Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan responded to a recent report by Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies today on CNBC. The report shows that one in every four U.S. households is paying more than half their income on rent and middle-income Americans are struggling just as badly and those in a low-income bracket. Rents are rising, vacancies are falling and buyers simply can’t get credit, the report revealed.

Asked about helping the rental housing market and pushing homeownership, Donovan says, in the video above, that HUD didn’t have the luxury of prioritizing one over the other. “We’ve had the biggest increase in worst-case rental housing needs over a two-year period, 2007 to 2009,” he said, “in the history of looking at those numbers.”
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From the March issue: In the mid-2000s, Manhattan real estate prices roared upward, luring a plethora of small investors aiming to double or triple their money in a few short years. When prices fell after the financial crisis, however, those buyers largely vanished from the market.
Now, after two years of sitting on the sidelines, would-be investors are showing a renewed interest in Manhattan condos. Industry experts attribute their reentry to several factors: Prices have stabilized while rents are ticking up, mortgages are easier to obtain, and interest rates are low. [more]

With prices down across the country, a new breed of buyer known as the “parent investor” is emerging, according to Housing Watch. These buyers snap up real estate for their college-bound kids, providing a home-away-from-home that will (hopefully) appreciate in value long after the diplomas are dispersed. While not all college towns are ideal investment sites, experts say that the down market has created a prime opportunity for buyers who would otherwise be paying thousands of dollars a year for a rowdy dorm. [more]

With recent news of increased foreign investment in U.S. real estate, P&I research released the top 10 firms that get the most interest from foreign investors. Topping the list is Colony Capital, with Blackstone in second and AREA Property Partners in third. According to Square Feet Commercial Real Estate blog, a good deal of foreign investment is being put toward residential and multi-family properties, in part because recovery is expected to hit that portion of the market earlier. [more]

From the August issue: For most homeowners, foreclosure is like a fatal illness that starts
with losing control of their finances and ends with a sickening feeling
when the bank finally seizes the property. Post-foreclosure, a
homeowner’s credit rating gets trashed and he can be in financial
purgatory for years, making it nearly impossible to buy or rent
property. But while foreclosure typically spells disaster for homeowners, for
some New York City investors, it may actually be a good business
decision.
Indeed, foreclosure doesn’t have to be a money-losing proposition,
especially for the small-time investor who borrowed money to buy
townhouses or condominiums, according to Augustine Diji, a
Manhattan-based lawyer who helps investors drag out the foreclosure
process for as long as possible. [more]

During the booming economy in Ireland, Irish investors were rushing to
New York City, entering contracts to purchase new residential
condominiums. With the global recession and turbulent times in Ireland, many of these
investors may not be able to close on their purchases, some in luxury
condo developments where all of the units were sold exclusively to
Irish investors, like the tower on Eighth Avenue between 48th and 49th
streets, the residences at East 34th Street between Park and Madison
avenues and a third building under construction on Lexington Avenue
between 38th and 39th streets. Looking to more aggressively capitalize on the financial downturn today are cash-rich Chinese investors. [more]