National

DEAL OF THE DAY: Red Completes $136M Fannie Mae Refinance Loan for 10-State Portfolio Acquisition

Columbus, Ohio–Red Mortgage Capital, LLC, the mortgage banking arm of comprehensive capital provider, Red Capital Group, recently closed a $136 million-plus transaction on a pool of 11 assets located across 10 states nationwide.

HUD Announces $189M Available to Transform Assisted Living and Public Housing

Washington, D.C.–The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is making $189 million in grants available to transform public and assisted housing and to revitalize communities.

Web Feature: In Down Time, What Are MF Developers Doing?

New York–Multifamily starts have hovered in the 100,000 to 142,000-range for all of this year, which isn’t saying anything positive about the multifamily sector.

Home Sales Drastically Drop; Lowest in Over a Decade

Washington, D.C.–The first time homebuyer tax credit expired in May, and as expected, existing-home sales were sharply down in July, according to the National Association of Realtors.

REIT Execs Did Well During ’09, Notes SMG Survey

New York–In an indication that the REIT industry is faring somewhat better than real estate as a whole, total compensation levels within the REIT realm, including multifamily specialists, increased in 2009 by a median of 3 percent to 15 percent, depending on employee level.

Trulia/Harris Report: Nearly One-Third of Renters Say They’ll Never Be Homebuyers

Twenty-seven percent of renters have absolutely no plans of ever becoming homebuyers.

Campus Living Villages Launches ‘Impact Challenge’ Program Targeting Hunger and Water Quality Issues

Houston–The goal of the Impact Challenge initiative is to collect 20,000 pounds of non-perishable food and $20,000 earmarked for clean drinking water.

MHN Interview with Armand Brachman: Acquisitions Will Be Significant Part of Dominium’s Growth in Foreseeable Future

Armand E. Brachman talks to MHN about Dominium’s acquisition strategy and how development has taken a back seat in the firm’s growth plans in recent years.

Spanish-Speaking Apartment Renters Get Mobile Apartment Search Solutions

Norfolk, Va.–For Rent Media Solutions has launched the ParaRentar.com mobile site. ParaRentar.com is a fully-translated Spanish apartment search site. “The ParaRentar.com mobile site caters directly to the Spanish-speaking Hispanic audience,” says Terry Slattery, president of For Rent Media Solutions. “This is the first and only mobile website created with the Hispanic renter in mind. As of June 2010, the ForRent.com mobile site has generated 11 percent of traffic to ForRent.com. We hope to enjoy that same success with ParaRentar.com and the new mobile site.” According to research conducted during a Spring 2010 Pew Internet study, 87 percent of Hispanics own a cell…

Mortgage Applications Edge Up, Driven by Refi: MBA

Washington, D.C.–For the week ending Aug. 6, 2010, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey says that mortgage loan application volume increased for the week, but barely.