Atlanta
The 150-unit Lodge at BridgeMill, Cherokee County’s largest rental property for people over 55, will open this September, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The development will serve one of the fastest-growing demographics in the county — according to the Atlanta Regional Commission, the area’s over-55 population, currently estimated at 29,000, will reach nearly 100,000 by the year 2030.
Boston
Though the median price for a condominium in downtown Boston rose 4 percent to $479,000 in the first quarter compared to the same period a year ago, the number of sales dropped 8 percent. Areas showing the largest decreases in sales included South End, Fenway and the waterfront, the Boston Globe reported. Apartment buyers are gravitating to larger, higher-end units while forgoing smaller ones. The number of two- and three-bedroom sales rose compared to the first quarter of 2006, and sales of one-bedrooms dropped by 28 percent, with studio sales showing a decline as well.
Chicago
Chicago apartment rents are expected to rise anywhere between 2 and 11.5 percent this spring, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The increase would have a significant impact, as 57 percent of Chicago-area residents are renters. The Chicagoland Apartment Association, a trade organization for landlords, said the jump was a result of five years of increasing operating costs without corresponding rent increases. Rent increases could also be due to more renters in the city as a result of job growth, rental inventory lost to recent condominium conversions and scarcity of new rental construction. But with an estimated 1,700 new rental units expected to come online by spring 2008, the rent hikes could be short lived.
The number of housing units within one block of the Chicago River has risen 85 percent from 5,576 to 10,332 between 1996 and 2006, and it is expected to grow more. An increase of 22 percent is projected by the end of 2009, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. New condo and rental developments under construction include the 17-building, 4,950-unit Lakeshore East complex along Randolph Street. Another project, the River East complex in Streeterville, consists of seven high-rise residential buildings, with six more in the works.
Las Vegas
Industrial development in Las Vegas is going strong, with 4.5 million square feet of space under construction in the first quarter of 2007. The growth follows high demand, as industrial vacancy was under 4 percent for the third straight quarter, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. A new 513,000-square-foot project by developer DP Partners is the largest speculative industrial building in the valley. The majority of the 672,488 square feet of industrial construction completed in the past quarter was in North Las Vegas and the southwest valley.
Home repossessions by banks are on the rise in the Las Vegas housing market, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. Repossessions accounted for 402 of the 3,175 existing home closings in March, or 13 percent. This number is up from 9 percent in January and February. While overall sales are slowing considerably, prices are relatively stable. New home sales were down 43.2 percent to 5,264 in the first quarter compared to a year ago, and existing home sales fell 20 percent to 8,539. But the median price for new homes was up 4 percent in the first quarter to $324,035, while the median price for existing homes dropped only 0.3 percent to $280,667.
MGM Mirage is spending $575 million in two land acquisitions on the north Strip that were expected to close last month. MGM was to purchase 25.8 acres from Gordon Gaming Corp. for $444 million, and 7.6 acres from Concord Wilshire Partners for $131 million, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The two sites are adjacent to MGM’s 68-acre Circus Circus complex, which will soon be renovated. MGM Mirage will own more than 100 contiguous acres on the north Strip, a site that could potentially support a bigger development than MGM’s own 66-acre, $7 billion Project CityCenter under construction on the south Strip.
Los Angeles
Tougher lending standards and a drop in the number of subprime mortgages are contributing to a decrease in Los Angeles home sales, the Los Angeles Times reported. Sales were down 4.6 percent in March from a year ago, though the median price rose 2.6 percent to $571,110. Sales of existing homes were down 8.4 percent from the previous month, the sharpest month-to-month decline since January 1989. Homes in Los Angeles Country remained on the market an average of 54 days in March, up from 36 days a year earlier. According to brokers, the slowdown is mostly affecting the market in the $550,000 to $10 million range; the starter-home and highest-end markets remain healthy.
In response to large profit drops in the last year, at least two mortgage lenders in the greater Los Angeles area, Countrywide Financial Corp. and IndyMac Bancorp, are now requiring higher credit scores, larger down payments and better documentation of borrowers’ incomes. First-quarter profits were down 37 percent for Countrywide compared to last year, from $684 to $434 million. IndyMac saw a 34 percent drop, from $79.8 to $52.4 million, largely because of risky subprime lending policies. Countrywide plans to reduce zero-down payment mortgages to account for 3 percent of its total loans, compared to 25 percent last quarter. The company also plans to lower its proportion of subprime mortgages to between 4 and 6 percent this year from 8 percent last year, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Philadelphia
A trend that has migrated from New York City to Philadelphia’s Chinatown is the sale of ground-floor retail condos in residential buildings. Parkway Corp.’s Pearl Condominiums at 8th and Arch streets, slated to be completed in several months, will be one such mixed-use project. All 10 first-floor retail units and 75 of the 90 residential units in the six-story building have already been sold, the Philadelphia Daily News reported.
Existing-home sales in Philadelphia were down 5.3 percent in the first quarter of 2007 compared to the same time last year, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Homes are staying on the market longer as well, but the median price is still on the rise, up 3.5 percent to $133,000 in the first quarter from $128,500 last year.
Phoenix
A big New York City developer is heading to Phoenix with a massive mixed-use project. The Related Companies, in conjunction with Thomas J. Klutznick Company and JER Partners, has announced plans to build a 144-acre urban development in Phoenix’s Northeast Valley, to be called CityNorth. The joint venture has acquired $379 million in financing to begin construction of the first phase of the project, known as the High Street district, which is expected to open in fall 2008. It will contain 290,000 square feet of retail and restaurants, 305,000 square feet of offices and 410,000 square feet of residential space. The second phase, slated to open in November 2009, will contain more than 200,000 square feet of retail. An additional phase will include a five-star hotel, spa and health club.
San Francisco
In the Bay Area, 6,730 homeowners defaulted on their mortgage payments in the first quarter, up 160 percent from last year, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Default notices in San Francisco proper were up more than 67 percent, to 216 from 129 last year. The Bay Area’s wealthier residents and higher-priced homes have protected it from the statewide spike in foreclosures, and 60 percent of homeowners who receive default notices are able to avoid foreclosure, according to analysts. California’s foreclosure figures spiked to 11,033 in the first quarter from 1,223 in the same period a year ago, an 802 percent increase.
Washington, D.C.
Approval for the construction of the two tallest buildings in the Washington, D.C., area is in its final stages, according to the Washington Post. JBG Companies plans to erect the buildings — a 31-story, 388-foot office building with ground-floor retail, as well as a 30-story, 350-unit residential building — in Rosslyn, Va., across the river from Georgetown University. While the plans were recently approved by the Arlington County Board, they still need to clear the Federal Aviation Administration, which deemed the towers a possible hazard for planes flying into and out of nearby Reagan National Airport.