US Property Portal Giant Realtor.com Goes International

Realtor.com, the property portal of the US National Association of Realtors, the largest portal in America, is to target overseas buyers, and enter the overseas market with a range of new services, including international listings, and translation services.

The portal says that it currently receives 575,000 non-us visitors each month, whom it makes no effort to cater for. That is to change as the portal tries to better leverage its international standing.

“Realtor.com will expand the exposure of U.S. real estate listings to global markets and add international listings,” said NAR President Ron Phipps, broker-president of Phipps Realty in Warwick, R.I.

“While all real estate in the U.S. is local, the same is not true for property owners. The U.S. continues to be a top destination for international buyers from all over the world. Foreign buyers understand the value of owning a home in this country and can rely on Realtors(R) to help guide them through the process of buying property in the U.S. With expertise, knowledge and experience, Realtors(R) have a global perspective, reflecting the increasing importance of foreign buyers to U.S. home sellers,” Phipps said.

The industry is in doubt as to what impact the move will have on an already packed overseas property portal market. Realtor.com is known the world over, and Move Inc, the digital clout behind NAR in the operation is almost as powerful. However, dominance in the US doesn't immediately translate to dominance overseas.

What we usually see with something like this is a learning curve, as the company comes in with power, prestige and money but lacks experience. Success will no doubt be determined by how quickly Realtor.com can learn from its early mistakes.

Spanish Developers Lure Buyers with Great Deals

Despite the fact that Spanish property sales have reportedly been improving for the last several months, developers continue to take seemingly extreme measures to lure buyers.

Costa Almeria development Balcones de Palomares is a good example just added to the Azure Overseas portfolio. Anyone not bowled over by the price; just £68,469 for a key-ready 2 bedroom apartment in a quiet and secure development near the coast and with white good included, probably will when they realise that 100% mortgages are being offered with properties in the development.

Most buyers of Spanish property in the last 2 years have been cash buyers, equally because wealthy individuals made up the majority of buyers, and because mortgages were scarcely available. Slowly but surely buyers who need mortgages (low budget buyers) are returning, and thankfully more mortgages are coming up as well.

The price is the most impressive thing here though, well designed, quality 2 bedroom apartments in a nice development with a communal pool in Andalusia, Spain for not much more than you would pay in Turkey is truly a bargain.

Low prices like this in an established market like Spain is always good news for investors; the low price means you can set your rental rates lower and sill make a strong yield. Not to mention capital growth potential, in the fact that Spain will recover, and when it does these units will quickly double in value, then go to 150% of their current price.

American Property Market: Volatile but Bountiful in Opportunities

The US property market is probably the most volatile in the 1st world right now. We have reports of prices falling, and we still have tens of thousands of homes being repossessed every week, some reports talk of falling repossessions because of the freeze, other's say the freeze was barely a blip. On the other hand mortgage interest rates are at all time lows and most reports concur that sales are increasing in most regions.

Volatility aside, few can deny that the US market is currently abundant with opportunities, and that these opportunities are in their best presented to foreigners, or certainly out-of-state buyers. Foreign and out of state buyers needn't care about the effect that the rock-bottom price they are paying for a distressed or repossessed property, only that the price they are getting for will increase their rental yield (rents haven't fallen as fast as sale prices, and there is no such thing as a distressed rental -- not now anyway). Not to mention the potential capital growth when America finally gets back on her feet.

And what an opportunity it is:

The dozens of repossessions don't only increase availability of property at rock bottom prices, but they also increase the number of people and families in demand of rental accommodation. Thus, investors can buy in at low prices and with a large pool of potential tenants.

In fact, there is an even better way to invest...

Shrewd investors, developers and anyone else with the cash to do so, have decided to cut out the void between buying and finding a tenant, they are buying distressed homes and renting them back to the original owner. This is why we are currently seeing so many tenanted deals coming across the Atlantic. The average yield on the tenanted deals is 6%.

There is nothing average however, about the Village at Town Centre development in Orlando, offering tenanted 3 bedroom apartments just minutes from Disney World from just £47,300. Understandably, net yields of 10% are currently being achieved.

Berlin Property Prices Lowest in Industrialised World

Berlin property prices are lower than in any capital city in the industrialised world, according to a new comparative study by Engels & Volkers, although it is not the first time this has been reported, and it will probably not be the last either.

In Mitte, the upmarket district of Berlin, top end apartments currently go for an average price of 3,500 Euros per square meter, which is a fraction of the price of a comparable unit in the financial district of New York.

Engel and Volkers declared Berlin's history of division as responsible for its failure to grow like other capital cities.

"We have only begun to see things changing here in the last ten years. But, compared with other major cities, the impact of this on the property market is rather minimal," said Anne Riney, managing partner of Engels & Volkers in Berlin-Mitte.

"It will take a long time yet before the market reaches anything like the price margins of London, Tokyo, New York or Paris. Until then, Berlin will remain the world capital with the lowest-priced residential property," she added.

It is true; history is a huge part of the reason why Berlin property prices are so low, but not in the way laid out by Engels and Volkers.

Only 40% of Germans own their own homes, much lower than the developed world average of around 70%. The status quo has developed over the years, and the renters culture is now deeply entrenched in Berlin.

Because of the situation, the government imposes controls on rental rates, allowing rents to rise only when wages rise. Because the biggest buyers of property in Berlin are buy to let investors, price rises are governed by rental rates. This vicious cycle has kept the lid on Berlin property prices for years.

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.

Confidence Increasing in Overseas Property

We have all heard reports that the low interest rates in the UK are causing more people to look to overseas property. The latest report to confirm this trend comes from the latest Worldwide Property Group confidence tracker; a survey of those considering buying overseas property.

The survey found that 71% of potential overseas property buyers said that the current level of rates had increased their desire to purchase a property, 64% said that they are benefiting from the continuing low level of interest rates. Interestingly.

73% respondents said that they felt that now is a good time to buy property overseas showing that confidence is returning. 68% of respondents said they are actively considering buying a property overseas.

Asked which regions they were most interested in, respondents came up favouring the US, Caribbean, and Brazil, followed by the traditional European destinations like Spain, France and Italy, with Portugal also getting a mention.

Commenting on the figures, Kevin Wilkes, Managing Director of the Worldwide Property Group said: “The results of this survey make for very positive reading. I am delighted to see that confidence in property both in the UK and overseas has reached such a high level. It is also very interesting to see that with all the fantastic opportunities currently available around the world, it is still the more traditional markets that draw the most interest. This is valuable information as it enables us to offer exactly what our clients want.”

US Sellers Slash Prices as Foreigners Keep Coming

Research shows that the asking prices on almost half of all the properties in 26 US markets, Florida in particular, are being cut by sellers.

Now, real estate investors from Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Russia and South America are finding bargains as a result of the price cuts.

California based online real estate brokerage ZipRealty believes the price cuts on 47.8% of the housing inventory tell only part of the story, according to the firm 25% more sellers have cut their prices this year than last year, and have cut prices twice in most cases.

The median reduction was $19,725 and this was 7.25% of the list price on average. Florida sellers have been wielding the heaviest knife, with Miami, Jackonsonville and Orlando sellers cutting double digit percentages off their asking prices. Miami saw the biggest discounts, with sellers slashing an average 12% off their asking prices. Discounted properties in Orlando are a big hit in the UK.

‘The summer home selling season never kicked in this year, leading anxious sellers to slash prices,’ said a statement from Zip Realty.

Florida is currently seeing a large number of foreign buyers, attracted by the bargains. Foreigners have always been high in Florida, but the gap between Florida and other states has widened because prices are so low.

Foreigners now make up for 10% of the market according to a recent report by the National Association of Realtors, but this is spreading fast according to experts. Marketing campaigns are now targeting foreigners specifically and realtors are offering heavily discounted viewing trips.