Regions

London–U.K. mortgage lenders have restricted credit lending further this month as the housing decline continues, according to The Financial Times.A number of lenders have reduced the maximum loan-to-value (LTV) offered over the past month; some also have ceased to lend 100 percent of the property value.Lenders such as Britannia, Egg and Pi have cut the maximum amount they will lend from 95 percent of the property value to 90 percent this month, comparison service Moneyfacts.co.uk reports. Cheltenham & Gloucester made a larger reduction, cutting the amount from 90 to 75 percent.As foreclosures increase and homeowners continue to face higher mortgage…

By Teresa O’Dea Hein, Managing EditorNew York — Construction remains stopped on the Trump SoHo Hotel Condominium after yesterday afternoon’s fatal accident on the 40th floor. A crane reportedly dropped a load of concrete beams, which struck the building and some scaffolding, causing a collapse that sent one construction worker falling to the street where he died. At least three other workers were injured on some of the higher floors. A statement from Manhattan Borough President Scott Stronger called this accident “another example of the dangerous conditions created by rushed construction in Manhattan.” The site, at 246 Spring St. in…

By Anuradha Kher, Online  News EditorChicago — The Chicago Spire sales campaign launched yesterday with the official opening of its sales center in the NBC Tower overlooking the construction site. At 2,000 feet, the Chicago Spire is slated to be the world’s tallest residential building. It is designed by Santiago Calatrava.The Chicago Spire sales team began meeting with interested parties yesterday and are currently scheduling appointments with potential buyers around the world. The global marketing drive begins later this month and will feature an exhibition road show to 15 key cities across Europe, South and Southeast Asia, and South Africa….

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorNew York – GKV (Gerner Kronick and Valcarcel) Architects, a New York City-based architecture and design firm, has been selected to design a 15-story residential and commerical building located at 2 Cooper Square, on the corner of East Fourth Street in Manhattan. The 145,000 sq.-ft. building will house a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments, as well as commercial space on the ground and cellar levels. The site also contains the historic Samuel Tredwell Skidmore House, at 37 East Fourth Street, a landmark townhouse which will be restored and returned to its original use…

By Erin Brereton, Content ManagerMerced, Calif.–Growing families in Merced, Calif. have a new housing option–the Sunny View Apartments, a 113-unit affordable apartment community that will celebrate its grand opening Wednesday, Jan. 16.The $20.8 million project was developed by Long Beach, Calif.-based Simpson Housing Solutions LLC and partner AMG & Associates of Santa Clarita, Calif. Western Community Housing, Inc., headquartered in Costa Mesa, Calif., served as general partner on the project. Maple Dell McClelland Architects, a Solana Beach, Calif.-based firm with a history of creating affordable housing communities that mirror market-rate rental housing, designed the Sunny View complex specifically to meet…

Vista, Calif.–San Diego-based RedHill Realty Investors and AEW Capital Management of Boston recently acquired a 456-unit apartment complex in the San Diego suburb of Vista, Calif. for $69 million.Fairfield Residential, with corporate offices in Grand Prairie, Texas, and San Diego, sold the Waterleaf Apartments. AEW acquired the property on behalf of AEW Value Investors, II, L.P., the firm’s second value-added real estate fund.RedHill plans to redevelop Waterleaf with extensive interior and exterior improvements to enhance the property’s value and provide a greater quality of life for its tenants.Built in 1984, Waterleaf features one- and two-bedroom units. The complex also includes…

London–The U.K.’s private housing stock value increased by 9 percent last year to £4 trillion, according to London-based mortgage lender Halifax.Private housing value has more than tripled in the past decade, swelling 208 percent from £1.3 trillion in 1997, according to BBC News. However, over the same period, the headline rate of inflation (RPI) has increased by 31 percent.The housing stock is worth more than three times the U.K.’s outstanding mortgage debt, despite concern property prices are declining, according to the bank, who says housing assets have increased more than mortgage debt in every year since 1995.The amount of homeowner…

Washington, D.C.– Federal mortgage fraud convictions more than doubled in 2007–and the FBI expects foreclosure scams to increase as the subprime crisis continues, USA Today reported Monday.Last year, the FBI initiated nearly triple the number of new mortgage fraud cases in 2003–1,210. Convictions more than doubled from the 2006 fiscal year to 2007.”We expect that number to increase again in 2008,” says FBI financial crimes section chief Sharon Ormsby, who cited low interest rates, rapidly increasing home values and risky lending practices as factors that “created the perfect storm of lending fraud.”The FBI created 34 mortgage fraud task forces and…

New York–Consumer spending may be slowing at every level of the U.S. economy, which may be enough to roll the economy into a recession, according to The New York Times.Although economists had noted an ongoing decline in growth, spurred by the weak housing market and rising energy prices, a rare personal consumption drop–the first since 1991–would almost certainly prompt a recession in the middle of the year, the Times said.A number of retail companies, ranging from Nordstrom and Tiffany to Target, saw a decline in growth in December. In addition, American Express, which services 52 million cardholders, said its spending…

London–As the industry renewed fears about how far the credit crisis fallout would reach, European government bonds rose Monday, fueled by safe haven flows, CNNMoney.com reports.Last week’s announcements that Citigroup and Merrill Lynch are looking to raise money and would post large mortgage-related writedowns–as well as American Express’ profit warning–sparked concern in the market.Increased speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut the Federal Funds rate before its next meeting at the end of the month also boosted bonds. After chairman Ben Bernanke indicated last week that the Fed was ready to cut rates in light of ongoing economic unrest,…