US Housing Market on a Positive Run?

The latest figures released by the federal government show a pleasantly surprising 6.6% rise in sales of new homes in September. The second monthly rise, took total sales to 307,000, which is stronger than the 300,000 analysts predicted, but still nowhere near the 414,000 seen before the government tax credit ended.

Recent figures also showed a 10% rise in existing home sales, both reports seemingly supporting the view by some economists that the housing market will bottom at the end of this year.

“After dropping precipitously following the expiration of the first-time home buyer tax credit, it looks as though new home sales have stabilized,” said Nicholas Tenev, an economist at Barclays Capital. “We expect a gradual recovery over the coming months.”

None the less, new home sales are still 21.5% lower than this time last year. Also, supply is still a big problem; the government estimates that there is 8 months worth of supply on the market, although that is a slight improvement on the 8.6 months predicted in August. According to supply data in September, stock fell 1% on the month, and 19% on the year.

“With little new construction going on, inventories of unsold new homes at least aren’t a problem even with sales at a depressed level, with the number of new homes for sale extending a run of record lows,” said David Greenlaw, an economist at Morgan Stanley.

New home prices recorded a slight rise as well in September, up 1.5% month on month, and up 3.3% year on year. This took the average to $223,800, approximately 30% above the average price of existing homes.

According to analysts, the foreclosure moratorium by some leading lenders, had only a small effect on the housing market in September.

Looking at September, and the data running up to it, this would seem to be one of the most positive periods we have seen in the US housing market. While repossessions still seem a long way from ending, maybe the misery is starting to ease just a little.

Five Reasons Egyptian Property Should be on Everyone's Shortlist

Egypt has been growing popular with tourists from around the world and visitor numbers have been increasing at a rapid rate. More recently Egypt has also been looked at by increasing numbers of property buyers. Most people are currently favouring the security of established markets, because the emerging markets have not shown the growth they were supposed to.

However, this growth has only been postponed by the credit crunch, in most cases the forecast growth is still set to become a reality. Egypt is one of those cases. Below is 5 reasons why anyone who fails to consider Egypt property will be missing out in a big way.

1: Cheap Property - Exceptional Rental Yields

Egypt is known for having among the cheapest property in the world. On the Red Sea Riviera, which encapsulates some of Egypt's fastest growing tourism hot-spots -- most notably Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada -- studios start from as little as £10k and you can buy a luxury 2 bedroom apartment for less than £50k.

The average rent for such properties is around £300 per week and occupancy of around 15-20 weeks per year is currently being achieved. The result is a gross rental yield of 12.5% on Red Sea Riviera property. Now you can understand why so many Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada properties come with guaranteed rental yields of 8% and upwards.

Another great thing about the Red Sea Riviera is that most of it is protected by the government, so it will never be overdeveloped. This will ensure demand always outstrips supply keeping prices going up.

2: Rising Tourism Set to Increase Occupancy and Yields

In an interview with Write About Property earlier this year, the Association for British Travel Agents said that tourism to Egypt from Britain had been growing at around 20% per year for the last few years, and forecast that the strong euro would see growth hit 25% this year.

3: Low Crime Rates

Often the only negative about an emerging market is its crime rate. This is not the case in Egypt. Though the Sharia law system has attracted some negative press in recent years, this is mostly because of extreme interpretations of it, for the most part it is a fair system and one that is hugely succesfull in keeping crime to a minimum. This means that those who buy Egypt property can do so in the knowledge that they and anyone else who uses the property will be safe, and so will the property when it is not in use.

4: Massive Economic Growth Set to Push Prices Upward

People often forget, but Egypt is a part of Africa. This is forgotten, because Egypt is an Arab state and is heavily active in Middle Eastern politics. No matter, Egypt is geographically part of Africa, and like many African states that have secured peace, Egypt is currently making the transition between being a third world country, and an industrialised middle income nation -- with a roaring services sector.

This can be seen in World Bank reports, which show how Egypt's economy has changed from having agriculture as the largest contributor to GDP, to having industrial sectors taking over as the largest contributor, and then the services sector knocking even the industrial sector back into second place.

The same can be seen in most emerging markets, as the advent of budget airlines and IT technology becoming affordable to the masses triggered massive growth in tourism, services outsourcing, and domestic services growth.

However, Egypt is one of the fastest emerging economies in the world. According to the CIA World Factbook the Egyptian economy has grown at 7% per year since 2006.

The International Monetary Fund is forecasting 4.7% growth this year and 4.5% next year -- not bad for a global recession. Over the next few years Egyptian economic growth is forecast to average between 6% and 10% per year. This will cause property prices to rise by at least the value of inflation, -- as materials and labour cost more -- in Egypt that is about 10-15% per year.

However, in rapidly emerging economies it is not uncommon for prices to grow much faster, anywhere up to 30% per year.

5: The Perfect Tourist Package

Egypt has the perfect tourism package: great climate, long-season and great beaches. Because it is very early in its emergence it also offers the opportunity to enjoy the kind of cheap holiday that just isn't possible in Europe anymore. This means it is excellent for you and your family and friends to enjoy holidays in your property, as well as making the fantastic rental yields mentioned above.

Article Provided by Azure Overseas, view property for sale in Egypt with Azure Overseas now.

Spanish Property Still Topping the Charts with Overseas Buyers

Spain has topped the charts yet again in terms of popularity with overseas property buyers according to a recent chart compiled by major overseas property publication Home Overseas.

Spain took 1st place from its close rival Portugal, which had apparently been most popular in the Home Overseas chart for several months.

The Homes Overseas chart is very different to that of portal Property Abroad.com who had Spain in first place for several months until it was overtaken by America in June, which stayed in top-spot in July as well. America is 7th most popular with Homes Overseas readers, up one place on the previous month. Thailand property is 9th most popular with Homes Overseas and has never appeared on the Property Abroad.com chart.

Activity does seem to be increasing in the Spanish market slowly but surely, as the combination of the price drops and strengthening Sterling vs Euro exchange rate brings people back in to the market in the hope of getting their dream holiday home for a bargain price.

You know things are improving when you read an article titled Is it time to dive back into the overseas property market in the Times, or rather when the answer within the article is a resounding yes.

The article even contained details of a 100% profit made on a Spanish property investment, it read:

"Someone who has followed that advice [to buy resort property in prime coastal locations where the Spanish also buy] is Alexander MacDonald, of Glasgow. The 41-year-old bought a one-bedroom apartment in a Spanish-dominated block in Playa de la Arena, Tenerife, for £40,000 in 2002. He sold recently for £80,000 and is looking to buy something bigger in the area while prices are down."

View property for sale in Spain