News

New York–Spandrel Property Services Inc., a property management and brokerage affiliate of luxury resort and condominium developer R.A.L. Companies & Affiliates, has attained real estate licensing in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Colorado.Spandrel, which is licensed in New York and Pennsylvania, expects to continue to grow its brokerage department and to attain licensing in more states, in an effort to achieve aggressive national growth.“The company will continue to seek licensing in states where we have the opportunity to conduct business, therefore we expect our state licensure to grow rapidly in direct relation to the expansion of our third-party building owner and developer…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–The Housing Partnership Development Corp., a New York-based nonprofit producer of affordable housing, has obtained a $2 million below-market interest rate line of credit from Carver Federal Savings Bank. The line of credit is provided to the Housing Partnership’s affiliate, Community Partnership Development Corp. (CPDC), a not-for-profit lender that supports the financing needs of affordable housing developers in New York City.Beth Berns, CFO of the Housing Partnership, says, “The Housing Partnership is thrilled to have Carver Federal Savings make this commitment of funds to CPDC. This greatly increases the level of funding available to…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorSan Francisco–RentPayment, a division of YapStone Inc., a payment processor to the multifamily property market, is launching Cardinal MAX, the mobile platform from CardinalCommerce Corp., which will allow residents to make payments via their mobile phones.Through the Cardinal MAX technology from CardinalCommerce, a Cleveland, Ohio-based company that enables payment brands for mobile and eCommerce, RentPayment’s clients can now receive a monthly alert when their rent is due and make a payment via a mobile phone text message. The only fee attached to this service is the convenience fee—if at all—that a property management might be…

Washington, D.C.–The U.S. inflation level hit its highest point since 2006 in January, highlighting the Federal Reserve’s challenge to balance inflation and economic growth, the Financial Times reports.Inflation rose because of higher clothing, medical and educational costs. After growing by 0.2 percent in every month since March of last year, the core consumer price index–which does not include prices for volatile energy and food–increased 0.3 percent last month, the Labor Bureau said.The CPI, when factoring in energy costs and an 0.7 percent increase in food costs, increased by 0.4 percent for the second consecutive month.Stocks fell into negative zones in…

Washington, D.C.–U.S. housing starts stayed at their lowest level since 1991 last month, according to Commerce Department data released Wednesday.Housing starts increased by 0.8 percent from December, and building permits–which forecast future construction–dropped 3 percent, Bloomberg reports.Single-family home starts fell 5.2 percent to the lowest rate since January 1991. However, the multifamily home sector was last month’s biggest winner: Starts grew 22 percent from January to an annual rate of 269,000, rebounding from December’s 39 percent plunge.In 2007, construction started on 1.355 million housing units–the least amount in 14 years and a 25 percent drop from 2006.December new home sales…

Utica, N.Y.–As the housing slump continues, many Americans expect a recession this year, according to a poll released Wednesday.The poll, conducted by Utica, N.Y.-based research firm Zogby International and Reuters, found that 54 percent of the respondents felt a recession was imminent. Three out of four felt housing prices would remain the same or decline in the next year, The New York Times said.Nearly half of the 1,105 respondents said they planned to save or spend their upcoming economic stimulus rebate checks on debt payments, Conducted January 13 to 16, the poll showed that less than 40 percent of Americans…

London–After years of skyrocketing home prices, the U.K. is now experiencing an abrupt rise in mortgage defaults.Prices rose so high that a modest three-bedroom tract home in the London suburbs sold for $2.2 million at one point, according to the Los Angeles Times. But now–as loans become harder to obtain due to the global credit crisis–borrowers are agreeing to expensive and sometimes unclear home rescue plans that often speed up foreclosure.Foreclosures in the U.K. increased 21 percent last year, according to the London-based British Council of Mortgage Lenders.In January, Britain’s baking regulatory agency, the Financial Services Authority, said that 1.4…

New York–Residents have begun closing out and moving into the 32-story luxury condominium tower, Avery, located on Riverside South between 64th and 65th Streets. Designed by New York-based SLCE Architects, Avery’s 274 one-, two- and three-bedroom condominiums are priced from approximately $900,000 to more than $3 million.New York-based Extell Development Co. is the developer of Avery, situated steps away from the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in Manhattan.Avery will provide amenities including a 30-person screening theater and a game room featuring a tournament-style billiards table, a private landscaped courtyard, a library equipped with 24-hour WiFi access and an adaptable entertainment…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorAustin, Texas–Since the launch of its “Live4” section in October 2007, Apartment Home Living, a company that uses tools such as mobile messaging and online compatibility to find apartments for its clients, has received over 49,000 answers to the question, “what do you live for?” Future and current apartment residents, which Apartment Home Living refers to as “Apartmentites,” from across the U.S. and around the world, answered this question and the company made the results public. The answers range from shopping, which ranked as the third most popular reason to live for, to the most…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorLexington, Md.–The Baltimore office of CWCapital, a real estate finance and investment management company focused on commercial and multifamily real estate debt, has provided more than $30 million in construction and permanent financing to Blacksburg, Va.-based HHHunt Corp. for the expansion of a Class A apartment complex in Lexington, Md.Abberly Crest is a two-phase project and the first phase consisting of 250 units was ready in 2006. Under the second phase of construction, which is expected to be complete in February 2009, the property will expand by 240 units. Building amenities include an Olympic size…