Morning Briefing: This is the ‘best buy’ city for investors

This is the ‘best buy’ city for investors… Home prices up 6.3 per cent… Freddie names top multifamily lenders of 2015… Key & Peele funnyman lists LA home…

This is the ‘best buy’ city for investors
Forbes has published a ranking of the top 20 best cities in the US for investors to buy homes. The survey in association with Local Market Monitor, used data from from the 100 largest Metropolitan Statistical Area and Divisions with populations of at least 600,000 and ranked them with metrics such as job and population growth and anticipated home price appreciation. Topping the list is Grand Rapids, Michigan with its strong 3.9 per cent employment rate, 3.1 per cent population growth and diverse economy.

Here’s the top 20:

1.   Grand Rapids
2.   Orlando, Florida
3.   San Antonio, Texas
4.   Charlotte, North Carolina
5.   Salt Lake City
6.   Dallas
7.   Austin, Texas
8.   Fort Lauderdale, Florida
9.   Seattle
10. Cape Coral, Florida
11. Indianapolis
12. North Port, Florida
13. Nashville, Tennessee
14. Tampa, Florida
15. Charleston, South Carolina
16. Denver, Colorado
17. Madison, Wisconsin
18. Jacksonville, Florida
19. West Palm Beach, Florida
20. Boise, Idaho
 
Home prices up 6.3 per cent
Home prices nationwide increased 6.3 per cent in December according to the latest CoreLogic Home Price Index. The annual increase includes distressed sales. The analytic firm’s forecast is for a slower pace of growth over the 12 months to December 2016 at 5.4 per cent especially as new inventory comes on to the market.

“Additional housing stock, especially in urban centers on the coasts such as San Francisco, could help to temper home price growth in the longer term,” said Anand Nallathambi, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “In the short and medium term, local markets with strong employment growth are likely to experience a continued rise in home sales and price growth well above the U.S. average.”

The national figure belies regional variations with some markets, including Denver and Naples, FL seeing double-digit increases in the past year while others, such as New Orleans and Rochester, NY seeing declines.
 
Freddie names top multifamily lenders of 2015
Freddie Mac has published its annual league table of the top multifamily mortgage lenders. The 2015 list is topped by CBRE Capital Markets with $6.96 billion of transactions, followed by Berkadia Commercial Mortgage ($6.35 bn), Holliday Fenoglio Fowler ($5.15 bn), Walker & Dunlop ($5.11 bn) and Wells Fargo Multifamily Capital ($3.53 bn).

"We have a tremendous partnership with our lender partners who work tirelessly every day to provide apartment financing," said John Cannon, senior vice president of Freddie Mac Multifamily Production and Sales. "Support for this market is more important than ever, especially with the increased need for properties with affordable rents which is largely what we fund. We are fortunate to work with the best team of originators, underwriters, asset managers and closing counsels in the business."

Through these and other lenders, Freddie Mac settled $47.3 billion in new multifamily volume last year, comprising 650,000 rental units. 
 
Key & Peele funnyman lists LA home
One of the stars of TV sketch show Key & Peele has listed his Los Angeles home. Keegan-Michael Key’s 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom home in Los Feliz is listed at $1.638 million by Michelle Chavoor of The Partners Trust. Zillow reports that the home has a Mediterranean feel with a pool, spa and a deck with views of Los Angeles.