Just days after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, real esatate investors began posting dozens of inquiries about properties for sale on the craigslist.org Web site, hoping speculation purchases would result in pay offs down the road. These so-called property "vultures" may be behind a 45% rise in investor inquiries for properties in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama reports LoopNet and echoed by The Boston Globe last week.
A Mortgage Bankers Associaion report says commercial mortgage lenders have been on fire - originating over 44 billion in loans in the 2nd quarter. This represents a 41% increase over the 31+ billion posted in Q1.
Commercial loan originations this year are running 31% ahead of last year's record of $136 billion.
Sam Zell, Chairman of Equity Residential, the largest US apartment owner said he expects rental rates to rise as jobs are added and the economy improves. He expects the rent-buy spread to narrow over the next two years, predicting a slowing in rising home prices and an increase in rents.
Mr. Zell believes the rent-buy spread is wider than historical levels and, consequently this spread should narrow over the next year to two years. The rise in home prices and the expected market increase in apartment rental rates are both being driven by a strong employment market. (4.9% unemployment rate just announced is lowest in over four years.)