Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

In this Discussion

Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.

    Support MFO

  • Donate through PayPal

Housing Recovery

edited December 2012 in Fund Discussions
I am looking for mutual funds, etfs or cefs focused on housing. I am thinking long term (10 years). All ideas are appreciated.

Comments

  • edited December 2012
    Not a mutual fund, but I own Brookfield Asset Management (BAM), which recently paired with Berkshire Hathaway on a new realty venture.

    http://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffett-brookfield-asset-managment-housing-2012-10

    Brookfield also owns renewable energy and a lot of commercial RE, as well as infrastructure.

    You can also take a look at homebuilder ETFs, but they've run quite a bit.

    Starwood Property Trust (STWD, which I don't own), has been buying distressed housing, but I don't think that's a large part of the co. "In May and June, Starwood Property Trust Inc. (STWD), the publicly-traded REIT controlled by Barry Sternlicht, acquired 252 foreclosed houses for $27.3 million, according to a regulatory filing."

    Blackstone (BX, which I don't own) has also been buying. "Blackstone is buying $100 million of houses a week and has spent more than $1 billion through the middle of this month, Stephen Schwarzman, chairman of the largest private equity in distressed real estate, said during a Oct. 18 earnings call." That would not be a huge part of Blackstone's business, either, but it is something they are doing.

    Blackstone (which is an MLP so you get a K-1 form at tax time) has been a terrible investment since it IPO'd and it's in a highly volatile sector (private equity), but it does own a lot of assets, including now homes.

    Timber ETFs are also sort of an alternative way to play housing.

    Both Blackstone and Starwood quotes from: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-10-26/colony-spends-1-dot-5-billion-on-homes-as-next-reit-boom-mortgages

  • look for funds that invest in non-agency (private) mortgage bonds: PMZDX from Pimco or closed-end funds from Nuveen such as JMT and JLS. Alternatively, there are 'go anywhere' bond funds that currently hold 60-70% of such securities: PONDX, PDI and several offerings from Doubleline.
Sign In or Register to comment.