IPIN Live - Archived posts for April 2010

With an increasing amount of distressed property making its way on to the US market, we take a look at one of the major contributors to the housing crisis. What is a sub-prime mortgage?

The Goldman Sachs serious fraud case is a topic which has dominated headlines and conversations for the past few weeks and with the results likely to have a serious effect on the future environment for investments, we figured it would be a good idea to explore it in more detail....

A £150m debt for equity swap will cut the metals and property group's £759m debt after it breached banking covenants

Lloyds takes a tougher line with real estate customers by putting a £500m portfolio of properties backed by loans from sold-off lender HBOS on the market

What is IPIN? One of our Managing Partners, Danny Bance, gives a brief overview of the company and what it can offer to property investors worldwide.

In this podcast we take a look at exactly how one IPIN member made such great returns through his SES investment and we walk through his personal investment experience to show how you could also benefit from this superb investment vehicle.

This short video gives an overview of one of our most successful strategies offering returns of 26%+ with 100% capital protection. Listen in to find out how this works....

Dubai Emaar Properties shareholders yesterday approved non-distribution of dividend for 2009 and authorised the company to reinvest its profits into "long-term growth".

Dubai Cancellation notices enforced by Dubai Land Department do not affect the legal rights of investors and can be disputed, officials confirmed.

Zain Property Developers, the same company behind the successful Seeb 'Dar al Zain' residential development, have announced plans for a new Zain Heights.

The Manhattan US Attorney's Office is said to be in the early stages of a criminal probe into whether Goldman Sachs or its staff deliberately committed securities fraud

Currency markets are likely to look past the European economic calendar to focus on US Gross Domestic Product figures

The Bank of Thailand (BoT) has adjusted its gross domestic product (GDP) growth projection for 2010 to between 4.3 and 5.8 per cent, up from the earlier forecast of 3.3 to 5.3 per cent

The $8,000 homebuyer tax credit has had an impact: Reports from around the nation are that contract signings have been way up the past few weeks as people prepare for the credit to expire on Friday.

Emaar Properties PJSC will hold its 12th Annual General Meeting (AGM) today to discuss the proposal of the board of directors regarding the non-distribution of dividends

The new board of Nakheel was created to take better control of the firm's finances in the wake of the Dubai World debt restructuring

Another finance company has collapsed with Perpetual Trust today appointing Barry Jordan and David Vance of Deloitte as receivers of St Laurence

Irish businesses and households are finding it increasingly difficult to access credit, with households being particularly squeezed, according to new figures from the European Central Bank

Asian stock markets were little changed on Thursday after two days of selling with investors treading cautiously

The property market in Thailand has been experiencing an upsurge in interest over the past few years, with low prices, a relatively stable economy and a number of governmental policies tempting overseas buyers to the Asian destination....

It is useful to remember that the grass is not always 'greener on the other side' and if anybody was of the belief that the UK has borne the brunt of the global economic crisis, then it may be time to spare a thought for our European neighbours in Greece....

At last some substantial signs of a turnaround in the US property markets! Reports published by the NAR (National Association of Realtors) show substantial positive advances across a number of areas in the US housing markets during March.

One of the main hurdles to the development of Egypt's mortgage finance industry has been the erratic property registration practices in Egypt, insiders say.

Current and potential investors in Dubai property are being scared off by inflated service charges, according to a CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) quarterly Market View report.

A former Goldman Sachs executive told a Senate hearing that he did not remember whether he knew of the "bad reputation" of a subprime lender

Confidence is returning to the US commercial property sector, reflected in a reversal of the capitalization rates that eroded values.

Despite unprecedented high vacancy rates across the US, the apartment sector posted its strongest absorption levels in a decade

A display suite to promote the redevelopment of Auckland City Council's former works depot site on Cook St will be opened tomorrow night.

Europe’s asset managers are keener than ever to wean clients off domestic debt and equity and into emerging regions.

Retired multimillionaire Edward Bazinet has put his five-story penthouse in Tribeca, New York on the block for $28m

The British Pound may fall if the CBI gauge of retail activity boosts Gordon Brown ahead of this week's final debate on economic affairs between UK party leaders

The Government Revitalization Unit, tasked with reducing wasteful spending, called Monday for cuts in the Urban Renaissance Agency's two apartment projects worth a combined 418 billion yen

Dubai's troubled real estate developer Nakheel said on Monday it had started to sign agreements with trade creditors

More than 700 homes once owned by the celebrity investor and the bank have been offered to investors in the final workout of a failed buy-to-let business

Swire Properties, one of the leading property companies in Asia, plans to raise as much as $2.7bn in one of Hong Kong's biggest initial public offerings of the year

Lawyers have questioned whether the Dubai Land Department (DLD) has the authority to cancel building contracts and seize properties.

The property market in Burma has high growth potential, especially after general elections are held and with the support of new economic networks in the region

Toscafund plans to raise £250m (€288.5m) from institutional investors for its second fund of UK residential mortgages

The richest financiers in the UK have regained much of the wealth they lost in the credit crunch as asset prices rose strongly last year, according to the annual Sunday Times Rich List.

Japan is calling on the International Monetary Fund to adopt a set of structural reforms to reinforce its ability to prevent future economic crises

Japan's trade balance returned to a surplus in the last year for the first time in two years, though exports declined at a record pace due to the global economic downturn

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim is believed to have signed a contract to acquire an 11-story office building on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue for $140m (€106m)

Blackstone Group reported a first-quarter "economic" profit of $360m (€272.2m), or 32 cents a unit, compared with a loss of $82.4m, or seven cents a unit, last year and far higher than the 21 cents a

There was no denying; risk appetite was in full control of crude oil price action Thursday. A growth-linked asset with significant speculative interest

A quarter percentage point hike in signal rates by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is not big enough for banks to immediately jack up lending rates.

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke unveiled Tuesday the redesigned 100 Dollar bill

Moratoria work well when there is something in a company worth saving but many of the finance companies that collapsed had flawed business models

Last year's recovery in global residential real estate was a tale of two halves

Ansh Jain, the cricket crazy co-head of Deutsche Bank's global investment bank, last year offloaded his 10% stake in the Mumbai Indians

The Euro and the British Pound may fall as UK and Euro Zone budget deficit figures threaten growth prospects

While the International Monetary Fund reports expected writedowns and substantially improved capital positions, some segments of international banking may still face major risks. The IMF recommends th

Late stage foreclosures pushed filing figures higher in the opening quarter, suggesting that banks may be chipping away at distressed properties clogging the system.

Social housing has been around for some time now in most of the developed world in some form or another and is used by governments to ensure that there is a supply of subsidised housing and assistance with payments for those on low income, the elderly and the infirm.

The property market in Abu Dhabi will return to full stability from the aftermath of the recession-induced setbacks only after some more time

The Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs for Land and Survey Affairs is working on a plan that could see every citizen granted a piece of land in the Kingdom.

Average hedge-fund returns stand at 2.56% for the year so far, with the industry having nearly $1,670bn (€1,242.5bn) in client assets - merely 2% short of the all-time high set in October 2007

Evercore on Tuesday declared a nearly six-fold surge in first-quarter revenue to $12.2m (€9.1m) at its investment management unit

The British Pound is likely to face increased volatility over the next 24 hours of trading as economists forecast jobless claims in the U.K. to drop another 10.0K in March

The cabinet has agreed in principle to the land and building tax bill proposed by the Ministry of Finance, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said on Tuesday.

Country property prices in the UK continued rising in the first quarter of this year, up 2%, and are now 4.3% higher than they were a year ago, according to the latest price index.

Wealth managers are expanding their online capabalities to give private clients greater control over their portfolios, after a report last week highlighted the need for more hands-on involvement.

Alliance Trust will change its focus from the UK to emerging markets

The Euro regained its footing as post Goldman Sachs fraud case fears have started to subside and markets are becoming numb to news regarding Greece.

The signature to close the sale of a 49 percent stake in the Dominican Refinery (REFIDOMSA) to Venezuela was postponed by president Leonel Fernandez

It would seem the world press (or at least Europe and Scandinavia) have dropped almost all forms of news just to talk about a volcano whose name they cannot pronounce, (Eyjafjallajokull) and continue to go on about it with no sign of stopping. All of the news streams, blogosphere, twitter, and just about any other form of news or social media appear to be jammed solid with it. Great if you have plans to become a volcanologist, or you have a school project about volcanoes. Anyone would think an ash cloud had actually got into the internet itself!

EU transport ministers were to hold a video conference Monday on the volcanic ash cloud blowing across Europe, which has left millions of passengers stranded around the globe.

Real estate developers will perform better in 2010 and 2011 as they will mostly benefit from a surge in government spending

Global investment consultancy Mercer has hired a head of European real estate. The company created the position after months of huge inflows into property funds

Goldman Sachs is on Tuesday likely to declare a year-on-year surge in first-quarter revenues from $9.4bn (€6.9bn) to $11bn

The US Dollar and Japanese Yen may extend gains as stock markets lead a broad sell-off across the spectrum of risky assets, boosting the demand for the safety-linked currencies.

House sales are booming nationally and Auckland leads the way with a $709 a day jump. The city last month had the biggest price rises and the most deals.

A new report has found the renewable energy industry will be one of the main creators of new jobs and a target for new investment.

Abu Dhabi Finance, the Emirate's fastest growing home-finance provider, has launched a special promotion for the Cityscape Abu Dhabi exhibition

Whitehall Street International was down to its last $30m (€22m) at the end of 2009 after taking a 98% writedown on its entire portfolio following soured deals in the US, Germany and Japan

HSBC Trinkaus will "attentively review" prospective economically prudent acquisitions that would help the German private bank expand its core business, chief executive Andreas Schmitz said on Thursday

The Pound is looking to put in its fifth positive day out of the last six as it continues to trend higher on the back of a clearer political picture and broader optimism.

The continued anti-government rally by the red-shirts is severely hurting the country’s tourism sector, according to the Federation of Thai Tourism Associations (FETTA)

Any lawsuit by Lehman Brothers’ creditors against CME Group, Goldman Sachs, Barclays and DRW Trading seeking compensation over losses associated with the $2bn-plus (€1.46bn) “fire sale”

The British Pound pushed higher after the UK telegraph released a poll showing the deficit-hawk Conservatives would likely win an outright majority in the upcoming general election.

Montecristi, Dominican Republic. As part of the strategy set forth by the State-owned Power Companies (CDEEE) to attract new investments in and efficient low cost generation, its CEO Celso Marranzin

India plans to hold an auction of ultra-high-speed fourth-generation (4G) mobile phone spectrum soon after completion of 3G access now underway, a report said Wednesday.

The Land Department of Dubai has completed work on around 80 per cent of the real estate valuations law, a senior official said.

Kuwait's Public Authority for Housing Welfare (PAHW) said on Tuesday a draft plan for low-cost houses have been completed.

The UK property group anticipates interim sales to be GBP 78.5m

The number of wealthy expatriates is expected to grow from seven million currently to around 16 million by 2020

George Soros, the billionaire investor who famously shorted sterling in 1992, has backed the UK's efforts at financial reforms over equivalent attempts in the US

Predicting the outcome of events is something that has baffled the worlds greatest minds since the dawn of time. Philosophers and Physicists alike have pondered over such conundrums creating all sorts of weird and wonderful theories, either in a bid to solve the questions (usually to only uncover more) or to just confuse the world at large even further.

Good news for real estate. The market hit bottom in March last year and since then it has been slowly stabilising, except for office space, according to Asteco's latest report.

Kuwaiti developer, National Real Estate Company (NREC), is set to develop a Dh1.2 billion four-tower residential waterfront project called Carina Views on Najmat Abu Dhabi in Al Reem Island.

The political consequences of reaping profits from “speculating” on currencies currently “would be too severe” for hedge funds, George Soros has warned

Hermes Real Estate and BlackRock’s UK real-estate fund will this week put City skyscraper Tower 42 and five other neighbouring low-rise buildings on the block

Harry Abrahamsen, an Oradell, New Jersey-based wealthy client of UBS, on Monday pleaded guilty to one count of failing to file with the Internal Revenue Service

The Euro tracked lower against the US Dollar ahead of the first Greek bond auction in the aftermath of yesterday's EU pledge of $45 billion euro to bail out Athens if need be.

Property investors with buy to let holiday homes will have seen a surge in bookings due to more people deciding on a ‘staycation’ this year claims a holiday lettings company

Traders are reporting a gradual rise in demand for exotic equity derivatives and trading strategies

Increased supply has eased price growth for UK housing in the opening months of 2010. A tax break for first-time buyers could spur sales,

A rogue former employee at a Chinese joint venture of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels has sold off $48m of the group's assets including a hotel and development land without the company's permission

Property giant Emaar Properties is looking to revive its hospitality sector plans for the Indian market where it has a presence through a joint venture company - Emaar MGF.

Although property companies in Dubai continue to offer incentives and payment solutions to their investors, GCC-based developers are offering extended payment plans

UBS AG said Monday it expects to swing to a pretax profit of at least 2.5 billion Swiss francs ($2.35 billion)

The Euro soared to the highest in a month against the US Dollar after European Union leaders announced a new 45 billion euro bailout plan to stave off a default in debt-ridden Greece.

The business sector has cancelled the annual Songkran celebration on Khao San road next week due to the violent clashes between anti-government protesters and authorities on Saturday.

The tourism sector has lost more than 35 billion baht due to the intensifying mass anti-government rally and the bloody confrontations on Saturday between red-shirt protesters and security forces.

Choueri Real Estate, a Dubai-based real estate broker company, is working with real estate fund managers to put together in excess of $100 million (Dh367m) for a real estate fund

A small township being built near Ramallah in Palestine by a local company in partnership with Qatari Diar is in doldrums

Property values in New Zealand are 6.1 per cent above the same time last year but buyers are cautious, commentators say.

Tourism Minister Francisco Javier Garcia on Thursday defended the investments in Dominican Republic’s tourism industry, calling it healthy money

Recent events such as the Mazaya IPO, Barwa Real Estate merger with Alaqaria and plans for the $2.5bn merger between Group of International Housing Co and Ezdan indicated that....

Tasweek Real Estate Development and Marketing, an Abu Dhabi-based company, expects to make net profit of Dh300 million over a period of three years

Qatari Diar is set to bolster its property portfolio with a $275m (€206.3m) acquisition of Singapore’s historic Raffles Hotel from Fairmont Raffles Hotels International

A private overseas family fund has acquired the London home of the Morgan family, founders of the eponymous US banks

The Euro and the British Pound tracked lower against the US Dollar in Asian trade ahead of interest rate announcements from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England.

Bulgaria's first IKEA store will be opened in Sofia in the last quarter of 2011, announced George Alevizos.

Taxes. Often claimed to be the "other" thing one can’t avoid, apart from death. As an integral part of any economy, taxes are unfortunately necessary and usually heavily enforced, whether the residents like it or not.

If the situation returns to normal before the festive season, as much as 100 billion baht could be spent during the Songkran festival next week

The Yen fell against major currencies as the Bank of Japan held rates unchanged

In the last year alone, the US federal debt has escalated to more than half of the country's gross domestic product

At the root of the nation's housing foreclosure crisis are flawed banks, Wall Street fraud, a floundering Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and failed federal oversight.

A number of development projects are currently under way in Makkah with a view to improving the services offered to pilgrims to enable them to perform their religious duties with ease and comfort.

Real estate trading during the first quarter of 2010 rose by 20 per cent compared to the same period of 2009.

Rents for US apartments rose in the first three months of the year after five quarters of record declines

Wealthy Greek individuals and corporations have been moving cash deposits worth billions of euros in recent weeks to offshore destinations such as Switzerland, the UK and Cyprus

Bridges Ventures, Sir Ronald Cohen’s social investing venture capital firm, is looking to offload a stake in The Office

Individual investors in a £1bn (€1.1bn) real estate fund being raised by Legal & General will be given the option of deciding the amount of leverage linked with their commitments

Pending home sales in the United States surged 8.2 percent in February

Depending on what and where you read, there are numerous rumours afoot that the property crash is over and recovery is on the way. Whether you believe this or not will largely depend on where you are, what you bought and ultimately how big (or non-existent as the case may be) the pile of equity/cash is that you are sitting on.

The National Bank of Kuwait in Bahrain declared net profits of USD 128.8 million in 2009.

In a move to promote transparency in financial policymaking, the UAE Ministry of Finance has initiated a study to create a Federal Credit Bureau.

Dealers and contractors are divided over the stability of steel prices in Saudi Arabia.

Asian stock markets made modest gains in early trading Monday after an encouraging U.S. jobs report

The UK High court has declared property tycoon Simon Halabi bankrupt over a £56.3m (€63.6m) loan he availed from Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander

US households having minimum investable assets worth $1m (€741,508) enjoyed a marginal increase in confidence in domestic equities and the economy last month

George Soros has pledged $5m (€3.7m) towards the creation of a new economics institute at Oxford University’s James Martin 21st Century School

The British Pound outperformed against the US Dollar to start the trading week after the opposition Conservative party gained in opinion polls

Affordability is not a concern for potential home buyers, points out an ICICI Securities survey

The chief investment officer at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, Bill O'Neill, is advising caution on equities as European investor confidence reaches lows not seen since last June.

A “significant acquisition of assets” and rallying markets helped offset the adverse effects of an Italian tax amnesty on BSI Group’s client assets during the 12 months ended December 31

The New Zealand Dollar fell by nearly a full percentage point against the majors after a report from the International Monetary Fund

A group of business leaders have written a letter backing the Conservatives' proposal to halt a planned rise in National Insurance.