RealEstateRama

NEW YORK, N.Y. - June 16, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage rates increased this week, following a nine-week streak of declines. The benchmark conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate is now 4.71 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.41 discount and origination points.

June 16, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) of 2008 made statutory changes to how income limits are calculated for LIHTC and bond-financed properties. HERA protected owners from rent decreases in 2009, and established a new system for owners to hold their income limits and rents harmless beginning in 2010.

Austin, TX - June 15, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today BuildFax unveiled its BuildFax Remodeling Index (BFRI) for April 2011 and it shows that the beginning of spring had many across the country remodeling and renovating their homes. Today’s report reveals continued year-over-year gains, with data demonstrating that consumers are continuing to invest in remodeling, even while the economy continues to struggle and the real-estate market continues to experience sales decreases coast to coast. In addition, the Index reveals that there were 10 percent more remodels in April 2011 compared to April 2004, the first month tracked by the Index.

CHICAGO, IL - June 15, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- John J. Hentschel, CRE®, president, Hentschel Real Estate Services, an Abingdon, Maryland-based real estate advisory and consulting firm, has been honored with the 2011 James Felt Creative Counseling Award for his work as a special advisor to the Urban Institute as part of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Municipal Economic Growth Activity, a program designed to promote economic development in the Republic of Serbia through commercialization of strategically located surplus military properties. The award was presented May 3 by The Counselors of Real Estate® at the organization’s Midyear Meetings in San Diego.

WASHINGTON, DC - June 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- As part of the Obama Administration's efforts to improve commercial building efficiency 20 percent by 2020, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced a partnership with The Appraisal Foundation that will help expand access to energy efficiency and building performance information for commercial buildings and help American businesses to reduce energy waste. Under the new partnership, the Department of Energy and The Appraisal Foundation will work to ensure that appraisers nationwide have the information, practical guidelines, and professional resources they need to evaluate energy performance when conducting commercial building appraisals. This will help enable investors, building owners and operators, and others to accurately assess the value of energy efficiency as part of the building's overall appraisal.

WASHINGTON, DC - June 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Fannie Mae (FNMA/OTC) announced the expansion of incentives to encourage sales of HomePath REO properties to owner occupants. Now through October 31, qualified buyers and selling agents can receive financial incentives on sales of HomePath properties, which can be found at www.homepath.com. The incentives are part of Fannie Mae's commitment to neighborhood stabilization, and are available on sales to buyers who will reside in the home as their primary residence.

June 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- HomeFinder.com has launched the new social application from Google known as “+1” , integrating it into the HomeFinder.com Single Property Website platform. HomeFinder.com is the first in the online real estate space to utilize Google +1, and joins online portals for Nordstrom, Best Buy and The Huffington Post in being first adopters of this new Google product.

SILICON VALLEY, CA - June 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Intero Franchise Services, Inc. announced its continued expansion with the launch of Intero Rancho Cucamonga and the upcoming launch of Intero El Dorado Hills at the end of June and Intero Scottsdale later this summer.

WASHINGTON, DC - June 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki announced today that HUD will provide $5.4 million to public housing authorities in 18 states to supply permanent housing and case management for 676 homeless Veterans in America. This is the fourth and final round of the FY 2010 Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program (HUD-VASH) funding to support homeless Veterans

SAN JOSE, CA - June 9, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Law Foundation of Silicon Valley (the Law Foundation), the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Lawyers’ Committee), and pro bono counsel Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP (Orrick) filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of California homeowners who have been victimized by a network of scam artists preying on vulnerable homeowners. As a result of this alleged loan modification scam, the victims have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

RANDALLSTOWN, MD - June 9, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, Baltimore County Councilman Kenneth N. Oliver, District 4, and other federal, state and local dignitaries today joined Enterprise Homes, Inc. at a ceremony to celebrate the grand opening of The Greens at Liberty Road Senior Apartments. Located on the Liberty Road corridor, the newly constructed $15.6 million development is comprised of 81 one-bedroom and 24 two-bedroom apartments, 12 of which are fully accessible and three units with features for sensory impaired seniors. The development was certified as meeting the requirements of the Enterprise Green Communities Criteria.

WASHINGTON, DC - June 9, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) continues to develop housing opportunities for homeless and at-risk Veterans by adding 34 VA locations across the country. This strategy will increase the Department’s available beds by over 5,000. VA currently has 15,000 transitional beds available to homeless Veterans.

AUSTIN, TX - June 9, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- BuildFax, a division of BUILDERadius, today announced that it has successfully closed a new $4 million round of funding, led by DMGI and with the support of Environmental Data Resources Inc. (EDR) which is wholly owned by DMG Information Inc., the business information division of Daily Mail and General Trust, plc. Today’s round of funding follows a $9 million investment by the same group in 2009, bringing the total amount of funding for BuildFax to $13 million

HERNDON, VA - June 9, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, is bringing its annual industrial real estate conference to the Renaissance Long Beach in Long Beach, Calif., on June 22-23.

San Francisco, CA - June 8, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco (FHLBank San Francisco) awarded $28.4 million in Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grants in the first round of its 2011 funding competition. The grants approved by the Bank’s Board of Directors in AHP Round A were awarded to 45 projects that address the diverse housing needs of communities in Arizona, California, Illinois, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington, and will produce or preserve 2,787 housing units that are affordable to lower-income individuals and families.

WASHINGTON, DC - June 8, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis today announced a competition for grants totaling more than $5 million through the U.S. Department of Labor's Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program to provide approximately 3,000 homeless veterans with job training and other services to help them succeed in civilian careers

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - June 8, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Crescent Resources selected veteran real estate developer Margaret Jennesse to lead its residential interests in Florida and Georgia as senior vice president.

Austin, TX - June 7, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- BuildFax, the industry's exclusive creator of the largest commercial and residential permitting database in the United States, today announced that it has joined forces with Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX) to give property & casualty insurance carriers a more complete view of underwriting risks while uncovering any key changes to their portfolio since policy inception. Now, Equifax customers can gain immediate access to BuildFax’s unique, differentiated data assets, which include property history information representing 60 percent of the nation’s building permit volume. Through this relationship, insurance carriers can improve the accuracy of underwriting valuation models to develop more effective pricing strategies and reduce the potential for fraud

NORFOLK, VA - June 6, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Partnering for their first joint promotion, For Rent Media Solutions™ and Homes Media Solutions™ launch the ForRent.com® and Homes.com® “Coolest Space in Your Place” photo contest for a chance to win a $2,500 prize! Both apartment renters and homeowners are encouraged to enter the contest by submitting a photograph of a favorite space in the contestant’s residence.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - June 6, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- CHFA is currently accepting 2011 applications for the Housing Tax Credit Contribution (“HTCC”) Program.