Move Over REITs! MacroShares Are Here

by Howard Bell
Mouse and money photoWith job loss at over 450,000 for the month and still no end in site and house prices still declining, although at a slower rate we are at a telling moment.

Last year it looked as if we were going down a dark tunnel into an economic reality we have only read about. Now we have better news, yesterday Ford and Toyota called a bottom. The stock market called a bottom a few months back, in March. Housing has not really called a bottom yet. We see sales actually turning up, but home prices are still declining.

There is a lot of pent up demand for property and yes more are buying, but many are still on the sidelines. I wrote an article about REITs as a real estate investment, that is liquid and won’t take the big dollars of a down payment. Much like a mutual fund with real estate as it’s portfolio, you can invest and make money if you are right and if not you can get out in minutes.

MacroShares

Now we have a new paper investment to use. Most of us are familiar with MSA markets and the S&P Case Shiller index. This index is very useful because it is based on sales price not listing price. The index tracks the repeated sales of homes going back more than twenty years.

MacroShares has created an investment based on the Case Shiller index. For the first time, the housing industry will have bench marks and transparency. The MacroShares Major Metro Housing Up is designed to rise with housing prices. Its opposite, MacroShares Major Metro Housing Down, profits when real estate values fall.

What’s it Good For?

For many people who would like to buy, but are still not sure, you can invest in MacroShares and test your theories about real estate markets, see Chart Here. For the investor in a multifamily unit, you could hedge your bets by buying the MacroShares Down Major Metro Housing Down shares. If you were early in your real estate investment, you would see some profit in the paper real estate investment and put a floor under your real world loss.

Their stock market ticker symbols are: UMM and DMM.  Of course, some will become expert in picking the direction of the housing prices and do well with no insurance costs, mortgage interest of roof leaks.

See Howard Bells feature, Get Your Property Rented Faster.

Howard Bell PFP CCRM is the founder/editor of Your Property Path.com, featuring over 450 articles on property management, Your Property Path SF, trade talk for the San Francisco real estate industry, Your Property Path News Brief, snap news updates and real estate market info, and Your Property Path Amazon Store. Howard is a property manager in San Francisco and holds a certification in financial planning.

American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on products and services for landlords related to your real estate investment including REAL ESTATE FORMS, tenant debt collection, tenant background checks, insurance and financing. Find out more at joinaaoa.

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