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Real estate stocks tanked in 2007 Premium Content

By Marcie Geffner, Wednesday, January 2, 2008.

There's no soft way to say it: Investors who consistently favored real estate and mortgage-related stocks lost their shirts in 2007. As a group, the 10 companies that comprise the hypothetical Inman Index of such stocks lost more than half their value in the just-ended one-year period.

By comparison, investors who stuck with the Dow Jones Industrials, Standard & Poor's 500 or NASDAQ Composite indices fared far better.  more...

Nationwide licensing system for mortgage brokers debuts

By Inman News, Wednesday, January 2, 2008.

A nationwide licensing system that's intended to help states track mortgage brokers and lenders under their jurisdiction launched today with seven states participating and 31 more expected to join by the end of next year.

The Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System (NMLS) creates a single file for each state-regulated mortgage lender, broker, branch and loan originator, simplifying the process of licensing and monitoring companies and individuals who do business in more than one state.

First proposed in 2004,  more...

Private mortgage insurance defaults rise

By Inman News, Wednesday, January 2, 2008.

Issuance of private mortgage insurance policies fell by 7.6 percent in November compared to the month before, even as defaults continued to climb.  more...

Radar Logic: Home prices fall in most metros

By Inman News, Wednesday, January 2, 2008.

The price per square foot of homes fell in 19 of 25 metro markets studied in a monthly report released today by research and analytics company Radar Logic Inc.

The latest RPX Monthly Housing Market Report is based on the aggregated value of daily price-per-square-foot statistics for selected metro areas for the 28-day period ended Oct.  more...

National City Corp. exiting wholesale mortgage lending

By Inman News, Wednesday, January 2, 2008.

National City Corp. will cut 900 jobs as it exits the wholesale mortgage lending business, the bank said today, but will continue to originate home loans directly to consumers through retail offices in 50 states and bank branch offices in nine states.  more...

Virginia apartments sell to REIT

By Inman News, Wednesday, January 2, 2008.

Grubb & Ellis Apartment REIT Inc. this week announced it acquired a 148-unit multifamily project in Portsmouth, Va., for an undisclosed price.  more...

TIC investors acquire Phoenix buildings, land

By Inman News, Wednesday, January 2, 2008.

ICP Real Estate recently sold a three-building office complex and undeveloped land in Phoenix, Ariz., to a group of tenant-in-common investors for an undisclosed price.

The property, Townley Business Park, comprises nearly 176,000 square feet near the intersection of 23rd Avenue and Dunlap Road. The 1.34-acre parcel of land is located on-site.

The property offers a parking supply of 509 parking spaces, including 30 covered spaces, for a ratio of 4.18 spaces per 1,000 square feet.  more...

San Antonio's Brookhollow Park changes hands

By Inman News, Wednesday, January 2, 2008.

Tenant-in-common investors recently sold the Brookhollow Park office building in San Antonio, Texas, for an undisclosed price after five-and-a-half-years' ownership.

Brookhollow Park, a four-story, approximately 102,000-square-foot office building, was built in 2001. It is located at the northeast corner of Highway 281 North and Central Parkway North.

The TIC investors, who originally purchased the property in July 2002, sold it to BHP Funding Corp.  more...

Home construction spending rate continues decline

By Inman News, Wednesday, January 2, 2008.

The rate of residential construction spending fell for the 21st consecutive month in November, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today, and dropped 17.8 percent compared to November 2006.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of spending on private residential construction projects was $484.9 billion in November, which is down 30.3 percent compared to a record peak rate of $696 billion in February 2006.  more...

Report: Rising consumer confidence 'far from optimistic'

By Inman News, Wednesday, January 2, 2008.

An index measuring consumer confidence rose for the first time in five months in December, The Conference Board reported, while a separate index that measures job offerings in major U.S. newspapers fell 1 point in November after a two-point drop in October.  more...