The sudden jump of existing home sales in the U.S. in August was probably a fluke, according to CNBC, and evidence suggests sales will decrease back to shaky levels next month.
Sales rose 7.7 percent month-over-month in August, but brokers say its largely because of delayed sales from the spring. The data reflects signings that may have taken place in May and June, before the global economic turmoil resurfaced in August.
And don’t look for the trend to continue. Consumer confidence has dipped and the new conforming loan limit means fewer buyers will have access to financing. [more]

Most of the newcomers that rushed into the New York City real estate market during the boom have all but disappeared, the Wall Street Journal reported, making banks nervous to lend to first-time developers.
The banks “have set the bar too high for small developers to participate this time in the market,” said veteran developer Adam Gordon. “The opportunities for a fresh face without a large balance sheet are extremely limited without funding, which is the oxygen for these projects.”
It has always been somewhat unusual for young people to fly solo on small independent projects, the Journal said, but it’s become almost impossible. “If they all define themselves linearly, as putting together an equity fund and building a boutique building…then you’ve created clones who only know how to think one way,” said James Stuckey, dean of NYU’s Schack Institute of Real Estate, of his students. [more]

Financing for New York City real estate projects is back. Of the top 35 deals done in the last 12 months, 24 were refinancing and nine were new loans taken out of acquisitions, according to Crain’s. The largest deal was an $800 million refinancing of 245 Park Avenue, between 46th and 47th streets, for which Brookfield Asset Management and ING Clarion tapped the Bank of China in September 2010. It was followed closely by Boston Properties’ $700 million loan from MetLife for the Citigroup Center at 153 East 53rd Street, between Third and Lexington avenues, in March 2011, and a $650 million refinancing of One Bryant Park between 42nd and 43rd streets in June last year by Bank of America. [more]

It may be hard to believe, but lenders are now actually sending letters of intent to provide construction financing. Construction financing, perhaps the riskiest type of mortgage financing, is available in the tri-state region for rent-regulated and other multi-family buildings. It even exists for condominium projects (and yes, I did say “condominium”).

Gino Martocci, president of the New York City and Long Island region of M&T Bank, said: “We have and continue to provide construction financing for well-capitalized clients. We are in the process of providing construction financing for a brand new hotel in the Union Square neighborhood.” Another established developer who prefers to remain anonymous, who is in the process of building a rental building off Fifth Avenue on the Upper East Side, told me that 10 financial institutions have expressed interest in the development. [more]

The Real Deal‘s Alex Ulam spoke to WNYC’s Richard Hake today about one-stop shops, businesses that provide real estate salespeople, financing, inspections and home appraisal through one company. A high percentage of homes sold through New York City’s one-stop shops end up in foreclosure. Ulam discussed how he found out about the problem; where homebuyers find one-stop shops, which are particularly prevalent in outer borough neighborhoods; and how these all-in-one real estate companies inflate neighborhood prices. Ulam explored these companies in The Real Deal’s June 2008 issue.
 

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