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.
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.
Massive changes to UK & USA Housing Markets
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.
Dramatic Reversals in US Manufacturing and HousingIn the USA, the changes are even more dramatic. 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.
Apart from sourcing exciting opportunities such as
Waterside below (with others to be found on
www.torcana.com), bear in mind that we offer comprehensive aftersales and project management services.
Torcana Services Offered
- 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.
Introducing Waterside at Coquina Key
Before I sign off for another week, I'd like to introduce you all to Waterside at Coquina Key, our newest Florida development. This is a genuinely beautiful resort, every property is waterfront facing, which is extremely rare. I'd like to invite you to review the further details
below and on our
website. I think it would be time well spent.
It's shaping up to be a very interesting end to yet another turbulent year. For those who have been purchasing distressed assets, it is also shaping up to be a very profitable year.
