Finance

The eyes of the financial chattering classes are on Greece, whose problems have lately been compared by Angel Gurria, secretary general for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, to (of all things) the fast-spreading, all-consuming viral disease Ebola.

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index increased in April to 57.9, compared with 52.3 in March. The index is now at its highest in about a year and a half–since the edge of the economic abyss in fall 2008, in fact.

TPG Capital and Caruso Capital Partners, LLC, an affiliate of Caruso Affiliated, have formed a joint venture to invest as much as $750 million of debt and equity in opportunistic investments. They are eyeing retail centers as well as mixed-use properties in select western U.S. markets.

Fannie Mae has unveiled a change in its eligibility rules for applying for mortgages that the GSE is willing to back. Under the new rules, starting in July 1, beleaguered homeowners who either give up via a deed in lieu of foreclosure or by effecting a short sale will be eligible to apply for a Fannie-backed mortgage once again in two years. Currently the waiting period is four years.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, new home sales spiked upward by 27 percent nationwide in March compared with the previous month, as a completely expected consequence of the looming cutoff date (this Friday) for the federal home buyer tax credit. New homes sold during the month at an annualized rate of 411,000, the bureau noted on Friday.

The pieces of a sustainable recovery are just beginning to come together, but they’re not yet forming a completed puzzle. That’s according to Jones Lang LaSalle, whose Spring Economic Outlook finds that economic output grew at a robust level last quarter, but the change in private inventories – a major growth driver – is not sustainable long term.

As expected, existing home sales spiked in March, according to the National Association of Realtors. Compared with February, sales were up 6.8 percent to an annualized rate of 5.35 million. Compared with March 2009, sales are up 16.1 percent.

The word from Indianapolis on Wednesday was the Simon Property Group has rounded up another billion-plus dollars to sweeten its bid for bankrupt General Growth Properties and its succulent portfolio of 200 or so regional U.S. malls.

Canyon Capital Realty Advisors has provided $25.5 million in financing for a condominium project in Kansas City, Mo. The senior bridge loan was made to Park Place KC, LLC to purchase an existing construction loan along with completing the remaining unsold 85 condominiums at One Park Place, a 20-story building designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.