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Commenting about the recent Wall Street Journal article “Housing rebound in Canada spurs talk of new bubble,” Rolfe Winkler of Reuters says
Last week Paul Krugman toasted the sobriety of Canadian banks. Among other things, he said that low rates aren’t enough to cause a bubble since Canadian rates are low and, well, they don’t have [...]

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According to data released today by the Halifax, UK house prices are now up almost 10% above the levels of just 9 months ago.  Low interest rates have certainly been a big factor in the rise, with Nationwide’s figure showing an even steeper rise since April, as the chart from BBC News below attests.
 

When [...]

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If I could relate the concept of malinvestment to business administration I would do it using the concept of depreciation. 
Depreciation is a term used in accounting and business to represent a writedown of a real asset on a company’s balance sheet to reflect its actual depreciation in value. If you build a building, it [...]

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When I wrote about house prices six months ago, I said:
house prices are bottoming because we have seen a trend in year-on-year changes from January through May that looks likely to continue into the present day.  If this trend (of less negative data) holds for a few more months, say through September or October’s data, [...]

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Markets were disappointed by today’s unemployment data because they reveal how difficult it has been for the employment situation to improve in a meaningful way. The employment market is improving, just not as much as one would hope. Below are four charts derived from the household survey data that tell the story, but also point [...]

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The S&P/Case-Shiller October 2009 house price index came out yesterday. The data showed plenty of reason to worry about the sustainability of the recent stabilization of house prices. While both the Composite-10 and Composite-20 indices showed miniscule gains, the broader picture is one of weakness.
Here are the key highlights.

The Composite-10 index was up to 158.82 [...]

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Internet maven and San Diego North County real estate guru “Jim the Realtor” has another post  showing us that extend and pretend is alive and well in the wonderful world of housing.
This guy received his first NOD in April, 2006, and has been working the system ever since.
Yesterday he listed the house on the MLS [...]

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Good times are here again in residential property. House flippers are back and have now moved to foreclosure auctions.  Below is a house that was bought in foreclosure at $945,000 in November and is now on the market for $1.4 to 1.5 million. 4100 square feet and swimming pool. Fairbanks Ranch. Cheapest house in the [...]

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The following is a re-print of the latest monthly newsletter from Niels Jensen of Absolute Return Partners, published with the express permission of the author. Visit www.arpllp.com to learn more about Absolute Return Partners.  You can reach the firm  by email at info@arpllp.com.
I have arrived at the fourth and final letter in our series about [...]

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You kind of knew this was going to happen.  Given the fact that AmTrust Financial, the holding company filed bankruptcy (see my story here) after a bit of asset stripping, the FDIC was forced to come in and seize the banking subsidiary which was woefully undercapitalized.
The FDIC press release says:
AmTrust Bank, Cleveland, Ohio, was closed [...]