Regions

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorBoulder, Colo.–Boulder Housing Partners (BHP), the housing authority of the city of Boulder, in partnership with VisionSun Design, a design and project management consulting firm, has awarded a solar energy contract to Bella Energy to install 1.75 kilowatt solar electric systems at a 30-unit affordable housing project.The 52.5 kilowatt solar electric system will be installed at Diagonal Court Townhouses in North Boulder. Each of the units is individually metered by the local utility, Xcel Energy.The city of Boulder’s Housing Fund, the Colorado Governor Energy Office, and a pilot program for multi-unit solar electric systems from…

Washington, D.C.–Home mortgage applications rose for the third week in a row as lower interest rates caused consumers to refinance, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said Wednesday.The Washington, D.C.-based group’s seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications shot up 16.9 percent in the week ending January 18 to 4,178.2–its highest level since March 2004, according to The New York Times. In addition, the MBA said that activity was up 92 percent from the beginning of November, more than adjusting for the 4.6 percent index drop last week. Refinancings were two-thirds of all applications.The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell last week…

Washington, D.C.–The largest interest rate cut in 18 years, offered Tuesday by the Federal Reserve, is likely to lower certain borrowing costs but may not reinvigorate the economy, USA Today reported Wednesday.The cut, designed to persuade financial institutions to continue to lend money to businesses and consumers, took the benchmark interest rate down by three-quarters of a percentage point to 3.5 percent. The reaction to the cut varied. Lenders reduced the prime rate for their best customers by three-quarters of a percentage point to 6.5 percent after the Fed announcement; however, global financial markets fell as foreign investors grew concerned…

Charlotte, N.C.–The second- and fourth-largest U.S. banks–Bank of America Corp. and Wachovia Corp., both headquartered in Charlotte, N.C.–reported a more than $6 billion combined mortgage-related earnings loss Tuesday, Bloomberg reports.Fourth quarter profit fell 95 percent at Bank of America to $268 million. Wachovia’s net income plummeted 98 percent to $51 million.Bank of America’s total fourth quarter revenue dropped 31 percent to $12.7 billion; non-interest costs increased 15 percent to $10.1 billion. Return on equity–which measures how effectively profit is reinvested–dropped to 11.1 percent for 2007 from 16.3 percent in 2006.During the housing slump, both Wachovia and Bank of America reported…

Beijing–The China Banking Regulatory Commission has created a taskforce to monitor Chinese bank’s exposure to the U.S. subprime market, according to the Financial Times.Senior officials told the Times that China’s banking regulator, headquartered in Beijing, created the group to investigate and issue a monthly report about what subprime holdings China’s largest banks have as the country braces for potentially larger-than-anticipated subprime losses.It seems, however, China’s lenders will not see the same impact from subprime holdings as the Western world has. The Bank of China–the largest U.S. subprime security holder in Asia–said Tuesday it would see losses on more holdings than…

Jacksonville Fla.–Merrill Lynch Capital is providing a $46 million first mortgage loan to St. Johns Phase I LLC for its recently completed 295-unit, 28-story luxury apartment building, The Strand, located in Jacksonville Fla.St. Johns will use the funds to refinance an existing construction loan by Pacific Life Insurance Company. “Most of the money will go toward paying off the construction loan,” Carey A. Stiss, partner at Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod LLP, the Miami law firm that advised Merrill Lynch Capital in the refinancing loan, tells MHN.“This is a new project in a market that has a strong demand…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington D.C.–The U.S. House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed, by a 271 to 30 margin, the H.R. 3524, the HOPE VI Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2007. This legislation, which ensures all new HOPE VI developments will meet green building criteria and, in that way, helps low-income families across the country.The bill mandates new HOPE VI revitalization projects to meet the Green Communities Criteria for residential construction, or other similar green rating systems determined by the Secretary of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). For non-residential buildings in HOPE VI developments, the bill…

By Erin Brereton, Content ManagerHuntington Beach, Calif.–Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. recently announced plans to create a new W hotel and 92 full-service private residences in Huntington Beach, Calif.Owned by an affiliate of Newport Beach, Calif.-based developer Makar Properties LLC, the W Huntington Beach hotel will feature a restaurant, bar, spa and approximately 250 guest rooms. “In considering new project sites, location is extremely important. When the beautiful piece of coastal property in Huntington Beach became available, we couldn’t pass it up,” says Paul Makarechian, president and CEO of Makar Properties. “We are excited to enhance Huntington Beach’s surfside…

Beaumont, Texas– Bethesda, Md.-based Green Park Financial recently provided a $4,258,000 acquisition loan for the Autumn Cove Apartments in Beaumont, Texas.Green Park Financial structured the loan with a seven-year term–three years of interest-only payments followed by a 30-year amortization. Jason Rice of Quantum First Capital originated the loan; Andrew Tapley, Green Park Financial senior vice president, led the Green Park team.Built in 1983, the two-story Autumn Cove is a garden-style apartment complex with 152 units. The property was 80 percent leased at closing.Green Park Financial services $4.4 billion of loans for more than 90,000 apartment homes across 43 states and…

Christchurch–New Zealand has the least affordable homes, according to an international survey of the world’s six costliest residential markets, released Monday by an international public policy firm with affiliates in Christchurch and St. Louis.High mortgage interest rates helped New Zealand score higher than Australia for the first time. New Zealand homebuyers have the largest difference between earnings and home prices, the New Zealand Herald reports.Low wages and high home prices mean–based on median home prices and wages–that residents spend 18 years and six months of an entire household’s annual income to pay off a home, the report said.The United States,…