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Developer dumps SoCal industrial complex

By Inman News, Tuesday, January 3, 2006.

Lee & Associates recently completed three major industrial sales totaling approximately 412,660 square feet in Fontana, Calif.

The total value of the transactions was more than $28 million.

Three buildings make up the Newcastle Fontana Business Center, which is comprised of 13500, 13508 and 13512 Marlay Ave.  more...

Bascom, GE Capital expand in Arizona

By Inman News, Tuesday, January 3, 2006.

A joint venture between Bascom Arizona Ventures and Connecticut-based GE Capital has purchased the 286-unit Northern Landing Apartment community in Phoenix, Ariz.

The value of the transaction was $13.7 million.

The property, located at 8135 North 35th Ave., was constructed in 1982. The 10-acre property features two swimming pools, two spas, covered parking, two laundries and BBQ areas.  more...

Legacy Partners gains office space in Burbank

By Inman News, Tuesday, January 3, 2006.

Grubb & Ellis Co. represented Legacy Partners Realty Fund I, a private investment company, in the purchase of a 147,889-square-foot office building in Burbank. Calif.

The transaction was valued at $43 million.

The 10-story, steel-frame building, which is located at 2600 W. Olive Ave. in Burbank's Media District, was 35 percent leased at the time of sale. The property, which also includes five levels of structured parking, was built in 1986 and had the central lobby renovated in 2005.

Washington, D.C.-based CarrAmerica Realty Corp. sold the asset.  more...

ZipRealty co-founder moves to Prudential California

By Inman News, Tuesday, January 3, 2006.

The co-founder of ZipRealty, a real estate firm that challenged traditional ways of doing business, has taken a position with Prudential California, Nevada and Texas Realty, one of the largest brokerage companies in the nation.

Prudential CA/NV/TX Realty today announced the appointment of Kucirek as general manager, where he'll be responsible for building up the company's Northern California and Nevada operations.  more...

Homestore tops real estate stocks index

By Marcie Geffner, Tuesday, January 3, 2006.

Investors who played it safe in 2005 with broadly diversified market index funds were more likely to end the year in plus territory than were those who selected investments among the corporations that comprise the Inman Index.

At year-end, the hypothetical Inman News index of 10 publicly traded real estate brokerage, mortgage and technology stocks had lost 35 percent of its value.  more...

CEO of luxury real estate firm once bused tables

By Inman News, Tuesday, January 3, 2006.

Shari Chase's motto is to live simple, think big and make a difference. Chase founded Chase International more than 19 years ago, and the company has since become a well-known brand for luxury real estate.

Her vision and reputation as a trendsetter influences the way luxury properties are marketed today.  more...

FNC launches free order page for appraiser clients

By Inman News, Tuesday, January 3, 2006.

FNC, a provider of collateral information systems to major U.S. lenders, has launched a free, personalized order page for its appraiser clients, the company said today.

The Web order pages can be customized by appraisers to manage all their orders, clients and prospects, according to FNC.

The pages are the first of other planned enhancements to FNC's AppraisalPort Internet worksite for appraisers, the company said.  more...

Real estate loan fraud registry in the works

By Janis Mara, Tuesday, January 3, 2006.

State mortgage industry regulators are working to create a national repository streamlining the licensing application process that would also show enforcement actions against lending industry insiders.

"The point of the repository is to simplify the state licensing process among state mortgage regulators," said Bill Matthews, senior vice president of the mortgage project at the Conference of State Bank Supervisors.  more...

Real estate sales fall in Massachusetts

By Inman News, Tuesday, January 3, 2006.

Home sales in Massachusetts sank for the third consecutive month in November, while prices gained slightly over their year-ago levels, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors reported.

Sales of detached single-family homes totaled 3,713 in November, down 9.2 percent from 4,089 sales posted in November 2004, the association reported. The November 2005 figure was down 4.3 percent from October's 3,880 sales.

Sales of condominiums edged up 1.4 percent from a year ago, with Realtors reporting 1,622 closings in November compared with 1,599 in November 2004.  more...

PropertyShark photographs the whole of Manhattan real estate

By Inman News, Tuesday, January 3, 2006.

Officials at PropertyShark.com, a site that offers real estate data and detailed property maps, announced today that they have photographed every building in Manhattan – about 40,000 in all.

"We've indexed each photo to an actual building," said Matthew Haines, PropertyShark.com founder, in a statement today.  more...

HouseValues adds services to HomePages

By Inman News, Tuesday, January 3, 2006.

Real estate marketing company HouseValues has added new features to its HomePages.com service that aim to build brand awareness for real estate agents and their property listings, the Kirkland, Wash., company said today.

The "Featured Agent" and "Featured Homes" exclusive advertising features are now available at HomePages.com, a national real estate Web site that combines bird's-eye views of neighborhoods with detailed home listings and community information on behalf of  more...

Real estate construction spending rises

By Inman News, Tuesday, January 3, 2006.

Construction spending during November 2005 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of about $1.15 trillion, or 0.2 percent above the revised October estimate and 7.8 percent above the November 2004 estimate, the U.S.  more...

HUD extends signup period for Katrina housing relief

By Inman News, Tuesday, January 3, 2006.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development on Friday announced it is extending the signup date for the Katrina Disaster Housing Assistance Program (KDHAP), a transitional rental assistance program that is currently helping thousands of displaced families. The extension means families now have until to March 11, 2006, to register. The signup period was initially slated to end on Dec.  more...

What's on the real estate tech horizon in 2006? Premium Content

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Tuesday, January 3, 2006.

Consumer-centric multimedia technology will be a hot commodity for the real estate industry in 2006, say several brokerage company executives, and industry participants also have their sights set on improved lead management systems.

Improving the consumer experience through technology enhancements will be a continuing focus at GMAC Real Estate in the year ahead, said Lane Barnett, CEO for the company's Real Estate Franchise business unit.  more...

Baird & Warner exec. lives the dream

By Inman News, Tuesday, January 3, 2006.

"I'm just an integral gear on a fine-tuned machine," claims Charles Melidosian, vice president and chief information officer of 150-year-old Baird & Warner, who came on board in 2000 to implement what he described as a long laundry list of innovations, many of which originated with the company's president, Stephen Baird.

Though Baird & Warner is one of the country's oldest real estate companies, by no means is it resistant to change,  more...