Foreign Buyers Hop on U.S. Rental Trend | Wall Street Journal

The business of buying-and-renting houses, long dominated by local mom-and-pop investors, has morphed over the past two years into one of the hottest investments on Wall Street. Dozens of pension investors and private-equity firms, such as Blackstone Group LP and Colony Capital LLC, are clamoring to buy homes in beaten-up markets, sometimes using money from foreign co-investors… “We are buying the houses up, and I’d say unashamedly at very, very cheap prices, but I don’t see much of us crowding out other home buyers,” said Mr. Dixon of US Masters…

U.S. Home Prices Climb for Fourth Month

U.S. home prices rose in July for the fourth straight month to reach their highest level in nearly two years, according to an index released Tuesday. The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite posted a 1.6% increase in July, following 2.3% advance in June. For the third month in a row, all 20 cities in the index recorded prices gains.

Miami Renters Fuel a Boom

When the real estate market collapsed five years ago, this city’s downtown soon became an emblem of the worst excesses of the building boom. Glittering new towers sat mostly vacant.

Those towers are filling up much sooner than some analysts predicted. The new arrivals, mostly renters, are spurring the establishment of restaurants, bars and shops.

Condo sales here began surging after property owners slashed prices about two years ago, sometimes by 50% or more. … Fewer than 4,000 out of the 22,000 new units built since 2003 remain unsold, according to Condo Vultures.

Buying Real Estate in the USA as a Foreigner

Foreign residents can buy and own USA property directly, but many investors prefer to own through a holding company, an LLC (limited liability company) usually set up in a tax friendly state like Texas, Delaware, or Nevada. In order to own property and collect rents or proceeds from sales, foreigners need to obtain a US Tax ID number and set up a bank account – both of which are easy once...