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Mar

28
2008

Certain forms of alternative documentation are appropriate

By Matt Carter, Friday, March 28, 2008.

Hardly news, perhaps, when everybody with a dollar left to lend is being more cautious about who they lend it to, but in case you missed today's Inman News story on private mortgage insurer Radian Guaranty Inc.'s decision to stop insuring limited documentation "alt-A" loans, it might still serve as a nice chaser for this 80-proof shot of insight into the underwriting of "liar loans."  more...

If you don't ask, you'll never know...

By Matt Carter, Friday, March 28, 2008.

Have you checked out the "Community" page of the new Inman site yet? You can join a group (or create one) and start discussions or pose questions on topics you're interested in learning more about.

Here's a good example of how it can work.

Stacey Pfeifer, posting in the "Technology, Tools and Tidbits" group, asks "Do you Twitter and how is that working for you?"  more...

Pacific Doctors Park sold, improvements planned

By Inman News, Friday, March 28, 2008.

Pacific Doctors Park, a 35,000-square-foot medical campus in Chula Vista, Calif., has sold to a locally based investment and advisory company for $8.8 million.

The buyer, Pacific Realty Advisors, plans to perform extensive improvements to the interior and exterior of the campus, which is located at 340-342 Fourth Ave.  more...

Hampshire fund makes large Connecticut purchase

By Inman News, Friday, March 28, 2008.

The Hampshire Cos. today announced that its Fund VII has purchased a 614,600-square-foot industrial building in Newington, Conn., for an undisclosed price.

Located within the Newington Business Park, the multitenant facility formerly served as a corporate manufacturing plant, but the seller partially repositioned the space for warehouse/light industrial use.

Newington Business Park LLC sold the property at 48 percent occupancy, with the three tenants being A.H. Harris and Son, International Contractor Services LLC, and Huttig Building Products.  more...

Liberty Falls medical complex sells to REIT

By Inman News, Friday, March 28, 2008.

Grubb & Ellis Healthcare REIT Inc. this week announced the acquisition of Liberty Falls Medical Plaza in the Cincinnati suburb of Liberty Township, Ohio.

The value of the transaction was not disclosed.

Newly constructed in 2008, Liberty Falls Medical Plaza is a two-story medical office building consisting of approximately 44,000 square feet of gross leasable area. It is located at 6770 Cincinnati-Dayton Road.

The medical office building was 91 percent leased at the time of sale.  more...

Bailout is not a four-letter word

By Lou Barnes, Friday, March 28, 2008.

Mortgage rates rose slightly this week, the lowest-fee 30-year from just below 6 percent to a hair above. Spreads still gape versus Treasurys, at 2.5 percent above the 10-year defying all of the Fed's latest efforts. Five-year ARMs, both conforming and jumbo, are better in availability and rate, but both are scarcer and higher than in January.

The economy itself is in a curious place. This morning's report of a half-percent gain in February personal income was head-scratching good news, not squaring with consumer confidence measures at 16-year lows, some components at 41-year all-time lows.  more...

Embattled HUD secretary's FHA rescue plan gets the cold shoulder

By Matt Carter, Friday, March 28, 2008.

HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson can't get a break these days. The guy floats an idea in the press that maybe FHA could create a new program to help upside-down borrowers -- by insuring 80 to 85 percent of a loan, instead of the full amount -- and the Bush administration acts like he's that embarrassing relative who gets loaded and jumps up on the bandstand at weddings.

Jackson told the Washington Times last week that he'd proposed the new loan guarantee program to the White House last week.  more...

Economist on job market: 'Expect a slow burn'

By Inman News, Friday, March 28, 2008.

A report from The Conference Board this week suggests that improvement in the U.S. job market is unlikely before the third or fourth quarter of this year.

The organization's Help-Wanted Advertising Index, a key economic indicator measuring the volume of job ads in major U.S. newspapers, dipped one point in February to 21, and is down nine points from the same time last year.

The Conference Board reported that just 31 percent of labor markets surveyed last month reported rising want-ad volume, down from 43 percent in January.  more...

Radian to raise down-payment requirements, ban alt-A loans

By Inman News, Friday, March 28, 2008.

Radian Guaranty Inc. is the latest private mortgage insurer to tighten underwriting standards, with a moratorium on loans with down payments of less than 3 percent kicking in March 31, and a ban on stated-income and stated-asset loans scheduled to begin April 30.

Like competitors including PMI and MGIC, Radian has also adopted more stringent standards in declining markets where prices are falling.  more...

California's single-family building permits drop 60%

By Inman News, Friday, March 28, 2008.

Single-family housing starts, as measured by building permits issued, plunged 59.8 percent in February compared to the same month last year, the California Building Industry Association trade group reported this week, and total housing starts dropped 27.9 percent.  more...

Real estate rates increase overnight

By Inman News, Friday, March 28, 2008.

Long-term mortgage interest rates were up Thursday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield climbed to 3.53 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average rose to 5.75 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate gained to 5.27 percent. The 1-year adjustable rate, however, dropped to 5.3 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield was up at 4.39 percent.

Rates and bonds are current as of 7:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.  more...