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Single-family homes may be taking a beating–but multifamily affordable housing isn’t. Just ask Fannie Mae. According to The Wall Street Journal, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are working to make up for the lenders who have pulled back from project funding, especially in the multifamily affordable housing market. A spokesman for Fannie Mae said that the multifamily market’s low delinquency rates–a scant one-tenth of 1 percent in January–makes it a good bet for the government-backed agency, according to the Journal. Fannie and Freddie aren’t the only ones working to increase affordable housing. As the subprime housing crisis continues, states–including New…

New information from the National Association of Realtors and the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight released today provides a fresh look at the housing crisis–but not necessarily a clear one. The OFHEO said today that home prices grew 0.6 percent from January to February. In the 12-month period ending in February, prices fell 2.4 percent. Prices increased 2.2 percent a seasonally adjusted basis in New England, rose 0.3 percent in the Pacific region and fell 0.6 percent In the Mountain region. NAR found that existing home sales fell slightly in March and prices increased a little compared to the…

It’s spring, which according to the New York Times, means thousands of recent college grads will soon be hitting the rental market looking for an apartment … and many will be in for a shock. There is no rental market quite like New York City. As a result, there’s no landlord like a New York City landlord. In some markets, rental property owners may be having a hard time filling units as the economy slows. Vacant units have caused foreclosures in some markets, such as Boston, where multifamily foreclosures rose 27 percent from February 2007 to 2008, according to the…

The rumors were true: President Bush today nominated the head of the Small Business Administration, Steve Preston, to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development. And the media had a ton to say about it: The Associated Press, New York Times and Bloomberg all covered the news almost as soon as it broke. John Kerry (D-Mass.), chairman of the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, also reacted quickly to the news. "I’ve worked with Steven Preston as the SBA Administrator for almost two years now and I’ll be sorry to see him go," Kerry said in a statement. "Mr. Preston inherited an agency…

Two news items today indicate the economy is in real trouble–and may be approaching an even tougher time in the near future. The Fed’s Beige Book indicates the economy is getting worse. The Fed said that "economic conditions have weakened since the last report." Nine districts reported a lesser economic pace; the other three said activity was "mixed or steady." The culprit? Housing: According to Bloomberg, because of the "worst housing contraction in a quarter century," growth declined to a 0.6 annual pace from October to December–a reduction from a 4.9 percent pace during the three prior months. Merrill Lynch…

Disappointing news from the Commerce Department today–housing starts hit their lowest level in 17 years last month. Let’s just take a moment to mull that over: Seventeen years. And that wasn’t the report’s only low point: U.S. homebuilder starts dropped to the lowest rate since 1991, falling 11.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 947,000. That’s 36.5 percent less than a year ago. Building permits also dropped to 927,000 last month–a 5.8 percent decline and 40.9 percent drop from March 2007. Multifamily unit starts also fell in March by 24.6 percent. The future doesn’t look much brighter–multifamily permits…

Some renters who thought they’d wait out the housing decline before buying may find the slump is landing at their doorstep anyway–and it could leave them homeless. That’s according to an article today in the New York Times that highlighted some of the problems renters are experiencing as landlords default on their loans. From declining service to flat-out evictions, renters are feeling the subprime sting–and they often get little notice their living situation is about to change. Rental properties are now involved in 38 percent of U.S. foreclosures–168,000 households, CBS estimates. The hardest hit areas are ones that have experienced…

An article in today’s New York Times discussed the impact that the U.S. housing crisis has had on the world–and it’s not a good one. In countries like the U.K. and Spain, housing is starting to suffer. Much has been written in recent months about British housing woes, and Ireland is experiencing a correction, as well. Almost a year ago to the day, Bloomberg reported that residential real estate in Northern Ireland–after years or unrest–was finally catching up to the rest of the kingdom, with home prices increasing at one of the fastest rates in Europe. Not so anymore. Britain’s…

In Brockton, Mass.–and in other U.S. areas experiencing foreclosures–vacant homes have caused another concern: Foreclosure fires. Vacant homes already have been blamed for inviting crime to many neighborhoods. According to a report by the Georgia Institute of Technology and Geoff Smith of Woodstock Institute, a one percentage point increase in the foreclosure rate brings neighborhood violent crime up 2.33 percent. And the trend isn’t limited to urban areas: Even middle-class, new neighborhoods aren’t safe, according to a November MSNBC report. Nor is it limited to Massachusetts. With the highest foreclosure rate in the nation, California has had similar fears, according…

Multi-Housing News‘ parent company, Nielsen Business Media, sponsored an event in Chicago today called Multi-Housing Forum, featuring sessions on branding, debt and more. I attended the forum’s very compelling 2 p.m. session, "The 2008 Multifamily Debt Update," which was an interesting look at how GSEs are navigating the current market–a hot topic for the multifamily sector. During the hour-long session, moderator Glenn Housman, Senior Vice President, Richard Ellis Inc., took questions and chatted about financing options and advice along with Freddie Mac Senior Producer Laura Cathlina and Jimmy Mayfield, managing director of Greystone Servicing Corp. A few highlights: 125 on…