Demand for U.S. real estate by foreign investors has exploded over the last year. The first reason has been the weakness of the U.S. dollar. That has allowed foreign buyers to invest in U.S. real estate that produces favorably high yields, as well as profiting from the currency trade. These two factors compound to give foreign investors greater returns.
Since 2006 property values in America had declined in many markets by as much as 70%. Now with the ongoing manipulation tactics of the Federal Reserve Bank, Ben Bernanke’s QE to infinity, and suppressed real estate inventory by the major banks, real estate prices have been rebounding in most U.S. real estate markets. That explains some of the reasons foreign investors are taking their capital and placing it in U.S. investment properties.
People were on the move in 2012 and apparently the most popular place for them to move to was Pittsburgh, PA., according to the 2012 Top US Growth Cities Report recently released by U-Haul International. The Steel City topped the list of 30 metro areas selected with a 9.04% population growth, based on data collected by U-Haul from over 1.6 million one-way truck rentals during a recent 12 month period.
In Shelby County, there were 1,030 total foreclosures in the first quarter this year, according to real estate information company 
A Phoenix home with 95 bids is just one example of a housing market entering a new and unprecedented phase. Experts at Arizona State University School of Business say Phoenix is headed for a major housing shortage.
Hundreds of thousands of homes in the US are now labeled as “zombie” foreclosures. That's when the owner of a foreclosed home leaves only to find out years later that he or she still legally owns the home and is on the hook for property taxes and other fees. Such cases occur in more than a third of foreclosures, industry figures show.
The Buy and Hold methodology, as it is applicable to property, is and always has been the cause for making more millionaires than any other method. The main reason is really because it lets you develop equity through appreciation over a period of time. There are numerous short-term techniques like lease-options, wholesaling, and flipping that can create some cash, but in no way will it improve your long-term net worth.
The housing market may be coming back, but a growing number of policy makers have expressed concerns recently that it’s still too hard to get a mortgage.