Regions

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington D.C.– Kieran P. Quinn, CMB, chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) praised the Bush administration’s new stimulus package, announced this week, that includes housing provisions designed to help borrowers and stabilize the housing and mortgage markets.Quinn said in a statement, “This stimulus package will bring much-needed help to consumers and restore some stability to the housing and mortgage markets. Reform of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has long been a top MBA priority. A more modern and vigorous FHA will provide another option for first-time and low- and moderate-income borrowers and borrowers who…

Washington, D.C.–Existing home sales dropped beyond expectations in December, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said Thursday.The Washington-based group said sales declined 2.2. percent to an annual rate of 4.89 million, Bloomberg reports.Single-family home sales fell 13 percent in 2007–the biggest amount since 1982–and prices plummeted for the first time in four decades. Median sale price dropped 6 percent to $208,400 from December 2006; from 2006 to 2007, median price was down 1.4 percent.Analysts expect a difficult housing market with more foreclosures next year. “I do expect sales to remain soft through the first quarter and possibly the second quarter,”…

New York–The Bush administration and congressional leaders announced Thursday that they had determined the details of the economic stimulus package, the New York Times reported Thursday morning.If passed, the $150 billion deal would give taxpayers from $300 to $1,200. Additional children could earn families $300 each.In addition, the plan provides tax incentives for businesses. Roughly one-third of plan’s funding will go to business and the remaining two-thirds will be used for consumer rebates.

Youngstown, Ohio–The Ohio Public Employees Retirement System filed a lawsuit Friday alleging government-backed mortgage financer Freddie Mac downplayed its subprime investments, costing the Ohio pension system up to $27 million, the Columbus Dispatch reports.Attorney General Marc Dann said the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. “secretly and intentionally participated in one of the largest housing investment deceptions in modern U.S. economic times.”The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Youngstown, Ohio, claims Freddie Mac concealed its subprime lender investments before its stock plummeted in November after news broke that Freddie Mac had lost $2 billion in the third quarter due mostly to…

Paris–French bank Société Générale said Thursday a rogue trader had lost €7 billion ($10.26 billion) in European stock futures and large U.S. subprime mortgage writedowns, the Financial Times reports.The Paris-headquartered bank was forced into an emergency €5.5 billion share issue as a result. The losses incurred by the trader, 31-year-old Jérome Kerviel, included €2.05 billion in writedowns on U.S. mortgage exposure and bond insurers.SocGen had told investors before it had very limited exposure to the subprime problems; now the bank’s risk management procedures have come under fire and a takeover is possible, according to the Times.SocGen will take €1.1 billion…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–While the credit crunch and economic uncertainty have caused investor anxiety and tighter lending standards, commercial real estate remains comparatively attractive with solid fundamentals, plentiful capital and steady allocations, according to Deloitte LLP’s 2008 Real Estate Capital Markets Top Ten Issues Report, released this week. “In prior boom cycles, commercial real estate has responded by overbuilding,” says Dennis Yeskey, national director of Deloitte Consulting LLP’s real estate capital markets practice. “The industry has clearly learned its lesson because this time, commercial real estate is enduring a credit crunch—not a crisis—partially because it resisted this urge,…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York–The Exchange at 25 Broad Street, a remodeled luxury condominium located across the street from the New York Stock Exchange in Manhattan’s Financial District, will close sales for its first phase in February. Remodeling of the landmark building is slated to be complete by late spring of this year.The 565,000-sq.-ft. Italian Renaissance Revival building was originally designed by architects Clinton & Russell and completed in 1902. Then known as The Broad Exchange Building, it was the largest and most valuable office building in America and was recognized as one of the most desirable addresses…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorHouston–Ziegler Cooper Architects is designing a 578,000-sq.-ft. urban village for owner Lamesa Properties and developer Randall Davis Co. in Houston.Located within the Rice Village, near Rice University, Sonoma will have 213 condominiums, 60,000 sq.-ft. of retail space, 43,000 sq.-ft. of offices, four restaurants, a grocery store and parking for over 900 cars. Opened in the 1930s, the Rice Village is already a 16-block shopping, dining and entertainment district attracting nearby neighborhood residents, Rice University students and faculty, and Texas Medical Center workers. “This is a unique pedestrian community geared toward people who like the interaction…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorWashington D.C.–The Federal Reserve, reacting earlier to an international stock sell-off and fears about a possible recession in the U.S., slashed three-quarters of a point (0.75 basis points) off the federal funds rate, which is the interest banks charge each other for short-term loans. The move came surprisingly just ahead of a regularly scheduled meeting of the central bank.The Fed’s policy-making group, known as the Federal Open Market Committee, lowered its target for the federal funds rate, which regulates overnight loans between banks, to 3.5 percent, from 4.25 percent.In its statement, the Fed said, “The…

West Hollywood, Calif.–The Charles Dunn Company, a partner of GVA Worldwide, negotiated the purchase and sale of a 6,678-sq.-ft. apartment building located at 521 North Orlando Ave., in West Hollywood, Calif. An undisclosed buyer purchased the building for over $1.58 million. The two-story apartment building has nine units and is 100 percent occupied. “The building is located in a prime part of West Hollywood, just blocks away from the world renowned, Melrose Place,” says David Eitches, director of investment services group in the West Los Angeles office of Charles Dunn.  “The buyer capitalized on the low price and key location…