Hundreds of you have asked us about mortgages in Florida and we have been in negotiations with dozens of US based banks over the past year in attempts to secure them. It has proved very difficult to say the least - there were far too many brokers and banks talking the talk and nothing more. However, and at long last, we are delighted to announce that we have finally managed to secure local financing for our clients.

Superior Bank successfully arranged mortgages recently for foreign nationals this summer and I’ve seen the proof with my own eyes. In a nutshell, if you have a job with steady income and you can prove that you have a 30% deposit and no bad credit history your application will be successful.

Request your Mortgage Information Packs on Torcana.com

Think about it - two bed tenanted waterfront properties costing $90,000 can now be financed for just $27,000 (€18,400 / £16,375). Three bed two bath tenanted properties near Disney costing $116,500 can be financed for just $34,950 (€23,800 / £21,150). Details of both these projects are on www.torcana.com

If you’d like to receive a full information pack on financing packages available, simply visit the new US Mortgage Section of our website and we’ll send one right out to you.

 

Kind Regards

 

Colin Murphy

Torcana.com

At the beginning of 2009, Florida seemed to have an unimaginably large supply of property: 23.6 months worth. It is now 8.4 months and because new construction activity is still minimal, it is set to fall further. A market with 6 months supply is considered by economists to be balanced between buyers and sellers.

 

Let’s look at it another way - the last nine months in Florida has been a little bit like one huge Brown Thomas or Selfridges sale. While there’ll still be products discounted at 60-70% in six months time, the best quality merchandise and the best deals will always be snapped up by those queuing to get in at the start. We know this because Torcana.com have been right in the thick of it all year and can see it happening everyday.

 

Kind Regards

 

Colin Murphy

Torcana.com

As Dusty Springfield famously sang, “the world goes round without even a sound, and it looks like summer is over”.

 

Dusty was spot on regarding the second part of that lyric but the property and financial worlds were making plenty of noise over the past few months.

 

Growing confidence in the markets

Stockmarkets have rebounded, as have equities and commodities. Investors have regained their appetites for debt and the interest rates at which banks lend to each other has fallen back to near pre-crisis levels. Ben Bernanke, the Fed Reserve chief, has announced that the worst recession since 1929 was “very likely over at this point“. The Sage of Omaha himself (aka Warren Buffett), told CNBC yesterday that “the US housing crisis was over“.  

 

Confidence is also growing rapidly amongst large investors. I’m not just talking about hedge funds starting to actually buy shares again rather than short them, but also about pension funds and private equity groups buying huge amounts of distressed property in places like Florida.

 

Twice in the last 4 weeks I’ve seen developments with 100-300 units for sale taken off the market because single groups have purchased them outright, swiping the rug out from under the feet of those who were considering purchasing one or two units.

 

Kind Regards

 

Colin Murphy

Torcana.com

- We either locate buildings with tenants in place (most of Florida product) or we collaborate with local management companies to source new ones quickly (most of UK product).  

- We advise on purchase strategies and negotiate bulk discounts on behalf of high net worth investors

- We liaise with accountancy experts to ensure returns are filed properly and with title and insurance companies to ensure contracts are processed quickly and efficiently

- We help you obtain financing (where applicable), open bank accounts and obtain tax numbers.

In short, we are a very research and service orientated company.

For more information, please see www.torcana.com.

Kind Regards

Colin Murphy

Director

Torcana Ltd

In the USA, the changes are even more dramatic than in the UK. Economic output in the manufacturing sector expanded in August, following 18 months of contraction, which is highly significant.  

The S&P/Case-Shiller index, which tracks home prices in 20 cities, ticked up slightly in May, its first gain in 34 months (see chart below left hand side). New construction of single-family homes rose in July for the fifth straight month.

Sales of existing homes are expected to show their fourth consecutive month of gains when latest numbers are released (see chart below right hand side).
 
Within the State of Florida, sales of existing homes have risen year on year for the past ten months in a row! Sales of existing condos in Florida are up 39% year on year.

In the more depressed regions of Europe and USA, it’s very difficult to grasp just how fast property markets in places like Florida can move. But I can assure you that it is very intense and the landscape changes every day.

For more information, please see www.torcana.com.

Kind Regards

Colin Murphy

Director

Torcana Ltd

 

In complete contrast to Ireland, our cousins in the UK and USA had the ability to pump enormous amounts of liquidity into their financial systems to help kick start their economies. While these countries have huge public debt as a consequence - the ripple effects of this liquidity on their housing markets has been dramatic. Anybody following international business news (or indeed the modest Torcana News Section) will surely have noticed this.  

In the UK for example, every single region in England and in Wales recorded a monthly rise in house prices between June-July 2009. The average monthly increase was 1.7% - the biggest in five years.   

Mortgage approvals are now at a 17 month high and 77% more mortgages were approved in July 2009 compared to July 2008. The number of transactions is also increasing steadily, as illustrated in the graph below. 

For more information, please see www.torcana.com.

Kind Regards

Colin Murphy

Director

Torcana Ltd

 

Encouraging Signs of Economic Recovery

Led by China, Asia’s emerging economies have revived fastest, with several expanding at annualised rates of more than 10% in the second quarter of 2009. A few big rich economies also returned to growth, albeit far more modestly, between April and June. Japan’s output rose at an annualised pace of 3.7%, and both Germany and France notched up annualised growth rates of just over 1%.

 

Australia is doing exceptionally well and is, by some measures, the best peforming advanced economy over the past year. Most economies are still smaller than they were a year ago. On a quarterly basis, though, they are turning the corner.

 For more information, please see www.torcana.com.

Kind Regards

Colin Murphy

Director

Torcana Ltd

About 45% of our clients and visitors to www.torcana.com are based in Ireland, so we pay very close attention to the political and economic situation on the ground. Unfortunately it looks increasingly likely that Ireland is going to be very volatile over the next 6-12 months. The Lisbon Treaty is coming up in early October, which is extremely important to ratify but a huge distraction in terms of rebalancing the economy and overall employment.

There is also a budget coming in October where details of roughly $5billion in cuts/savings in public expenditure will be announced which will face very heavy resistance from the unions and large sections of the general public.

But of course, our headlines will also be dominated by the NAMA legislation due to be debated shortly. It is probably the most controversial and most important legislation that our country has ever debated. I’m far from convinced myself that the government are taking the correct course of action with this. 

No doubt many politicians and bankers wish they’d taken a different career path. 

Alas, the Irish economy is far from recovery and property prices need to fall an awful lot more before they’ll get this investor interested. However, and belatedly, other countries are positively brimming with opportunities.

For more information, please see www.torcana.com.

Kind Regards

Colin Murphy

Director

Torcana Ltd