The most expensive and least expensive areas of the U.S.
This week’s Top of the TweetsBy Camilla McLaughlin
Luxury on the upswing! Luxury sales gained 9 percent in the second quarter, according to a new report from American Express Business Insights. This isn’t a big surprise to us at Unique Homes, seeing as we’ve been chronicling the worldwide recovery in wealth this year. Last week, Forbes also came out with their annual compilation of America’s wealthiest. http://bit.ly/9X3trS The total wealth of the top 400 rose to an estimated $1.37 trillion in 2010, up 8 percent since 2009. In 1982, the total net worth of the Forbes 400 was $127 billion. (Today, Bill Gates alone — pictured — has a net worth of $54 billion)
The recession over — really? It is, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, which, until last week, had been reluctant to officially pronounce the recession as over. The ending date? June 2009, which it had earlier speculated would be the end of the recession. Already, it is the longest downturn since World War II, but few really believe it’s over. Among affluent consumers surveyed by Unity Marketing for their latest poll, 73 percent say the recession continues and only 21 percent say it’s ended.
Most expensive and least expensive? Coldwell Banker, @coldwellbnkr, published its most recent Home Listing Report for 296 markets in the U.S. Most expensive was Newport Beach, Calif., followed by Palo Alto, Rye, N.Y., San Francisco and La Jolla. Among the top group, I was surprised to see Hanover, N.H., as the 12th most expensive. Least expensive was Detroit, followed by Grayling, Mich., Sioux City, and Cleveland. http://ow.ly/2L4jg Forbes Life also published its list of America’s most expensive ZIP codes. Top of the list was 91008, Duarte, Calif., where the median home price is $4.2 million, a 24-percent increase. Forbes does not mention the number of sales during this period. With a small ZIP code or few transactions, the sale of one high (or low) priced property could have a big impact on the median price. In terms of appreciation, Belvedere, Calif., and 10069 in New York had more than 50-percent appreciation. It should be noted that the 10069 ZIP also had one of the largest days-on-market figures at 590 days. http://bit.ly/9sz8fL
Not all subprime loans are created equal, says Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies in a recent analysis of subprime lending. Analyzing loan types and delinquency rates, study authors Eric Belsky and Nela Richardson found fixed-rate subprime loans performed better than subprime ARMs. They also found that prudently underwritten nontraditional loan products performed well and conclude it would be wrong to assume the products themselves should be prohibited. @HousingWire has the story and a link to the study results. http://bit.ly/bW73L5
Kindle vs. Nook vs. iPad? E-Reader versus iPad, that was the question my book group pondered recently and they’re not alone. This week, the WSJ offered a great take that celebrates reading and does a quick analysis of electronic options. http://bit.ly/9wVru9 Thanks to @geoffreyfowler for the tip.
Best stocks for third quarter? Check out @jimcramer’s take at http://ow.ly/2L4jg
