According to a Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) survey, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 3.87%, the lowest rate since MBA started the survey, while the 30-year fixed-rate jumbo loan (greater than $417,500) fell to 4.13%, also the lowest in the survey’s history. Meanwhile, says NationalMortgageNews, applications to refinance loans …
In a Q&A session at Washington, D.C.’s Economic Club, Berkshire Hathaway’s Chairman Warren Buffett said there will not be another recession “unless events in Europe develop in some way that spills over here big-time,” according to BloombergNews. Responding to questions posed by David Rubenstein, co-CEO of Carlyle Group LP, the …
The National Association of Home Builders showed up 700 strong on Capitol Hill Wed., June 6, 2012, to implore Congress to get the homebuilding industry back on track. Specifically, builders asked for the restoration of credit flow for new housing production; the reform of GSEs to ensure a federal backstop …
CNNMoney tells us the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P notched their best gains of 2012 on investors’ hopes that more stimulus may be in the pipeline to push the markets higher. The Dow gained 2.37 percent, 286.84 points, to close at 12,414.79. The Nasdaq rose 2.40 percent to …
Dow Spikes, Housing Composite and Several Housing Stocks Follow Suit Read More
The Manufactured Housing Association for Regulatory Reform (MHARR) tells MHProNews.com Housing and Urban Development (HUD) statistics show production of HUD Code homes rose to 4,630 homes in April 2012, a 17.4 percent increase over April 2011 production of 3,944 homes, marking nine months of consecutive industry growth. The top ten …
In a story MHProNews.com has been following for over a year, voters in Oceanside, California overwhelmingly voted down Proposition E which would gradually eliminate rent control in the city’s 17 MHCs. City council Councilman Jerry Kern, who championed eliminating the rent control measure that has been in effect since 1984, …
The RepublicanHerald reports from Schuylkill County in Pennsylvania that Pine Grove Manufactured Homes Inc. has asked the Schuylkill County Court to reduce the fair market and assessed value of its property that was damaged by the floods of Sept. 2011, forcing the company to close the facility and move production …
According to HousingWire, the U.S. Census Bureau’s report on “Characteristics of New Housing for 2011” indicates the housing market may be slowly stabilizing. Twenty percent of all new single-family homes were financed by an FHA-insured loan, five percent less than in 2010, and four percent less than 2009. Conventional loans …
Good news from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) noting an increase in new orders was tempered by Spain’s rocky banking system and Greece’s possible departure from the Eurozone, leading to a minor gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. CNNMoney tells us the Dow gained 26.49 points, +0.22 percent, …
Speaking to the American Real Estate & Urban Economics Association, special adviser to the Treasury secretary Michael Stegman, noting the restructuring of GSEs to allow private investors to share the risks of Fannie and Freddie MBS (mortgage-backed securities), says: “We believe that this initiative could help support our broader efforts …
HousingWire reports CoreLogic says April home prices rose a mere 1.1% over last April, but it is the second year-over-year increase in 2012. Overall home prices have risen 2.2% April over March of this year; excluding distressed sales April grew 2.6% over March, and 1.9% above last April. Anand Nallathambi, …
The NewHavenRegister says the Ryder Woods Mobile Home Park in Milford, Connecticut was moved in 2005 to make way for a WalMart, and the developer paid fairly and squarely to move the 200 families. Three years ago the Ryder family re-purchased the community to make sure it would never have …
Earl and Ruth Fredrickson own E&R Mini Storage in Kenyon, Minnesota and live in a two story house on the property. ExtraStorage says they sold the perfectly good house for a dollar and the new owner is moving it to another lot. The Fredrickson’s have bought a one-story modular house …
TheGlobeandMail tells MHProNews.com from Canada Quebec-based modular manufacturer Pro-Fab has acquired Guildcrest Building Corporation, a Morewood, Ontario modular home producer. Pro-Fab is actually part of Chicago-based Wynnchurch Capital, a private equity fund management company that had previously opened a Toronto office in 2009. Guildcrest has provided homes for first nations …
MarketWatch reports Chicago-based Green Courte Partners, LLC announces the acquisition from CRF Communities of Plantation Landings, an MHC in Haines city Florida. The four-star 394 home site age-restricted community is fully leased, MHProNews.com has learned. In 2009, Green Courte’s second fund, Green Courte Real Estate Partners ll, LLC, purchased Royal …
RoyalGazette reports from Bermuda a 100-unit modular housing project will replace 140 year-old United Kingdom-designed barrack style housing if the Progressive Labour Party has its way. The old units are beyond repair with termites, asbestos, leaky pipes, mould, and structural problems. The $36 million project will provide low cost housing …
From semissourian we learn the Cape Girardeau (Missouri) City Council will hold a public hearing at tonight’s (June 4, 2012) meeting to consider rezoning what has been zoned Residential Manufactured Home District (RMH) to Highway Commercial District for an RV/travel trailer park. Mark Rademaker of the Landing Point RV Park …
DigitalJournal tells MHProNews.com Killam Properties, one of the largest MHC owners in Canada, has sold a portfolio of 12 manufactured home communities comprising 2,032 home sites to Canadian Apartment Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (CAPREIT). The transaction increases CAPREIT’s holdings to 14 MHCs and 3,365 home sites. In a related …
SeekingAlpha‘s Tim Plaehn, who has 25 years experience with the stock market, ranks Sun Communities, Inc. as one of the top performing high yield real estate investment trusts (REITs) that is below the radar of the Vanguard REIT Index ETF (exchange-traded fund), which measures the performance of the larger REITs. …
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell under the bus as the U.S. and Europe received weak job reports, and China reported a manufacturing decline. The Dow ended up 100 points below where it closed out 2011 as all three indexes lost over two percent. CNNMoney reports the Dow plunged -274.88 …
