Regions

Chicago–After two months of increases, the National Association of Realtors’ existing-home sales index dropped in November, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.The Chicago-based NAR’s index for pending sales of previously owned homes fell in November at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.6 percent to 87.6. In October, the index was 89.9, which was an increase from September.Previously owned home sales are expected to recover later in 2008 as customers see the market is calming, NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said.”The exact timing and the strength of a home sales recovery is a bit uncertain,” Yun said. “A meaningful recovery…

Sydney–Australian residential construction approvals rose unexpectedly in November by the largest amount in nearly nine months, according to the Bureau of Statistics.Home and apartment approvals were up 8.9 percent from October, when they had declined 3.6 percent, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.Private home construction approvals increased 0.3 percent to 9,340 in November and apartment and renovation approvals were up 28.4 percent to 4,882.Construction rises–considered the result of growing employment, wages and immigration–increase the likelihood of Australia’s central bank elevating borrowing costs next month to curtail already-high inflation. The Reserve Bank of Australia opted not to change the benchmark rate in December because…

Chicago–President Bush said Monday that the economy was strong but providing mixed signals, making it difficult to address the housing slump, oil price increases and the threat of a recession, The New York Times reports.Speaking at the Union League Club in Chicago, Bush told business leaders that “recent economic indicators are increasingly mixed.”In New York, Treasury secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. on Monday echoed the president’s sentiments in a speech to the New York Society of Securities Analysts. Paulson told the group that the economy could worsen before it gets better, alluding to the large housing inventory and increased unemployment…

By Teresa O’Dea Hein, Managing EditorAtlanta — RentBureau, the first national online system providing apartment owners and managers with current rental payment histories of apartment residents and applicants, has contracted with Lane Company, also headquartered in Atlanta, to include information from Lane’s approximately 26,000 units in more than 10 states in its National Rental Data Exchange (NRDE) database, reports Eric Hartz (pictured far right), RentBureau CEO and president. As a participating RentBureau member, Lane Company will have access to RentBureau’s NRDE database to integrate into its existing resident screening software and procedures.Dan Haefner (pictured near right), acting president and CIO…

Asheville, N.C.–Santa Ana, Calif.-based Triple Net Properties LLC sold a 392-unit apartment complex in Asheville, N.C. on behalf of tenant-in-common investors for an undisclosed amount in late December. The Meadows Apartments community was sold to the Steven D. Bell & Company of Greensboro, N.C. Pender Murphy of Apartment Realty Advisors, headquartered in Atlanta, brokered the transaction.The Meadows Apartments, built in three phases between 1974 and 2001, includes 25 two- and three-story apartment buildings. Units are 994 square feet on average and feature walk-in closets, washer/dryer connections, gourmet kitchens, fireplaces and private patios or balconies.Situated on 35 acres, the property includes…

By Erin Brereton, Content ManagerDenver–Foreclosures hit an all-time high in 2007, prompting Denver-based housing organization HomeAid Colorado to intensify its efforts–and local builders followed suit, donating more than $600,000 in labor and materials to build homeless shelters.As a result, HomeAid has six projects scheduled for completion or groundbreaking in 2008.On any given night in Colorado, nearly 12,000 people–mostly women and children–find themselves without a home. HomeAid Colorado connects local charities that service the temporarily homeless– who comprise approximately 90 percent of the homeless population, according to HomeAid–with residential builders to create multifamily shelters. Most include two units or more, such…

Los Angeles–Los Angeles officials announced Thursday that the majority of downtown industrial land being considered for development would be preserved to protect blue-collar jobs, allotting just a portion for residential and commercial use.Despite protest from local business owners and developers who had hoped to build in the area, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa supported the planning department and redevelopment agency joint directive, which would preserve roughly 2,633 acres of land zoned for industry and mark 261 acres for residential development, The Los Angeles Timesreports.Many developers and locals had hoped the city would begin rezoning larger amounts of industrial land to create growing…

Chicago–The American Dialect Society chose “subprime” as 2007’s word of the year at an early January voting session in Chicago, The BBC reports.The risky-loan banking term made headlines–literally–last year as the U.S. home loan market collapse spurred a global credit crisis.Subprime, which is defined as “less than ideal,” beat out Facebook, water-boarding and Googleganger for the title.The linguist society notes words or phrases that have become popular in a given year. “When you have investment companies losing billions of dollars over something like bundled subprime loans, then you have to consider whether it’s important,” said American Dialect Society spokesman Wayne…

Zurich–Shares of Swiss bank Credit Suisse–previously thought to be safe from the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis–dropped by approximately 3 percent Monday after a Swiss newspaper said the bank faced commercial mortgage and leveraged-finance writedowns.Credit Suisse, known for coordinating leveraged loans to fund investor buyouts of companies, frequently arranges commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS). The bank has declined to publicly state its CMBS exposure but has said it is manageable, The New York Times reported Monday. In addition, the European commercial property market is not at risk as the U.S. subprime mortgage market was, Credit Suisse said.A Credit Suisse spokesman declined to…

By Keat Foong, Executive Editor Santa Ana, Calif.—Grubb & Ellis Co. announced it has entered into an affiliation with Real Estate III Commercial Properties.Real Estate III is a newly formed commercial real estate firm in Charlottesville, Va., that Grubb & Ellis says includes four of that market’s most seasoned brokerage professionals. Grubb & Ellis says the affiliation expands its already extensive presence in the country’s Mid-Atlantic region. “With our strong presence throughout the Washington, D.C. metropolitan market and Richmond, Va., this affiliation adds to our ability to service our clients needs throughout the entire Mid-Atlantic market,” says Pat Hurley, senior…