房地产泡沫时期贷款热重现美国

    喜欢最近的美国牛市吗？不如借此机会把家里翻修一新？显然，对于从股市里赚的钱，有些投资者一直就是这么花的。

    财务顾问们表示，最近的美国股市大涨带动了抵押类贷款的复苏，这是自上次房地产繁荣期结束以来前所未见的景象。但这一次，人们不再动用价格上涨的房屋来换取现金。现如今，股票投资组合看起来是更胜一筹的选择。

    财务规划师们称，最近几个月，有客户用保证金贷款购置房地产、收购小企业或解决在银行传统贷款到位前的资金缺口。

    “没人想退出股市整整90天，”丹佛Brown Tedstrom财务规划师马克•布朗说。“人们现在就是不想卖。”

    据美国金融业监管局（FINRA）的数据，今年早些时候，经纪账户抵押贷款创下了历史新高，而且还在继续攀升。截至4月末，未偿付的保证金贷款总额近4,090亿美元。而在2007年7月上一次股市推动的借贷高峰时，贷款总额也仅为3,810亿美元。

    贷款与泡沫往往相伴，而无度的贷款正是导致上次美国楼市崩溃的关键原因。因此，最近股票抵押贷款的增长让一些人感到担忧，特别是在美国股市已屡创新高，看起来直线上涨的情况之下。虽然上周三美国股市下跌，但美股全年都没有出现过连续三天下跌的情况，这可不太寻常。最近《华尔街日报》（Wall Street Journal）的一篇文章称，投资者不用那么担心这些保证金贷款，因为人们并没有用这些借来的钱买更多的股票，只是当成一个获得快钱的廉价渠道。

    这话或许本意是为了宽宽人们的心。但听完却让人不由回想起美国楼市泡沫时期，那时人们用房屋资产净值贷款购买游艇或改善生活。

    而且从一些传言来看，似乎开始有更多的人抵押经纪账户，购买房地产或为企业提供资金。新泽西州莫里斯敦RegentAtlantic的财务规划师克里斯•科达罗最近就有一位客户，以经纪账户为抵押为正在念研究生的女儿在长滩购买了公寓。另一位客户用保证金贷款在新泽西州纽瓦克开发商业房地产。科达罗说，这位过去跑银行拿房地产贷款的客户已越来越依赖股票账户抵押。“其他贷款已经干涸了，”科达罗说。“如果你需要短期资金并拥有多样化的证券投资组合，保证金贷款是很高效的方式。”

    亚特兰大的财务规划师米彻•雷纳表示，他有几位客户利用保证金贷款为小企业收购进行了融资。他表示，最近已收到很多客户询问保证金贷款事宜。芝加哥周边财务规划师西恩•西博德表示，他最近有一位客户利用保证金贷款扩展了自己的口腔外科业务。“去银行会非常麻烦，”西博德说。“保证金贷款的利率很低，实际操作中也没有交易成本。”

    Like the recent bull market? How about taking a home renovation to go with it? That apparently is what some investors have been doing with their stock gains.

    The recent run-up in the market, financial advisers say, has led to a resurgence of the type of loan not seen since the end of the housing boom -- cash out financing. But this time, though, people aren't tapping their inflated house for money. These days stock portfolios appear to be the well of choice.

    Financial planners say in recent months clients have taken out so-called margin loans to buy real estate, fund small business acquisitions, or to provide gap financing before a traditional loan could be secured from a bank.

    "No one wants to be out of the market for 90 days," says Mark Brown, a financial planner for Brown Tedstrom in Denver. "People just don't want to sell right now."

    Borrowing against brokerage accounts hit an all-time high earlier this year, according to data from FINRA, and has continued to go higher. Margin loans outstanding totaled nearly $409 billion at the end of April. That compares to $381 billion back in July 2007, the last time stock-market-fueled lending peaked.

    Debt is often seen in bubbles, and loose lending was a key part of what led to the housing bust. So the recent rise in stock market borrowing has some people nervous, especially at a time when the market is already making new highs, and seemingly headed straight up. Despite being down on Wednesday, the market has not suffered a three-day string of losses all year, which is not typical. Nonetheless, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article, investors should be less worried about all this margin debt because people aren't using the borrowed funds to buy more stocks, they are using it as a cheap source of fast cash.

    Somehow that was supposed to be reassuring. Instead, it feels more like a flashback to the housing bubble when people where taking out home equity loans to buy boats or just groceries.

    Anecdotally, it does seem that there are more people tapping their brokerage accounts to make real estate purchases or fund their business. Chris Cordaro, a financial planner at RegentAtlantic in Morristown, N.J., recently had one client borrow against his brokerage account to buy a condo in Long Island for his daughter, who is in grad school. Another is using money from a margin loan to develop commercial real estate in Newark, N.J. Cordaro says that the client, who used to go to a bank for real estate loans, has increasingly been turning to his stock account. "Other areas of borrowing have dried up," says Cordaro. "Margin is a very efficient if you have a short-term need and a diversified portfolio."

    Mitch Reiner, a financial planner in Atlanta, says he has had a few clients use margin loans to finance acquisitions for their small businesses. He says he's had a lot of inquiries from clients recently about margin lending. Sean Sebold, a financial planner outside Chicago, said he recently had a client use a margin loan to expand his oral surgery practice. "If you go to a bank it's going to be enormously burdensome," says Sebold. "The rates are very low on margin loans, and there are practically no transaction costs."