Regions

London–London-based bank HSBC–one of the first to be affected by the subprime mortgage market collapse–said Monday that the U.S. housing slump could continue through 2009, the Financial Times reports.”We don’t think this is a 2008 event, it’s a 2009 event,” said Chief Executive Michael Geoghegan.HSBC also announced it had earmarked $5.8 billion because of first-quarter credit issues and had set aside $3.2 billion in bad debt provisions–twice the amount it had set aside in the first quarter of 2007.Half of the provision involved mortgages; the rest was related to the bank’s rising credit card and car loan defaults.Because HSBC lends…

Tokyo–The Tokyo housing market–hurt by delays and an increasing amount of unsold homes–could knock a full percentage point off growth in 2008, according to the International Herald Tribune.A scandal involving doctored new residential building engineering data caused a regulations overhaul in the area; new rules, implemented later than anticipated in June, state that new buildings must undergo additional structural calculation checks.The new process has delayed construction approvals by several months.”Developers are running their businesses on a hand-to-mouth basis,” Hiroyuki Ito of Azel Corp., a developer, told the Herald Tribune. “We cannot sit back on condominiums that are not selling.” Housing…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorRaleigh, N.C.–Sperry Van Ness has completed the sale of Polo Run Apartments (formerly known as Frenchwood Pointe Apartments), a 278-unit apartment community, to New York-based Polo Run LLC for $12,232,000.The property, which foreclosed in January of this year, was a failed condo conversion located at 1822 Generation Dr. in Raleigh, N.C., near Crabtree Valley Mall, Interstate 440 and North Hills Park.Jeffrey Gorodensky of Sperry Van Ness/FG Commercial Real Estate Services in Lodi, N.J. represented the buyer as well as the seller. According to Gorodensky, the new owner plans on completely rehabilitating the property and running…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington, D.C.–The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently presented Energy Star awards to two California developers for reducing greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency.Satellite Housing, a Berkeley, Calif.-based affordable housing developer, received an award for its leadership in energy efficiency by bringing Energy Star products to the population it serves. Satellite Housing received the award for incorporating energy-efficient appliances or practices at its developments for low-income families and seniors that include its 51-unit Fremont Oak Gardens, 17-unit Acalanes Court and a new 80-unit community that…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorAtlanta–The final phase of Villa Sonoma, a 321-unit resort-style condominium community, has been released. The development, which was split into four phases, is currently 60 percent sold, and the first three phases are sold out.“The property is selling at the same velocity that we began with because we’ve re-priced it to work with the market,” says Joe Lopez, sales director of Atlanta-based Coldwell Banker: The Condo Store. “What’s different is that now people are also getting many more upgrades. Many upgrades are now included standard.”To increase the number of closed sales, Villa Sonoma property agents are…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York– The average sales price of condos and co-ops in New York City rose 34 percent to $994,000 in the first quarter of 2008 compared to the same time last year, according to a report recently released by ResidentialNYC.com, a Web portal managed by The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY). “The prices have gone up due to Manhattan’s surging sales prices, which are at all-time highs,” Steven Spinola, REBNY president, tells MHN. “There has been a significant increase in prices in high-end neighborhoods with luxury products, which come with all kinds of…

By Erika Schnitzer, Associate EditorAddison, Texas–UDR Inc., a Highlands Ranch, Colo.-based multifamily REIT, has broken ground on Vitruvian Park, a 99-acre, 5,500-unit mixed-use development. The $1 billion project will be Addison’s first major sustainable initiative.The development will launch a new city program that is a hybrid of Energy Star and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards. UDR plans to pursue LEED certification for the project.”Addison and UDR are both committed to sustainable development. The nature of the project is supportive of the idea of walkability,” says Tom Lamberth, vice president of development at UDR. Additionally, the project will…

Washington, D.C.–The mortgage industry is expressing concern about one of the main measures in the housing bill that was passed by the House Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reports.Designed to reduce foreclosures, the provision suggests mortgage companies cut the principal on some loans, in exchange for the Federal Housing Administration paying off the loan and giving the homeowner a new mortgage. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the voluntary proposal could help 500,000 borrowers.However, trade groups representing mortgage companies and investors disagree. “I don’t believe this would be a tool that would be used significantly,” said Tom Deutsch, deputy executive…

Washington, D.C.–Inflation is posing a huge threat to the global economy, the Washington, D.C.-based International Monetary Fund said Thursday.”Inflation concerns have resurfaced after years of quiescence” because of higher energy and food costs, according to IMF deputy Managing Director John Lipsky, who also said growth was slowing on a global level, the Financial Times reports.Crude oil prices recently reached a new high of almost $124 a barrel–and have seen a 99 percent rise in the past 12 months.The factors increasing prices “appear to be fundamental in nature,” Lipsky said.He said he did not feel the situation would ever echo the…

New York–Private investment firms have been buying up hundreds of apartment buildings with rent-regulated units that offer small returns, hoping they can make the units more profitable with rent increases after the existing tenants leave.However, the plan’s success is contingent on vacancy rates that are much higher than the typical rent-controlled New York apartment rates; as a result, some tenant advocates feel low-income renters are being urged to leave, the New York Times reports.Tenants have been sued for rent that landlords received; been given false notices involving rent bills, nonrenewals and lease terminations and have even been accused of subletting…