As competition intensifies among apartment developers, Minneapolis-based Schafer Richardson has financing in place and is ready to start construction in May on Third North, a 204-unit apartment project in downtown Minneapolis.

The $38 million market-rate project calls for new construction on a site at 800 N. Third St., where the developer would raze an existing industrial building.

Maureen Michalski, a project manager with Schafer Richardson, said that the developer has put together financing including a mortgage insured by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Michalski said that lenders and investors are still bullish for multifamily projects.

“We have all of our private equity lined up for the deal as well,” Michalski said. “People seem to be more interested in putting their money in the market.”

Michalski said that financing is being arranged by CBRE HMF Inc., part of Los Angeles-based CBRE Group Inc. Michalski said that Schafer Richardson expects to start construction on the project in May, with completion set for September 2013.

The North Loop area of downtown Minneapolis, home to the Target Field baseball stadium, has been a draw for apartment developers.

At one closely watched project, the former Jaguar car dealership at 222 Hennepin Ave., developers say that they’re getting close to starting. Ryan Companies US Inc. and the Excelsior Group, both based in Minneapolis, have a joint venture to redevelop the site with 287 apartments anchored by a grocery store.

“We’re getting real close,” Mark Schoening, a senior vice president with Ryan Companies, said of the project.

Developers began construction in November on a 100-unit project at 701 Second St. N. The project is a joint venture between Eden Prairie based-TE Miller Development and developer Curt Gunsbury. A formal name for the project has not yet been announced.

“We should be open in August,” said Robb Miller, vice president of TE Miller Development. “I think there’s a lot of depth to the market. The North Loop in particular is an area that I think can absorb a lot of units.”

Miller said that rents in the building would be above $2 per square foot, like many of the newer apartment buildings. He said that rents would start at $1,100 per month for studios and would be more than $2,000 per month for two-bedroom units. Michalski said that rents at Third North would also be about $2 per square foot.

Finance & Commerce has been tracking the local apartment development pipeline. Currently, Finance & Commerce has tallied about 10,000 new apartment units under construction or proposed across the Twin Cities.

Observers have started to question how many new projects the Twin Cities can support, particularly at the steep rental rates demanded by the costs of new construction. There’s general agreement that not every proposed project will be built.

“I think there’s still some uncertainly about some of the proposed developments,” Michalski said.

“I think that the first few projects that go up are going to do well. I think there’s definitely a need for some of that product downtown,” said Herb Tousley, director of the Shenehon Center for Real Estate at the University of St. Thomas. “I know that they’ve done studies and they’ve demonstrated that there’s demand downtown.”

Minneapolis-based Marquette Advisors reported apartment vacancy across the Twin Cities at 2.3 percent at the end of September. But in downtown Minneapolis, Marquette Advisors reported a vacancy rate of just 1 percent. Marquette Advisors reported the average rent for a local apartment at $925 per month at the end of the third quarter, but reported an average rent of $1,230 per month for downtown Minneapolis.

While financing deals today requires more equity from developers than it did in the past, deals are getting done. Daniel Trebil, a senior director with Bloomington-based NorthMarq Capital, said that he’s seeing lenders provide loans in the range of 65 percent to 80 percent of the total project costs today. He noted that lenders are particularly focused on doing deals with experienced teams and project developers.

“There’s a heavy reliance by the banks on the sponsorship,” Trebil said. “Underwriting a sponsor is every bit as important as underwriting the deal itself.”

Trebil noted that part of the current development climate is being driven by the relative lack of new apartment construction in the recent past.

“We haven’t had a lot of supply come online here over the last decade,” Trebil said. “Clearly there’s some room to add units.”

Michalski said that new apartment projects in the area are varied enough to attract a range of residents. Schafer Richardson also has plans for a smaller, 44-unit apartment project – a conversion of the historic Cameron Building at 756 N. 4^th St. in the North Loop area of Minneapolis.

“There’s some competition…there’s plenty of room still in the market,” Michalski said.

Source: Burl Gilyard, Finance and Commerce, January 26, 2012

What’s more, “first-time” delinquencies -- loans that have never been delinquent before -- made up only a quarter of all new delinquencies, which LPS says is a sign of an “improving trend for new problem loans.” 

Overall, about 4 million loans are 90 days or more delinquent or in foreclosure, shrinking to 2008 levels. 

There’s still a long way to go, however. Of the nearly 46 million loans that were current by the end of August, 23 percent were still at high risk of defaulting, LPS notes. 

“August results showed an all-time high in the number of loans shifting from foreclosure back into delinquent status, suggesting that process reviews and potential loss mitigation activity are continuing,” LPS noted in a public statement. “As a result, foreclosure timelines continue to increase, with the average loan in foreclosure having been delinquent for a record 611 days.” 

According to LPS, the states with the highest percentage of loans in delinquency or foreclosure are:

• Florida
• Mississippi
• Nevada
• New Jersey 
• Illinois

Source: Melissa Dittmann Tracey for REALTOR® Magazine Daily News

His remarks come at a time when more than 6.3 million homes are 30 days or more behind on their mortgage payments or in foreclosure, according to Lender Processing Services. 

The Fed has taken steps that have been keeping mortgage rates hovering at or near record lows in recent weeks, but with unemployment still high, Bernanke said that record-low interest rates don’t seem to be helping the housing crisis.  

During the speech, Bernanke called long-term unemployment a “national crisis.” About 6.2 million Americans, or 45.1 percent of all unemployed, have been jobless for more than six months — a total that is at its highest point since the Great Depression, HousingWire reports in citing government stats. 

"Clearly getting more money into the hands of home owners who spend it could help to fuel GDP growth," Eric Rosengren, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, said in remarks on Wednesday. "This would reduce one of the impediments to a more significant effect from the monetary policy actions taken to date."

Source: “Bernanke Calls for More Housing Help from Washington,” HousingWire (Sept. 28, 2011)

The number of U.S. homes that receiving an initial default notice rose 33 percent in August from July. That increase represents the biggest monthly gain in four years, according to RealtyTrac.

"This is really the first time we've seen a significant increase in the number of new foreclosure actions," says Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at RealtyTrac. "It's still possible this is a blip, but I think it's much more likely we're seeing the beginning of a trend here."

The uptick in foreclosure activity follows after months of a slowdown in foreclosures, which started last fall, with banks reviewing foreclosure policies and paperwork after facing lawsuits and criticism over how they processed foreclosures. Some banks even temporarily halted their foreclosures as they more carefully reviewed pending cases. The slowdown was also blamed on court delays in some states.

But some housing experts say the increase in foreclosure activity actually could be good for the housing market. A faster turnaround in foreclosures could help clear the glut of shadow inventory hovering over the market, which many say has caused home values to plummet.

The “bloated foreclosure pipeline now presents the greatest obstacle to a housing market recovery," said Josh Levin, a Citi analyst. About 3.7 million more homes are in some stage of foreclosure than in a normal housing market, Levin said.

Banks are on track to repossess about 800,000 homes this year — down from more than 1 million last year, Sharga said.

Overall, 228,098 U.S. homes — or one in every 570 U.S. households — received a foreclosure-related notice in August, a 7 percent increase from July. However, that represents a 33 percent decline from August 2010.

Source: “Report: Mortgage Default Warnings Spiked in August, Signaling Potential New Foreclosure Wave,” Associated Press (Sept. 15, 2011)

Foreclosure Notices Drop, Threat Still Looms

Overall, the number of homes repossessed by lenders in the first half of this year dropped 30 percent compared to the same period in 2010. But foreclosure processing delays — with lenders taking longer to take action against delinquent borrowers — is stalling the housing recovery, experts note.

About 1.2 million homes received a foreclosure-related notice in the first six months of this year — in other words, one in every 111 U.S. households, RealtyTrac reports.

Nevada continues to face the most foreclosures; one in every 21 households in that state received a foreclosure notice in the first half of the year.

The foreclosure process continues to lengthen too. From April and June, homes took 318 days on average to go from the first stage of foreclosure to ultimately where it was repossessed by the lender — that’s up from 298 days in the first three months of the year. (In New York, the foreclosure process took the longest at an average of 966 days or 2.6 years; Texas boasted the shortest at 92 days.)

Source: “Delays in Bank Processing Push Likely U.S. Foreclosures Until 2012, Stalling Recovery,” Associated Press (July 14, 2011)

Kaczynski masterminded several bombings between 1978 and 1995. He opposed technology, so the property isn’t served by power, water, or sewer lines. Kaczynski’s cabin was removed by the FBI as evidence.

John Pistelak Realty in Lincoln, Mont., who has the listing, advertises it as “secluded," while urging, “Don’t miss this one!”

Source: Christian Science Monitor, Laura Forbes (12/5/2010)

On the House side where lenders are expected to appear before the Financial Services Committee on Thursday, U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus, an Alabama Republican and next year’s front-runner for chair of the panel, has criticized federal regulators instead of bankers. “It is disappointing that the regulators didn't catch this before the media,” he wrote in an e-mail.

Outsiders see only gridlock. "I have no hopes for this Congress whatsoever," said John Taylor, president of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition.

Source: Reuters News, Dave Clarke and Joe Rauch (11/15/2010)

There are many ways to restructure the system.  Here are the four that have the most support:

1. Fully Private System. Eliminate Fannie and Freddie and let private lenders take over.  The problem is that the market for mortgage backed securities issued without government backing is small - perhaps non-existent until the market stabilizes.

2. Semi-Private System. Disolve Fannie and Freddie and turn their function over to private companies that would pay for the right to issue government backed mortgage securities. Small banks object to this because it would inevitably increase the role of the "big four." (The four largest banks in the U.S.)

3. Hybrid System: Fannie and Freddie would compete against other companies that would also offer government backed securities.

4. Government Run System: Fannie and Freddie would become part of the government.  This is unpopular because it would expand the governments already large role and increase our federal debt.

Source: Associated Press, Alan Ziebel (8/9/2010)

At 5.1%, its unemployment rate is nearly one percentage point below the county rate and more than four points below the national average. It helps when you've got 50,000 jobs right in town.

Major employers include Fortune 500 trucking company C.H. Robinson, hearing-aid maker Starkey Labs, and the Minnesota Vikings, whose practice facility and front office are here. As for fiscal strength, Moody's gives the town a perfect AAA bond rating.

While it doesn't have much of a downtown, there's plenty of outer beauty: from gently rolling hills to 17 lakes that residents flock to year-round for swimming and ice skating. Town parks are laced with 125 miles of running, hiking, and biking trails.

No wonder residents rank among the healthiest people in the nation. Add in top-notch schools and safe streets and you've got a place that's tough to beat." -Ismat Mangla 

Source: Money Magazine

WASHINGTON June 29 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday approved giving extra time to homebuyers trying to get a popular federal tax credit by the end of the month.

The House backed a measure to extend the closing deadline to Sept. 30 for buyers who met the April 30 deadline to have a signed contract. The current deadline requires those buyers to close the transaction by June 30 to receive the $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers.

Source: Reuters.com