International Property Journal - News and information on global property markets

After a dip in 2009, international activity in the United States picked up last year, with more agents reporting contacts with foreign shoppers.

From April, 2009, to March, 2010, 28 percent of agents reported contact with international buyers, compared to 23 percent in 2009, the National Association of Realtors’ annual survey of Realtors found. More importantly, 18 percent reported actual sales involving an international client, compared to 12 percent in 2009.

Investors looking for the next wave of residential growth should target Peru, Panama and Brazil, a new report on global markets suggests.

Strong economic growth, low interest rates and continued housing boom make Latin America, in general, far more appealing than other regions, according to the latest recommendations from the Global Property Guide, which tracks markets around the world.

The site’s analysis, which is weighted toward rental yields, is less kind to Europe, where “property markets have not sufficiently adjusted from their 15-year rise.” And while Asia valuations are skyrocketing, GPG believes the region is already “over-valued,” except for locales like Malaysia and riot-torn Thailand.

In 2004, faced with a “flood of capital” into real estate markets, the directors of the CalPERS investment fund, one of the largest pension funds in the country, made a fateful decision.

With yields plummeting, CalPERS sold off $16 billion of core assets and decided to shift $30 billion of the portfolio into “higher risk” real estate. At the same time, the fund, which represents California public employees, moved toward “a less formal authorization process,” giving staff less control of the risky investments, according to a new report.

Needless to say, the new strategy didn’t go well.

After two years of falling prices, U.S. housing is undervalued in most markets, according to a new study.

Recent data showing a miniscule 0.1 percent drop in prices in the fourth quarter “indicates that the housing market is still working towards--and is close to achieving--stabilization,” concludes the House Prices in America report prepared by IHS Global Insight and PNC Financial Services Group.

Actress, activist and first-class Hollywood diva Sharon Stone has joined a long-list of Hollywood celebrities facing big losses in the real estate market.

Stone, who has lost some of her A-list movie glam in recent years, is offering a Beverly Hills estate for $8.995--$2 million less than she paid for the property in 2006, reports the always reliable go-to source for celebestate, RealEstalker.

It’s unclear whether Stone ever actually lived in the 4.85-acre estate, which includes a Mediterranean-style, 6,640-square-foot house with five bedrooms and six bathrooms, in addition to a two bedroom guest house. Must-have amenities include a “state of the art” media room, four fireplaces and a workout room,

U2 guitarist The Edge publically defended his 156-acre development on the California coastline this week, denying charges his plans will be an environmental disaster.

The Edge

“We just had this dream of building a house that was in perfect harmony with these hills,” Edge told the New York Times. “We see it as something that could be a bench mark of sustainability.”

Unfortunately for the legendary guitar hero and Bono sidekick, many of his neighbors in Malibu see theproject as a bench mark for destroying habitats and view corridors.

Edge’s plan calls for five homes ranging from 7,317 square feet to 12,004 square feet, including a 1,600-foot long road snaking up the hillside. Neighbors and conservationists are irritated by several aspects of the project, but the idea of the 20-foot wide road draws special criticism.

Huntsville, Alabama and Austin, Texas, lead the list of best U.S. housing markets for investors, according to Housing Predictor.

The site based the assessment on the strength of the regional economy and potential for job growth.

Agents around the country are seeing renewed activity by international buyers, the Associated Press reports. The weak dollar and the perception of the U.S. as a depressed but relatively secure market are fueling the trend, which agents have been reporting anecdotally for several months.

"They want to buy," Cynthia Crowley, an agent with Olshan Realty in New York, told the Associated Press. "This is not tire kicking."