Regions

By Keat Foong, Executive EditorWashington, D.C.—Fannie Mae announced that it has provided $10.1 billion in debt financing for the multifamily rental housing market in the first half of 2009.  “Fannie Mae and its DUS lenders had a very strong first half of the year,” said Phil Weber, senior vice president of Fannie Mae’s Multifamily division. “The company remains committed to providing liquidity and bringing stability to the multifamily industry, especially during this volatile market.”Of the 10.1 billion in financing, Fannie Mae’s DUS lenders and affiliates delivered $9.9 billion of the company’s total investment in multifamily housing. Fannie Mae says that…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorGrover Beach, Calif.—RentShout, an online rental marketing service that allows property managers to create syndicated online advertisements, has launched a rental video creation to provide managers increased online visibility. (Click here for MHN’s coverage of RentShout’s launch.)“These videos receive hundreds of views from these video portals and oftentimes show up in the top of Google organic rental searches,” notes Misty Lackie, CEO of Go Smart Solutions LLC, the company that created RentShout and that provides self-serve advertising solutions.The new feature will automatically create a property video from customers’ rental listing photos on RentShout.com, which will be…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–National vacancy rates for rental housing in the second quarter 2009 were 10.6 percent, a 0.4 percent gain from the previous quarter, according to the latest report by the Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau. The Census Bureau found that the rental vacancy rate was higher than the second quarter 2008 rate (10 percent) and higher than the rate last quarter (10.1 percent).For rental housing by area, the second quarter 2009 vacancy rate in principal cities (11.2 percent) was higher than in the suburbs where it was 10.0 percent, but not statistically different from outside…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–Even though affordable housing has been one of the priorities of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), some states are facing challenges when it comes to funding. One such state is California. In the face of immense budget deficit problems, the state has had to cut back on funding for affordable housing.To balance the state budget, the Legislature and the governor are poised to cut $1.7 billion from redevelopment agencies throughout California. For example, L.A.’s agency would lose $72 million and Daly City would lose $1.9 million. “I am very concerned that…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorSan Francisco—This year’s Gold Nugget Awards were recently announced at PCBC (Pacific Coast Builder’s Conference), a regional trade show and conference of the real estate development industry. This year’s multifamily winners demonstrated a number of trends, including green and sustainable design, seniors and affordable housing, specialty designs,  and site and land planning. Del Mar Development’s Yanonali Court  (pictured at right) in Santa Barbara, Calif. was awarded Project of the Year.  With five homes, each less than 2,000 square feet, the infill neighborhood scored LEED Platinum certification and has become a pilot for the city’s “Built Green”…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorPhoenix, Ariz.–Alliance Residential Co., has appointed Gregory N. Signer (pictured) as vice president of operations for the company’s Southeast Region. Before joining Alliance, Signer served as senior vice president of McKinley Properties in Orlando where he was responsible for overseeing 13,000 multifamily homes and the day-to-day operations of a five-state area. In this role he was responsible for the management of nearly 500 associates. Prior to McKinley, Signer worked as vice president of property assets for Archstone Smith. Signer began his career at Trammell Crow Residential as a leasing consultant in 1992. Signer has served…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorMinneapolis, Minn.–NorthMarq Capital’s Minneapolis regional office has arranged first mortgage financing of $11.25 million for two apartment complexes, the 360-unit Park Meadows Apartments in Waite Park, Minn. and the 116-unit Terrace on the Green in Moorhead, Minn.  Financing for both of these multifamily properties was arranged for the borrower by NorthMarq through its seller/servicer relationship with Freddie Mac.   Arbor Closes $4M Fannie Mae DUS Small LoanQuincy, Mass.–Arbor Commercial Funding LLC recently completed funding of a $4,000,000 loan under the Fannie Mae DUS Small Loan product line for the 54-unit complex known as Green Realty Apartments…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–Kevin M. Salmon, a former vice president of investments at Marcus and Millichap, has joined forces with Matthew J. Marshall to launch Salmon and Marshall Real Estate Investments. Located in New York, the firm will provide investment sales and consultation services to the multifamily and commercial condominium market. Salmon and Marshall say that their asset specialization gives them the edge that clients seek in today’s brokerage firms. Operating in a niche market also enables them to strategically move through their transactions seamlessly. Asked why they started a brokerage firm when companies are downsizing, going…

By Keat Foong, Executive EditorWashington, D.C.—Fannie Mae has reported strong progress in expanding the investor base for its financing. This may mean greater assurance of capital availability for the multifamily sector. The company recently announced that the biggest portion of its multifamily financing is now securitized and sold in the Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) market as opposed to being held in portfolio. According to Fannie Mae, about 71 percent of its total production in the first half of 2009 was an MBS execution, compared to 17 percent in the first half of 2008. This compares to a 80-percent-balance-sheet-versus-20-percent-MBS execution last year….

As Chief Executive Officer of the Western National Group, Michael K. Hayde (pictured) is responsible for the operations and organization of the company. Hayde joined the firm in 1971 and became president of Western National Properties, the development arm of WNG in 1981. He has been the CEO since 1994 and has been involved in the development and construction of over 25,000 multifamily units since joining WNG. Hayde is former chair of the California Housing Council, member of the Urban Land Institute, and member of the Board of Directors for the National Multifamily Housing Council. He talks to MHN Online…