33% of Housing Market - Speculation

Speculators purchased more than 1 in 3 home purchases last year...I think its time for a stiff capital gains tax on real estate held less than 3 years and real estate not used as a primary residence....to discourage the speculators and fat cats.

March 2 – Chicago Tribune (Mary Umberger): “Real estate speculators are buying at a pace that far exceeds previous estimates of their influence on the housing market, according to a first-of-its kind report released Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors. Collectively, investors and second-home buyers bought more than one of every three homes sold in last year’s record market.

This year, the 38-year-old Lee says he plans to buy more than 1,000 homes for Redbrick Partners LP, a New York firm he runs with the help of an MIT economist to invest in single-family rental property. What millions of mom-and-pop landlords do locally, Redbrick is trying to do on a grander scale.

See: Wall Street Journal Article - Buying Hundreds
http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/0304househunt04-ON.html

See: Detroit Free Press
http://www.freep.com/realestate/renews/flip4n_20050304.htm

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