From the monthly archives:

September 2011

Lennar Names Former Morgan Stanley Exec As President Of Rialto Capital

September 29, 2011
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Tweet Lennar Corp. has named former Morgan Stanley executive Jay Mantz as president of its real estate investment management company. Mantz comes to the company’s Rialto Capital Managment after 18 years with Morgan Stanley. He ran the investment bank’s real estate investing business from 2000 to 2005 and was subsequently named global co-head of Morgan [...]

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Mortgage Applications Rise, Purchases Up

September 29, 2011
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Tweet Applications for home mortgages rose sharply last week, with the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Market Composite Index jumping 9.3%, seasonally adjusted, from a week earlier, the MBA said. “Mortgage rates declined last week, at least partially in response to the Fed’s announcement that they would shift their portfolio towards longer-term Treasury securities, and that they [...]

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Home Prices Climb For Fourth Straight Month

September 29, 2011
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Tweet According to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller home price index of 120 major cities, prices rose 0.9% in July compared with June, but they’re still 4.1% lower than 12 months ago. A handful of cities have shown surprising strength recently. Minneapolis prices increased 2.6% and Washington recorded a 2.4% rise. S&P spokesman David Blitzer cited some [...]

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Shadow Inventory Falling Nationally

September 29, 2011
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Tweet Residential shadow inventory fell slightly to 1.6 million units in July compared with a year earlier, according to national data. That figure, representing a supply of five months, is down from 1.9 million, or a six-month supply in July 2010, according to CoreLogic. Shadow inventory is homes that lenders have foreclosed on, but have [...]

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Three Reasons To LOVE The Slowdown

September 29, 2011
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Tweet Fear and loathing usually create opportunities for bargain hunters with enough cash, credit, and Pepto-Bismol to ride out short-term queasiness. It’s not just with stocks. You can take advantage of historically low mortgage rates and rising rents to make headway in this real estate market, or you can simply borrow money more effectively than [...]

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Eight Lennar Models To Be Featured in Raleigh-Wake County Parade Of Homes

September 29, 2011
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Tweet Lennar has eight model homes featured in this year’s Wake County Parade of Homes, one of the nation’s largest judged Parade of Homes featuring more than 200 locations this fall. Whether looking to purchase a new home or for decorating tips, those attending the 48th annual Parade of Homes will be able to feast [...]

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Tampa: Home Construction Solid At Live Oak Preserve

September 29, 2011
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Tweet A couple years ago, Live Oak Preserve was without an owner and its residents flummoxed about slumping home values. A lot has changed since then. Now, the subdivision nestled up to Bruce B. Downs Boulevard just south of County Line Road is one of the fastest selling communities in the Tampa region. New homes [...]

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Durham, North Carolina: Model At Lennar’s The Meadows At Ravenstone To Be Featured In Local Parade Of Homes

September 29, 2011
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Tweet The Remington model at Lennar’s The Meadows at Ravenstone will be featured in this year’s Home Builders Association of Durham, Chatham and Orange Counties Parade of Homes, featuring more than 40 locations this fall. Lennar’s The Meadows at Ravenstone is located at 406 Ravenstone Lane in Durham near the intersection of Sherron Road and [...]

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Will The Fed’s New Policies Revitalize The Housing Market?

September 26, 2011
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Tweet To speed this recovery up – or to prevent a double dip – it might be up to the Federal Reserve. Last week it announced its latest attempt to revitalize the economy. The major target for all of the Fed’s new action appears to be the U.S. housing market. Both Operation Twist and the [...]

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Economic Recovery Still Depends On Housing, Says Wells Fargo Economist

September 26, 2011
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Tweet Mark Vitner is firmly in the camp of economists who can’t envision a turnaround in America’s economy without a sustained rebound within its housing industry. “Until housing recovers, the economy will have a hard time growing beyond 2%,” said Vitner, a senior economist with Wells Fargo Securities, who offered his economic overview last Friday [...]

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