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05-14-12
The Trepp LLC survey showed spreads widening as much as 15 basis points for no apparent reason we know of except, possibly, the continuing crises in Europe and concerns that the U.S. will catch their flu. Fortunately, money is plentiful with a majority of the widening of spreads offset by the lower yields on 10-year Treasury bonds.
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05-11-12
Panelists at ULI’s Spring Meeting agreed that strategies never considered before are worth considering now in this market in which renting seems to have more appeal than buying. However, George Casey, chief executive officer at Orleans Homebuilders, noted that Orleans is building fewer models and foot traffic is slower per community, but sales are greater.
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05-10-12
ULI members Glenn Grimaldi, executive vice president of HSBC; David D. Clark, senior vice president, Real Estate, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.; and Kevin Pivnick, managing director, Deutsche Bank, all described a healthy mortgage market in which only the long shots are having trouble finding funding these days. In a session titled “Full Court Press on Commercial/Apartment Debt” at ULI's 2012 Spring Meeting, all three described how they each tend to look at potential deals a bit differently.
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05-09-12
Erskine Bowles, former co-chair of the presidential fiscal commission, tells ULI leaders: “If we make tough choices and get our fiscal house in order, America can compete with the best and brightest in the world. But I’m equally confident that if we don’t, this country is on its way to being a second-rate power.”
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05-09-12
Constrained public budgets and a growing recognition at the local level of the importance of infrastructure—combined with lack of action at the federal level—are causing states, regions and cities across the U.S. to seek innovative infrastructure approaches and solutions. Infrastructure 2012: Spotlight on Leadership, released by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and Ernst & Young LLP, looks at an overall decline in infrastructure funding globally, and it focuses on funding solutions underway in the U.S., citing six case studies.
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05-08-12
The intangible benefits of public art are well-known, but often overlooked. Read how public art at two downtown Los Angeles transit-oriented developments came to generate ongoing income for a private developer and local government.
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05-07-12
The top 12 trends in this month’s Barometer highlight a tepid economy, uneven signals in the capital markets, and a housing market on a low simmer. Still, compared with a year ago, 76 percent of the key indicators in the Barometer are better, 1 percent remained the same, and only 23 percent are worse.
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05-07-12
According to the FTSE NAREIT Equity REIT Index, equity REITs produced total returns equal to 2.87 percent in April. The Trepp LLC survey showed spreads flat to widening by 5 basis points over the survey period as all-in costs remain attractive.
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05-03-12
Members of the Young Leaders Group of ULI Orange County/Inland Empire put their skills to work helping those who help the disabled. They offered advice to Guide Dogs of the Desert, a Riverside County, California, nonprofit that pairs service dogs with people who are blind, with a plan for expanding its live-in training campus.
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04-30-12
The Trepp LLC survey showed spreads widening over the past two weeks in response to the yield on 10-year Treasury bonds which narrowed by about 15 basis points. Lending spreads continue to move in a narrow range with overall cost attractive at all maturities and from a wide array of capital sources.