Gaylord Nixes Plans for $1B San Diego-Area Resort
Tennessee-based Gaylord Entertainment has pulled out of a plan to develop a $1 billion resort in Chula Vista, Calif., but the firm claims the project’s abandonment was not caused by the frozen debt markets that have wreaked havoc on developments across the nation.Paulson and Bair’s Dueling Foreclosure Strategies
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and FDIC Chairwoman Shelia Bair battled it out on Capitol Hill today over competing plans for the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Plan funds.
House of Representatives Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D. Mass.) bashed Paulson for shifting his plan for the bailout funds, investing the money in healthy banks rather than buying the troubled mortgages he originally said he would. "The fundamental policy issue is our disappointment that funds are not being used to supplement mortgage foreclosure reduction," Frank said.
Bair, meanwhile, told lawmakers the money should be used to prevent foreclosures. Her plan is to use some of the money to encourage banks to renegotiate loans by guaranteging that lenders get some money back if the loans later fail. Bair says her plan could prevent 1.5 million foreclosures.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said he supports Bair's approach. Paulson defended his strategy saying the direct investments were needed to shore up the financial system and the best way to support housing prices is for banks to now use that federal money to provide low cost loans.
CBRE Promotes 4 to SVP
CB Richard Ellis has promoted Sacha Zarba, Doug Lehman, Andrew Sussman and Bill Mooney to senior vice president. They were previously first vice presidents.Squatters “Hold Houses Ransom”
Many weird stories have popped up at a result of the real estate bust, but none stranger than this recent item from California's Riverside Press-Enterprise.
A character named King Solomon II is filing deeds of sale on foreclosed homes and then renting them out to other people. This is a big problem when the actual owners want to move in. They've got to evict the renters from their house.
King Solomon II, meanwhile, is claiming through his niece that he lives in a sovereign nation (Nevada) and refuses to pay taxes or homeowner's association fees.
The case illustrates how relatively easy it is to file a claim of ownership.
Redevelopment Authority Approves 4 Boston Projects
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino announced that four projects totaling more than $75 million in private investment have received approvals from the Boston redevelopment authority’s board of directors.$2B Deal for Pair of NYC Offices Reportedly Falls Through
Two New York City office properties are back on the market, as a deal under which George Comfort & Sons would have acquired the assets--1540 Broadway and Worldwide Plaza--for some $2 billion has fallen through.For Sale: 5247 Mosquero, Spring Hill, FL 34606 USA / US$ 143,333
House for sale: Remarks: You’ll really get your money’s worth in this stucco home on.35 acres. Great features include new carpet,paint,lighting fixtures,newer roof. 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, dining room, great room, master suite with walk-in closet dual sinks, vanity, cheery breakfast nook. Inside laundry with washer/dryer. Security system, French doors to enclosed glass room. 2-car garage with side door.
Fannie-Freddie plan: Not for all
Mortgage giants Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac may back 30 million mortgages. But that doesn't mean that the new foreclosure prevention program announced this week by the Bush administration will rescue every troubled borrower on their books.Searching for the Bottom at the Home Builders’ Show
I visited the Building Industry Association of Southern California’s annual trade show in Long Beach, Calif. yesterday. This is the big show for Southern California homebuilders, where suppliers of everything from appliances to Astroturf pitch their wares.
Folks tried to inject a little fun into the event. The Hooters girls were meeting and greeting at one booth. A company called Universal Truss was handing out Nerf dart guns (Hari Kari anyone?) But the most popular booth was one from Suncoast Framing which had a working bar set up. The theme for the show was “Setting the Stage” for a recovery. Drowning your sorrows was more like it.
In one of the conference rooms, Lisa Grobar, a professor of economics at Cal State Long Beach, predicted the recovery would come next year. Foreclosures will peak in the first half of the year, she said, but not before a second wave of people loses their homes, due to unemployment, not toxic mortgages.
Steve Johnson, of the research firm Metrostudy, made a convincing case that the California market must be bumping pretty close to a bottom. The number of new houses starting construction, for example, is just 13,000. That’s about 20% of what they were two years ago. The state hasn’t seen this little new construction since the 1950s. “We have virtually turned the engine off,” Johnson said.
That wasn’t news to the panelists at an afternoon session on “Surviving a Down Market.” Of the four panel members, three had either changed or lost their jobs just since the show program was printed. The only one who was still at the same company was executive recruiter Kipp Gillian who said he’s gone from getting a 100 resumes a month to 100 a day. Brandon Clements, who recently got laid off from builder Toll Brothers, says he’s been using the free time taking classes to get licensed as a real estate broker and a construction contractor.
Mike Hunter, a land acquisition specialist, said this was now his fifth down cycle in Southern California real estate since he got in the business in the late 1960s. During one he said he didn’t collect a commission check for four years. He had these words of encouragement for those in the audience. “Every single downdraft I’ve been in, we’ve come back better than the previous one.”
Mortgage rates down for 2nd week
Mortgage rates fell for the second week in a row, finance firm Freddie Mac said Thursday, as the weakening economy resulted in the slowest pace of home purchase applications in nearly eight years.:: Next Page →