International Business Times

WWII Vet John Potter Getting Kicked Out Of The Home He Built By His Own Daughter [VIDEO]

Charles Poladian — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:04:00 GMT

A 91-year-old World War II veteran is facing eviction from the home he built and has lived in for the last 56 years by his own daughter.

John Potter built the home in Zaleski, Ohio, and in 2004 gave daughter Janice Cottrill power of attorney over his estate if his health declined, "Good Morning America" reports. The power of attorney included the responsibility of taking care of Cottrill’s 64-year-old brother, who is autistic.

Chinese Real Estate's New Frontier Is US

ericlinton — Wed, 08 May 2013 05:21:33 GMT

Following the lead of wealthy Chinese individuals, who have been pouring money into U.S. real estate, and state-owned Chinese banks, which have sharply increased lending to U.S. commercial properties, it is now the turn of Chinese property developers to try their luck in the U.S., the Financial Times reports.

US Home Prices Jump Most In 7 Years In February On A 9.3 Percent Gain As Inventories Remain Low, Distressed Sales Decline

mikeobel — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:08:03 GMT

Photo: Standard & Poor's S&P Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index

China Should Replace Capital Gains Tax With Property Tax If It Wants To Cool Real Estate Speculation And Price Rises, Say Chinese Experts

Angelo.Young — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 13:45:21 GMT

If the Chinese government wants to reel in rising home prices and burst a real estate bubble before it harms the economy, it should stop pushing a capital gains tax and instead expand property taxes to more cities, according to the state’s leading academic research organization.

Here’s What A Chinese Real Estate Expert Says About Whether There’s A Bubble Forming Or Not

Angelo.Young — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:01:16 GMT

Here’s the worst-case scenario: China’s housing market tanks, which sends the country’s financial system into free-fall, taking the global economy down with it. The result? You lose your job and end up eating only beans and rice as you slog through the next global economic recession.

World's Most Expensive Home On Sale In Singapore For $242 Million, Cheng Wai Keung May Aim To Sell To A Developer

Cvand003 — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 12:58:08 GMT

A property in Singapore just now hitting the market has set a record for the most expensive piece of real estate in the world. Priced at $242 million, the two-story home, which boasts a swimming pool and tennis court, is located on an elevated 85,000-square-foot lot at 33 Nassim Road, near the city’s Botanic Gardens.

'Playboy' Bunny House Listed For $11 Million, Featured On 'Girls Next Door' [PHOTOS]

Zoe Mintz — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 16:15:26 GMT

The Playboy Bunnies might need to pack their bags.

The 6,690-square-foot home that sits across the street from Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion in the posh Holmby Hills section of Los Angeles is for sale and listed at $11 million, TMZ reports.

The house has five bedrooms, 6.5 baths and sits on 1.3 acres of land. A defining feature is the backyard's whale-shaped pool, grotto and retro 1960s furnishings. The house was also featured on the hit reality show "The Girls Next Door."

Cemetery Plots In Major Chinese Cities Now Cost More Than Housing

s.song — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 10:20:44 GMT

Translated by Sophie Song

Prices of cemetery plots have soared above already exorbitant housing prices in major Chinese cities, the People's Daily reports, and they are out of reach for many ordinary families. Paradoxically, while some inexpensive plots do exist, they do not sell well because many Chinese believe that fulfilling filial duties requires purchasing expensive plots for vanity.

Manhattan Apartment Prices Have Declined As Sellers Rushed To Settle On 2012's Capital Gains Tax Rate (INFOGRAPHIC)

Angelo.Young — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 13:19:52 GMT

Photo: IBTimes/Angelo Young

China's Largest Cities Stop 'Fake Divorce' Home Buyers And Sellers From Exploiting Law To Avoid Taxes On Second Homes

msingleton — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 09:03:48 GMT

China's government has just managed to put a damper on its red-hot real estate market, increase revenue and cut down on the country's suddenly rising divorce rate -- all with one brief announcement.

At least that's what Beijing, which announced a new housing policy on Saturday, is hoping. The government’s first effort, which came early last month, to take the air out of the nation's housing bubble backfired and sent central planners back to the proverbial drawing board for a quick fix.

This Deliciously Modern Home, Designed By Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak, Can Be Yours For A Mere $4.4 Million

Angelo.Young — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 20:52:41 GMT

Photo: Zillow Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak designed this beauty in 1986.

US Housing Market Up: 139,000 More Homes Built In February 2013 Than In February 2012, A 24.3% Jump

msingleton — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 14:50:46 GMT

The U.S. housing and real estate markets are showing sure signs of recovery as new construction estimates jumped 33.8 percent over last year's levels, the U.S. Commerce Department announced Tuesday.

Home builders broke ground on 917,000 homes in February, a 27.7 percent hike above the previous year's 718,000 starts. A total 711,000 new homes were completed in February 2013, 24.3 percent more than were completed a year prior.

Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expected slightly weaker numbers.

February 2013 US Home Foreclosures: Fewer Faced Repossession, But It's Too Soon To Declare A Recovered U.S. Housing Market

Angelo.Young — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 12:49:57 GMT

Is America finally drifting out of its home-foreclosure doldrums? Short answer: Sort of.

Consider the latest figures from real estate information company RealtyTrac Inc.

In February, just over 45,000 homeowners faced foreclosure. That’s much less than half of the 102,000 repossessed homes that marked the peak of the foreclosure disaster in March 2010, which followed the subprime mortgage meltdown that sent the country into recession a year earlier.

Singapore's Overseas Union Enterprise Buys L.A.'s US Bank Tower In $367.5 Million Deal

Angelo.Young — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 20:40:37 GMT

As part of its strategy to expand its portfolio of commercial real estate holdings, Overseas Union Enterprise (OUE) Limited (SGX:LJ3), a Singapore-based diversified real estate owner and operator, announced Monday that it’s buying the 72-floor U.S. Bank Tower and related properties in the heart of the downtown financial district of Los Angeles for $367.5 million.

Here Are The US Metro Areas That Saw The Biggest Rises In Home Prices Last Year; Bismarck, North Dakota Topped Them All

Angelo.Young — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 11:04:19 GMT

When you’re down so low sometimes the only direction is up. And for many of the nation’s worst-hit housing markets, home prices gained the most last year, according to the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) House Price Index for 2012.

The index, known as the HPI, is a weighted repeat-sales index that measures average price changes in repeat sales of mortgaged homes in state, regional or metro-area U.S. markets. It offers a snapshot of movements of the relative health of a local housing market over time.

Real Estate Porn: NBA Free Agent Jannero Pargo And His Reality Show Housewife Malaysia List Their Chicagoland Castle [PHOTOS]

Angelo.Young — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 14:21:40 GMT

Photo: Prudential Rubloff/www.rubloff.com The stately mansion is located about 30 miles north of downtown Chicago in posh and leafy Riverwoods.

Real Estate Porn: Manhattan Couple Builds Dream Funhouse On Top Of 19th-Century Manhattan Skyscraper, Complete With Spiraling 80-Foot Slide

Angelo.Young — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 13:39:24 GMT

The Beaux-Arts building located near the Manhattan entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge, just across the way from City Hall, is one of the last places you would expect to find a playfully contemporary living space.

US Housing Market: Following 15 Years Of Boom-And-Bust, Is It Getting Back To Normal?

Angelo.Young — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 18:56:42 GMT

The U.S. housing market has been in stabilization mode for only the past year or so following an eight-year run-up to the peak of the housing bubble in 2006 followed by what most homeowners who bought in that period know: a bursting of a massive speculative bubble that sent the nation into recession and millions of homebuyers into foreclosure.

China’s Move To Pop Its Housing Bubble Drives Down Stocks, By A Lot

Angelo.Young — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 12:19:05 GMT

The Chinese central government’s announcement of measures to reel in what it considers stability-threatening real estate speculation sent related shares plummeting.

China's Ghost Towns Haunting On '60 Minutes' [VIDEO]

JJMcGrath — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 03:24:18 GMT

US Mortgage Rates Hold Near Record Lows; Home Prices To Rise 5% In 2013

moranzhang — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 17:00:26 GMT

U.S. mortgage rates have been near record lows all year and have fallen even further since the Federal Reserve started buying mortgage bonds in September to encourage more borrowing and spending. Although rates ticked up slightly this week, they are still holding at levels seen as very attractive to consumers and helping to fuel a modest housing recovery.

Lehman Brothers Estate Sells Archstone For $6.5B

mikeobel — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 22:17:00 GMT

The estate of bankrupt Lehman Brothers has sold its apartment owner Archstone Inc. to Equity Residential (NYSE:EQR), the nation's largest publicly traded landlord, and AvalonBay Communities Inc. (NYSE:AVB) for $6.5 billion in cash and stock.

The deal, which also includes about $9.5 billion in debt, gives Chicago-based Equity 60 percent of the assets, with Arlington, Va.-based AvalonBay getting the rest. It also underscores how robust renter demand has become in the U.S.

Amy Winehouse Home To Be Auctioned, Starting At £1 Million Less Than Original Asking Price

Fionna Agomuoh — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 04:06:27 GMT

A house that belonged to the late singer Amy Winehouse will be auctioned, with a starting price £1 million ($1.59 million) less than when the house was initially placed on the market.

Lower Manhattan Still A Mess 2 Weeks After Hurricane Sandy [PHOTOS]

Angelo.Young — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 02:50:36 GMT

Click image to enlarge and view gallery.

Leonardo DiCaprio Selling Malibu Home For $23 Million

Eli Epstein — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 17:49:36 GMT

After dazzling fans in the trailer of his soon-to-be-released mega picture“The Great Gatsby,” Leonardo DiCaprio has another big move in the works.

The actor is selling his 6,000 square-foot Malibu beachside estate for $23 million, according to the Inquisitr.

The house is divided into three separate properties, including an oceanside main house with four bedrooms, a two-bedroom detached residence, and a third portion with a seventh bedroom and a gym, office, and media room.