News

Horsham, Penn.–Toll Brothers Inc., headquartered in Horsham, Penn., said Wednesday that–compared to a year ago–its fiscal first quarter revenue dropped 22 percent to $842.7 million, The Wall Street Journal reports.The homebuilder said it expects to see more problems from the ongoing housing decline and, although it is still finalizing exact figures, expects pretax writedowns of between $150 million and $300 million.”The housing market remains very weak in most areas,” said chairman and CEO Robert Toll. “Based on current traffic and deposits, we are not yet seeing much light at the end of the tunnel.”Toll Brothers’ backlog declined to $2.4 billion–down…

New York–The nonprofit company that invests on behalf of 8,400 local credit unions lost its AAA Standard & Poor’s rating after announcing a $760 million drop in the value of its subprime-related securities, Bloomberg reported Wednesday. The U.S. Central Federal Credit Union’s rating was reduced by one level to AA+. New York-based S&P may downgrade U.S. Central again if its investments decline further, said analyst Robert Hoban.”With the housing market weakening to levels not seen since the early 1990s down-cycle, we expect U.S. Central’s large portfolio of mortgage-related securities to further decline in value,” Hoban said. “Earnings and capital measures…

Titchfield, U.K.–Investment property fever increased average home cost in the U.K. by £14,000, according to a report published Wednesday.The practice of purchasing a home to rent it out for revenue–called buy-to-let–has added roughly £90 a month to the average owner-occupier’s mortgage payments, making buying difficult for first-time homeowners, the Guardian reports. In recent years, the buy-to-let industry–which prospered in the 1990s when buy-to-let mortgages based on the expected rental income instead of the landlord’s earnings were introduced–has boomed. Currently, 2.5 million homes in England are rental properties owned by more than half a million landlords, who also receive tax breaks…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–Gary Silver Architects is building Observatory Place, an 11-story luxury condominium on First Avenue and 104th St., which is also the first project in East Harlem to apply for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The project, which will be completed in the summer of 2008, will have an open house later this month.Architect and developer Gary Silver and his partner, Andrew Liebhaber, have designed Observatory Place in a unique building-within-a-building architectural style that provides the structure with maximum light exposure and spaciousness. Amenities include refrigerator…

Irvine, Calif.–Irvine-based Western National Property Management, the multifamily real estate management arm of Western National Group, was retained to manage five new third-party apartment communities containing 1,212 units during the fourth quarter of 2007. The properties are located in San Bernardino, Solano and Riverside Counties.“We have been using our owner’s mentality approach to the business and sharing it with our third-party clients,” says Craig Rooney, regional vice president of business development for Western National Property Management. “By sharing our playbook, which has been created from over four decades of experience, we are able to create significant results for our third-party…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorLas Vegas–Horizon Crest Family Apartments, the 78-unit gated rental community for families with low-income and special needs, recently opened at 13 West Owens Ave. in Las Vegas. The community was developed by Nevada H.A.N.D., Inc. in partnership with The Salvation Army and the city of Las Vegas.  “KKE has had a long relationship with Nevada H.A.N.D. in designing projects for the affordable needs of family, senior and special needs,” says Doug Ahlstrom, director of housing at KKE, the architectural firm that designed Horizon Crest. The $12.9 million community project includes two- and three-bedroom apartments with…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorCleveland–Intuit Real Estate Solutions (IRES) has entered into a partnership agreement with Bostonpost Technology, a Bedford, N.H.-based company specializing in comprehensive software, services and support for apartment units funded through affordable housing programs. The partnership will allow IRES to offer its customers a streamlined hosted solution for all of their affordable housing and tax credit compliance and administration.IRES, a division of Intuit Inc., provides real estate management, portfolio management and accounting software solutions to the global real estate industry. Their current solutions include end-to-end property management in real-time for all affordable housing types including HUD…

Phoenix–HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P.) has secured a $27.75 million construction-perm loan for Central & Bell, a 228-unit multifamily development at the northeast corner of Central Avenue and Bell Road in northern Phoenix. The loan to the developers Greystone Group and WestStone Communities includes six years of interest-only payments.When it is completed in 2009, Central & Bell, a Class A property, will have eight buildings across 10 acres of land with one- and two-bedroom units averaging 804 sq. ft. each. Some units will have detached garages with additional parking in carports and surface spots, and community amenities will include a clubhouse…

By Keat Foong, Executive Editor  Orlando, Fla.–While uncertainty swirls over the credit crisis in the financial markets, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Commercial Real Estate Finance/Multifamily Housing Convention & Expo opened on a note of good spirits, evident in the general session address by Kieran Quinn, MBA chairman.  Quinn said the “golden age” of real estate finance, characterized by abundant capital and the lowest interest and cap rates in the memory of many players, came to an abrupt end on August 15th, 2007. “Golden ages are also defined by their endings,” he noted. And this financial golden age, he said,…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorOakland, Calif.–PropertyBridge Inc a provider of electronic payment services to the residential real estate management industry, is launching a national sweepstakes program to promote the use of electronic payments by renters in the U.S. The sweepstakes program includes offers for residents and management teams at residential housing communities that use the PropertyBridge Payments Platform.Residents will be eligible to win cash prizes of up to $20,000, awarded monthly through August 2008. In addition, community managers will soon be eligible to participate in a separate contest with prizes that include a weekend getaway for two in Las…