Regions

Washington, D.C.–An “anemic” housing market and reduced consumer spending has slowed economic growth in nine of the 12 Federal Reserve districts since February, Bloomberg reports.”Economic conditions have weakened since the last report,” the Fed said in its Beige Book regional business survey. Nine districts reported a lesser economic pace; the other three said activity was “mixed or steady.”The reports are one component Fed policy makers will use at their late April meeting to decide on interest rates, along with other analysis and data.

Basel, Switzerland–The world’s top banking regulators on Wednesday suggested new regulations to prevent another global financial crisis.The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision–an organization headquartered in Basel, Switzerland which determines international banking regulation standards–rules illustrate the pressure being put on the committee to adapt new policies quickly after the credit fallout, according to the Financial Times. The suggestions were released just days after the Financial Stability Forum began creating a plan to correct the system internationally.Scheduled to be executed by national regulators, the plans will require banks to earmark more capital against complex structured products and off-balance sheet vehicles.Banks will probably…

Washington, D.C.–The amount of U.S. workers filing new unemployment benefit claims increased last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.After seasonal adjustments, initial jobless claims grew by 17,000 to 372,000 in the week that ended April 12.The four-week new claims average dropped last week by 750–from 376,750 to 376,000, The Wall Street Journal reports.New claims for the week that ended April 5 were revised downward from the original seasonally adjusted amount–357,000–to 355,000.The U.S. economy now has lost jobs for three consecutive months. Two weeks ago, the Labor Department said that in March, non-farm payrolls dropped by 80,000 jobs–the biggest decline in…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–In a unique marketing campaign, New York-based real estate developer, Extell Development Co. is using interactive television screens installed in New York City taxis to sell the company’s newest condos, located on the Upper East Side at 151 East 85th St. The company is airing a television segment from Open House TV broadcast on the Taxi 2.0 screens, advertising the Lucida, a 21-story, all-glass LEED-certified residential condo building.Each time a new fare enters a taxi, the interactive television will play the Open House TV 90-second broadcast of The Lucida’s two-bedroom, two-and-half bath model apartment.Open…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorRialto, Calif.–National Community Renaissance  (National CORE), a Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.-based nonprofit developer of affordable housing, has revitalized the former Willows-Winchester neighborhood with a newly refurbished 152-unit affordable housing project. National CORE partnered with the city of Rialto to complete the $37 million rehabilitation.Since National CORE took over the development in 2005, the overall crime rate has decreased 68 percent, according to the developer. “Before, when you walked on the site, you could tell it was controlled by criminals, says Gloria Chavez, a spokesperson for National CORE. “Today, it is a family place where you can raise…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorMontgomery, Ala.–Arbor Commercial Funding LLC recently closed a funding of a $13 million loan under Fannie Mae DUS to refinance the 200-unit apartment complex, The Meadows in Montgomery, Ala.The 10-year loan amortizes on a 30-year schedule and carries a note rate of 5.78 percent. Ronen Abergel, director in Arbor’s New York lending office originated the loan. “We committed to a rate in two weeks by executing an early rate lock agreement with the borrower, says Abergel. “In addition, we closed in 29 days with a 5 percent increase in proceeds over initial screening.“In light of…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorIrving, Texas–Collegiate Development Services LP has recently been selected to develop and construct Midwestern State University’s new on-campus residence hall with 96 apartment-style units, to be complete by August 2009.The project will meet all the requirements set forth by the Historically Underutilized Business for the State, a program that encourages and promotes the use of minority and woman-owned businesses in the Department’s procurement activities. This new residence hall is located on the southwest corner of Louis J. Rodriguez Drive and Midwestern Parkway in Wichita Falls, Texas. The project, to be built on approximately five acres,…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorAnnapolis, Md.–Despite the slowing economy, seniors housing and care “held its own” in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry (NIC). The report is based on NIC’s Key Financial Indicators and is updated quarterly.Capitalization rates remained stable compared in the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter, according to NIC. Only continuing care retirement communities showed a major downtick – of about 130 basis points – but that was from a relatively small sample of 13 transactions, says NIC. Overall, about 220 transactions were…

Washington, D.C.–Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s regulator said that the agencies are still a “significant supervisory concern,” The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight said in its annual report to Congress that although both mortgage-finance agencies helped offer liquidity and stability to the U.S. mortgage market in 2007, “matters requiring attention”–including Freddie’s internal controls and corporate governance–still existed.Fannie Mae’s “somewhat aggressive” strategy for managing interest-rate risk was also labeled as a potential problem.”While they have made progress in fixing many of their systems…they still have much work to do, especially with the continuing challenges of…

Washington, D.C.–U.S. homebuilder confidence remained at a record low in April due to declining home values and tighter lending, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo index of builder sentiment.The index remained at 20, Bloomberg said. In December, it plummeted to a new low of 18. A reading below 50 indicates the majority of respondents feel conditions are weak.The Washington, D.C.-based NAHB’s buyer traffic index, which gages the amount of prospective buyers checking out properties, also remained the same–at 19–for the third month in a row.As sales drop for a third year and the supply of unsold homes…