Atlanta City Council member Joyce M. Sheperd and other local officials joined to dedicate a newly renovated rental townhome community, The Villas at Lakewood, which is now providing much-needed affordable housing options for nearly 200 families. Virginia Beach, VA-based Hercules Real Estate Services (HRES), one of the leading affordable housing developers on the East Coast, has completed a $6 million renovation of the former Amal Heights community, located just south of downtown Atlanta at…

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Grosvenor Investment Management US, Inc. (GIM) recently has committed approximately $93 million to fund development of five multifamily communities with a total of 1,197 rental apartments. These projects include two highly visible developments in New York City with a total of 405 apartments.



In its latest closing on behalf of a domestic public pension fund, GIM provided $6.9 million in participating mezzanine financing for the development of 288 workforce rental apartments in San…

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Case Shiller report shows a deceleration in the annual growth rates in 17 of the 20 MSAs. Housing generally leads the economy out of a recession. This time its not, housing is simply suffering. Not only is money tight but job creation is still a big hurt. In some cities, the decline over the last year was quite sharp.



David M. Blitze,chairman of S.&P.’s index committee tells the NY Times that a double-dip could be confirmed before spring. He goes on to say the series is now…

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NAR Existing Home Sales



Existing home sales which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, rose 5.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.68 million in November, but are 27.9% below the cyclical peak of 6.49 million in November 2009, which was the initial deadline for the first-time buyer tax credit. Median existing single-family home prices rose year-over-year in 77 of 155 metropolitan areas and fell in 76…

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The number of homeowners missing their first payment on their mortgage declined from May to June and number of loans in foreclosure was flat at nearly 2 million. Delinquencies and Foreclosures remain stable but elevated with two loans deteriorating for every one that has improved. see chart here



So Whats The… Continue

Existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased 7.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.77 million units in April from an upwardly revised 5.36 million in March, and are 22.8 percent higher than the 4.70 million-unit pace in April 2009. Monthly sales rose 7.0 percent in March.



The upswing in April existing-home sales was expected because of the tax credit inducement, and no doubt there will… Continue

The recent Case Shiller report shows price declines in front of the tax credit completion...The index gives us a slight 0.38% decline in the top ten market composite. Year over year the index is up 3.15% when compared to March 09. Recent strong price moves will come to a serious halt because the tax stimulus is behind us. The silver lining in this is that it proves demand is there, just waiting for the right price and for some of this historic uncertainty to settle. This… Continue

With house prices expected to slid and unemployment to rise substantially further, this third foreclosure wave will grow larger. If house prices fallanother 10% over the coming year,as Moody’s Economy.com currently forecasts, an estimated 18.6 million homeowners could be underwater.



More to Come

Even if the economy stabilizes in 2010 as expected, defaults will remain elevated long afterward. More large payment resets are due to hit… Continue