Archive for June, 2007

Burj Dubai, The 143 Story Tower and World’s Tallest Building

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!The Burj Dubai is soon to be christened the worlds tallest building when it comes online in December of 2008. The 143 story building is already at 132 stories or 480 meters in height. When completed the building will […]

27Jun2007 | Tom Royce | 0 comments | Continued

Appraisal Institute Spokesman Alan Hummel Blames Inflated Appraisal Numbers On Mortgage Brokers

“Hitting the Numbers” is all because of the evil mortgage brokers according to the spokesman for the Appraisal Institute Alan Hummel. Hummel speaking to a Senate subcommittee on mortgage abuse tried to deflect the huge amount of over-inflated appraisals back on the mortgage companies as if the appraisers have no responsibility for the unethical work.
To me […]

27Jun2007 | Tom Royce | 9 comments | Continued

Alt-A Delinquencies For 2006 Loans More Than 4 Times Higher Than 2004 Loans

The Alt-A mortgage loans that were written in 2006 are showing a high level of bad loans according to a report today in Inman News. The default rate on these loans is nearly 4 and a half times higher than similar loans made in 2004.
People wonder what happened to the lending environment last year […]

26Jun2007 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | Continued

Lennar Announces Huge Loss of 244 Million for 2nd Quarter 2007

Lennar Home Builders has announced their earnings today and it was ugly.
The company’s total home deliveries were down 28% from last year, while new orders fell 31%. Moving ahead, Lennar anticipates the downturn in the market to continue. The company also expects to be in a loss position in the third quarter.
My question […]

26Jun2007 | Tom Royce | 3 comments | Continued

Goldman Sachs Buying Equity Inns

Goldman Sach’s Real Estate Fund Whithall has agreed to purchase Equity Inns Inc. for a reported 2.2 billion dollars including assumption of debt in the deal. The real estate fund has offered a 19 percent premium for the shares of Equity at 23 dollars a share.
Equity Inns owns 130 properties across the county, mostly […]

26Jun2007 | Tom Royce | 0 comments | Continued

Vermont Real Estate Market Slowing Down

Vermont’s run as the last hot housing market in New England is coming to an end according to experts in the state. The market has sustained when most of New England’s real estate sales slumped drastically. Now we all know Vermont is it’s own entity and the real estate sales may have been propped up […]

26Jun2007 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | Continued

Northern Florida Second Home Sales Down

This story is telling of how the secondary and vacation home markets may be slowing across the country. North East Florida typically gets a big boost when the Players Championship (golf) and the Isle of Eight Flags Festival come to town. These events bring many northerners with deep pockets who tend to buy local real […]

26Jun2007 | Tom Royce | 1 comment | Continued

Sentinel RE Corp Buying America First Apartment Investors

The New York Based Sentinel Real Estate Corp. is buying the REIT America First Apartment Investors for 532 million dollars and assuming the debt of the former REIT. The Omaha based company is selling to Sentinel at a 12.2 percent premium.
These deals are coming quickly as the buyout firms in New York have a […]

26Jun2007 | Tom Royce | 0 comments | Continued

Bad Real Estate Photography - And Where To Find It

There are so many sources for how to do a great job, but often times how not to do something is also a great learning tool. That is by takeaway from EKDAY’s (Every Kid Deserves a Yard) new site Bad MLS Picture of the Day.

They have a daily MLS picture that you can rate and […]

25Jun2007 | Tom Royce | 4 comments | Continued

May 2007 Home Sales Figures Show Tough Real Estate Market Nationwide

The National Association of Realtors released the May, 2007 home sales numbers and they looked bleak for most of the country. The key numbers from my perspective is that we have a huge inventory overhang of 8–9 months.
Tougher lending standards and excessive inventory means that there is not going to be enough money or […]

25Jun2007 | Tom Royce | 0 comments | Continued