Archive for February 2009
Depressed Job Market Causes Existing Home Sales to Drop, NAR Says Quick Lift Possible as Result of Stimulus
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–Total sales of homes, including single-family and condo, fell 6.4 percent in the quarter as a result of job losses and low consumer confidence, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says the market is clearly depressed from job losses and consumer concerns about…
Read More“Capital Insights” with Jack Kern
Clemenza: You know any good-a spots on the west side? Paulie Gatto: Yeah, I’ll think about it. Clemenza: Well, think about it while you’re driving, will ya? I wanna hit New York sometime this month. (c) The Godfather 1972 The effect of job loss is evident in New York. One friend of mine has…
Read MoreTODAY’S DEALS: NorthMarq Capital Arranged $8.7 Million Mortgage for 184-Unit Rental Community
Las Vegas–NorthMarq Capital has arranged first mortgage financing of $8.7 million for the Indian Ridge Apartments (pictured), a 184-unit multifamily property, located in Las Vegas. Financing was based on a 15-year term and a 15-year amortization schedule and was arranged for the borrower by NorthMarq through its relationship with 40/86 Mortgage Capital. The borrower was…
Read MoreLuxury Community Offers Discounts, Sees High Percentage of Closings
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorAsbury Park, N.J.—The Blu at Asbury Park, a five-story, 24-unit luxury community developed by Pyramid Property Partners, has closed several sales in the past few weeks. The project is approximately 45 percent sold.Sammy Boyd, sales agent at John Conover Agency, attributes the high number of sales to the pricing of the…
Read MoreQ&A with Samuel Wagner: Reducing Rent Could Have Watershed Effect on a Property
Samuel Wagner (pictured) is chief operating officer of LeaseProbe LLC. He is also the COO of Real Diligence LLC, which offers financial due diligence for commercial real estate clients. Wagner established Real Diligence in 2006 to provide a host of technologically-savvy real estate services. In 2007, Real Diligence began working with LeaseProbe to provide comprehensive…
Read MoreDeveloper Builds Two-Level Lofts on Mere 375 Sq. Ft.
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorSanta Monica–Olympic Studios, featuring 100 375-sq. ft. two-story lofts, is now 50 percent occupied. Located at 2001 Olympic Blvd., a few blocks from Santa Monica College, the rental project opened in January with a tentative opening of the second phase in about six months.The lofts feature fully equipped kitchens on…
Read MoreSPECIAL REPORT: Fannie, Freddie Provide Reassurances in Face of Impending 2010 Portfolio Cap
By Keat Foong, Executive EditorSan Diego—Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac multifamily executives provided assurances with regards to their companies’ abilities to supply continued liquidity to the multifamily market despite mandated portfolio reductions in 2010, during a session at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) multifamily and commercial real estate conference held here this week. Moderator Shekar…
Read MoreFoong on Finance: When Will Financing Return?
Here are some “take away” items from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s annual commercial real estate financing conference, which I attended this week in San Diego. Yes, financing will be back, within two years. That is the opinion of most of the financing industry members, some of them executives of leading players. We are talking about…
Read More“Eye on The Economy” with Adam Perrotta
As top financial executives come to Washington hat in hand to appear before the House Financial Services Committee, they have some explaining to do. Since taking hold of hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer aid under the Trouble Asset Relief Program (TARP) last fall, the firms have come under heavy scrutiny for using the…
Read MoreMARKET SNAPSHOT: 2009’s Bright Spots According to M/PF Yieldstar
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorSan Diego, Washington, D.C.—While the apartment market is experiencing a rough time nationwide, San Diego and Washington, D.C. appear likely to remain in relatively good shape in 2009, according to M/PF Yieldstar.Though the outlook for these two cities shows flat revenues for the coming year, this shows some strength in today’s…
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