Tag Archives: Investors

In a report released Thursday, real estate data firm RealtyTrac revealed that 33.9 percent of single-family home and condo sales last quarter were transacted in cash, down from 36.9 percent in the second quarter and flat from last year.

According to transaction data from CoreLogic, home sales transacted entirely in cash accounted for 32.9 percent of total home sales in July, down from 35.9 percent in July 2013. It was the lowest cash sales share since August 2008. As of July, all-cash sales were still well above their pre-crisis average of 25 percent as traditional mortgage buyers still find it difficult to get a foot into the market.

William A. Ackman, head of Pershing Square, and Bruce Berkowitz, head of Fairholme Capital, have both added to their respective stakes in the two GSEs. In the last week of September, Judge Royce Lambert threw out lawsuits filed by Fairholme and Perry Capital against the government claiming that the sweeping of GSE profits into Treasury was illegal. The judge ruled the sweeping of the profits was legal under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act.

Hedge fund Perry Capital has appealed a judge's decision to dismiss a lawsuit filed last year over the sweeping of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's profits into the Treasury. The investors believe that the diversion of GSE profits created a "windfall" for the government while short changing GSE shareholders.

A ruling issued by a federal judge this week clears the way for investors to proceed with a class-action suit against JPMorgan Chase, meaning that all the investors can be represented by a lead plaintiff in the case. Investors are accusing the bank of misleading them by making false statements regarding the RMBS when the securities were packaged and sold to the investors in 2007, a year before the subprime lending crisis.

In a recent analysis released by Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA), senior managing director Christopher Whalen predicts many metros around the country will see home price appreciation switch to a much slower track—or even decline modestly, in some cases—as the factors directing the momentum of the last few years diminish and fundamental drivers start playing a bigger role.

According to transaction data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), existing-home sales last month were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.05 million, a decrease of 1.8 percent from July's sales pace of 5.14 million and a drop of 5.3 percent compared to last year. The group's chief economist, Lawrence Yun, pinned August's slower pace to a decline in all-cash purchases made by investors.

In a note sent earlier this week, equity research analyst Richard Bove at Rafferty Capital Markets warned clients of a potential mortgage crisis in the making, according to a report from CNBC. With the Federal Reserve on track to end its monthly bond purchases, Bove cautions that the loss of one of the tools used to help lift housing out of its post-recession rut could hurt the market, especially as interest rates start to tick back up.

Following the filing of a separate suit with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, New York-based hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management has filed a second suit against the U.S. government over the handling of GSE profits. In its compliant, Pershing Square suggests that the GSE dividends being diverted into Treasury, which amount to billions of dollars, should be divided among the common shareholders for the GSEs.

The second quarter of 2014 saw fewer all-cash home sales than the first quarter as institutional investors backed off from the market. In a quarterly report released Tuesday, RealtyTrac reported all-cash transactions made up 37.9 percent of all single-family home and condo sales in April, May, and June, down from the first quarter's three-year high of 42.0 percent but up from 35.7 percent in the year-ago quarter.