The Mortgage Bankers Association is predicting that 2009 will be another rocky year for the housing sector, with housing starts falling 22.9%, new-home sales declining 31% and new-home prices falling another 5.1%.
The deepening recession and rising unemployment took a toll on homebuilding giant Centex Corp. in the final three months of 2008 as the company saw new-home sales plunge 80%.
A Luxembourg investment partnership has agreed to purchase two private-equity funds from Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s bankruptcy estate.
The housing market continued its downward spiral in December, with new-home construction plummeting to a record low, according to data released today by the Department of Commerce.
Hedge funds experienced record net redemptions of $155 billion in 2008, which when combined with a performance decline of 18.3% for the HFRI Fund Weighted Composite index for the year, dropped total industry assets 25% to $1.4 trillion as of Dec. 31.
According to preliminary data from Hennessee Group LLC in New York, total hedge-fund assets declined by 39% to $1.21 trillion in 2008 — their lowest level since 2006.
The mysterious disappearance of a Florida hedge fund manager five days ago has prompted the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Securities and Exchange Commission to join the investigation, published reports said.
The number of properties facing foreclosure proceedings jumped 81% and the number of American households losing their homes through foreclosure surged 66% in 2008, according to two studies.
Foreign investors plan to spend significantly more money on U.S. real estate in 2009 than they did last year.
Last year was among the worst ever in the history of hedge funds, with $210 billion in losses during the third quarter alone, 693 funds closed through Sept. 30 and an average 16% decline through November.
Union Bancaire Privée is threatening to pull billions of dollars of assets from some of the largest U.S. hedge funds, according to a spokesman for the Geneva bank.
Hedge funds suffered another body blow in December when, according to one index, the S&P 500 stock index outperformed the alternative class strategies.
Real estate investment trusts wrapped up 2008 with negative returns, including dividends, of 37.3% on average.
The latest data, released today by the National Association of Realtors in Washington, shows the Pending Home Sales Index, which tracks contracts signed, fell to its lowest level since the trade group began tracking the stats in 2001.
Commercial real estate is heading into its worst year since the industry's crash of 1991-92 and likely won't see a significant rebound until 2011 at the earliest, according to industry experts.
By some measures, 2008 was one of the darkest periods in the history of the hedge fund industry.
The volume of residential mortgage applications was essentially unchanged for the week ended Dec. 26, even as the interest rates charged on mortgages continued to decline, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association of Washington.
Hedge fund GLG Partners yesterday announced that it will temporarily stop paying a quarterly dividend.
Home prices in the 20 largest U.S. cities fell 18% in October, a record year-over-year decline.
