By Samantha Peterson, Wednesday, December 22, 2004. Editor's note: The real estate industry is heading for big change in 2005. Experts once again are predicting slower home sales and easing price appreciation due to an anticipated rise in interest rates. In this Inman News forecast series, we attempt to get a clear picture of the industry next year, including what we can expect from housing numbers, who the industry should be watching and what the best and worst-case scenarios might be for housing in 2005. more...
By Inman News, Wednesday, December 22, 2004. CarrAmerica Realty Corp. acquired a 282,080-square-foot office tower in Santa Clara, Calif. The value of the transaction was $129.7 million. Mission Towers I is a 12-story, class A building located at 3975 Freedom Circle. It was built in 2000. At the time of sale, the property was 100 percent leased to Sun Microsystems and PMC-Sierra through October 2011. CarrAmerica owns, develops and operates office properties in 12 markets throughout the United States. *** more...
By Inman News, Wednesday, December 22, 2004. Lexington Corporate Properties Trust purchased an 83,252-square-foot office facility in Los Angeles, Calif. The value of the transaction was approximately $17.9 million. The facility is a single-story office/flex building located on a 4.4-acre site. Playboy Enterprises Inc. leases 63,049 square feet of space in the facility through October 2012. Sony Electronics Inc. leases 20,203 square feet of space in the facility through August 2009. Lexington is a real estate investment trust that owns and manages office, industrial and retail properties. more...
By Inman News, Wednesday, December 22, 2004. VEF Advisors LLC, an affiliate of Apollo Real Estate Advisors L.P., has sold a 454,000-square-foot office development in Honolulu, Hawaii. The value of the transaction was not disclosed. The site, located at 1132 Bishop St., consists of a 24-story office tower and attached three-story office building with a total 444,000 square feet, a 10,000-square-foot retail building and an underground parking garage with 569 spaces. The complex was 78 percent leased at the time of sale. Douglas Emmett Realty Advisors purchased the property. more...
By Inman News, Wednesday, December 22, 2004. The median price of an existing home in California in November increased 23.1 percent from a year ago and sales increased 4 percent during the same period to a record high, the California Association of Realtors reported today. "Sales hit an all-time high in November as consumers snapped up single-family homes at a record pace," said C.A.R. President Jim Hamilton. more...
By Inman News, Wednesday, December 22, 2004. Long-term mortgage rates increased this week, according to Freddie Mac's weekly mortgage survey. Freddie Mac reported that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.75 percent for the week ended today, up from last week when it averaged 5.68 percent. The average for the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage this week is 5.18 percent, up from last week when it averaged 5.11 percent. Points on both the 30- and 15-year averaged 0.6. more...
By Inman News, Wednesday, December 22, 2004. Alan Greenspan, chairman of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve System, was at the top of the list this year in Builder Magazine's ranking of the 50 most influential people in the home-building industry. Franklin Raines, chairman and CEO of government-sponsored lending entity Fannie Mae, was second on the list, which was released earlier this month. more...
By Inman News, Wednesday, December 22, 2004. Fannie Mae's board of directors dismissed its top two executives late Tuesday night in the wake of a growing accounting scandal. CEO Franklin Raines announced his early retirement from the mortgage giant, while chief financial officer J. Timothy Howard announced his resignation. more...
By Inman News, Wednesday, December 22, 2004. Freddie Mac's total mortgage portfolio grew at annual rate of 2.8 percent in November, the company reported today. Its retained portfolio decreased at an annualized rate of 6 percent last month. Freddie Mac is a government-chartered corporation owned by shareholders. The company buys mortgages, repackages them and sells some to investors and also retains a portion. more...
By Inman News, Wednesday, December 22, 2004. Despite a drop in purchase applications, an increase in refinancings last week hiked overall mortgage application volume by 0.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly survey. The MBA seasonally adjusted refinance index increased by 5.7 percent to 1,958.2 from 1,852.4 one week earlier. The seasonally adjusted purchase index decreased by 3.6 percent to 471.1 from 488.9 the previous week. more...
By Inman News, Wednesday, December 22, 2004. Long-term mortgage interest rates barely budged Tuesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield dipped to 4.17 percent. The 30-year fixed-rate average inched up to 5.33 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate held at 4.75 percent. The 1-year adjustable was unchanged at 3.44 percent. The 30-year Treasury bond yield fell to 4.8 percent. Rates are current as of 7:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. more...
By Robert Bruss, Wednesday, December 22, 2004.
DEAR BOB: About two years ago, I foolishly co-signed a home loan for my 26-year-old son so he and his wife could buy a home. That proved to be a major mistake. About a year later, she divorced him. I don't blame her. But that's another story. He is a cross-country independent truck driver, often gone a week or two at a time. He earns very good money hauling specialized freight, even after paying the high fuel costs. It's hard work, but he loves the adventure. He has more job load orders than he can handle, as he is very dependable. more...
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