Tag Archives: Mayfair Economy

Rising home prices a global concern

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“Take a look at the world’s dizzying surges in the price of housing for 12 months at the end of June: London, up 20%. Manhattan, 18%. Sydney, 15.4%.  Some Singaporeans have bought homes in neighbouring Malaysia, which requires a passport-control stop and a two-hour drive when traffic is heavy to reach the business district.  Prices on Hong Kong island, roughly the size of Manhattan where about 1.2 million people live, are the third-most expensive in the world after Monaco and London, at US$1,920 per square foot.  While housing costs about half as much in the northernmost New Territories, prices there rose 140% from 2008 through 2012.”

http://www.therakyatpost.com/business/2014/07/30/rising-home-prices-global-concern/

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New-home sales fall 8.1% in June; May sales in record downward revision

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“Paired with June’s slippage, newly updated sales figures for March, April and May show the industry’s spring performance was weaker than previously estimated, the Census Bureau reported Thursday.  Instead of rising nearly 19% from April, May’s sales were only up about 8%. The magnitude of the change was a single-month record for new-home sales data, according to Census records on revisions that date to 1996.  Sales fell from May in every region, led by a 20% decline in the Northeast. The falloffs elsewhere were 1.9% in the West, 8.2% in the Midwest and 9.5% in the South.  The median price of homes sold last month was $273,500, up 5.2% from June 2013.”

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2014/07/24/june-new-home-sales/13087091/

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London Seeks New Spenders as Russians Skip $719 Champagne

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“With violence continuing in Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin pushing to reduce reliance on the West, wealthy Russians are buying fewer high-end goods from furs to Ferraris, and doing less business with the city’s law firms and investment banks. That leaves London, uniquely connected to faraway, fast-growing economies, looking for new patrons, with China and sub-Saharan African countries pitched as possible successors.  Takeovers involving Russian companies, often handled by the London offices of global banks, tumbled 39 percent in the first half of 2014 to $16.6 billion, Bloomberg data show. Russian firms are having a tougher time raising money too.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-10/london-seeks-new-spenders-as-russians-skip-719-champagne.html

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Fed Money Pumping Brings Results: The Affluent Society Returns

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“Once again, monetary inflation is being confused with high-end entrepreneurialism. Ludwig von Mises, the great Austrian economist, was not fooled about the wealth effect of modern finance and, indeed, with his colleague FA Hayek dealt a devastating blow to the ever-reoccurring idea that ‘this time it’s different.’ It’s not different. Never. It just depends on where you are in the business cycle. Like a bad penny, this dream often recurs when the Fed has dumped enough money into the economy. These funds slosh around in the recesses of commercial banks and financial firms and then gradually find their way into stock markets and thence into high-end real estate.”

http://www.thedailybell.com/news-analysis/35370/Fed-Money-Pumping-Brings-Results-The-Affluent-Society-Returns–For-Now/

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Tiny ‘Shoebox’ Apartment in London Costs $1,200 Per Month

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“London, England: where a ‘shoebox’ apartment that barely fits a double bed and costs $1,200 a month is rented in less than 16 hours.  That’s right. The Guardian reported that a single-room apartment listed with a firm called Relocate Me sparked a number of interested calls and emails. The unit was off the market that same day, despite the fact that it looks more like a prison cell than an apartment in one of the nicest cities in the world.  The report said that the listing didn’t include dimensions for the apartment, so feel free to venture your own educated guess since it’s basically the size of a double bed plus a couple of feet.”

http://www.boston.com/real-estate/news/2014/06/04/tiny-shoebox-apartment-london-costs-per-month/SyV5Nlu3xJ3p7ZeP8wojWJ/story.html

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NYC Woolworth Tower Condo Priced at Record $110 Million

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“Developers are seeking $110 million for the penthouse apartment in the pinnacle of the 58-story tower, the highest-ever asking price for a condominium in downtown Manhattan, according to Jonathan Miller, president of appraiser Miller Samuel Inc.  The $110 million penthouse is about 8,975 square feet with a 584-square-foot terrace. The four-bedroom condo with a private elevator spans nine stories, with the primary living space on the 50th and 51st floors, according to the offering plan. A great room and wine cellar make up the 53rd floor, and the 55th through 58th levels in the cupola include a library or media room and an observation deck at the top, the plan shows.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-02/nyc-woolworth-tower-condo-priced-at-record-110-million.html

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Median CEO Pay Crosses $10 Million in 2013

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“While the S&P 500 notched a 30% gain in 2013, chief executives saw their compensation packages soar to the eight-figure mark for the first time, with median pay coming in at a cool $10.5 million, up 8.8% from 2012. Stock rewards alone grew 17% on the year, to $4.5 million.  Given the 1.3% rise in salary the average U.S. employee received last year, these latest figures should help keep the pay disparity conversation going strong.  Of course, there’s also plenty of disparity within the rarefied CEO universe, with a $36.8 million compensation gap between just the top and 10th-highest earners on AP’s list.”

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/median-ceo-pay-crosses–10-million-in-2013-195636213.html

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Swiss Freeports and the Invincible Tax Evader

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“Freeports have an impressive history. They arose from the legal exemption that items ‘in transit’ receive from taxes and tariffs. It was expected that this exemption would only be temporary as shipped goods transferred between planes or were temporarily stored while awaiting shipment to their final destinations. But investors quickly realized another, more profitable use for them. Because there was no limit on how long something could be ‘in transit,’ freeports offered an innovative solution for avoiding taxes and tariffs on high-value assets.  This system allows stored assets to appreciate in value, and it also allows for tax-free sales.  Demand for space has surged to unprecedented levels.”

http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/swiss-freeports-and-the-invincible-tax-evader

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Bill Bonner: What Do Bond Investors Know That Stock Investors Don’t?

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“Your Rogue Economist entered the labor force when he was 14.  Thereafter, he was either in school or at work. He worked as an usher, a dishwasher, a carpenter’s helper, a mason, a painter, a truck driver, a teacher. It never took more than a day or two to find a job.  Times have changed. Now, it’s much harder to get on the bottom rung.  And according to the Financial Times, things aren’t much better for those on the economic ladder. If they are lucky enough to get a foothold… and eventually climb their way into the middle class… they will earn, on average, about as much as a middle-class wage earner a half a century ago!  How’s that for something to look forward to?”

http://www.bonnerandpartners.com/what-do-bond-investors-know-that-stock-investors-dont/

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Bill Bonner: The Housing Rebound Story Is a Fraud

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“We can think of many reasons for buying assets in emerging markets. But ‘a search for yield’ is not one of them. But that just goes to show you how grotesque the world has become.  Back at home, the feds brighten up the lives of people who live in tanning salons. Sales of houses to the top 1% of buyers on Long Island rose 72% in the first four months of this year. The bottom 99%, meanwhile, actually bought fewer houses.  The whole housing rebound story is a fraud… another distortion caused by the Fed… and another example of how the insiders transfer wealth from the outsiders to themselves. In Oakland, California, sales to the 1% rose 45 times faster than sales to the rest.”

http://www.bonnerandpartners.com/the-housing-rebound-story-is-a-fraud/

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