The United States is hunting down international criminals who launder money through real estate deals, with the Treasury Department ordering title insurance companies to report the identities of people paying cash for high-end properties in Miami and Manhattan.
Brazil's housing market is now declining, amidst subdued economic growth and some civil unrest. In Sao Paulo, house prices dropped 1.2% during the year to Q1 2015, after annual price increases of 0.83% in Q4 2014, 3.29% in Q3 2014, 5.37% in Q2 2014 and 6.71% in Q1 2014
Purchase real estate prices all over Brazil have fallen a combined 3.47% in real prices the first months of 2015 according to the Fipe-Zap index. The index collected real estate prices in twenty Brazilian cities and measured them against inflation, registering monthly price rises below inflation for the sixth time in a row.
No way, I've never thought of resigning or stepping down said emphatically Chilean president Michelle Bachelet on Wednesday, following a barrage of media rumors which echoed in the social networks during Holy Week, which in South America in a long weekend holiday.
The real estate boom has added 1.5 trillion dollars to the value of British homes over the past five years and left London residential property worth as much as Brazil's economy. Research by estate agents Savills shows U.K. houses and apartments were worth £5.75 trillion (8.7 trillion) in 2014, an increase of almost one trillion pounds since 2009.
Land possession has caused the first clashes in the newly named cabinet of President Dilma Rousseff with Agriculture minister Katia Abreu arguing there are no large estates ('latifundium') left in Brazil, while her Agrarian Development peer and a stalwart from the ruling party said a social approach was needed to the land and peasants issue.
The Gherkin, one of the most distinctive buildings on London's skyline, has been bought by a Brazilian billionaire. Joseph Safra is reported to have paid more than £700m for the 180 meter tower, which is officially known as 30 St Mary Axe, its street address.
The US dollar in Argentine money markets continued its rising path on Thursday with a new record climb to close at 13.20 Pesos. This so-called “blue” dollar had jumped 20 cents to 13.15 pesos on Wednesday, breaking its 13.06 Pesos record from 23 January.
An 159-acre arable farm (approx. 63 hectares) on the edge of the historic Staffordshire town of Rugeley and bordering Cannock Chase Country Park, central north of England, is on the market with agents Halls with a guide price in excess of £1.3 million (approx. 2.2 million dollars), which works out at over 34.000 dollars/ hectare.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) launched on Wednesday the Global Housing Watch, a webpage (www.imf.org/housing) dedicated to featuring its analysis on housing markets across the world. The page will provide a one-stop shop for the Fund’s Global House Price Index and other data on housing indicators.