Page 25 - atoday
P. 25
BUSINESS A25
Thursday 14 January 2016
Treasury to track some real estate deals in NY and Miami
J. BOAK certain title companies to to disguise their identities. Manhattan home sold for that the entry point for lux-
M. CRUTSINGER identify individuals behind The disclosure requirements $1.15 million at the close of ury single-family homes in
AP Economics Writers companies that buy prop- would apply for 180 days 2015 — a 17.3 percent leap Miami Beach exceeds $6
WASHINGTON (AP) — The erties exceeding $3 million beginning in March, ac- from a year ago, accord- million.
Treasury Department will in these two markets with cording to the announce- ing to the real estate bro- Buyers are also flocking
begin tracking sales of all-cash transactions. ment. kerage Douglas Elliman. to the chic condo towers
high-end real estate in two The government said it’s Under federal law, the That price put it at highs last that increasingly line the re-
of the country’s most ex- concerned that some of government can demand glimpsed before the finan- gion’s most expensive av-
pensive markets — Miami these real estate deals are these geographically tar- cial crisis erupted in 2008. enues.
and Manhattan — to try made by corrupt foreign geted disclosures for up to The median sales price for Of the $100 billion spent on
to crack down on money government officials or in- six months but can then a luxury unit in Manhattan real estate transactions in
laundering. ternational criminals who seek an extension. was $6 million, a 25 per- Florida last year, nearly a
The department’s Financial use expensive real estate High-end home prices in cent jump from a year ago. quarter came from interna-
Crimes Enforcement Net- to launder dirty money. By both Manhattan and Mi- Nearly half the purchases tional buyers, according to
work said Wednesday that using holding companies, ami have soared over the were all-cash. the National Association of
it will temporarily require some buyers may be able past year. The median Douglas Elliman reported Realtors.q
Report: Apple defies industry trend as PC sales fall again
BRANDON BAILEY put the total at 276 million Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior VP of marketing, talks about the pricing of the new iPhone 6s and
Associated Press and the decline at 10.4 iPhone 6s Plus in San Francisco. Apple keeps defying a PC industry trend: While other major com-
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — percent. puter-makers saw shipments fall in 2015, Apple increased the number of Macs it shipped world-
Apple keeps defying a PC Apple, however, saw an wide last year.
industry trend: While other increase of roughly 6 per-
major computer-makers cent, according to both (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
saw shipments fall in 2015, firms. While other major PC-
Apple increased the num- makers have seen ups and dustry’s slump to the intro- Mac shipments in 2012, panies that make PC com-
ber of Macs it shipped downs, Apple alone has duction of more powerful when some buyers opted ponents, while forcing soft-
worldwide last year, ac- enjoyed gains in each of smartphones and tablets for iPads instead. The slump ware makers to re-design
cording to estimates from the last three years. in recent years. Even Ap- has also hurt chipmakers their products for smaller,
two research firms this Big manufacturers like ple saw a slight decline in like Intel and other com- mobile devices. q
week. Total PC shipments Lenovo, HP and Dell still
have been declining, in- sell far more computers
dustrywide, for the last than Apple. Industry leader
four years, as consumers Lenovo shipped 57 million
are waiting longer to buy PCs last year, while esti-
new models and many are mates for Apple are just un-
turning to smartphones or der 21 million.
tablets. Even last summer’s Still, analysts say Apple ben-
release of Windows 10 — efits from its reputation as a
Microsoft’s new operating premium brand in the Unit-
software — failed to boost ed States and Europe. It’s
overall sales. All told, manu- also been making inroads
facturers shipped a total of in Asia. Gartner analyst Mi-
288.7 million PCs last year, kako Kitagawa noted that
down 8 percent from 2014, Apple has been opening
according to researchers retail stores in China, which
at Gartner. Analysts at In- is now the second-largest
ternational Data Corp., us- PC market in the world.
ing different methodology, Experts trace the PC in-
US budget deficit rose in December, totaling $14.4 billion
M. CRUTSINGER stood at $215.5 billion, an The Congressional Budget that increased spending by ment. The government had
AP Economics Writer increase of 22 percent over Office, which will update $1.14 trillion this year and will been operating under a
WASHINGTON (AP) — The the same period a year its forecast later this month, provide $680 billion in tax stop-gap spending mea-
federal budget deficit in- ago. For the entire year, pri- had predicted in August cuts over the coming de- sure that gave Congress
creased in December and vate economists are fore- that the deficit this year cade as part of a compro- and the administration time
for the third month is run- casting a slight improve- would shrink even more to mise agreement between to find a compromise on
ning ahead of last year’s ment from last year’s defi- $414 billion but then begin Republicans and Demo- a number of budget and
pace. cit of $438.9 billion, which rising for the rest of the de- crats in Congress and the regulatory issues.
The deficit totaled $14.4 had been the lowest an- cade and will top $1 trillion Obama administration. The In the budget deals struck
billion in December, the nual deficit in eight years. again by 2025. measure included many late last year was an agree-
Treasury Department re- Continued gains in em- The higher deficits will be of the domestic spending ment to suspend the limit
ported Wednesday. That ployment are expected to driven by growth in Social increases that President on government borrowing,
compares to a small surplus boost federal tax receipts. Security and health care Barack Obama had been allowing it to increase with-
of $1.9 billion in December Economists at JPMorgan benefits as more baby seeking, while Republicans out any cap until March
2014. Chase are predicting that boomers retire. won greater funding for 2017, two months after the
For the first three months of the deficit for this budget Last month, Congress ap- the military and permanent next president takes office.
this budget year, the deficit year will total $425 billion. proved a budget package tax cuts for businessinvest- q
