Finance
Economy Watch: Foreclosure Wave to Continue
Irvine, Calif.-based John Burns Real Estate Consulting Inc. has released a study positing that some 5 million houses and condos already delinquent will go through foreclosure or short sales in the next few years. That’s most of the 7.7 million U.S. households currently delinquent.
Economy Watch: U.S. Retail Sales See Uptick
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, January retail sales rose 0.5 percent compared with December and 4.7 percent compared with January 2009.
Economy Watch: Existing Home Sales, Prices Up in Some Places
Existing home sales and prices both bumped upward in some, but hardly all, U.S. metro markets in 4Q09, according to the National Association of Realtors in a report on Thursday.
Economy Watch: Ceridian Unveils New Economic Index Based on Trucking Fuel Data
There’s a new kid in town in terms of economic measurements: the Ceridian-UCLA Pulse of Commerce Index. It was released to the public for the first time on Wednesday by the University of California-Los Angeles Anderson School of Management.
Economy Watch: Some Optimism From the Employment Trends Index
The Conference Board Employment Trends Index rose again in January, for the fifth month in a row. the index now stands at 93.2, up 1 percent from December, but down 0.7 percent compared with January a year ago.
Economy Watch: Unemployment Rate Back to Single Digits
The U.S. Department of Labor surprised the nation on Friday by announcing that the official unemployment rate dropped to 9.7 percent in January. Commercial real estate isn’t breaking out the noisemakers just yet, but maybe the bottom has arrived.
SPECIAL REPORT: Educational Sessions at Conference Reflect Mortgage Banker’s Concern with Problem Loans
Las Vegas—Master servicers are seeing more borrowers trying to force the transfer of their loans to special servicing, according to Kevin Donahue, senior vice president of PNC Real Estate/Midland Loan Services Inc. “Borrowers are becoming a little savvier” in pursuing their alternatives, said Donahue. They understand that the master servicer cannot perform “material modifications” on the loan, he said.
Economy Watch: Retailers See Modest January Uptick
Retailers did reasonably well in January, with retail same-store sales up 3.3 percent compared with the same month a year earlier, according to a Thomson Reuters’ survey of 29 major chain stores.
SPECIAL REPORT: MBA Makes Predictions for Economy, Interest Rates, Unemployment, Commercial Real Estate
Commercial real estate market conditions are not likely to ever return to levels last seen at the peak of the market in 2007, according to Jay Brinkmann, chief economist and senior vice president, research and economist, of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
Lenders Smile on Forest City with Closing of Half-Billion Credit Facility
While credit markets are still tight, Forest City Enterprises has managed to secure a $500 million revolving credit facility with a 15-bank group.