Regions

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorRenee Morales Becomes Group Coordinator of Keystone Pacific Irvine, Calif.–Keystone Pacific Property Management Inc., an Irvine, Calif.-based property management firm, has promoted Renee Morales (pictured) from community association manger to group coordinator.Morales will be based in Irvine, where she will serve as a mentor to her team, ensure team cohesion and handle the needs of the clients and homeowners associations.Morales is currently pursuing the California Community Association Manager (CCAM) certification through the California Association of Community Managers (CACM).Guardian Promoted Two, Hires New Portfolio Manager Portland, Ore.–Guardian Management LLC has promoted Amanda Clark (pictured) to portfolio…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorSan Diego–Gateway Apartments, a 42-unit affordable housing complex located in the Barrio Logan Redevelopment Project Area near downtown San Diego, will open on June 5.San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, City Councilmember Ben Hueso, and representatives of the city’s redevelopment agency are expected to attend the opening.Situated at 1605 Logan Ave. and 16th St., the community features four stories built over a two-level underground garage as well as a separate community building with a clubhouse, computer learning center with free Internet access, and other amenities.Gateway, developed by nonprofit developer Las Palmas Foundation, offers 17 two-bedroom as…

San Francisco–San Francisco’s strict green building codes could reduce the city’s economic output by up to $700 million a year, according to a recent city report.The city’s new standards–which require new commercial and high-rise residential buildings to decrease their impact on the environment in ways such as using on-site renewable power generation and sustainable building materials–would be the strictest of any U.S. city if accepted, the San Francisco Chronicle said.San Francisco’s Office of Economic Analysis released a report recently that said the new codes would cut greenhouse gases by a significant amount; but the report also found that the higher…

London–Lower property sales are increasing the U.K. rental market, according to the London-based Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).Demand for rental properties grew at its fastest pace since July 2007 due to reduced home sales, BBC News reported Friday.The result: Higher rents. However, because homes are selling slowly, the number of houses put up for rent also increased, RICS said, which could prompt rents to eventually decline.

Edinburgh–Eurozone economic growth has decreased to its slowest pace since 2003, showcasing the European Central Bank’s problems as oil prices drive inflation higher, according to a recent survey by the Edinburgh-headquartered Royal Bank of Scotland and NTC Economics.In May, economic activity in the 15-country region grew only moderately, and jobs increased at the slowest rate since 2006, the Financial Times reported FridayIncreased oil prices, a stronger euro and the reduced U.S. economy have weighed on growth.“The euro area private sector will have ground to a halt by mid-year,” said Jacques Cailloux of Royal Bank of Scotland.At 3.3 percent in April,…

Chicago–Existing homes sales slowed in April and the housing inventory grew, according to a Chicago-based National Association of Realtors report released Friday.The NAR said homeowner sales fell in April to an annual pace of 4.89 million, a 1 percent drop from the revised March reading of 4.94 million, CNNMoney.com reports.The existing home sales rate–which includes single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops–is 17.5 percent less than the 5.93 million units sold in April of last year.The supply of available, for-sale homes increased 10.5 percent to 4.55 million at the end of April–an 11.2-month supply of homes at the current sales pace. In…

Baltimore–As the housing slump continues through its second year, mortgage brokers in Baltimore and other cities are finding less borrowers to match with loans–and are struggling as a result, the Baltimore Sun reports.Falling prices have made it difficult for homeowners to refinance; excessive foreclosures have prompted lenders to reduce mortgage products and increase lending restrictions.Many of the changes have greatly affected brokers–who also have been criticized for their part in the relaxed lending methods that nabbed many homeowners loans that they couldn’t afford.In addition, some large lenders are no longer accepting loans brokers have arranged. Bank of America stopped on…

Washington, D.C.–U.S. home prices showed the most severe decline in 17 years, the Washington, D.C.-based Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight said Thursday.Home prices dropped 3.1 percent in the first quarter compared to 2007 and fell in 43 states; the OFHEO index also declined 1.7 percent from 2007’s fourth quarter to the first quarter of 2008–the largest quarterly price drop in history, according to The Wall Street Journal.”For homeowners and financial market observers, these declines spell further erosion in home equity levels and potentially more trouble for mortgage markets,” said James Lockhart, OFHEO director. “To prospective home buyers who have…

Washington, D.C.–The number of recently laid-off workers that filed for unemployment benefits showed a surprise drop last week and reached the lowest level in a month, the Labor Department said Thursday.Applications for jobless benefits totaled 365,000–9,000 less than last week, according to the New York Times.Yet–even with the drop–claims are still at a high enough level to indicate that the economy is causing the labor market trouble.The four-week average for claims increased to 372,250, a considerable rise from a year ago when the four-week average was roughly 300,000.Because of an earlier Easter and a General Motors auto supplier strike, analysts…

London–U.K. building society Nationwide has reduced its share of the mortgage market because it doesn’t think the credit crisis will end until at least the first quarter of 2009, the Telegraph reported Thursday.In the past year, the lender has cut its market share of new residential loans to 7.1 percent from 11 percent the year before.Nationwide issued only £8.9 billion ($17,805,774,807) in residential and commercial property loans and consumer finance. “Until we are confident we have got normality back we will continue to run on a cash model,” Chief Executive Graham Beale said.Still, Nationwide remains a major lender in the…