Real Estate and Foreigners

It is no secret that the housing market in the U.S. is starting to look up, and more homes are selling than they were in the last few years. All kinds of real estate is becoming hot again, with sellers seemingly living in a dream by having so many properties in such a demand. Normally, one would think that Americans are buying up all of these properties. While the majority of real estate purchases are from the U.S., as The Pelorus Group will explain, foreigners are starting to really become involved in the real estate market. 

Not surprisingly, the most searches for properties in the United States come from Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom. More surprisingly though, Asia and Africa have seen a large increase of interest in homes in the United States. Also, one would think that these foreign house hunters were looking at different cities. While this is true, they are actually honing in on particular neighborhoods, narrowing down their searches from a broader one. The expensive neighborhoods tend to gain more searches from international house hunters because they are better known and some are outright famous. 

Parking Spaces in Real Estate

As most everyone knows, home sales are a large portion of real estate. Since major cities are becoming even larger, parking is the new real estate buzz. As these cities become more densely populated, parking becomes more coveted, and people are willing to pay. The Pelorus Group is involved in real estate, and knows just how valuable different commodities can become.

In Boston, two parking spots were auctioned off for $560,000 this past week. San Francisco had a similar boom with a spot selling for over eighty thousand dollars. In some Boston neighborhoods, condo prices can be driven up $150,000 just for including a couple parking spaces. When it comes to a great location, people are willing to pony up the money, as well as the freedom to be able to leave their care there for however long they want.  

Real Estate as a Retiree

Sometimes retirees wonder what is worth it and what isn’t for them to invest in. Real estate is no different. Retirees are looking into investing into real estate, and they have good reason to. As The Pelorus Group explains, retirement is a perfect time for new ventures. Whether it is downsizing, or looking into a change of locations, there is something for everyone. Maybe the children fled the nest, and there is not much reason to stay in the same place you have been the last 20 years. If so look into investing because the housing market is better than it was 5 years ago.

Money Saving Summer Travel Ideas

Summer travel is a popular choice of an activity for many people in the U.S. Summer travel plans are up by 17% from last year already. Traveling can be expensive, so make sure you follow some of these tips from The Pelorus Group to help cut down on vacation costs.

Book in advance. This cannot be reiterated enough. Many people think that waiting for those last second deals are the way to go and will be the cheapest, but that is not always the case. This is an extremely risky tactic as it is not uncommon for the prices to stay relatively high even at the last second. Knowing the dates you want to go on vacation 8 months to a year away, can drastically decrease the price of flights, hotels, and other travel expenses. Also, signing up for flight special emails will keep you in the loop for the hottest deals when they come up. Looking at multiple airports to leave from and traveling during the week can certainly help reduce costs as well.

“We're probably in the third inning of this recovery, but there's no reason to believe we're in a bubble right now"

A recent surge in the U.S. housing market has market watchers throwing around the notion of entering another real estate bubble.

“Housing affordability is near an all-time high, and the very low -level of interest rates has had a positive impact on the housing market,” he added. “But in terms of home prices, we haven't gotten near where we were during the market's peak of a few years ago,” said Joel Huffman, senior vice president and portfolio manager at U.S. Bank Wealth Management.

Prices in the U.S. housing market, as measured by the Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller Index, rose by 10.9% over the 12-month period through March, representing the largest annual gain in seven years.

But even with such a strong rebound, home prices are still 28% below the peak levels of 2006, according to the report 6 days ago.

Kevin Mahn, president and chief investment officer of Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc: “We're probably in the third inning of this recovery, but there's no reason to believe we're in a bubble right now,” he added. “When you really start to see a bubble, you'll see people putting their homes on the market, and construction supply will be increasing.”

For More information regarding real estate investing – The Pelorus Group

Source Article – Investment News