Archive for May 2008

Atlanta–Home improvement retailer Home Depot announced a 66 percent quarterly profit decline Tuesday because the housing slump caused it to close stores and reduce expansion, the New York Times reports.Atlanta-based Home Depot’s earnings dropped from $1.05 billion in 2007 to $356 million in the quarter ending May 4. The company is closing 15 stores and…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorPlymouth, Mass.–Equibase Capital Group LLC recently provided a $1.35 million bridge loan to Abbott Real Estate Development, a residential development firm, based in Boston.The highly-structured loan will be used to support Abbott Real Estate’s acquisition, zoning, and redevelopment of a vacant Wal-Mart located in Plymouth, Mass., into a 150-unit apartment…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorOakland, Calif.–PropertyBridge, Inc. recently launched a new edition of its Payments Platform. This version will offer new features, making the electronic payment service more user-friendly, says the company.The new version of PropertyBridge’s Payments Platform improves upon several elements of previous editions, including line item detail for the outstanding balance, saving of…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorPhiladelphia–Trump Tower Philadelphia is expected to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification when complete.The 45-story luxury condo project features 225 residences with 363 parking spaces. The project offers 60,000 square feet of amenities including a tranquil spa, fitness center, indoor pool, on-premise restaurant, wine cellar and…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorPhiladelphia–The Reinvestment Fund (TRF) recently launched PolicyMap, an online mapping tool that empowers decision makers with access to market and demographic data.PolicyMap offers simple and quick access to a wealth of data for anyone who needs it. “In the Internet age, the data that is available can be overwhelming,” says…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) praised the Federal Housing Finance Regulatory Reform Act of 2008 legislation, which was approved by the Senate Banking Committee today. Jerry Howard, CEO of National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), tells MHN that the bill shores up the housing industry as a…

Washington, D.C.–Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. told business leaders Friday that the economy was headed toward a recovery, the New York Times reports.“We are still working through housing and capital markets issues and expect to be doing so for some time,” Paulson said at a Washington Post-sponsored conference in Washington, D.C. “We also expect…

Washington, D.C.–Although many homeowners hope the housing decline that’s been gripping the market for almost two years is almost over, some economists fear it may deepen.The U.S. housing decline has helped freeze credit markets and cause hundreds of thousands of foreclosures–but to avoid a full recession, the economy is going to have to recover without…

London–The credit crunch could cause U.K. property sales to drop 40 percent in 2008, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS) new housing market forecast.RICS also forecast that home prices could decline by 5 percent–which would be the largest drop the U.K. housing market has ever seen, BBC News said.The biggest property sales…