Home price increases & Wall Street is buying single family homes now too

CNN Money reports today that " Home prices hit a bottom and are finally bouncing back, according to an industry report released Tuesday. Nationwide, home values rose 0.2% year-over-year to a median $149,300 during the second quarter, the first annual increase since 2007, real estate listing site Zillow reported. Prices were up 2.1% from the first quarter.  Even though June marked the fourth consecutive month of home value increases, overall home prices are still down almost 24% (nationwide) since April 2007, when Zillow began to track home values."

Fortune magazine also reports today that Wall Street is investing in single family homes.   "In the past six months or so, a number of investment firms, hedge funds, private equity partnerships and real estate investors have turned into voracious buyers of single-family homes. And not just any homes, but foreclosures. Investment banks, who also want in on the action, are lining up financing options to keep the purchases going.

Take for instance private equity mega-firm Blackstone Group (BX). About a year ago, when the NY Observer profiled the firm's head of real estate Jonathan Gray, there was no mention of single-family homes or even that the firm was looking to profit from a rebound in the residential real estate market.  Last week, Gray said Blackstone now owns 2,000 single-family homes."  Link to full article

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