London–During a credit crunch meeting in London Tuesday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy plans to call for new structure in the global financial system, the Financial Times reports.The leaders of Europe’s four largest economies–France, Germany, Italy and the U.K.–want to show they have control despite the possible U.S. recession, recent Société Générale rogue trader incident and U.K. mortgage lender Northern Rock collapse.Sarkozy, German chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission president José Manuel Barroso will attend the summit, hosted by U.K. prime minister Gordon Brown, to discuss Europe’s position before the meeting next week in Toyko of the seven industrial powers.In the…

Chicago–Building product supplier USG Corp., the nation’s leading producer of gypsum wallboard, saw a fourth quarter net loss of $28 million due to the housing decline, the Chicago Tribune reported Tuesday.In the fourth quarter of 2006, Chicago-based USG’s net income was $100 million. Sales fell by 10 percent, sinking from $1.29 to $1.20 billion.USG has closed its least-efficient plants and cut roughly 1,250 jobs over the past 18 months.Chairman and Chief Executive Officer William C. Foote said that the low fourth quarter results and overall 2007 results “reflect the ongoing decline of the U.S. housing market.””High inventories of unsold homes,…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWhitewater, Wis.–The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater has hired Cannon Design, an international architectural, engineering and interior design firm, to plan and design its new suite-style “Universal Design” residence hall near the central academic zone of the university’s 400-acre campus in Whitewater. Universal Design tries to achieve a broad spectrum of solutions for people with disabilities.The 200,000-sq.-ft, $30 million project (pictured) is aiming for a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver rating and will exceed traditional standards in accommodations for people with disabilities. The two inter-connected five-story building residence hall, which has a capacity of…

Houston– Fortune Magazine has chosen Camden Property Trust as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work for” in America. Camden, a real estate company that owns, develops and manages multifamily apartment communities, is ranked 50th in the overall survey, and 19th in the magazine’s small companies subcategory.Camden has interests in and operates 180 properties with more than 62,000 apartment homes across the U.S. The company is on Fortune’s list for its progressive employee benefits, including the Camden Scholarship Fund for employees’ children, adoption benefits, domestic partner benefits, fully furnished apartments available for employee vacations and apartment discounts for the…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorSan Antonio–The Pinnacle at Oak Hill, a two-phase gated condominium community in San Antonio, Texas opened recently. Phase One of the Pinnacle is complete and nearly sold out with only six condominiums and two town homes remaining available for immediate move-in, according to developer and owner, Birkel Residential Group.“We are honored to be able to provide a unique home option to San Antonio homebuyers,” says Paul Milosevich, president, Birkel Residential Group. “We are currently the only builder in San Antonio offering mid-rise architecture as an alternative to homebuyers looking for simple luxury.”Pinnacle at Oak Hills…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorToms River, N.J.–Boston Capital Finance LLC has provided a construction-only loan of over $10 million to Toms River Crescent Apartments, a 120-unit affordable housing development in Toms River, N.J. Boston Capital has also provided tax credit equity for the development.Located on a 10.3-acre site near Route 70, Toms River Crescent will include 15 buildings containing 60 two-bedroom, one-bath garden-style units, 24 two-bedroom, two-bath townhouse-style units and 36 three-bedroom, two-bath townhouse-style units, available to residents at 60 percent or less of the Area Median Income. “Toms River Crescent will provide much-needed affordable housing to the residents…

Washington, D.C.–Figures released Monday by the Commerce Department indicate 2007 may have been the housing industry’s worst year in nearly half a century, the New York Times says.New home sales dropped by 26 percent in 2007–the sharpest decline since recordkeeping began in 1963.In December alone, new home sales fell 4.7 percent to a 604,000 annual rate. The December sales rate is the lowest since 1995.As buyers wait for bigger bargains and homebuilders just wait, demand has greatly declined; even buyer incentives have failed to ignite the market, which saw its housing supply increase to 9.6 months in December.New home sales…

London–Higher interest rates and a bleak market outlook caused U.K. home prices to fall for the fourth consecutive month in January, Bloomberg said Monday.The average cost of homes in England and Wales declined by 0.3 percent–which was the rate of decline in December–to 174,700 pounds ($346,000), according to London-based research group Hometrack Ltd. Home prices were up 2.3 percent from a year earlier, the smallest gain since June 2006. The housing supply decreased–roughly 4.6 percent–as consumer confidence dropped in December.In addition, homes are sitting on the market longer, Hometrack says. Average selling time swelled to 8.5 weeks–its highest level since…

Brussels–Belgian and Dutch bank Fortis said Sunday its net profits before divestments from 2007 may be €1 billion lower than originally estimated because of subprime exposure, the Financial Times said Monday.The Brussels-based bank said in a statement that “if these scenarios were to be applied to the closing of the accounts of 2007–which would be subject to approval by the board on March 6–the net profit of Fortis is to be around €3 billion.”A newspaper report published Saturday indicated Fortis may need to post a €2 billion writedown in its subprime portfolio. However, although shares of Fortis fell Friday when…