Monthly Archives: December 2012

 

Recent news has indicated that Florida’s housing sector has gained the attraction of foreign buyers, specifically from Latin America.  Christopher Wood, Managing Director of CLSA  (Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia), is hesitant to use this information too flippantly though since the average US citizen has not encountered a substantial increase in income.  Wood is somewhat of an expert in this field, having been “consistently voted best strategist in Asia’s leading industry polls,” in his provision of “award-winning coverage of global equity markets.” It should also be noted that international investment professionals and the media wholly commend his weekly ‘Greed & fear’ column.

Wood also points to the other issues on the table.  Many people will continue paying rent rather than buying because of the flexibility it provides.  In an analysis of today’s mortgages rates however, buying is usually less expensive vis-à-vis monthly payments.  Thus the feeling remains that the country’s residential investment real estate is in an optimistic upswing.  According to the CPI shelter index, rents have increased by 4.4 percent which is having an impact on the country’s CPI inflation numbers since shelter expenses account for 31 percent of its CPI basket and 41 percent of CPI’s core.