Regions

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorChicago–Redwood Capital Partners recently acquired the 384-unit Lakes at Fountain Square apartment complex, located in the Chicago suburb of Waukegan, Ill., for $30.6 million.The property, which has an occupancy rate of 93 percent, was acquired as part of Redwood’s value-add portfolio and it plans to retain Lakes as a rental property.The Lakes at Fountain Square totals 303,195 sq. ft. and is comprised of one, two-, and three-bedroom units, with rents ranging from $855 to $1,260. “We’re enthusiastic about our investment in the Lakes at Fountain Square,” says Redwood Principal David Carlson. “The suburban Chicago economy…

Palm Beach, Fla.–Moody’s Corp.–the world’s second-largest credit-ratings provider–said this week that the credit crisis will continue longer than originally thought and also reduced its 2008 forecast, Bloomberg reports.”Credit concerns are recycling, and this is rekindling more recycled stresses in areas that have already been hit,’” Moody’s CEO Raymond McDaniel said at a conference hosted by Bear Stearns Cos. in Palm Beach, Fla. “There’s more uncertainty about the pace of recovery in 2008.”Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s are experiencing a drop in demand, reportedly influenced by their eagerness to assign AAA credit ratings to subprime mortgage securities that later fell in…

McLean, Va.–Freddie Mac CEO Richard Syron said Tuesday that housing prices are likely to fall even more.According to Syron, prices have fallen only a third of how low they will eventually go, MarketWatch reports. On a conference call to analysts,  the McLean, Va.-based company forecast a peak-to-trough decline of 15 percent.Freddie Mac reported a $2.5 billion fourth quarter loss on Feb. 28, which is attributed to the housing decline. Shares of Freddie Mac rose 3.5 percent Wednesday in early trading.

Boston–The credit crisis has taken its toll on affordable housing: About 40 percent of the equity in the typically $8 billion market disappeared in the past six months, according to Fred Copeman, national director of Ernst & Young’s tax-credit practice in Boston.Across the country, Copeman says that developers are “twisting on the vine” as a result, The Wall Street Journal reports. Because some of the largest U.S. financial companies–such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Bank of America–have reduced their participation in the federal government’s biggest affordable housing tax-credit program, many affordable housing projects are being canceled. The loss in…

Washington, D.C.–Mortgage application volume dropped 1.9 percent during the week ending March 7, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday. The MBA’s application index declined from 684.9 the previous week to 671.7, CNNMoney.com reported. Refinance volume–which has dropped steadily since January–was down 4.7 percent; purchase volume rose 1.6 percent. Refinance applications comprised 50.6 percent of all applications, according to the MBA weekly application survey, which was released Wednesday.

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorAnnapolis, Md.–The overall market conditions for independent living facilities in the top 100 markets are sound, with demand and supply in check and rents growing above the rate of inflation, according to a survey conducted by the Annapolis, Md.-based National Investment Center (NIC) MAP, a data and analysis service for the seniors housing industry that tracked the top 100 markets in its Metro Markets Survey.There is, however, some worry that due to the housing crises, these fundamentals will undergo change and there will be a shift in occupancy rates. “This is because generally when someone…

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorDenver–RentBits.com has launched the beta version of its rental search engine through which renters can find available rental condos, apartments and homes.“RentBits helps users make sense of the millions of bits of rental housing data and information that reside on the Web,” RentBits COO, Tim Moynihan, tells MHN.“Today, most rental listing sites host rental property listings on behalf of the owner/manager. These hosted solutions then drive traffic to listings via pay-per-click advertising. RentBits.com differentiates itself in the space by actively crawling the web for rental information to ensure that the listing data that users search…

Morrisville, N.C.–Grace Park Development LLC has started work on vertical construction at Grace Park, a mixed-use development project in Morrisville, N.C. The project will feature 180 residential units including traditional town homes and modern apartments centered around and above 50,000 sq. ft. of retail space.   Construction at Grace Park began in December of 2007 and apartments are expected to be ready for occupancy by August 2008.Grace Park is located on the corner of Morrisville Carpenter Road and Davis Drive and offers a “live/work” lifestyle as well as and shops, restaurants and salons.Andy Bruhn, project manager for Front Street Construction, says,…

Los Angeles–Oakwood Worldwide has just launched a new “after-hours guest services program,” which is based in Oakwood’s Phoenix-based customer operations center. The program will assist guests who are staying in Oakwood apartments throughout the U.S.  “This is in keeping with our ongoing efforts to increase consistency and the level of service to our guests,” says Chris Ahearn, Oakwood’s senior vice president, sales and marketing. “This program allows us to reduce wait time, and provide centralized service-based analytics to drive further improvement. Additionally, our clients will be assured that the needs of their employees–our guests–are met in a sufficient manner.” Oakwood’s after-hours…

Washington, D.C.–Congress may approve a new Federal Housing Authority plan by early April, CNNMoney.com reported Tuesday.Different versions of the bill to update the FHA passed in the House and the Senate last year; the two chambers are working out the kinks, according to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass.”I think we are fairly close to having an FHA reform bill that we will be able to adopt very quickly,” Dodd said last week.The proposed changes to the FHA, which provides loan alternatives to subprime mortgages, include permanently raising the higher loan…