News

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–Edward Norton, actor, director, producer and Enterprise Community Partners trustee, recently testified before the United States House of Representatives select committee on energy independence and global warming.Norton, who is an activist for environmental and affordable housing issues, called on Congress to make a national commitment to bring home the benefits of green building practices to low-income families in their homes a part of comprehensive efforts to fight global warming.“Green and affordable must be one and the same and we need a national commitment,” said Norton, whose grandfather, James Rouse is the Co-founder of Enterprise…

Schott’s Transformation Glass Schott’s latest product, Mirona, an innovative glass that transforms TV and computer screens into mirrors, debuted at the 2008 American Institute of Architects (AIA) National Convention being held in Boston May 15 and 16.Mirona transformation glass is coated on both sides with an optical interference layer. It turns glass displays, such as computer screens and TVs into mirrors when not in use, but when the display is turned on, the image is displayed flawlessly upon the surface.“Wall-mounted flat screen TVs—now ubiquitous throughout the world—have become the ‘blackholes’ of interior decor, especially when they’re not in use,” says…

Marki Lemons is a broker with Rubloff Residential Properties, a Chicago-based residential real estate firm. Lemons is a native of Chicago’s south side, and with nearly a decade of experience in the industry, has become a well known name when it comes to foreclosures and short sales. In fact, Lemons is known as Chicago’s “Queen of Foreclosures,” among her peers.In the current market, Lemons is witnessing more and more owners of properties valued upwards of $500,000 coming to her for help. This trend has serious implications for the state of the housing market, but could also mean that a burgeoning…

Flintshire, U.K.–Redrow, one of the U.K.’s biggest homebuilders, became the first major homebuilder to eliminate jobs during the housing decline on Tuesday, the Telegraph reports.Roughly 15 percent of Redrow’s workforce–200 people–already have been laid off and more cuts may be on the way, according to the Telegraph. The typically busy spring sales season has been sluggish due to increasingly tighter lending standards. Home cancellation rates had been about 20 percent but recently have “markedly increased,” the Flintshire-based builder said.

Washington, D.C.–U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke called the status of the financial market “far from normal” Tuesday and warned that no regulation could prevent another liquidity crisis, the Times Online reports.Bernanke, speaking via satellite to a financial markets conference audience, said the Fed was ready to raise the amount lent to commercial banks to keep a steady state of liquidity.Noting that the process could “take some time,” he also encouraged fund management groups and banks to raise new capital for potential future upsets and suggested they enhance their risk management measures.Bernanke’s comments–along with negative U.S. home price results and…

Washington, D.C.–As the U.S. works to recover from the recent housing and credit market fallouts, the Federal Reserve is rethinking the way it handles asset price bubbles–which could result in the Fed using regulation or interest rates to battle increases, the Financial Times said Wednesday.Former chairman Alan Greenspan’s notion that central banks shouldn’t touch asset bubbles, concentrating instead on correcting the aftermath once they rupture, is being reconsidered.The Fed may approach asset bubbles differently, according to the Times, possibly using monetary policy to act proactively or setting interest rates higher when asset prices appear to be rising too rapidly.Although it…

McLean, Va.–Freddie Mac said Wednesday that foreclosures and declining home prices cost it $1.45 billion in credit-related expenses in the first quarter, the Washington Post reports.The expenses were 58.8 percent higher than the previous quarter and were a 452.7 percent increase from the first quarter of 2007.The McLean-based agency said it lost $151 million in the three months ended March 31. By selling more common and preferred stock, Freddie Mac plans to raise $5.5 billion in capital to help meet the troubled housing market’s needs, Chief Financial Officer Anthony S. “Buddy” Piszel said in a news release.

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–Time Equities Inc. (TEI), headquartered in New York, recently launched the company’s residential brokerage division, which will offer the company’s existing and new clients access to sales and rental listings in non-TEI New York City and New Jersey properties in addition to all TEI projects.Under the leadership of Roberta Axelrod, director of residential sales, rentals and conversions and Maggie Ocampo, residential brokerage manager, TEI to hire 10 employees for the division. Six people have already been hired and the division is open for business.As members of The Real Estate Boards of New York and…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorHyattsville, Md.–Alliant Capital closed a $8,289,500 second loan, collateralized by the Avondale Overlook Apartments, a 247-unit high-rise apartment complex in Hyattsville, Md.The 13-story building, built in 1966, has been substantially renovated and the new loan is being used to pay back the equity partners who bore the cost of the renovation.Renovations included replacement of the roof, elevator cars and equipment, fire alarm system, exit signs, and selected building entry doors. Exterior brick veneer has been tuck pointed, exterior concrete pilasters and upper-floor concrete decks were repaired as required, and new railings have been installed. 193…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorChicago–In the past five years, smoking bans have come into effect in many apartment and condo communities as landlords and residents continue to push the cause through a growing and voluntary movement, according to Apartments.com, which recently conducted a national survey of renters on the topic.While the majority of renters surveyed (62 percent) by Apartments.com do not smoke, opinions on whether or not to ban smoking in apartment communities were almost equal on both sides. A slight majority (45 percent) of renters surveyed do not believe that smoking should be banned in apartment communities, while…