While building up equity in a home can be a great long-term investment, in some neighborhoods it makes more economical sense to rent.

Realtytrac, a real estate information company, compiled data on 285 counties nationwide and analyzed the economics of renting instead of buying a home. They found the average cost to rent or own a 3-bedroom house and determined the percentage an average worker would have to spend from their weekly income.

In 66% of the counties Realtytrac found it was more cost effective to buy. But the potential savings in counties where renting was more cost-effective were higher. Most of the counties are in the red-hot California housing market.

We screened for the counties that had populations of more than 500,000 people and where a renter would save at least 10% more than homebuyers.

Check them out below in order from least to most savings.

Bristol County, MA

Metro Area: Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA

Population: 837,442

Median Weekly Income: $962

Average Monthly Rent: $1,142

Estimated Monthly Mortgage Payment: $1,620

Difference in median income needed to rent than buy: 10.43%

Source: RealtyTrac

Ventura County, CA

Metro Area: Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA

Population: 839,620

Median Weekly Income: $1,025

Average Monthly Rent: $2,308

Estimated Monthly Mortgage Payment: $2,957

Difference in median income needed to rent than buy: 10.58%

Source: RealtyTrac

Denver County, CO

Metro Area: Denver-Aurora, CO

Population: 649,495

Median Weekly Income: $1,247

Average Monthly Rent: $1,696

Estimated Monthly Mortgage Payment: $2,190

Difference in median income needed to rent than buy: 11.45%

Source: RealtyTrac

Buying a home is a financial goal that has been delayed for many Americans thanks to the recent recession. 

With the economy continuing to strengthen in 2015, however, many wannabe homeowners have decided it's time to buy their first homes.

One-third (32%) of home purchases made in May 2015 were by first-time home buyers, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). 

Lawrence Yun, chief economist for NAR, called this "an encouraging sign" stemming from "strong job gains among young adults, less expensive mortgage insurance and lenders offering low down payment programs."

According to Yun, first-time buyers entering the market will continue to increase.

To see which states offer the best conditions for new homeowners, GOBankingRates ranked the 10 states with the most growth in the number of first-time home buyers, while maintaining lower levels of foreclosure rates, over the past 10 years.

Read on for top 10 best states for first-time home buyers, as well as insights into local housing market conditions and public assistance programs. 

1. West Virginia

West Virginia saw some of the biggest growth in first-time home buyers in the past 10 years. From 2003 to 2013, the share of new first-time home buyers increased 57.6% while foreclosures in 2015 have remained low in the state at 0.01%.

The low costs of buying a home in this state also make this housing market accessible for first-time buyers. The median sale price in West Virginia is $115,850, reports Zillow, with a monthly payment on a 30-year mortgage costing around $550 a month — more than 40% less than the $950 median rent price. 

West Virginia also offers some public programs to help its residents buy their first homes. The Homeownership Program offered through the West Virginia Housing Development Fund can provide up to 100% financing for first-time home buyers who meet income requirements. Home buyers can also take advantage of the Down-Payment/Closing Cost Assistance program to secure a low rate on a loan of up to $15,000 to help cover down payments and closing costs. 

2. New Hampshire

New Hampshire saw an even greater increase in the number of first-time home buyers than West Virginia. The portion of home buyers in the state looking to purchase a house for the first time increased by 89.3% from 2003 to 2013. The state's foreclosure rate is not quite as low, however, at 0.05%, which put it at No. 2 on this list.

The median sales price in New Hampshire, $224,700, is also nearly double that of West Virginia. But buying at that price is still cheaper than renting; a monthly mortgage payment is around $1,060 on a 30-year loan compared with the median rent price of $1,250 in New Hampshire. 

New Hampshire state programs can be a big help to first-time homeowners, such as the Home Preferred loans that let borrowers get a mortgage with a down payment as small as 3% and provide low mortgage insurance coverage for smaller monthly payments. New Hampshire also offers a tax credit of up to $2,000 each year for first-time home buyers.

Read: Top Resources for First-Time Mortgage Loan Borrowers

3. Rhode Island

Rhode Island had the largest amount of growth in first-time home buyers; its rate of this type of borrower nearly doubled — up by 97.1% — from 2003 to 2013. Foreclosures are also fairly low at 0.06%, only slightly higher than New Hampshire's 0.05%.

Rhode Island also has a wider gap between typical mortgage payments and rent prices, as reported by Zillow. The median rent is reported at $1,400 while the monthly 30-year mortgage payment is just around $1,030, based on a median sale price of $217,625.

The state's FirstHome lending program makes borrowing more accessible for first-time buyers. It offers no-money-down options and assistance with closing costs. Rhode Island's FirstHome loans also qualify the home buyers for a FirstHome tax credit of up to $2,000 throughout the life of the loan.

4. Vermont

Vermont is yet another Northeast state that has seen strong growth among first-time home buyers, with a 48.2% rise from 2003 to 2013. The state also has one of the lowest foreclosure rates at 0.02%.

The MOVE mortgage credit certificates offered through the Vermont Housing Finance Agency offer low-interest mortgages, lowered monthly mortgage insurance payments and savings on the Vermont Property Transfer Tax. The agency also offers down payment grants that can cover as much as 2.5% of the purchase price or loan amount, whichever is lower. 

Lastly, there is the local housing market. Vermont's median home sale price is $224,900, which is slightly above the national median of $215,177, as reported by Zillow. This difference doesn't push homeownership too far out of reach, but it could mean that hopeful homeowners might need to save a little longer to afford a house.

5. Massachusetts

The ratio of first-time home buyers in Massachusetts saw a big jump from 2003 to 2013 — 74.3% — showing more residents in the state are ready to take the leap. The state also has a foreclosure rate on the lower end, showing that its residents have a good chance at retaining homeownership once they've made the commitment.

Zillow reports that the median home value in Massachusetts is $323,800 and the median sale price is $309,500, indicating that Massachusetts residents shopping for a home can currently get a deal and pay below market value. Monthly 30-year mortgage payments based on the median price would also be significantly cheaper than the median rent in the state, at $1,460 versus $2,300, respectively.

First-time buyers in this state can also take advantage of mortgage insurance programs like MassHousing, which offers mortgage payment protection that covers up to $2,000 a month in mortgage and interest payments for up to six months should the borrower suffer a job loss. Another option is the ONE Mortgage Program, which is offered through the Massachusetts Housing Partnership Fund and allows for down payments as low as 3% and publicly subsidized loans for up to 20% of the home's value.

6. Hawaii

Hawaii had a 52.8% increase in first-time home buyers from 2003 to 2013 and has a lower foreclosure rate at 0.03%. In terms of state programs to get help buying a first home, Hawaiians have limited options. But, the state does offer a mortgage credit certificate that can reduce the federal income tax homeowners owe.

Like in Massachusetts, listing prices in Hawaii fall below home values, making it more likely that a home purchase will be a good deal. But the $84,200 difference between the median sale price ($453,100) and median home value ($537,300) is more pronounced in Hawaii. On the other hand, this median sale price is still high and would result in payments around $2,140 a month with a 30-year mortgage, which is on par with the $2,300 median rent price listed by Zillow. 

7. Washington, D.C. 

When it comes to housing, Washington, D.C., has the highest prices of all the places on this list, with a median sale price of more than half a million dollars — $511,885. The lower $487,600 median home value also doesn’t bode well for home buyers, indicating they’ll be trying to purchase in a market that favors sellers. Plus, the median rent price of $2,285 actually beats mortgage payments of $2,420 based on the median sale price. Of course, D.C. is a smaller area than the states surveyed and is a major metropolitan area, so buyers should expect a competitive housing market.

In terms of first-time home buyers, D.C. saw fair growth of 41.7% from 2003 to 2013. It has also maintained one of the lowest foreclosure rates at 0.01%. D.C. offers several local programs that can help first-time home buyers, such as the Home Purchase Assistance Program. The program provides up to $50,000 in gap financing and up to $4,000 in assistance with closing costs.

8. Wyoming

With plenty of wide-open spaces to offer its residents, Wyoming's real estate comes cheaper than real estate in many other states. Its median home value is estimated to be $179,000 by Zillow as of May 2015, which is right on par with the national median of $179,200. Wyoming's growth in the portion of first-time home buyers was fairly average at 48.5%, but the state has a lower foreclosure rate of 0.03%.

Wyoming also provides state-level assistance through the Home Again Program, which offers reduced mortgage rates for first-time home buyers. The state's Down Payment Loan Program can also be a big help to new homeowners; it provides loans up to $10,000 to help cover home down payments.

9. Maine

The median value of homes in Maine, estimated by Zillow to be $118,000, is relatively low — not only when compared with the national median but especially next to the median home values of other Northeast states, such as Massachusetts ($323,800) and New Jersey ($273,700). Even with a reasonable median rent at $1,225, homeownership is still attractive. A 30-year mortgage for a property equal to the state’s median home value would cost around $560 a month. 

The portion of first-time home buyers in Maine has increased significantly, climbing 51.6% from 2003 to 2013. The state's 0.04% foreclosure rate is also less than most states. Maine provides a few programs to help home buyers, including the First Home Program. The program offers low-rate home lending, which requires little or no down payment.

10. Arizona

Arizona saw above-average growth in first-time home buyers (63.6%), but this increase is also paired with a middling 0.06% foreclosure rate that pushed the state down to No. 10 on this list. First-time home buyers in the state also lack many public assistance options; however, the Home Plus Home Loan Program can help first-time buyers secure down payment assistance up to 4% of the home loan amount.

Arizona is another state that has low home values compared with slightly inflated sale prices. According to Zillow, the median home value is $191,300, and the median sale price is $204,500. The good news is that mortgage payments are still cheaper than renting; a 30-year mortgage on the median sale price would cost around $970 a month, whereas the state's median rent is more than $200 higher each month at $1,195.

Keep reading: 7 Mistakes to Avoid When Shopping for a New Home

Methodology: States were ranked according to the increase in the portion of home buyers who were purchasing their first home when comparing 2003 to 2013 numbers reported by the FHFA, controlling for foreclosure rates reported by RealtyTrac. The states with the highest portion of first-time home buyers ranked higher, as did states with lower foreclosure costs, with the former weighted at a two-to-one ratio to the latter. These two factors contributed to a final score which determined the states' rankings in GOBankingRates' study of the Best States for First-Time Home Buyers.

SEE ALSO: Here's the salary you have to earn to buy a home in 27 major US cities

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Here's your chance to live a Tuscan dream in the good ol' US.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, "The Big Lebowski" star Jeff Bridges and his wife are asking $29.5 million dollars for their 19.5 acre Montecito, California home. The sprawling property has equal amounts of luxury and quirk. 

Sotheby’s International Realty's Suzanne Perkins told the WSJ that listings exceeding three acres of land in Montecito are rare. Keep scrolling for an inside-out tour.  

SEE ALSO: Tyler Perry is selling his ridiculously lavish Atlanta mansion for $25 million

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The Bridges family bought the home — built by Santa Barbara architect Barry Berkus — in 1994 from musician Kenny Loggins, who Mrs. Bridges credits for the European design and décor.

The wooded drive up to the villa is straight out of a fairytale book.

The hand-carved wooden front door complements the home's Tuscan-inspired exterior. Contrasting stone and stucco represent the evolving architectural styles of Tuscan villas over time.

The buzz is building around income property once again, and for good reason: The economy continues to recover, mortgage rates remain low, homes are appreciating and legions of baby boomers are downsizing and scouting post-retirement income opportunities.

Jill Wente, a realtor with Gary Greene Real Estate near Houston, says those leaning toward becoming a landlord fall into two categories.

"Typically, they're either thinking about renting their own place or acquiring another home and turning their current residence into a rental," she explains. "Some simply want to hold on to their current home in an up market."

When wannabes ask Wente whether she thinks they're landlord material, she replies with a short quiz of her own.

"First, I ask them if they'd mind getting a call on a Saturday morning with a toilet emergency. Or at 11 o'clock at night because the air conditioning isn't working. Or when they're out of town," she says. "Even if they say 'no,' I still recommend a management company. I've had clients try to do without, and it just becomes too much."

Patrick "PJ" Chapman, the owner of Chapman Properties in Boise, Idaho, and a regional vice president of the National Association of Residential Property Managers, frequently sees solo fliers go down in flames, especially long-distance landlords.

"It's mostly people who have a house in Boise, they live in California, and they don't have the means to do the background checks," he says. "They just throw tenants in there and it turns out to be a nightmare. Those are the ones who run, not walk, to us."

Do your homework first

Wente advises would-be landlords to consider the following before jumping in:

• Insurance: "If you rent your home, your homeowners insurance is going to increase about 30% because it's now not owner-occupied," she says. So-called "dwelling" policies also include a separate liability policy.
• Equity: If you purchase a property to rent, you'll need to have at least 20% equity in it to avoid having to carry private mortgage insurance, or PMI. "The good news is, that will allow you the opportunity to gain price appreciation on 100% of the property while having only 20% into it," says Wente.
• Your return: Start by figuring out how much you can charge for rent in your area and multiply by 12. Then deduct taxes, fixed expenses (such as mortgage payments, insurance and lawn maintenance), and utility and property management fees, if any.
• Cash flow: "Chances are, your rental will be vacant from time to time," Wente says. "Your next renter rarely comes walking in the next day." How easily can you weather those nonrevenue spells?
• Maintenance and repairs: "When repairs are needed, do you have a list of contractors you can depend on to get the plumbing fixed and the air conditioner back on?" Wente asks.
• Fair Housing laws: The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits housing discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability and the presence of children. "Knowing the law will help you stay in complete compliance with regard to safety issues," says Wente. " Not knowing will not protect you from legal action."

Are you up to becoming a landlord?

Once you've determined you can afford to become a landlord, the next step is to weigh whether you're up to the task. Pondering these questions will help:

1. Do you live on-site or nearby? If not, you may want to consider hiring a local property manager.
2. Are you naturally handy? Rental properties can require frequent, hands-on maintenance.
3. Are you familiar with your state and local landlord-tenant laws and neighborhood rental restrictions?
4. Do you negotiate well?
5. Are you good at resolving conflicts?
6. Do you mind being interrupted on nights and weekends?

Chapman says the landlord-tenant dynamic tends to thin the landlord herd fairly quickly.

"This business is about managing people and managing conflict," he says. "Finding the right tenants, screening them, dealing with the different personalities and having to fight to get rent or deal with collections — most people just aren't cut out for that."

For an 8% fee, Chapman takes over the entire rental process, from running criminal background and credit checks on applicants to evicting delinquent tenants. Elsewhere in the nation, property managers charge as much as 10% or more, and often take a month's rent to place new tenants.

"We just take the reins and assume a fiduciary role on their property," Chapman says. "It's worth it to them versus the headaches of trying to do it on your own with no knowledge of how to do it."

Wente agrees. "A management company can handle all of those headaches for you," she says. "Even as a realtor, I wouldn't attempt it myself."

Help for DIY landlords

If, after careful reflection, you still want to try on "landlordship" single-handedly, there's help available at the National Association of Independent Landlords, or NAIL. The California-based organization of landlords, property managers and leasing agents provides application and eviction forms, credit and criminal background reports, state landlord-tenant and federal Fair Housing Act guidelines, and electronic payment processing and monitoring to help landlords succeed.

"The most time-consuming part of being a landlord happens at the beginning and end of the lease," says NAIL general manager Brittney Benson. "If you do your due diligence and identify good tenants, you'll hopefully only hear from them once a year or if there's a maintenance issue."

NAIL plans to offer full-service eviction services in the near future to remove that stress from their landlords' shoulders.

"It's a hard business to be in for some people," Benson admits. "But if they're prepared and perform their due diligence, it can be very easy as well."

SEE ALSO: What anyone should know before becoming a landlord

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“A top property on one of the world’s most expensive streets may come to market only once in a generation,” says Yolande Barnes, head of residential research at Savills. “The owners of these homes are unlikely to need the money and tend to hang on to such prized real estate.”

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Berlin’s brand new rent control laws are already bringing down costs. That is the conclusion announced yesterday by Germany’s number one real estate site after tallying its latest figures.

Barely a month after the German capital introduced a new set of rules that limits rent increases within a given area, figures collected byImmobilienScout24 show that the average cost of new Berlin rental contracts has dropped 3.1 percent within a month. This can’t be written off as an example of a general countrywide downward trend. In other German cities where such laws haven’t yet been introduced, rents have remained more or less static. This is good news for the legislators of Berlin’s Senate as their new law is doingexactly what they promised the electorate that it would.

The new law introduced on June 1st—called the mietpreisbremse or “rental price brake” in German—works like this. An overseeing body fixes a standard median rent per square meter for each city district, using figures based a biennial state census of rents. No new rental contract within the district is then permitted to charge over 10 percent more than this amount. This still means that price increases for new rentals are possible, but if they come, they happen far more slowly.

The law is intended to hinder galloping rent rises in a town that has seen inner city tenement districts become increasingly unaffordable, pushing long-term residents out and destroying the vibrancy that made these areas attractive to live in in the first place. This process started with inner districts like Kreuzberg, currently the site of a passionate, surprisingly high profile fight to save a local grocery store. But it doesn’t stop there. Such is the ripple effect that gentrification has even been noted in the pleasant but eternally unhip outlying district of Spandau.

To counteract this, Berlin has already introduced some other laws intended to stop real estate hotspots from overheating. The city has acted upon national Community Defense laws that allow it to pinpoint areas where rents are rising especially fast and forbid luxury conversions that would otherwise give landlords a legal right to raise rents. The city has also banned vacation rentalsin some places to prevent much needed permanent accommodation from seeping away from the rental market. However, the rental brake is the most comprehensive tool introduced to date.

The new laws could prove especially strong and durable in Germany because of other pro-tenant legislation already in existence. German tenancies are typically long—in fact, they are generally open-ended. This means tenants can stay in their apartments for decades on the same contract, with just some small rises permitted within the terms of the contract. German tenants can also not be evicted on a whim. They can only be thrown out for misbehavior or failing to pay rent, or if the landlord proves that she wants to move in and use the apartment as her own permanent address. Take all this together and you have a pretty tight net of legislation forming to keep rents manageable. Meanwhile, concerns that rent control will cause the supply of apartments to dry up have been partly appeased by a city-wide building program that should deliver 30,000 new rental apartments over the next decade.

So why is Berlin doing so much to fight rent rises when other cities are similarly afflicted but do far less to intervene? It’s perhaps a little naïve to see the rent control laws as simply a triumph of the rights of the little guy. One reason why they may have made it through is because Germany is a country where more people rent than own. This doesn’t just help foster consensus on renter-friendly legislation. It also means German renters have more wealthy, empowered people among their ranks—the sort of people who, in other countries, might be owner-occupiers pressing for greater rights as landlords.

Without this wealthier section of renters, other cities might struggle to get as much political momentum behind rent control laws. But the fact that Berlin’s combination of tenants’ rights, rent brakes, and large-scale apartment building already shows tentative signs of being effective is still persuasive. If the situation for renters continues to improve, Berlin could well provide solutions to the housing affordability crisis that more laissez-faire administrations might increasingly find impossible to ignore.

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Atlanta just isn't cutting it for Steve Schwarzman's taste. 

Invitation Homes, Blackstone's home rental firm, is selling a huge portfolio of properties there, according to a Bloomberg report.

The company was founded in 2012 and in the years since, the massive company has expanded its holdings to 48,000 homes. 

Invitation's strategy is to rent homes in higher-end communities with quality schools. Blackstone didn't comment on what made Atlanta less of a fit, but the Bloomberg story points out that the company aims to sell up to 5% of its portfolio every year.

Although the Atlanta asset sale represents the biggest homes dump by Invitation since its 2012 inception, the 1,300 homes it is unloading represent a tiny portion of the properties it manages. 

With its total assets totaling about $9 billion, Invitation Homes makes up a big portion of Blackstone's enormous real estate holdings. No other private equity firm has as big a presence in the real estate industry as Blackstone. And Blackstone's AUM and share price has outpaced competitors largely due to its clout in the property business. 

Other huge deals for Schwarzman in the real estate space include its recent purchase of the Willis Tower in Chicago and its ongoing exit of stock in Hilton Worldwide Holdings. According to the Bloomberg article, Invitation Homes could also debut on public markets via IPO.

Shares were up more than two percent in early trading Monday morning July 13. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Who: John and Melissa Steele, both 26, real estate sales associates, San Diego

Our Early Retirement 'Aha!' Moment: "The lightbulb moment for Melissa and me came when we were both working at a large bank in Buffalo, New York, right after college.

Many of our co-workers were older and had been working there for many years. Seeing how unhappy they were made us realize we didn't want to be 55 and stuck in a job we hated just because we were close to retirement.

We realized it was important to take control of our lives now — and that included working for ourselves. So two and a half years ago, we moved to San Diego and started our own real estate company, Steele San Diego Homes.

Our goal is to be financially free enough to explore other interests and travel the world — hopefully by our 30s. So it's retirement in the sense that we're free of the rat race and able to live off passive income from real estate investments.

RELATED: Story of a Self-Made Real Estate Mogul: 'I Quadrupled My Net Worth in Five Years'

Our Frugal Moves: We have no debt, and share the one car we own.

Our largest monthly expense is food at around $2,000. Melissa has some health issues, so we buy healthier food that costs substantially more.

But, as a result, we cook and prepare almost every meal ourselves, and rarely eat out. I bring lunch to work every day. And neither one of us drinks coffee or has any other daily spending habits.

A lot of how we save is by ensuring we're getting the best value for our dollar. We canceled cable three years ago, opting for Netflix. When choosing an apartment, we factored in amenities like a parking spot, commuting costs and a gym — ultimately choosing the place that would save us the most in cost of living over time.

And when Melissa wanted to buy a Vitamix, she spent six months debating whether the purchase would be worth it. Now it's an appliance she uses almost every day.

We also do a lot of selling on Craigslist and eBay to make back some money. Anything we no longer use, we put up for sale. And I do mean anything.

When we moved to San Diego, we sold everything: our house, our car, even our sheets. The only thing we threw away was a broom! And we do a purge of our apartment every few months, when Melissa sells or donates anything we no longer need.

The Impact on Our Nest Egg: Our two biggest expenditures are groceries and rent, which run about $3,500 a month. Our cost of living was much cheaper in Buffalo, but even so, we've managed to keep our monthly spending the same — between $4,000 and $5,000 a month total — by remaining frugal.

We just paid for our wedding out of pocket, so right now we have only about $20,000 in regular savings and another $10,000 each in our old 401(k)s. But since we're relying on rental income to get us to retirement, we're most focused on our net worth, which is currently over $350,000.

That includes rental properties we own in Tennessee, through which we earn more than $1,200 a month without doing a thing. Because we live frugally, we don't touch that rental income — funneling it back into paying down the mortgages quicker."

RELATED: Net Worth: Why You Need to Know It — and Grow It

This post has been excerpted from "Retire by 40? 3 Couples Share How They Plan to Make It Happen," originally published on LearnVest.

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I always say bubbles burst much faster than they grow. And after exploding up 159% in one year, Chinese stocks crashed 35% in three weeks.

This all happened while the Chinese economy and exports continued to fall. And two thirds of these new trading accounts belong to investors who don’t have so much as a high school degree. How crazy is that?

As Rodney wrote earlier this week, the Chinese government is taking every desperate measure to stop the slide:

Artificial buying to prop up the market…

Banning pension funds from selling stocks…

Threatening to jail investors for shorting stocks…

Allowing 1350 out of 2900 major firms to halt trading in their stocks indefinitely, and stopping trades on another 750 that fell 10% or more…

It’s madness!

This second and FINAL bubble in Chinese stocks occurred precisely because real estate stopped going up. Over the last year it actually declined.

But the funny thing about the Chinese is – they don’t put most of their money in stocks. Only about 7% of urban investors own stocks and half of those accounts are under $15,000. In fact, it’s estimated that the Chinese only put 15% of their assets there, and that may be on the high side.

What is so unusual about the Chinese is that they save just over half their income! And the top 10% save over two-thirds!

And where do those savings go? Mostly into real estate!

China’s home ownership rate is 90%. It’s just 64% in the U.S. even though we’re much wealthier and credit-worthy.

That’s because home ownership is a staple of their culture. A Chinese man has no chance of getting a date or getting laid unless he owns a home – no matter how small.

Just look at this simple chart:

Chinese households have 74.7% of their assets in real estate vs. 27.9% in the U.S. – which helps explain why theirs is one of the greatest real estate bubbles in modern history!

But the key here is – when that bubble bursts, it will cause an unimaginable implosion of Chinese wealth. In one fell swoop, three-quarters of their assets will get crushed!

And just how big of a bubble is it? In Shanghai, real estate is up 6.6 times since 2000. That's 560%.

I’ve been going on and on about the massive overbuilding of basically everything in China for years now. I’ve never once flinched from my prediction that this enormous bubble will burst. And I’ve kept saying there will be a very hard landing no matter how much the government tries to fight it.

Central banks had been setting this global bubble up from 1995 to 2007. China’s government – even more so!

By my estimates, they’ve built up their infrastructure, real estate, and industrial capacity 12 to 15 years ahead of demand. And that’s if urbanization continues at such astounding rates. Good luck on that in a slowing world economy!

In a massive overhaul of their economy, they did this to provide jobs for half a billion people who moved from rural plains to urban cities over the past three decades. It was so rushed that 220 million migrated in just the past 12 years and aren’t even legal citizens in the cities they live in!

Now, China’s ambition has cost them. A sharp 35% correction in their stock market tells me that this second and final bubble has already peaked and is definitely bursting.

As for us, remember that China led the global collapse in 2008. The last bubble saw a six times gain in just two years and a 72% crash in just one.

And while stocks are bouncing in China right now, I see almost no chance of them making a new high back above 5,178 on the Shanghai Composite.

If I’m being realistic, they’ll probably bounce to 4,300 over the coming weeks, but then start crashing again by September at latest. After that, I expect they’ll fall sharply for a year or so.

If they crash down to 2,000 and as low as 1,000 which I suspect they will, then the economy and real estate will come next. And like I’ve said, that will destroy massive amounts of wealth and take years to shake down.

Then beyond China, it’ll send shockwaves through real estate worldwide.

After all, who are the leading buyers in cities like Sydney, Singapore, L.A., San Francisco, New York, Vancouver, and London? The Chinese! Just in 2014, they accounted for 24% of the total real estate purchases in the U.S. at some $22 billion!

You don’t have to be Einstein to understand what happens when foreign buyers with that kind of horsepower come to a halt.

But there is another layer to this – the country’s affluent have been fleeing their country in droves by moving “temporarily” to major English-speaking cities, in part to get their kids a top-notch education.

Except what they’re really doing is laundering their money out of the country by buying the most expensive real estate they can afford, usually for cash!

China’s government will only put up with this for so long – especially when their economy starts to putter out. They’ll have to stop this exodus sometime in the next year or so, and when they do, it will cause the global real estate bubble to implode. I cover this much more in depth in the July issue of The Leading Edge.

Just like I don’t want you to get caught off guard by a global selloff in stocks, I want you to be aware when real estate and world economies follow.

We’ll cover more in depth strategies to weather the economic storm ahead at this year’s Irrational Economics Summit in Vancouver – which bubble or not is one of my favorite cities. This “meeting of the minds” grows more and more dire as we get closer to the next global crash, so I hope to see you there.

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The beautiful Upper East Side townhouse that served as the facade for Holly Golightly's apartment building in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" has just been sold for $7.4 million, the New York Observer reports.

The townhouse last changed hands in 2012, when Peter E. Bacanovic, the former Merrill Lynch broker who spent five months in prison for his role in the Martha Stewart insider trading scandal, sold it to a Cyprus-based LLC for around $6 million.

The new owner's identity is also shielded by an LLC. The home, which is configured for two families, was initially listed for $10 million last year, according to the Observer.

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Does this townhouse building look familiar?

It played a starring role in "Breakfast at Tiffany's," as the home of Holly Golightly.

The building is currently divided into two separate duplexes, with 10 rooms altogether.

If you want to own a home in one of the country's most expensive ZIP codes, you'll be paying anywhere from $2 to $5 million.

So how much do the people who live there make?

According to US Census data, the median household income in America's 20 priciest areas ranges from $78,750 to $230,952.

ZIP codes 92067 and 10282 — Rancho Santa Fe, California and the Battery Park City neighborhood of Manhattan — are tied when it comes to having the highest earners. 

Here's the full list of the most expensive ZIP codes, ranked by median sale prices:

SEE ALSO: The 20 most expensive ZIP codes in America

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When it comes to the most expensive homes in the US, there are only a handful of cities in the game. And behind each lavish listing is a rich and famous homeowner like Demi Moore, Tommy Hilfiger, or Steve Cohen. 

Using data from Zillow and StreetEasy, part of Zillow Group, the largest real estate network on the web, we've narrowed in on America's 15 most expensive listings. As expected, the third most expensive real estate market in the world, New York City, makes a strong showing, but not strong enough to scoop the top spot — which is reserved for an idyllic, 1930s estate in the Hamptons. 

Keep scrolling to see the gorgeous homes and find out who's selling them. 

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15. 145-146 Central Park West #PH26C, New York, New York

Price: $75 million

The penthouse of the San Remo, one of Manhattan's most celebrity-filled buildings, sits atop one of the building's distinctive twin towers. The listing notes that Penthouse 26c is a triplex, rising high over Central Park's green expanses. Owner Demi Moore listed the property earlier this year.

See the listing for more photos and information

14. 10 West Street PH, New York, New York

Price: $75 million

At the height of The Ritz-Carlton Battery Park, this duplex penthouse at 10 West Street looks down on the neighboring Financial District. The listing is actually for two penthouses (one at 7,500 square feet and one at 3,600 square feet) being sold as one. According to the listing they can be "seamlessly" combined.

See the listing for more photos and information

13. 1 Central Park South #1809, New York, New York

Price: $75 million

The Dome Penthouse at The Plaza Hotel is rarely offered for sale. The duplex has fantastic views of Central Park and 24-hour "luxury white glove" service (read: valet, maid, and food service) courtesy of the hotel. Recently featured in the book "Living in Style New York," fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger re-listed the property in May after it failed to sell a year ago.

See the listing for more photos and information

Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff knows a thing or two about selling a home. 

In "Zillow Talk: The New Rules of Real Estate," Rascoff and Zillow's Chief Economist Stan Humphries share tips they've acquired after a decade of marketing and selling homes on their site. 

You should never use the word "unique" in a listing, for example, but you should always try to end your price with "900." 

According to Curbed, Rascoff is now selling his own home in Seattle, a 3,470-square-foot home in the Madison Park neighborhood. It's on the market for $1.295 million. 

SEE ALSO: Realtors spent $5,000 on a private chef to convince Minecraft's billionaire creator to buy this $70 million mansion

Rascoff's home was built in 1994, and he's rented it out for the last five years.

In his book, Rascoff says the spring is the best time to put your home on the market.

He's listing his now, however, because of renovation work that needed to be done before the house could be sold.

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One of Miami's finest mansions is having a tough time selling.

The historical estate, known as La Brisa, hit the market in October 2014 for $65 million, making it the most expensive home for sale in Miami-Dade County at the time.

Now, after nearly a year on the market, the owners have discounted the home to $55 million, The Real Deal Miami reports.

The Coconut Grove home has a 13,800-square-foot residence and two-bedroom guest house on 6.9 acres of land.

The nine-bedroom residence also has picturesque views of Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, over 3,000 square feet of outdoor living space, a pool, a spa, and a private port that can accommodate a 70-foot yacht.

The mansion, whose current owner is unknown, has been owned in the past by Kirk Munroe, an author of children’s novels and books about Florida, and Henry Field, a grand-nephew of the founder of the Marshall Field’s department store chain.

William P.D. Pierce with Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate’s Miami Beach office has the listing.

SEE ALSO: The 15 most expensive homes for sale in the US right now

Welcome to La Brisa, Miami's now available for a discounted $55 million.

The home is in the heart of Coconut Grove, aka “the original Miami."

It sits on 6.9 acres of meticulously landscaped property.

One of Miami's finest mansions is having a tough time selling.

The historical estate, known as La Brisa, hit the market in October 2014 for $65 million, making it the most expensive home for sale in Miami-Dade County at the time.

Now, after nearly a year on the market, the owners have discounted the home to $55 million, The Real Deal Miami reports.

The Coconut Grove home has a 13,800-square-foot residence and two-bedroom guest house on 6.9 acres of land.

The nine-bedroom residence also has picturesque views of Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, over 3,000 square feet of outdoor living space, a pool, a spa, and a private port that can accommodate a 70-foot yacht.

The mansion, whose current owner is unknown, has been owned in the past by Kirk Munroe, an author of children’s novels and books about Florida, and Henry Field, a grand-nephew of the founder of the Marshall Field’s department store chain.

William P.D. Pierce with Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate’s Miami Beach office has the listing.

SEE ALSO: The 15 most expensive homes for sale in the US

Welcome to La Brisa, Miami's new most expensive mansion at $65 million.

The home is in the heart of Coconut Grove, aka “the original Miami."

It sits on 6.9 acres of meticulously landscaped property.

I’ve been stressing several different triggers that could cause the next great crash and depression, after over six years of non-stop stimulus and bubble denial. They are: the faults in southern Europe starting with Greece; the faults in the U.S. fracking and Canadian tar sands industries; rising long-term government debt rates despite continued QE; and municipal defaults including Illinois and Puerto Rico.

But the ultimate trigger would be the bursting of the greatest bubble in modern history – China!

QE works to some degree but less and less over time, like any drug. I have been looking for something to go wrong that further QE in developed countries like the U.S., Europe, and Japan could not counter. That would be the bubble bursting in China, as it is now the second largest economy in the world and has been the fastest growing by far over the last three decades.

That’s because China has urbanized too fast and overbuilt every facet of its economy 12 to 15 years out to keep the rural migrant workers employed at all cost. As a result, its real estate bubble dwarfs all others. Its debt for an emerging country is off the charts – closer to developed countries that are far more credit worthy.

But the “Big Bang” is that the Chinese save massively and invest their cash disproportionately in real estate. Its stock bubble is finally starting to burst, but the key event is when the already struggling real estate market crashes as well. That will cause an unprecedented implosion of wealth in China and a global real estate bust that reverberates around the world.

Refer to our latest infographic. It explains the situation in China in more detail. Once you understand, you’ll see how it could be the trigger that causes bubbles to pop all over the world.

Get ready.

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Building up savings can feel good.

It's nice to know you are working toward and getting closer to your financial goals, especially when the goal is the biggest financial decision of your life — buying a home.

When you are figuring out how much home you can afford, it's important to look at both the upfront and ongoing costs.

This means calculating your potential monthly mortgage in addition to considering how large of a down payment to make.

But once you've saved up enough for that down payment, it doesn't necessarily mean you should rush to sign the papers.

Consider the following reasons using all your savings for a down payment can get you into trouble.

Magic number

So exactly how much of your savings should you use toward a down payment if not all?

First, it's important to find out how much you can and want to spend for a home.

Many experts advise not spending more than one-third of your monthly income on housing costs, but this may vary depending on your circumstances and where you are looking to buy.

Once you figure out the home's cost, you can determine the "expected" down payment amount as it is typically 20% of the home's selling price for a conventional loan. (There are other options that require lower down payments.) This is probably a large chunk of your savings, and that's OK. But it's a good idea to leave money aside for the other costs of having a home and future financial goals.

Additional costs

The down payment is not all you will owe in upfront costs. There are also closing costs, moving costs and the general expenses of buying and moving into a new home. Perhaps you will be buying additional furniture or making some improvements.

Also, while you may not have to pay rent once you own a house, but there are still mortgage payments, taxes, insurance and utilities to consider. Beyond that, owning a home means taking responsibility for the care and maintenance of it, which can be costly. There is no more landlord to cover repairs. Your savings will need to cover all of these expenses in additional to the down payment amount.

Savings cushion

Even those aren't even all the expenses you need to consider. You have probably heard that it's a good idea to have an emergency fund in case something was to happen (think major car repair, trip to the emergency room or job loss). Even though saving for a house is a major life goal, it's important not to leave yourself short on cash.

Experts generally recommend having between three and nine months' worth of living costs set aside. Exactly how much you need to have socked away will depend on your personal circumstances — how secure your job is, how many people in the family earn income, etc.

The exact amount you put toward a down payment for your home is up to you and your lender, but it's a good idea to make sure it's not all of your savings. It's important to calculate both the immediate and long-term costs of any houses you are considering buying and find one you can comfortably afford.

If you don't feel quite ready to buy the property you have in mind, you can analyze if continuing to rent is a better move so you can keep building your savings. Keep in mind that a better credit score can help you make your dream home more budget-friendly (lower interest rates = lower monthly payment). You can check your credit scores for free on Credit.com to see where you stand.

More from Credit.com

• How Much House Can You Afford?
• Why You Should Check Your Credit Before Buying a Home
• How to Get Pre-Approved for a Mortgage

SEE ALSO: How Teaching Online Courses Helped One Entrepreneur Put A Down Payment On A House

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An island paradise off the coast of Florida just sold for $14.5 million to a former teacher turned entrepreneur and his wife.

With 104 acres of pristine wilderness and 3.5 miles of oceanfront, the island is a certifiable semi-tropical paradise. It also has a four-bedroom Spanish villa-style home on it, built in 1928.

Though the asking price was $24.5 million, the owners were looking to move quickly and all serious offers were considered. This led to the $14.5 million final selling price.

The new owners are Mark Pentecost, a former teacher and homemaker turned entrepreneur, and his wife Cindy.

Michael Saunders and Company handled the listing. 

SEE ALSO: The 15 most expensive houses for sale in America

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An entire mass of land in South Florida called Little Bokeelia Island is up for sale.

The island covers 104 acres.

It sits near regular "Bokeelia island", which is itself very close to the much larger Pine Island. All the islands sit off the west coast of Florida, near the metropolitan area of Fort Myers.

The US housing market is exploding.

On Friday morning, Census Bureau data showed that housing starts surged 9.8% to an annualized pace of 1.174 million, a level not seen since July 2007.

Building permits, which indicate the pace of future construction, climbed 7.4% to an annualized pace of 1.343 million, also the highest level in about eight years.

"With a nearly 30% increase in housing starts compared to June of last year, the residential market recovery is here, and it is strong and sustainable," said Peter Ciganik, managing director of GTIS Partners, in a note Friday.

"The increase is the result of a strong job market, rising consumer confidence, and a moderate and much needed improvement in the supply of mortgage credit."

And so if anyone is looking for a bright spot in this economic recovery, the housing market is where to find it. The continued strength of this corner of the economy is feeding into other crucial areas.

"Housing 'caught fire' in a positive sense this spring helping to heat up an economy that was frozen stiff in the cold winter months," PNC economists Stu Hoffman and Gus Faucher wrote in a note Friday. "This will continue to add construction jobs to more than make up for the loss of jobs in the energy economy."

On Thursday, the National Association of Homebuilders' homebuilder-sentiment index rose to the highest level in nearly ten years.

Pantheon Macroeconomics' Ian Shepherdson noted that while it's not a solid indicator of ongoing construction, the index "does add weight to the increasing pile of evidence suggesting that a real housing upswing is underway."

The Beige Book

The Federal Reserve's beige book— a collection of anecdotes on the US economy — released Wednesday showed that "several" of the 12 districts noted an uptick in real estate activity. 

As Business Insider's Shane Ferro noted, most regions showed signs of either a housing boom or an increase in residential and commercial real estate. 

One contact in Boston told the Fed that the city's office-leasing market is the strongest it has been in 50 years. Another in New York said new construction is at a level not witnessed in a decade. Some in Chicago were even worried that the commercial-real-estate market is overheating.

The signs of a boom are everywhere.

Home Prices

What's also obvious is that the cost of housing is soaring, to the point where it's again growing unaffordable.

On Friday, we got data on consumer prices, and the headline print of 0.3% came right in line with expectations.

However, the rent component jumped 0.4%, the highest since October 2006, with primary rent rates up 3.5% year-on-year, and owners' equivalent rent up 2.9%.

The value of each square foot of housing surged during the housing bubble, plunged during the recession, and has been on the rise since 2011.

At the same time, houses have gotten larger, with the area of new houses over 3,000 square feet roughly doubling since 1999. Meanwhile, rental vacancies have shrunk.

And so it's not hard to understand why home ownership has plunged. In the first quarter, the home-ownership rate fell to 63.7%, the lowest level in 25 years.

This is particularly concerning for millennials — the cohort between the ages 15 and 35 with an average age of 25 — who are in the prime stage of their lives to buy their first homes.

So far, they are mostly opting to rent instead, or worse, still living in their parents' basements.

Strong fundamentals

But what's encouraging for some economists is that the fundamentals of the economy are strong.

For many experts, the first-quarter contraction was a blip in what's remained a bullish uptrend in an economy strong enough for the Fed to raise interest rates, however slowly it decides to do so.

"Job and income gains, low mortgage rates, good affordability, an easing in lending standards, and a gradual return to homeownership are all supporting single-family building," PNC's Hoffman and Faucher wrote. "New mortgage rules designed to support home buying, especially for first-time home owners, are also a positive. Residential construction will provide a big boost to GDP growth in the second quarter, and through the rest of 2015."

The second quarter is crucial. After a contraction in the first, economists are forecasting a better print when the first estimate for Q2 gross domestic product is released on July 30.

If economists' estimates are accurate, the housing-market recovery will have played a key role in rebounding and sustaining an economy on the mend.

SEE ALSO: This is what a good economy looks like

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New home prices in China continued to ease in June, although there were vastly divergent performances across the nation.

Overall new home prices fell by 4.9% in the year to June, an improvement on the 5.7% decline seen in May. Over the month prices increased by 0.4%.

While overall prices continued to fall, it was interesting to see the divergent performance between large tier-one cities compared to smaller tier-two and tier-three cities.

New home prices in Shenzhen and Shanghai — large financial hubs that have benefited from huge stock market gains over the past year — recorded annual growth of 15.7% and 0.3% respectively.

Outside of financial centers new home prices in tier-one cities continued to slide, falling 1.1% in Beijing, 2.7% in Guangzhou, 3.1% in Tianjin and 6.9% in Chongqing. Thanks largely to to the red-hot property market in Shenzhen, tier-one prices increased by 3.0% in the 12 months to June.

The chart below, supplied by Westpac, reveals the divergent performance across tier-one cities.

While on balance new home prices in larger cities increased, it was a different story for prices in second and third-tier cities. According to Westpac, prices in tier-two cities fell by 5.4% while those for tier-three cities and below slid by 6.2%.

Clearly the rebound in property prices nationally in being led by large cities, particularly those tied to the performance of the financial sector. Given gains in Shenzhen and Shanghai property prices are clearly being impacted by gains in the Shenzhen and Shanghai stock markets, it offers another insight as to why the government is doing everything in its powers to support the stock market — to reflate the nation’s flagging property market.

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