RealEstateRama

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 2, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Superstar singer Taylor Swift is getting a new neighbor. A spectacular sale in the historic and architecturally distinguished seaside town of Watch Hill, Rhode Island, the third highest sale this year, has astute real estate watchers assessing the "star power" of celebrity in driving prices and activity.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 2, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Turner Construction Company announced that the Third Quarter 2013 Turner Building Cost Index – which measures costs in the non-residential building construction market in the United States – has increased to a value of 868. This reflects a 1.05% increase from the Second Quarter 2013 and 4.33% annual increase from the Third Quarter 2012.

DENVER - October 2, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Monitor of the National Mortgage Settlement, today issued new metrics that impose greater oversight over Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, CitiGroup and Wells Fargo under the National Mortgage Settlement. These new metrics are the result of violations that the monitor reported earlier this summer regarding the banks’ compliance with the settlement. Staff of the Consumer Protection Section of the Colorado Attorney General’s Office serve on the monitoring committee and throughout the summer, Smith and the committee developed new protocols to give greater protection and additional resources to homeowners working to save their homes from foreclosure. These improved protocols are now being tested as part of these new metrics.

Washington, DC - October 2, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, the National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH), Rebuilding Together, and teams of Wells Fargo volunteers kick off the Healthy Housing Challenge. The project will make critical home repairs for low-income families, seniors, veterans, and persons with disabilities living in homes with health and safety threats, starts in nine cities

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 2, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, the U.S. government shut down for the first time in 17 years as a result of Congress failing to agree on FY14 spending levels. This failure to act by Congress marks another missed opportunity to address the critical state of affordable housing in our country

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 2, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Bank of America has been selected as the first Qualified Issuer of loans to Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) through the U.S. Department of the Treasury CDFI Bond Guarantee Program. The selection was announced on September 30

TEMECULA, CA - October 2, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- WestMar Commercial Real Estate, a leading local real estate services firm, today announced the following transactions

CHICAGO, IL - October 1, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® has selected Virtual Results, LLC to evaluate websites of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® (LeadingRE) member firms through the network’s Website Quality Certification program for 2014.

LOS ANGELES, CA - October 1, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Commercial real estate investment banking firm George Smith Partners has successfully arranged $42.5 million in financing on behalf of its client, Upside Investments, for their $60 million acquisition of Crenshaw Village Apartments, a 669-unit multifamily community in Los Angeles, according to George Smith Partners’ Principal and Managing Director Steve Bram and Senior Vice President David Pascale.

Washington D.C. - October 1, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The ConsensusDocs Coalition continues to set records as they celebrate six years of publishing the only standard contracts written and endorsed by dozens of leading design and construction industry associations. Some of the more remarkable statistics include:

SAN ANTONIO - October 1, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Carter, one of the nation’s leading real estate development, investment and advisory firms, announced today that the company will develop a 198-unit, 590-bed student housing project located less than half a mile from the University of Texas at San Antonio. The 16-acre community will include 121 flats and 77 townhomes built around a “town center.” The development will feature a mixture of two-, three- and four-bedroom units. The townhomes will include two-car garages

WASHINGTON - October 1, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Chairman Tim Johnson (D-SD) held a hearing titled “Housing Finance Reform: Fundamentals of a Functioning Private Label Mortgage Backed Securities Market.”

Northbrook, IL - October 1, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Boulder Group’s Research Department has released a new research report providing comprehensive numbers and analysis of the 3rd quarter activity in the National Net Lease Market

WASHINGTON - October 1, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Internal Revenue Service announced today that it is waiving certain limitations for projects financed with low-income housing tax credits or exempt facility bonds so that owners and operators of these facilities anywhere in the nation can provide housing to victims of severe storms, flooding, landslides and mudslides in Colorado that began Sept. 11

WASHINGTON, D.C. - September 30, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Rebuilding Together was recognized as a 2013 National Service Impact Award honoree by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) during the AmeriCorps 20th Anniversary kick-off ceremony in Washington, DC, on September 20, 2013

CHICAGO - September 30, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) recently published a report that details a cutting-edge plan to house and better coordinate health care for people who are homeless, diagnosed with at least one severe mental illness, and have a history of alcohol or substance use.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - September 30, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Thank you to those who were able to attend the CHAPA Young Professional Group's Brown Bag lunch with Rachel Bratt, " The US Housing Crisis - 5 Years Later," on Wednesday. Rachel drew a wonderful crowd and we hope everyone enjoyed the presentation.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - September 30, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) released the following statement after receiving confirmation from the Obama administration on Friday that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will require a taxpayer-funded bailout of $1.7 billion:

WASHINGTON, D.C. - September 10, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- A coalition of fair housing and civil right groups filed an amicus brief in federal court today, supporting the City of Richmond’s opposition to a motion for preliminary injunction filed by trustees Wells Fargo Bank and Deutsche Bank. The trustees (Wells and Deutsche Bank) seek to block the City’s plan to help homeowners by restructuring underwater mortgages.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - September 27, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) Housing Commission will host a discussion on the proposed qualified residential mortgage rule next Wednesday, October 2, 2013 at 9:00AM EDT