Monday September 5 2016 Housing and Economic stories

TOP STORIES:

‘The Market Is Saturated’: Brooklyn’s Rental Boom May Turn Into a Glut – (www.nytimes.com) From the roof of a building near the Atlantic Terminal transit hub inBrooklyn, the formerly expansive views of Manhattan are now blocked by a rising forest of towers, radiating off Flatbush Avenue. The sign for Junior’s restaurant, once impossible to miss, can be glimpsed only between the new construction. There are 19 residential towers either under construction or recently completed along the 10-block section of Flatbush stretching from Barclays Center north to Myrtle Avenue. When all of them are finished, they will have added more than 6,500 apartments — overwhelmingly rentals — to New York City’s housing stock. Another four buildings on Myrtle Avenue will add almost 1,000 more units.

Turkish Offensive on Islamic State in Syria Caught U.S. Off Guard - (www.wsj.com) When Turkish ground forces delivered a lightning strike on Islamic State fighters in Syria last week, the Pentagon hailed what it described as close U.S.-Turkish coordination. But behind the scenes, cooperation between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization partners broke down at senior levels, according to officials on both sides. The two countries weren’t as aligned on the operation as their public statements indicated. While the White House was preparing to consider a secret plan to have American special forces join the Turks, Ankara pulled the trigger on the mission unilaterally without giving officials in Washington advance warning. When clashes started between Turkish and Syrian Kurdish fighters—who are directly backed by U.S. Special Forces—the Pentagon issued unusually blunt calls for both to stand down.

Banks' exposure to loans backed by residential real estate more than $1 trillion – (www.vancouversun.com) Once upon a time, loans made by the big Canadian banks were split evenly between personal and commercial ones. But as they grew, the banks tilted heavily toward a mix of loans that is now as much 75 per cent to households versus institutions and businesses. This means that as real estate watchers look for more certain signs of what a recent slowdown in sales means for the long-term direction of a market that has gone steeply up for some time, there is also more scrutiny on the national banks and local credit unions that have fueled this activity.  Combing through some of the newest numbers available from a week of big banks reporting earnings, Edward Jones analyst Jim Shanahan found that the four banks who had held calls by press time — RBC, TD, BMO and CIBC — added some $17 billion in residential real estate mortgage loans in the last three months. Looking at all six banks, the exposure to loans backed by residential real estate was $1.1 trillion at the end of April, he said. Shanahan noted that CIBC, in particular, grew its residential mortgage loans from $169 billion to $175 billion for the quarter ending July 2016, and that this represents 62 per cent of its total loans, the highest percentage of the national banks.

Soaring Student Debt Puts Squeeze on Americans’ Shopping – (www.bloomberg.com) Student debt isn’t just a problem for job-hunting millennials -- it also could take a toll on retailers. As an increasingly large portion of Americans’ budgets go to repaying the loans, there’s less money left over for sweaters or home goods. Annual student debt payments have reached about $160 billion in the U.S., according to Moody’s Investors Service. That’s more than the yearly revenue of Amazon.com Inc., Home Depot Inc. and other major retailers.

France urges halt to EU-U.S. trade talks - (www.reuters.com)  France cast serious doubt on Tuesday on the prospects of an EU free trade deal with the United States, adding to opposition within Germany just two months after their countries' leaders reaffirmed support for an accord. Washington and Brussels are officially committed to sealing the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) before U.S. President Barack Obama leaves office in January, but their chances of doing so are being eroded by approaching elections and Britain's vote in June to leave the European Union. "Everything is moving. In this situation it's just not going to happen," said Peter van Ham, senior research fellow at Dutch think tank Clingendael and author of a paper on Tuesday called "TTIP is dead, long live transatlantic trade".

OTHER STORIES:

U.S. Stocks Close Near Record High on Economic Data; Oil Slumps - (www.bloomberg.com)
Money markets are undergoing huge changes. Here's why it matters - (www.cnbc.com)
China’s Credit Party Winds Down in Headwind for Economic Growth - (www.bloomberg.com)

Syria à la Carte: Turkish Invasion Highlights Rapidly Shifting Alliances - (www.spiegel.de)
Turkey ratchets up Syria offensive, says warplanes hit Kurdish militia - (www.reuters.com)
Two Regional Fed Chiefs Doubt Central Bank Would Raise Rates Twice This Year - (www.wsj.com)