Housing & Development

WASHINGTON, D.C. - September 20, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) today urged the Administration and Congress to take a balanced approach in disposing of the large inventory of real estate owned (REO) properties held by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration to avoid further disruptions to pricing and markets and to limit further losses to the two government sponsored enterprises and the FHA.

Santa Ana, CA - September 20, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Brickman Group, one of the nation’s largest commercial landscaping companies, marks the next step in deepening its Southern California presence by establishing a Southern California regio...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - September 20, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) 50+ Housing Council is now accepting nominations for the 2012 Best of 50+ Housing Awards, which honor excellence in building, design and marketing of housing for boomers and beyond. This year, the program has added more than a dozen new categories, including "Best Integration of Technology," "Best 'Green' Community," "Best Streetscape or Neighborhood," "Best Fitness and Wellness Program" and "Best Universal Designed Home," among others."The Best of 50+ Housing Awards are this industry's most influential national awards" said 50+ Housing Council Chair, Ken Simons, a developer from Bedminster, N.J. "The awards not only recognize the best of the country's top builders and developers in the 50+ housing sector, but also show the public the newest and most innovative housing trends for mature buyers and renters."

WASHINGTON, DC - September 20, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded more than $8.3 million in grants to tribal communities in nine states to improve or create housing and economic development opportunities for low- to moderate-income families. The competitive grants are provided through HUD’s Indian Community Development Block Grant (ICDBG) Program to support a wide variety of community development and affordable housing activities.

New Carrollton, MD - September 20, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor Martin O’Malley and Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown, joined by Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker, today announced the relocation of the Maryland Department of ...

BOSTON, MA - September 20, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- MassHousing announced today that it provided $792.5 million for affordable housing in fiscal year 2011, helping to drive the Agency to its second-best lending year in its 45-year history.

Destin, FL - September 20, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A new opinion poll shows that Americans feel home prices won’t improve in the next five years enough to pull millions of underwater homeowners out from being upside down on their mortgages.

September 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Kentucky Commission on Human Rights Board of Commissioners recently ruled on discrimination complaints that included a $42,000 conciliation agreement resulting from a housing discrimination complaint brought...

WASHINGTON, DC - September 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The economy appears to be on a cusp, flirting with another economic downturn after more than two years of tepid recovery from the most severe recession in the post World War II era. According to Fannie Mae's (FNMA/OTC) Economics & Mortgage Market Analysis Group, the recovery's fragility makes it vulnerable to any additional shocks that might cause the economy to slip back into a recession. Possible shocks include a deepening of the financial turmoil in Europe; a dramatic slowdown in emerging economies, especially China; and renewed unrest in the Middle East that could send oil prices surging again. The forecast calls for continued sluggish growth at below 2 percent throughout 2012 — not enough to bring down the unemployment rate, which the Group expects to remain above 9 percent through most of next year.

Phoenix, AZ - September 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Elected officials, community leaders and commercial real estate executives convene in a unique forum that will address energizing Arizona’s economy at CoreNet Desert Mountain Chapter’s signatur...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - September 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes dipped by a single point to 14 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) for September, released today. The index has now held between 13 and 16 for six consecutive months."Very little has changed in terms of housing market conditions so far this year," said NAHB Chairman Bob Nielsen, a home builder from Reno, Nevada. "Builders continue to confront the same challenges in accessing construction credit, obtaining accurate appraisal values for new homes, and competing against foreclosed properties that they have seen for some time. Beyond this, both builder and consumer confidence took a hit in recent weeks with the market disruptions caused by the S&P downgrade and congressional gridlock on the budget deficit."

WASHINGTON, D.C. - September 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- With the Oct. 1 deadline rapidly approaching when the conforming loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will be lowered, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) today called on Congress to move swiftly to extend the current loan limits to prevent further damage to the already fragile housing market and lackluster economy.“Congress must act now to prevent the loan limits from reverting to lower levels,” said NAHB Chairman Bob Nielsen, a home builder from Reno, Nev. “A drop in mortgage loan limits would reduce housing demand, and place downward pressure on home prices in major markets. This would exacerbate the current housing downturn, trigger more foreclosures, impede job growth and endanger the fragile economic recovery.”

Des Moines, IA - September 16, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Iowa Finance Authority Board of Directors recently approved a $50,000 grant to Iowa Heartland Habitat for Humanity to help acquire three lots in foreclosure, deconstruct for salvage material...

BOLTON, MS - September 16, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, United States Representative Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) announced The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded $164,000 to the Housing Authority of Yazoo Ci...

WASHINGTON, DC - September 16, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced HUD will speed federal disaster assistance to the State of New Jersey and provide support to homeowners and low-incom...

WASHINGTON, DC - September 16, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced the recipients of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 Sustainable Communities Research Grant Program to six organizations that will conduct studies in different areas of sustainability research.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - September 16, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today released updated remediation guidance for homeowners with problem drywall. The guidance calls for the replacement of all: problem drywall; smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) alarms; electrical distribution components, including receptacles, switches and circuit breakers, but not necessarily wiring; and fusible-type fire sprinkler heads.

WASHINGTON, DC - September 16, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The National Foreclosure Prevention and Neighborhood Stabilization Task Force has released a seven-point response to a request for information from the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development on how to dispose of the inventory of more than 92,000 homes the Federal Housing Administration, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac now own in the wake of the darkest days of the foreclosure crisis. The sign-on letter outlines seven principles designed to help ensure that as taxpayer-backed lenders determine the best course to reduce their real estate owned (REO) inventory, policies that promote stable neighborhoods and a strong housing finance system are implemented.

IRVINE, CA - September 15, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- KTGY Group, Inc., Architecture + Planning announces that The Crossings at Escondido celebrated its grand opening today. Developed by Urban Housing Communities (UHC) LLC, a leading developer of quali...

New York, NY - September 15, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Morris Adjmi Architects announced today the appointment of John Henderson to the newly created position of Managing Director. He will be responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations as well as leveraging his more than 20 years of experience to expand the firm’s interior design practice.