Yearly Archives: 2015

Mercy Housing California, one of the largest non-profit affordable housing developers in the state, today announced a generous and significant contribution from locally-owned Jerome’s Furniture. Continuing in their tradition of supporting local families across southern California, Jerome’s Furniture has provided close to $130,000 in funding to address resident needs of three affordable housing developments in Los Angeles and Orange Counties impacting 690 residents.

Mercy Loan Fund (MLF), a leading Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) based in Denver, Colo., announced that it has provided Fair Housing Partners (FHP) a loan of $540,000 to acquire Ogallala Village Apartments in Ogallala, Neb.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today that it plans to propose expanded disability compensation eligibility for Veterans exposed to contaminated drinking water while assigned to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.

Thomas J. Bisacquino, President and CEO of NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, issued the following statement on the House of Representative’s passage of Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act of 2015

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved revisions to the Pueblo of Pojoaque’s water quality standards. The Clean Water Act revisions included revised aquatic life criteria and updates to technical references. The Pueblo, located in New Mexico, protects public health and aquatic life for the area that includes the Rio Pojoaque, Rio Tesuque, and Rio Nambe water bodies.

David H. Stevens, CMB, President and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) issued the following statement in response to today's release from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) of the 2016 Scorecard for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Common Securitization Solutions (CSS).

In an effort to help low-income residents find higher-paying jobs and become self-sufficient, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced a combined nearly $100 million investment through HUD's Jobs Plus Pilot Program and Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program. Together, these programs support local public housing authorities and their partners to help residents increase earned income and financial literacy, reduce or eliminate the need for welfare assistance, and make progress toward economic independence and self-sufficiency.

Sotheby’s International Realty’s November 2015 Greater Los Angeles Market Report revealed that Venice and Westwood-Century City doubled the number of $3 million+ homes sold from September to November compared to the same period last year.

Real estate investing is an attractive career idea for multiple reasons. There’s ample opportunity once the economy begins improving and jobs come back, and there is no shortage of buyers. Rental income is relatively stable if you’re successful at finding tenants, and real estate investments tend to fare better than stocks in a volatile climate. The economy is beginning to stabilize, but events around the world continually rattle investor confidence

The Boulder Group, a net leased investment brokerage firm, has completed the sale of a single tenant Family Dollar property located at 12610 South Ashland Avenue in Calumet Park, IL for $857,500.

Mike Fratantoni, MBA's Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for Research and Industry Technology, offered the following statement in response to the Federal Reserve Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announcement that it would begin to increase interest rates

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released a white paper outlining the importance of - and recommendations to expand - affordable rental housing. MBA convened a Task Force of leaders in the commercial/multifamily finance industry to study the range of issues that surround affordable rental housing and recommend steps to enhance its availability.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that manufacturers have surpassed the more stringent 2014 standards for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while model year 2014 fuel economy remains steady at the highest level ever recorded

David H. Stevens, CMB, President and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), issued the following statement regarding the inclusion of the Jumpstart GSE reform provision within the year-end spending bill, which would prevent the administration from selling off its stake in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) without congressional approval

A new report from the Center for American Progress—released this morning at an event featuring U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro—illustrates the frequent mismatch between affordable housing and opportunity. The report, “An Opportunity Agenda for Renters,” calls for policymakers to address this problem with a two-pronged approach that both promotes residential mobility and reduces poverty, while also reinvesting in racially segregated and economically impoverished neighborhoods.

Prices reported in multiple listing services may differ significantly from prices reported on HUD-1 settlement statements and these discrepancies are likely to be larger during a market bust, according to an article published this week in The Appraisal Journal

The U.S. housing market is continuing to see positive momentum, helped strongly by low and falling unemployment rates, sparking a series of interrelated events that has led to increased demand among renters and buyers. In turn, the U.S. housing market is healthy with little chance of a housing downturn in the next year, according to the latest quarterly housing market barometer released today by Nationwide, a leading insurance and financial services organization

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced an agreement with the Southern Indiana Gas and Electric Company that will reduce air pollution from the company’s F.B. Culley and A.B. Brown coal-fired electric generating plants in southern Indiana, near Evansville

Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller today announced the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) has awarded $750,000 to the city of Ennis for water, sewer, natural gas and street infrastructure improvements through the Texas Capital Fund (TCF). The award will support the creation of a plastic materials manufacturing facility operated by Sterilite Corp. and 40 new full-time jobs.

Mortgage applications decreased 1.1 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending December 11, 2015.