Economic Update – New Home Sales See Uptick
By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor Washington, D.C.–New single-family home sales recorded an uptick in June, increasing 11 percent compared with May, to an annualized rate of 384,000, the Commerce Department said. It looks like a little pent-up demand for new homes is being unleashed, especially since prices are still falling. The Commerce Department also reported that the median price for a new house stood at $206,200 in June, down 12 percent from last June.An uptick, but how serious an uptick? When compared with June 2008, new housing sales were still down 21.3 percent, so the housing market has a ways…
TODAY’S DEAL: Boston Capital Invests Over $7M in 53-Unit Affordable Housing Community in Harlem
By Anuradha Kher, Online News Editor New York– Boston Capital has invested $7,392,761 in Harriet Tubman House Apartments (pictured), a to-be-built, 53-unit multifamily development in Harlem, N.Y. The general partner is West Harlem Group Assistance Inc. (WHGA). “Boston Capital is excited to be involved in the rehabilitation and production of much-needed affordable housing in Harlem, expanding the options available to individuals and families with low- to moderate-incomes,” says Jeff Goldstein, chief operating officer and director of Real Estate at Boston Capital. Harriet Tubman House Apartments will include the rehab of two existing buildings that formerly served as a homeless shelter, and…
Del-Sano Completes New Green Affordable Housing Development for Seniors
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorWest New York, N.J.—Del-Sano Contracting Corp. has completed construction of West New York Urban Renewal II’s William Jefferson Clinton Tower, formerly Kennedy Tower II, an 11-story, 71-unit sustainable senior affordable housing community in West New York, New Jersey. “The New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency has green future guidelines and it makes recommendations for the project during the planning stages,” Angelo Del Russo, founder and CEO of Del-Sano, tells MHN. The $16,735,000 million project, which was funded by HMFA (Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency), broke ground in July 2008 and was ready for occupancy on…
CAS Financial Advisory Services Launches Product to Meet Green Planning Needs of Residential Buildings
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorBoston–CAS Financial Advisory Services (CAS FAS) has launched its Green Capital Needs Assessment (CNA), the first product on the market to meet the green planning needs of residential building owners and managers. Each Green CNA is based on a detailed building inspection and a building cost database, and provides quantitative cost-benefit analysis of green improvements, with numbers and recommendations. “In the United States, buildings consume 65 percent of the electricity and create 30 percent of the greenhouse gasses,” says Jed Lowry, director of capital planning for CAS Financial Advisor Services. “Owners want to do the…
TODAY’S DEALS: Walker & Dunlop Closes $23.8M Refi Loan For 24 Apartment Communities, and Other Transactions
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorAlbuquerque, N.M.–Walker & Dunlop provided a $23,790,000 refinance for Cottonwood Ranch located in Albuquerque, N.M. The loan was structured with a 10-year term and a 30-year amortization. The loan was underwritten to a 65 percent loan-to-value with a 1.48x debt-service coverage ratio. Cottonwood Ranch is a garden-style community built in 1999, featuring 24 apartment buildings and one office/clubhouse. Common amenities include two swimming pools and a Jacuzzi; basketball, tennis and volleyball courts; a putting green and a playground. ARA Negotiates Sale of 17-Unit Property for Over $1MDenver–Apartment Realty Advisors (ARA) recently brokered the sale of…
Fannie Mae Supplies $10.1B in Liquidity to Multifamily Industry in First Half ’09
By Keat Foong, Executive EditorWashington, D.C.—Fannie Mae announced that it has provided $10.1 billion in debt financing for the multifamily rental housing market in the first half of 2009. “Fannie Mae and its DUS lenders had a very strong first half of the year,” said Phil Weber, senior vice president of Fannie Mae’s Multifamily division. “The company remains committed to providing liquidity and bringing stability to the multifamily industry, especially during this volatile market.”Of the 10.1 billion in financing, Fannie Mae’s DUS lenders and affiliates delivered $9.9 billion of the company’s total investment in multifamily housing. Fannie Mae says that…
Rental Syndication Service Now Offers Video Content Free of Charge to Customers
By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorGrover Beach, Calif.—RentShout, an online rental marketing service that allows property managers to create syndicated online advertisements, has launched a rental video creation to provide managers increased online visibility. (Click here for MHN’s coverage of RentShout’s launch.)“These videos receive hundreds of views from these video portals and oftentimes show up in the top of Google organic rental searches,” notes Misty Lackie, CEO of Go Smart Solutions LLC, the company that created RentShout and that provides self-serve advertising solutions.The new feature will automatically create a property video from customers’ rental listing photos on RentShout.com, which will be…
Bayer’s Suspend SC Insecticide for Bed Bugs
Bayer’s Suspend SC is a broad-spectrum insecticide that is labeled for use in all the places bed bugs like to hide, including mattresses, box springs, upholstery, carpet edges and furniture. It is known to leave no visible residue, is odorless, knocks down bed bugs quickly and remains effective over time. Bed bugs make their way into apartments via luggage, used furniture and other personal belongings. For apartment communities, bed bugs can mean serious problems, including lost residents, long-term damage to an establishment’s reputation, the potential for lawsuits and the high cost of pest management service required to eliminate this difficult…
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s Multifamily Due Diligence Requirements
Getting a loan from Freddie or Fannie? Then you need to know about what they will require in their due diligence—and what their ‘hot buttons’ are. Due diligence expert Evans Howell of Partner Engineering provides an exposition. By Evans Howell, Partner Engineering Every day we see the headlines, “Foreclosures are on the rise,” “Another bank fails,” and “The stock market is plummeting.” In a time of such economic turmoil, many investors and lenders are sitting on the sidelines waiting to see how the economic crisis will turn out. Notwithstanding the apparent slowdown, it is not all doom and gloom. Despite…
Vacancy Rates for Rental Housing Highest Since ‘96
By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–National vacancy rates for rental housing in the second quarter 2009 were 10.6 percent, a 0.4 percent gain from the previous quarter, according to the latest report by the Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau. The Census Bureau found that the rental vacancy rate was higher than the second quarter 2008 rate (10 percent) and higher than the rate last quarter (10.1 percent).For rental housing by area, the second quarter 2009 vacancy rate in principal cities (11.2 percent) was higher than in the suburbs where it was 10.0 percent, but not statistically different from outside…