Home Sales Falling, Condo & Foreclosure Auctions Rising
After a brief head-fake upward in December, the number of existing homes sold in January fell 5.3 percent in January; the January number was slightly higher than November and 8.6 percent lower than a year earlier. And the cheery news doesn’t stop there: The median home price dropped to $170,300, the lowest level since March…
After a brief head-fake upward in December, the number of existing homes sold in January fell 5.3 percent in January; the January number was slightly higher than November and 8.6 percent lower than a year earlier. And the cheery news doesn’t stop there: The median home price dropped to $170,300, the lowest level since March 2003. Given this backdrop, it’s no surprise that condo developers are turning increasingly to companies that specialize in auctions to move blocks of unsold units, as The Times reports today; as the auction trend hits New York, Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel predicts market-clearing prices 40 to 45 percent below the asking prices of a year ago. Meanwhile, sales volume is rising in some of the hardest-hit markets, a sign, theorizes Floyd Norris, that banks are getting more aggressive is their approach to foreclosure sales.
Home Sales and Prices Continue to Plummet [NY Times]
And Do I Hear $2 Million? No? [NY Times]
Foreclosure Sales Continue [NY Times]
Graphic from The New York Times
Dave –Did you just say it doesn’t matter whether Level 3 assets stay on or off balance sheet? You may need to re-read your FT.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/data?pid=avimage&iid=iotLcq3doU6I
Dave, can we get a straight answer out of you –do you manage other people’s money, and if so, what kind of vehicle is it?
Go to hell What. You act like a child too many times. Take Whuh and cornerbodega with you. None of you can add anything to a discussion.
“My time is spent in Asia. That happens at night, get it??? If you pay attention you might learn something.”
No no no! Letting Chinese men shove Chopsticks up your Ass doesn’t mean “learning something”
“Hedge fund managers can domicile their companies in the Cayman Islands to avoid corporate tax on their profits. Then, they can pay themselves in shares of their own company, deferring tax until they finally sell the shares and take a capital gain. They become billionaires, but only pay income tax on the nominal salary that they pay themselves out of the management company.”
Here comes the pitchforks and torches..
The What
Someday this war is gonna end…
Joe;
Well, now you’ve brought up an issue we can agree on. I can agree to closing down this loophole. If Obama does away with it, I’ll support him.
Regarding the issue of social mobility: I’m not sure anybody has the answer yet as to how to restore social mobility, in the face of gloablization. I think we can agree on the need for lifetime worker re-training. As far as the estate tax, I can’t agree with you. First, I don’t think its repeal will result in social stratification. Please note that none of the current-day Vanderbilts are millionaires. Never underestimate the power of wealthy heirs to dissipate money! Secondly, and more importantly in my mind, I’m opposed to it from a moral/philospophical reasons: the money has already been taxed once, via the income tax. It just does not seem to be fair to take a double dip into the money, simply because someone has passed away.
joe….the majority of hedge funds don’t bother with this strategy. Actually most hedge funds do have an offshore component (usually referred to as the NV as opposed to the domestic LP) but its to accomodate clients who want that. Most hedge funds operate the partnership or LLC onshore. Even hedge fund managers, as skanky as many people think they are, don’t bother with this type of stuff to shelter income. It becomes a regulatory and IRS nightmare for one thing. just not worth it.
yep Joe, salaried people in the 120-200K range pay the highest percentage of their income in tax of any group, those earning more generally using various legal means to reduce their liability.
benson — here’s another specific tax thing. maybe dibs could weigh in:
Hedge fund managers can domicile their companies in the Cayman Islands to avoid corporate tax on their profits. Then, they can pay themselves in shares of their own company, deferring tax until they finally sell the shares and take a capital gain. They become billionaires, but only pay income tax on the nominal salary that they pay themselves out of the management company.
fair? no. ok under bush? yes. (to be fair it was OK under Clinton too). Obama is about to swipe it down.
Glad to get a peep at you financial acumen, Whuh. Doesn’t matter whether things are off balance sheet or not. I’m sure I’ve read my FT far earlier in the morning than you have.
BTW…my time is spent in Asia. That happens at night, get it??? If you pay attention you might learn something.
I hear the stupidity in cornerbodega. I hope he’s not allowed to reproduce.
Answer the question about knowing anything about Brownstone Brooklyn.
No, I thought not.