Aurelia Butler

The report surveyed 25 cities and found that rising interest rates and global inflation over the past two years have led to a sharp decline in real estate market imbalances. Inflation-adjusted international home prices experienced their sharpest decrease since the 2008 global financial crisis, attributed to the end of cheap financing in the real estate sector.Cities such as Tel Aviv, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, and Toronto, known for their high housing prices, have exited bubble territory and are now merely classified as overpriced. Zurich leads the real estate bubble index with a score of 1.71, followed by Tokyo at 1.65. Miami, Munich, and Frankfurt occupy the third to fifth positions.In contrast to other cities where bubble risk decreased substantially, Miami remained the highest-ranked U.S. city in 2023 with a score of 1.38, just 0.13 index points below bubble risk territory. The city’s housing prices have continued to increase above the U.S. average due to its comparatively low income-to-house-price levels and population influx to the U.S. sun belt.Despite this overall decrease in bubble risk, affordability issues persist in many cities. For instance, London’s housing market remains under pressure as local affordability is at its worst since 2007 due to high mortgage rates. In Paris, house prices continue to decline among diminishing affordability, lending restrictions, and a property tax hike.Moreover, real house prices in Zurich continued to rise in 2023 albeit at a slower pace than previous years while rental growth has accelerated sharply. In Germany, despite strong growth over the past decade, rate hikes and high inflation triggered a revaluation of almost 20% in Frankfurt and 15% in Munich.However, UBS predicts that the seeds for the next property price boom have already been sowed in some cities. Hybrid working has not weakened demand for city living in a sustained manner and the housing shortage is likely to intensify as fewer building permits have been issued recently, especially in European urban centres. This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C. More

Thomas was brought in to the private events as a fundraising draw for the donor network, which has had multiple cases before the nation’s top court, the sources told ProPublica. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report, which follows earlier reports on the conservative justice’s ties to a wealthy benefactor that have raised larger questions about the Supreme Court justices’ ethical conduct and prompted some pushback by Democrats in Congress. A representative for the Koch network could not immediately be reached for comment on the report but told ProPublica that Thomas was not “present for fundraising conversations.” “The idea that attending a couple events to promote a book or give dinner remarks, as all the justices do, could somehow be undue influence just doesn’t hold water,” a network spokesperson told the nonprofit news organization. A representative for the Supreme Court did not immediately respond to a request for comment. ProPublica reported that Thomas attended Koch donor events at least twice over the years, including a January 2018 private dinner for network donors. The flight to the event was not disclosed on Thomas’ annual filing that year, it said.The federal judiciary’s code of conduct includes a provision judges cannot participate in fundraising, but the code does not apply to the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Roberts has said the justices consult the code in assessing their own ethical obligations. Roberts has said the court is weighing steps related to conduct but has not taken public action. Speaking at an event at the University of Notre Dame Law School on Friday, Justice Elena Kagan said she hoped the court can “make progress” on adapting the code of conduct to account for the high court’s differences. “It would, I think, go far in persuading other people that we were adhering to the highest standards of conduct,” she said.Thomas previously has faced scrutiny following revelations that he did not disclose luxury trips and transactions paid for by the wealthy Texas businessman Harlan Crow. In August, Thomas filed his delayed financial disclosure forms for 2022 detailing private jet travel that he said was necessitated by security concerns and including items left out of prior disclosures. Democrats in the U.S. Senate are pushing a bill that would mandate an ethical code for the high court. Given Republican opposition, the bill has little chance of becoming law. More

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A hawkish stance from the Federal Reserve, soaring Treasury yields and a looming government shutdown are adding to a cocktail of risks that has spooked investors and clouded the outlook for U.S. equities.U.S. stocks have slid more than 6% from their late July highs, and the past week has been particularly nerve-wracking for investors. The Fed projected it would leave interest rates at elevated levels for longer than expected, sparking selloffs in U.S. stocks and bonds. The S&P 500 tumbled 2.9% this week, its biggest weekly decline since March. Investors sold global equities at the fastest rate this year, with a net $16.9 billion leaving stocks in the week to Wednesday, data from BoFA Global research showed. The index is up 12.8% year-to-date.”We’ve had resilient growth for the summer months but we’re running into a period where there’s significant risk to the economy,” said Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist for Allianz (ETR:ALVG) Investment Management. “Investors are seeing a reason to take risk off the table and that’s going to diminish some appetite” for stocks, he said. Yields on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury, which move inversely to prices, stand near 16-year highs. High Treasury yields dull the allure of stocks by offering investors an attractive payout on an investment seen as virtually risk free. Market participants are also grappling with several potential threats to U.S. economic growth, whose resilience this year has helped push stocks higher. Foremost is the challenge presented by higher rates, if the Fed follows through on its pledge to keep borrowing costs elevated as it seeks to decisively turn the tide on inflation.”The Fed is overly confident in the soft-landing narrative,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. “A confident Fed is a dangerous Fed because it will ignore early signs of weakness.”Other risks include high oil prices, a resumption of student loan payments in October and a government shutdown that is set to begin if lawmakers are unable to pass a budget by Sep. 30. Seasonal factors also look grim, at least for the near term. The S&P 500 entered what has historically been its weakest 10-day stretch of the year on Sept. 18, according to BofA Global Research. The index has historically fallen by 1.66% over the period when performance during the first 10 days of the month is below average, as it has been this year, the bank’s data showed. “Seasonality shows nasty down days into October,” BoFA’s analysts wrote, noting however that declines could provide opportunities for dip buyers.Meanwhile, a drawn out government shutdown could aggravate concerns over U.S. government gridlock and send Treasury yields even higher. Early this year, lawmakers waged a protracted battle to raise the debt ceiling. This drew a credit downgrade from ratings agency Fitch, analysts at Societe Generale (OTC:SCGLY) wrote. Higher yields could exacerbate the headwinds to stocks, which have struggled as yields surged over the past several weeks. Of course, strategists’ metrics have shown there is plenty of cash on the sidelines to be deployed by investors looking to buy on weakness. Buyers would likely step in if the S&P 500 fell to 4,200, which is about 3% from current levels, said Keith Lerner, co-chief investment officer at Truist. Such a decline would put the index at a 17.5 price to earnings ratio, in line with its 10-year average, he said in a Friday report. “We anticipate, at least initially, buyers would come in around this vicinity … to help contain short-term weakness,” he said. Adam Turnquist, chief technical strategist for LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA), remained optimistic in a late Friday report even though most momentum indicators he tracks – including market breadth – have turned bearish. He noted that the S&P 500 remains above its 200-day moving average and there have been few signs of investors fleeing to safety.“Overall, the market is down but not out,” he wrote. “Pullbacks are entirely ordinary within the context of a bull market.” More

(Reuters) – Shares in real estate companies fell on Friday, adding to a massive sell-off the previous day, when bond yields jumped to their highest levels in 16 years after the Federal Reserve signaled that U.S. interest rates would stay high for longer. The S&P 500 real estate index lost 0.7% on Friday after falling 3.5% on Thursday, which was its biggest daily decline since March when the banking sector was in crisis.The U.S. Treasury 10-year yield, fell slightly on Friday, after rising on Thursday to around 4.5%, its highest since 2007. This provided tempting returns for fixed-income assets, making the relatively high dividend payouts of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) a little less tempting.REITs also tend to borrow heavily so the prospect of higher rates for longer puts pressure on their profit outlook. While the Fed decided not to hike interest rates after its meeting on Wednesday, it indicated that rates could stay at elevated levels for longer than investors had expected. “Not only are REIT’s bond substitutes but they also rely on borrowing so that just makes them doubly interest-rate-sensitive,” said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer of Cresset Capital who says that even though the sector seems cheap by some measures, he is not ready to step in right now.The S&P 500 real estate index is the second weakest performer among the benchmark S&P 500’s 11 major sectors with a decline 6.5% so far this year, second only to utilities’ 10.3% drop. This compares with year-to-date a gain of about 15% for the benchmark index.But Gina Szymanksi, portfolio manager for REITs at AEW Capital Management, said she expects Treasury yields will peak around current levels, which will help REIT stocks that have “already baked in” 10-year Treasury yields in this range.”The knee-jerk reaction is, as interest rates rise, you sell REITs. It’s not totally unrealistic. They are capital intensive businesses that require financing,” said Szymanski, adding that if 10-year yields rise sharply from here it would add pressure to REIT stocks. But if the economy weakens, REITs often outperform.”When the Fed tries to slow the economy, it’s usually successful. That usually results in declining earnings for companies in general and when that happens it’s the time for REITs to shine,” says Szymanksi who estimates a roughly 20% total return for real estate stocks in the next two years.On Friday the biggest real estate loser was American Tower (NYSE:AMT), which finished down 1.8% while the biggest gainer was Extra Space Storage (NYSE:EXR), up 1.2%. Alexandria Real Estate Equities fell 1.6% on Friday, after losing 8% on Thursday and hitting its lowest level since 2016. More

Cardoso’s appointment comes following the resignation of former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele. The former governor tendered his resignation while under the custody of the Department of State Security Service. Emefiele’s departure was preceded by his suspension in June, ordered by President Bola Tinubu, who also initiated a probe into the activities of the apex bank.Alongside Emefiele, all deputy governors of the CBN have also resigned. These include Folashodun Shonubi, Aishah Ahmad, Edward Adamu and Kingsley Obiora. Shonubi had been acting as CBN Governor since Emefiele’s suspension.President Tinubu nominated Cardoso for the governorship position on September 15. In addition to this, Emem Usoro, Abdullahi Dattijo, Philip Ikeazor and Bala Bello were nominated as deputy governors. However, these nominations are pending confirmation by the Senate.As Cardoso and his colleagues assume their roles in an acting capacity, they have already begun administering the monetary and financial sector policies of the Federal Government. The new leadership took their oaths of office at a brief ceremony held at the bank’s head office in Abuja.Meanwhile, amidst these changes within the CBN leadership, Nigeria continues to face a foreign exchange crisis. The country’s currency depreciated further at the forex window on Friday, exchanging N985/$1 at the parallel market.This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C. More

The decision follows a series of visits to Beijing by three cabinet members of President Biden’s administration during the summer. The visits were intended to mitigate longstanding issues between the two nations.The new working groups will provide structured channels for open and substantive discussions, with officials reporting directly to US Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen. On the Chinese side, representatives from the ministry of finance and the People’s Bank of China will report to Vice Premier He Lifeng.Despite this progress, significant disagreements remain between the US and China on issues such as tariffs, technology controls, investment restrictions, and the treatment of American companies operating in China.The formation of these working groups signifies a return to a strategy of direct engagement between the Treasury Department and Chinese officials on economic and financial matters, a method abandoned during President Donald J. Trump’s tenure. Eswar Prasad, former head of the International Monetary Fund’s China division, stated these working groups could help maintain dialogue on key issues even as geopolitical rifts potentially deepen, as reported in the New York Times.In August, Commerce Secretary Gina M. Raimondo revealed that the US and China agreed to hold regular discussions about commercial issues and restrictions on access to advanced technology.The new working groups, which will involve consultation with the Office of the United States Trade Representative on trade matters, were agreed upon during Secretary Yellen’s July trip. The economic group will tackle issues like debt restructuring for distressed low- and middle-income countries, while the financial group will focus on financial stability and sustainable finance.Secretary Yellen underscored that the new framework represents a significant advancement in bilateral relations. She highlighted the importance of dialogue, especially in areas of disagreement.This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C. More

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