Will Housing Prices Track Inflation Over The Long Run?
May 1st, 2012 | Posted by Global InvestorsThe Calculated Risk blog has shared an updated graph of inflation-adjusted housing prices through 2011, based on Prof. Shiller’s data.
Mr. McBride also digs a little deeper and argues that because Shiller changed up the data series he was using in 1987, the true slope of the line should be a little more slightly positive. Using the original data series would result in an overall slope of housing prices increase slightly faster than inflation (1.5% per year) vs. the Shiller line (0.5% per year). His conclusion:
In many areas – if the population is increasing – house prices increase slightly faster than inflation over time, so there is an upward slope for real prices.
This reminded me of this chart via Sober Look that compared the US age distribution in 2000 and 2010 (US Census). The Boomers are getting old, and there is a little gap before the Echo Boomers come in. How will this affect housing prices in the future?
To me, the main takeaway is still that housing prices over the long run don’t rise much faster than inflation. This is not unexpected, as the cost of housing is by definition a big component of inflation. Of course, housing also provides dividends in the form of rent. So if you actually owned a house instead of most people “owning” a house with a big fat mortgage, your overall return on investment would be much better. I can’t wait to really own my house so I can earn that imaginary (imputed) rent.
In reality, what many people seem to do nowadays is hold on and rent out their properties for less than their mortgage payment and hope for price appreciation. This might work I suppose, and one could argue from the graph that prices overall are now close to historical averages. There are now some places where you can buy a house that rents for more than the mortgage payment, but unfortunately not anywhere near me (unless we’re talking huge down payment). As for me, I suppose I’ll just stick with owning low-maintenance REITs and getting my “rental income” that way.
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Will Housing Prices Track Inflation Over The Long Run? from My Money Blog.
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Credit Card Sign-Up Bonus Summary 2011: Over $2,500 in Free Money
January 21st, 2012 | Posted by Global Investors
Looking back, 2011 was a great year for credit card sign-up incentives. The major issuers rolled out some new cards and features and offered up big bonuses to get you to try them out. By picking up the tastiest offers, you could have reaped thousands of dollars in bonuses even with average incomes and without spending more than normal. If you have good to excellent credit, why not earn some money with it? Here’s what Mrs. MMB and I decided to jump on last year:
Chase Sapphire Preferred: $500 cash or $625 in travel
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card gives you 50,000 bonus points after you spend $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months. With this new card, Chase is basically trying to make a premium card that competes with American Express, with their Ultimate Rewards rivaling Membership Rewards. (It’s metal and heavy, too!) For example, you can now transfer Ultimate Rewards points to Continental/United, Southwest, British Airways, Hyatt, and Marriott. This the same system the Chase Freedom card uses now as well.
But my favorite features are the cash options and the 25% bonus towards travel. 10,000 points = $100 cash = $125 towards travel at no markup (same price as Expedia, Travelocity, etc). You can mix points and cash however you like, which means 50k points = $625 towards any airfare or hotel nights. No annual fee the first year, $95 after that. For more details, please see my Chase Sapphire Preferred review post.
Chase Ink Bold: $500 cash or $625 in travel
The small business version of the Chase Sapphire, this card also offers a huge sign-up bonus. The Chase Ink Bold with Ultimate Rewards gives you 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months your account is open. For more details, please see my Chase Ink Bold review post, including details on what constitutes a small business.
Citi ThankYou Premier: $500 in gift card or $665 in airfare
The Citi ThankYou Premier Card is another travel-oriented premium credit card gives you 50,000 ThankYou points after spending $2,500 within 3 months of account opening. The special feature here is that it offers you a 33% premium on when used towards travel. That means those 50,000 ThankYou points can be redeemed for $665 in airfare. They also have their own airfare portal with the same prices as Expedia, and you can also mix and match cash and points if you don’t have enough points to pay for the entire amount. For more details, please see my Citi ThankYou Premier review post.
Delta Gold SkyMiles American Express: 30,000 miles + $99 Companion voucher
The Delta Gold SkyMiles American Express is not a great deal for everyone, but it works out very well for us. (It’s actually our second card, I had one previously.) My wife and I both fly cross-country together to a city primarily served by Delta at least once a year to visit the parents. The sign-up incentive is pretty good – 30,000 Skymiles after just $500 in purchases within 3 months. More importantly, the card comes with a buy-one-get-one-for-$99 companion voucher that saved us $250+ this year since it’s usually during a holiday. We’ve used this voucher before, and the prices are comparable to online travel engines, but you do get stuck with the taxes of $50 or so. The annual fee is free the first year, and $95 after that. You also get a free checked bag on every flight for you and up to 8 travel companions (so one card gets us two free bags as a couple, a $25 value per person each roundtrip). The total one-year value of this card is at least $600 if value a mile at a penny.
Grand total: $625 + $625 + $665 + $600 = $2,515
That’s just for four cards from three different issuers, which is far less than the most cards I’ve applied for in a year on my own. This means a couple could make over $5,000, which is 10% of the 2009 US median household income of $50,221 per US Census. As for us, we plan on making good use of this money to cover future airfare and hotel expenses. This total also does not include any earnings from cash-back rewards credit cards.
If we include the Chase Ink Bold, the required spending total was $11,000. Exclude the Ink Bold, and it goes down to $6,000, which if you use time-shifting techniques like pre-paying bills such as insurance/utilities or buying gift cards for groceries/gas, works out to a reasonable $500 per month. That’s well within our normal spending anyway.
Honorable mentions go out to three other cards:
My psychic powers tell me that some of you are wondering about this 
, so here’s the answer: How Opening and Closing Credit Card Accounts Affects Your Credit Score.
Related posts:
Credit Card Sign-Up Bonus Summary 2011: Over $2,500 in Free Money from My Money Blog.
© MyMoneyBlog.com, 2012.
View full post on My Money Blog
News Corporation hit by Investor Lawsuit in the U.S. over alleged Securities Laws Violations
July 25th, 2011 | Posted by Global InvestorsAn investor of News Corporation (NASDAQ: NWSA) filed a lawsuit over alleged securities laws violations. Deadline: September 16, 2011. NASDAQ: NWSA stockholders should contact the Shareholders Foundation by email at mail@shareholdersfoundation.com View full post on Live News from PR-USA.net
Kootenay Drills 146 gpt Silver eqv Over 234m as 10,000 Meter Drill Program Concluded; Major 25,000 M
May 31st, 2011 | Posted by Global Investors- Shares Outstanding: 44,923,100
Kootenay Gold Inc. TSX.V: KTN (“Kootenay”) is pleased to announce it has
successfully concluded the final holes of its 10,000 meter drill program on
its Promontorio Silver project in Sonora, Mexico, highlighted by a 234 meter
intersection grading 146 gpt silver equivalent*. Based on the success of the
10,000 meter program Kootenay reports it has entered into a contract with BDW
Drilling to immediately commence a minimum 25,000 meter multi-phase diamond
drill program at Promontorio. The in-fill drilling and resource definition
program will be the…
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Afghanistan War Cost To Be Biggest Factor In Debate Over Troop Reductions
May 31st, 2011 | Posted by Global InvestorsOf all the statistics that President Obamaâ??s national security team will consider when it debates the size of forthcoming troop reductions in Afghanistan, the most influential number probably will not be how many insurgents have been killed or the amount of territory wrested from the Taliban, according to aides to those who will participate.
It will be the cost of the war.
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World Vision Continues Multi-State Tornado Response Over Memorial Day Weekend
May 30th, 2011 | Posted by Global InvestorsWhile many Americans will be enjoying a three-day weekend in honor of our nation’s fallen heroes this Memorial Day, tornado response across five states, focused on targeting the most vulnerable, especially children.
Today, World Vision will deploy the second of its two Mobile Distribution Centers from Dallas to Joplin, Missouri. The 53-foot trailers contain disaster relief products such as personal hygiene kits, cleaning supplies and shoes for children—items which the Christian humanitarian organization has found are urgently needed in the devastated town. World Vision deployed its first Mobile Distribution Center to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, last month where to date it has… View full post on Live News from PR-USA.net
First-quarter 2011 Sales Reach $2.25M ? 126% Growth Over Q1 of 2010 ? for Biotech Developer Divine S
May 27th, 2011 | Posted by Global InvestorsBenefiting from recent investments in production and enormous demand for its products, Divine Skin Inc. (DSKX), just reported another record quarter. The leading developer of topical biotechnology for hair growth posted Q1 sales of $2.25 million, up 126 percent over Q1 of 2010. It was the fastest growth since the company went public just over a year ago.
“Although Q1 delivered a stellar number — made possible by numerous improvements in logistics and fulfillment — we are not yet satisfied and certainly not resting on our accomplishments,” said CEO Daniel Khesin. “Divine Skin can grow even faster, and coming…
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Newt Gingrich Defiant Over Tiffany’s Account
May 26th, 2011 | Posted by Global Investors
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) – Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich, facing criticism over a large charge account he held at upscale jewelry store, Tiffany & Co., remained defiant on Wednesday.
“People should be free to spend their own money the way they see fit,” the former House speaker said at a campaign stop in Manchester, New Hampshire, noting that he and his third wife, Callista, have virtually no debt.
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Drilling at Condor’s Pucamayo West Project Intersects 340g/t Ag Over 2.2m, Including 548g/t Ag, 0.72
May 26th, 2011 | Posted by Global InvestorsCondor Resources Inc. (“Condor” or the “Company”) (TSX VENTURE:CN) is pleased to announce results from its first phase 1,200 metre diamond drilling program at the Pucamayo West silver-gold property, Peru. This was the first drilling program ever conducted on the property. The results of the program are set out below. Diamond drill hole PUC-004 has returned values of 340.9g/t Ag, 0.62g/t Au, 1.80% Cu, 1.77% Pb and 2.27% Zn over 2.2m from 80m to 82.2m depth, including 548.0g/t Ag, 0.72g/t Au, 2.5% Cu, 2.01% Pb and 2.18% Zn over 1.2m from 81 to 82.2m depth. Additional drill intercepts… View full post on Live News from PR-USA.net
Elizabeth Warren Fans Attack Patrick McHenry on Facebook Over Liar Charge
May 25th, 2011 | Posted by Global InvestorsWASHINGTON — Rep. Patrick McHenry’s pants may not be on fire, but his Facebook page is getting thoroughly flamed after he called Elizabeth Warren a liar Tuesday in a subcommittee hearing.
Fans of Warren think the North Carolina Republican took some unacceptable liberties with the boss of the nascent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and they’re demanding that he get some McEtiquette and apologize.
Hundreds — and probably thousands — have flocked to McHenry’s fan page to singe him.
Read More…
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