Category: buyers

Foreign Homebuyers, Led by China, Spend $59 Billion in the US

Commentary Foreign buyers poured $59 billion into the U.S. housing market from April 2021 through March 2022, snapping up nearly 100,000 homes across the country amid a severe housing shortage and record-high prices. Despite the huge dollar amount, non-U.S. citizens accounted for a modest 2.6 percent of the total volume of existing-home sales during that…


Navigating Today’s Daunting Housing Market

It has not been a great year for Wall Street and the economy. In an effort to combat rampant inflation, the Federal Reserve (Fed) raised interest rates in early May. In June, the Fed increased interest rates once again, by 75 basis points, marking the largest increase in a single meeting since the early 1990s….


Europe, Asia Gas Buyers Switching to Long-Term Supplies to Beat Volatile Prices

DAEGU, South Korea—Natural gas buyers in Asia and Europe are seeking to lock in supplies via long-term contracts as a buffer against volatile global prices, industry executives said, in moves that will reverse the last decade’s trend of increasing spot purchases. Fears of disruptions in Russian gas to Europe and low inventories led the continent…


Bait and Switch

Sometimes it’s simply just a mistake, but it seems always to backfire against the consumer. And sometimes it is a nefarious strategy intended to put one over on unsuspecting diners, almost always with the intent of making a lot of money. It’s about wine “bait and switch” in restaurants. This column is not aimed at…


‘Dallas Buyers Club’ Director Jean-Marc Vallée Dead at 58

LOS ANGELES—Director and producer Jean-Marc Vallée, who won an Emmy for directing the hit HBO series “Big Little Lies” and whose 2013 drama “Dallas Buyers Club” earned multiple Oscar nominations, has died. He was 58. His representative Bumble Ward said Sunday that Vallée died suddenly in his cabin outside Quebec City, Canada, over the weekend….


Business Chart of the Day: Where Will the Walmart Sell-Off End?

There’s an old saying on Wall Street that “gaps refill.” If it’s true, there’s a good chance that the sell-off in Walmart Inc. is about to end. Between the close on Oct. 18 and the open on Oct. 19, shares gapped up from $141.68 to $144.63. This shows up as a blank space (or a gap) on a chart. After a…


Chinese Buyers Seek Answers at Unfinished Evergrande Apartments

Anxious home buyers flowed into the sales office of a housing complex in central China this week, yet found cranes lying idle and homes unfinished. Images from the complex show bare steel and uncovered balconies of the 16 blocks of housing, which are at various stages of completion. Real estate giant Evergrande Group had been…


Tight Orange County Housing Supply Could Lead to Higher Prices

Commentary According to the widely-read Orange County Housing Report, the median home price in Orange County is “anticipated to continue to increase at a pace of about 1 percent per month through the end of the year.” Supporting the authors’ analysis, the Orange Country Housing Report points to the amount of inventory available for purchase…