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| Regional foreclosures buck a state trend
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| Foreclosure rates dipped in May, adding to the hope that the worst of Southwest Florida's housing crash is over. Though foreclosure filings rose 50 percent from the same month last year statewide, Sarasota County filings were down by 7 percent from last year and 16 percent from April. In Manatee County, foreclosure filings were down by 2 percent from last year and 44 percent from April.
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| @ Sarasota Herald Tribune | Posted: 06/11/09 at 0201 EDST
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| MONEY $MARTS: Worrying about inflation
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| A recurring term is inflation. Many economists are worried about it, mainly because of the possibility that the very government policies enacted to get the economy growing may be fueling a rising price environment -- inflation -- in the future.
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| @ Naple Daily News | Posted: 06/11/09 at 0315 EDST
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| Orange crop harvest beats estimates
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| Florida's orange crop is forecast to produce 159.6 million 90-pound boxes for the 2008-09 season, up by 2 million boxes from last month's estimate, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said today. The USDA said the increase this year is comprised entirely of Valencias, now estimated at 75 million boxes. Not all citrus fared as well. The grapefruit forecast is adjusted downward to 21.8 million boxes, a change of three percent from a month ago. The entire crop totaled 26.6 million 85-pound boxes in the 2007-08 season.
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| @ Palm Beach Post | Posted: 06/11/09 at 0320 EDST
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| Orlando real estate sales flat in May
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| The Orlando Regional Realtors Association reported that a dramatic increase in the volume of sales and pending contracts from a year ago were strong indicators of an improving market. The association, which tracks activity of its members, broke down sales into three categories: normal sales, bank-owned sales and distressed sales. Median prices on existing homes ranged from $82,000 for houses sold by banks to $165,000 for what the association dubbed as "normal" sales, the report showed. Central Florida's overall median price was $130,000, which is the exact same number as the association reported for April.
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| @ Orlando Sentinel | Posted: 06/11/09 at 0330 EDST
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| Bailout holdings costing the Fed
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| The Federal Reserve lost $5.25 billion in the first quarter on the securities it acquired with last year's bailouts of Bear Stearns and insurer American International Group Inc., according to a report issued Wednesday. The loss on the holdings, which include mortgage-backed securities, reflected a decline in their value as the recession carried over into the first three months of 2009. The cumulative loss on the Bear Stearns and AIG holdings comes to $16.46 billion since they were taken over last year.
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| @ Chicago Tribune | Posted: 06/11/09 at 0345 EDST
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| Chicago suburban apartment deal biggest in over a year
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| A New Jersey apartment investor is paying about $60 million for a 592-unit property in Buffalo Grove, the largest apartment sale in more than a year amid a lethargic Chicago-area investment market. Penobscot Corp. is expected to close this month on Amli at Chevy Chase, an apartment complex at 1701 Johnson Drive developed in 1988, say sources familiar with the transaction. The Teaneck, N.J.-based firm, which owns six apartment complexes in the Chicago suburbs, is acquiring the Buffalo Grove property from Chicago-based apartment investor Amli Residential.
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| @ Crain's Chicago Real Estate Daily | Posted: 06/11/09 at 0400 EDST
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| Federal Reserve's Beige Book
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"A number of Districts reported an uptick in home sales, and many said that new home construction appeared to have stabilized at very low levels. Vacancy rates for commercial properties were rising in many parts of the country, while developers are finding financing for new commercial projects increasingly difficult to obtain. Most Districts reported that overall lending activity was stable or weak, but with mixed results across loan categories. Credit conditions remained stringent or tightened further."
Editor's Comment: As usual this is a good read
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| @ Federal Reserve | Posted: 06/11/09 at 0415 EDST
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| The Summer Home Bust
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Good riddance to those cottages on the Cape, those cabins in the Adirondacks!
Editor's Comment: Another great, wise cracking article from Slate
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| @ Slate | Posted: 06/11/09 at 0419 EDST
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| Ahmadinejad's economic record may sway Iran vote
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| Since he took power, prices of food, fuel and other basics have soared, hitting more than 15 million Iranian families who live on less than $600 a month, according to official figures. Ahmadinejad, who blames inflation on a global surge in food and fuel prices that peaked last year, has pursued unorthodox economic policies such as trying to curb prices while setting interest rates well below inflation, now less than 18 percent.
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| @ Reuters | Posted: 06/11/09 at 0646 EDST
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| Cheap Toronto condos turning renters into owners
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| Province-wide vacancy rates increased from 3.1 per cent last April to 3.3 per cent in April 2009. In hard-hit areas such as Windsor, vacancy rates are at a high of 15.5 per cent, while the St. Catharines—Niagara area is registering a 5.3 per cent rate.
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| @ Toronto Star | Posted: 06/11/09 at 0652 EDST
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| Data Shows China Relies More on Growth at Home
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| For seven years after China entered the World Trade Organization in November, 2001, a surging tide of exports combined with a torrent of investment lifted the country’s economy ever higher while consumer spending lagged.
But now the Chinese economy relies increasingly on growth at home, as data released on Thursday made especially clear. Exports have become a serious drag on growth while government spending has led domestic investment higher at a remarkable pace and consumer spending appears to have been fairly strong as well.
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| @ International Herald Tribune | Posted: 06/11/09 at 0655 EDST
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