Charlotte Business Journal: NC Foreclosures down 38% year-over-year

Date: Thursday, June 16, 2011, 8:02am EDT

“Foreclosures on N.C. homes fell 38.3 percent in May from a year ago and were down 3.4 percent from April. Some 2,689 homes in North Carolina were in foreclosure proceedings in May, or one in every 1,584 households, according to RealtyTrac Inc.    The state ranks 36th in the nation for the rate of filings, RealtyTrac says.

Foreclosures nationwide dropped 33.4 percent last month from May 2010 and dipped 1.98 percent from April. There were 214,927 filings last month across the nation, or one in every 605 households.”

WASHINGTON, Jun 16, 2011 8:30am EDT Reuters

by Lucia Mutikani, Editing by Andrea Ricci

“U.S. housing starts rose more than expected and permits for future construction touched a five month high in May, a government report showed on Thursday. The Commerce Department said housing starts rose 3.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 560,000 units, retracing almost half of April’s steep decline. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast housing starts rising to a 540,000-unit rate. Compared to May last year, residential construction was down 3.4 percent.

Last month, there was an increase in groundbreaking for both multi and single family homes. Starts in the West were the highest since August.

Multi-family home starts rose 2.9 percent. Single-family home construction, which accounts for a large portion of the market, rose 3.7 percent.”

The Wall Street Journal: He Says Maine. She Says Florida

How couples navigate one of the trickiest issues in retirement: where to live, by Kathleen A. Hughes.

It may be the trickiest and most troublesome issue couples face when approaching retirement: Where are you going to live?

The prospect of a new locale, of course, is enticing. Why not seize the moment and settle (finally!) in the destination of your dreams: the mountains, the beach, the city—even overseas. Baby boomers in particular, who begin turning 65 this year, seem ready to do just that.

The Wall Street Journal – Smart Money: A Bull Market in Rental Housing

By Annamaria Andriotis.

Five years into the real-estate bust, the market for single-family homes seems weaker than ever. According to the most recent S&P/Case-Shiller housing data, prices fell 3.3% nationwide in February from a year earlier.

The ongoing malaise, paradoxically, is only boosting the opportunities for investors in multiunit rental properties.

The days of buying and flipping a property for quick profit are long gone. But investors who purchase apartment buildings, perhaps as part of a retirement portfolio or estate plan, are seeing better deals now than at any time in the past decade, says Dan Fasulo, managing director at Real Capital Analytics, a real-estate research-and-consulting firm. On the cost side, housing prices are low and falling in many areas, while mortgage rates are near historic lows. On the income side, apartment rents are near all-time highs.