Search Results: Freddie Mac

U.S. stock futures surged early this morning after a report Citigroup may put itself on the block and following upbeat results out of Dell and Salesforce.com, according to MarketWatch. S&P 500 futures leaped 31.7 points to 780.00 and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 39.25 points to 1,079.70. Dow industrial futures leapt 293 points. U.S. stocks stumbled to 11-and-half year lows as hopes faded for a rescue of the automakers and as concerns grew about Citigroup’s financial health. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 444 points, the S&P 500 lost 54 points and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 70 points, the report stated….

Citigroup executives are currently meeting in something of an emergency session to figure out what to do in the face of flagging investor confidence in the banking behemoth. Or are they? They’re meeting, at least, but the company says that it’s financially strong, despite its four quarters of losses stemming from billions in writedowns. Prince Walid bin Talal of Saudi Arabia seems persuaded of Citi’s long-term prospects, having raised his stake in the bank to 5 percent. But other investors aren’t so sure. After an upward spike this morning, Citi share prices were down about 16 percent by mid-day. Of…

After yesterday’s upward bump, the Dow Jones index slipped into another downward course today losing some 338 points, or 3.82 percent. The S&P 500 slipped more, 4.17 percent, and the Nasdaq even more than that, an even 5.0 percent.It’s official–and the office is the U.S. Department of Commerce, which released the numbers this morning–retail sales dropped in October by a record 2.8 percent. On the other hand, records only began in 1992: surely consumer spending also dropped precipitously in, say, 1991, 1974 and 1930. Excluding cars, sales still dropped 2.2 percent. Auto sales as a single category contracted by 5.5…

The ailing economy hasn’t damaged the apartment sector as badly as it has other commercial real estate sectors, thanks largely to debt capital available through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But the multi-family industry is starting to feel the impact of the global fiscal turndown, according to the National Multi Housing Council’s October 2008 quarterly survey on apartment conditions.On a scale from zero—if all respondents answered in the negative—to 100—indicating that all respondents answered positively—the Market Tightness Index, which measures changes in occupancy rates and/or rents, fell from 40 in July to 24 in October. That forms the index’s worst…

With the economy shedding jobs like a cat sheds its winter coat and credit markets still in an Arctic freeze, income-property sales have slowed markedly. In fact, Real Capital Analytics Inc. reported that $105.5 billion worth of deals closed during the first eight months of 2008 or are under contract nationwide, off 77 percent from the same period a year ago (just under 75 percent off if the Equity Office Properties Trust sale is excluded). In addition, in the four quarters ending with September, $39.5 billion worth of listed properties were pulled off the market and $10.8 billion in deals…

Uncertainty in the global financial system has exacerbated the credit crunch, further limiting the availability of credit to private and institutional apartment investors. But despite the roller coaster ride on Wall Street that sent global stock market indices on a downward spiral, the Federal Reserve’s announcement that it would infuse $250 billion into the nation’s largest financial institutions, coupled with its decision to bail out government-sponsored entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, could spur a recovery by as early as late 2009. Tighter lending standards will prevail in the foreseeable future, and spreads are expected to remain volatile through the…

Occupancy rates for student housing properties have remained strong, but the credit crunch has stemmed the tide of deals.Cap rates on student housing properties have risen from 50 to 100 basis points recently, according to Patton Jones, managing director of the national student housing group for Apartment Realty Advisors. Where cap rates were typically in the 6 percent range, they are now approximately 6.5 percent for top-tier, well-located properties, and in the 7 percent range for an average property at a smaller school.While potential buyers are able to obtain debt by way of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac financing, many…

Four months after it first announced it was buying 29 communities from Health Care REIT Inc. for $299 million, Emeritus Corp. has completed the second part of the transaction with the acquisition of the last 10 assisted living communities for approximately $77.2 million. All the communities had been operated by Emeritus under long-term leases. With the second closing, Emeritus now owns 29 assisted living communities for seniors with a total of 2,257 units. This acquisition comprised 693 units in 10 communities for $77.2 million, excluding financing and closing costs. The financing for the second transaction consists of $56.4 million of…