with strong activity on the higher end of the Manhattan Downtown luxury market. Signed contract and closing activity levels are healthy, and pricing for the most part is stable, although drops have been seen in some areas: this does not necessarily… [Read More]
BUFFET TALKS REAL ESTATE
Billionaire Warren Buffett said the U.S. residential real estate slump will end by about 2011, predicting that’s how long it will take demand for homes to catch up with the supply. “Within a year or so, residential housing problems should largely be behind us,” Buffett wrote Feb. 27 in his annual letter to shareholders of… [Read More]
STABILIZATION STRENGTHENS
There seems to be growing consensus that the US real estate market has indeed bottomed out. Reuters reports today that the number of transactions, pricing and general mood indicate stabilization. Price increases are unlikely this year, but are expected next year. In Manhattan we are not seeing pricing rise, but we are seeing offers off… [Read More]
FIVE ‘SPECIAL’ STATES: NY IS NOT ONE OF THEM!
Under pressure to do more for troubled homeowners, President Obama is expected to announce to-day a $1.5 billion program to help borrowers in the five states hit hardest by the housing crisis. The initiative calls for pumping money into state housing agencies in California, Arizona, Nevada, Florida and Michigan to fund programs to prevent foreclosure for… [Read More]
ENCOURAGING SIGNS? IS LUXURY MANHATTAN REAL ESTATE ‘HOUSING’?
Today, reports came out on home groundbreaking. (Am I the only one annoyed at how figures are constantly ‘revised’?) So December’s figures were slightly inaccurate….why? And why the month-by-month-drama-queen reporting? I am a firm believer in watching pricing on a month by month basis, but it ceases to amaze me how many people formulate world-shattering conclusions from… [Read More]
BARCLAYS PROFITS DOUBLE: IS THIS GOOD NEWS?
Barclay’s announced its profits doubled! The world is alarmed! Nothing about this alarms me…. Think about the market share Barclay’s picked up when they took over Lehman, buying out the company at a bargain price. Think about the money made as the world population increased their savings in the past 12 months, while Barclay’s… [Read More]
ARE THE BIG MARKDOWNS OFFICIALLY OVER?
Today’s CRAINS posts an interesting article about a distressed debt fund shutting down as they see an end to the deals associated with really bad times….this runs parallel to what we are seeing in real estate: the REAL bargain days are officially over. With more bidders emerging on well priced quality units, the single low-ball-bidder is… [Read More]