Peninsula Publishing is pleased to announce the winners for our awards-themed issues. Please contact Kristen Eichenmuller at keichenmuller@penpubinc.com or Maren Faulkender at mfaulkender@penpubinc.com for more information.
December Builder and Developer
- Irvine Company: Developer of the Year
- Standard Pacific Homes: Builder of the Year
- Ferguson Bath and Kitchen Gallery: Design Center of the Year
Holiday Green Homebuilder
- Pulte Homes: Green Builder of the Year
- Yanonali Court: Green Infill Project of the Year
- Dundee Property by Byrd Development: Green Custom Home of the Year
- 'g' Green Design Center: Green Design Center of the Year
Federal weatherization program lagging in WA state
The Seattle Times
The federal stimulus package allocated $59.5 million to Washington state earlier this year to install energy-efficiency upgrades on low-income homes. But as the frost and fog of late fall settle in, few Washington families have seen the benefit of those dollars. State officials spent between July and November mired in bureaucratic confusion over how to reconcile federal and state wage requirements for workers. During that time, weatherization work was mostly on hold.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/20104459
30-year-mortgage rates slide to their lowest level on record
The Washington Post
The average interest rate for a 30-year mortgage dropped to a record low of 4.71 percent this week, pushed down by an aggressive government campaign to reduce borrowing costs. The rate, published Thursday by Freddie Mac, is the lowest since the mortgage finance company began tracking the data in 1971. The previous record of 4.78 percent was set in April and matched last week.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/cont
Contract Expires at United States Infrastructure Corporation (USIC), For Now CWA Members Will Report to Work
Earth Times
A contract covering nearly 70 United States Infrastructure Corporation workers represented by the Communications Workers of America expired at midnight with many important issues including concessions in wages and work conditions not resolved. The contract originally due to expire on October 31, 2009 was extended through December 4, 2009. The important nature of the services provided, which directly impacts how safe our communities are during commercial and residential construction, is one of the reasons the workers have opted to continue working without a contract.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/contract
Obama eyes bank bailout funds to spur new jobs
CNBC
President Barack Obama will extend his push to revive the U.S. economy next week with a speech outlining job creation ideas, from encouraging home insulation programs to diverting funds meant to rescue failing banks, officials said...The White House has not given specifics of Obama's strategy but U.S. officials said his proposals included incentives to homeowners to make their homes more energy efficient, pushing banks to make more loans to small businesses and possibly tax cuts for companies that add more workers.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/34280375/for/cnbc/
Property taxes will take a dip in 2010
Daily News
For the first time since Proposition 13 was passed in 1978, homeowners in Los Angeles County and statewide will see a slight decrease in their property tax bills next year, thanks to a bit of deflation, officials said Wednesday. Due to an estimated 0.237 percent drop in the national inflation rate, California Board of Equalization officials said 2010 will be the first time such a broad scale reduction in property tax base year values has occurred.
http://www.dailynews.com/search/ci_13922884?IAD
Banks Take Losses on Short Sales as Foreclosures Soar
Bloomberg
Drew Schlosser tried for two years to sell his three-bedroom Punta Gorda, Florida, waterfront condominium for less than he owed on its two mortgages. The deal only went through last month when Wells Fargo & Co. agreed to take a $165,000 loss on the loans.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601014
Help needed for underwater mortgages
San Francisco Chronicle
That's the underlying message from a University of Arizona law professor, whose new paper is hitting a nerve as the nation's housing crisis enters its fourth year. Brent White denies advocating walking away from a mortgage that is bigger than the value of a home. Nonetheless, he lays out a case of how it can be done, and his suggestions have gone viral, popping up online, in newspapers and on television.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009
Headwind For Lenders As Fannie, Freddie Bounce Back Loans
NASDAQ
As home loans sour at a rapid clip, mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE) are aggressively bouncing back defectively underwritten loans to lenders. The result: higher loan-loss reserves for the lenders and new headwind for banks trying to escape the housing downturn. For lenders such as Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), Bank of America Corp. (BAC), J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Citigroup Inc. (C), which are among the largest sellers of mortgages to Fannie and Freddie, this could mean buying back souring loans at a loss.
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx
Austin architect creates ‘Energy Use Pyramid'
Houston Chronicle
Austin architect Peter Pfeiffer had a problem. His clients like the idea of tapping Mother Nature's sun and wind to generate their own electricity...With Pfeiffer's pyramid, icons at the base represent the energy-saving strategies that give the biggest bang for the buck, while the top spot is reserved for the pricey renewables that exceed most budgets.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/realestate/hom
U.S. home buyers' negotiating power falls
CNBC
Home buyers in much of the United States paid thousands of dollars below asking prices in October, but had slightly less negotiating power than in September, real estate website Zillow.com said this week. According to October Zillow Real Estate Market Reports, buyers paid 2.7 percent less, or a median of $5,741 below the listing price on homes bought in October, down from $6,161, or 2.9 percent, less for homes bought in September. Buyers' negotiating power peaked in January, when buyers were paying 4.6 percent less than last listing price, a median of $10,096, Zillow said. Meanwhile, 22.7 percent of all homes listed for sale on Zillow had at least one price reduction as of the end of October, down from 24.7 percent in September.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/34281973/site/14081545/f
Mortgage-Bond Yields Jump to Highest in Month After Jobs Data
Bloomberg
Yields on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage securities climbed to the highest in almost a month amid signs the employment market is improving, signaling that interest rates on new home loans may extend a rebound from record lows. The yield on Washington-based Fannie Mae’s current-coupon 30-year fixed-rate mortgage bonds climbed 0.08 percentage point to 4.25 percent at 4:36 p.m. in New York, the highest since Nov. 11, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601009&
Construction spending edges up in October
San Francisco Chronicle
Construction spending posted a tiny increase in October, the first advance in six months, as a surge in home building offset continued weakness in nonresidential construction. The small gain is a hopeful sign that the key construction sector might be stabilizing, which could provide support for the fledgling economic recovery.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/12
Shares of Homebuilders Rise on Pending Home Sales
New York Times
Shares of homebuilders ticked higher Tuesday as contracts to buy previously occupied homes rose for a ninth straight month. The surge in sales reflects homebuyers' rush to buy before the expected expiration of a federal tax credit of up to $8,000 for first-time buyers on Nov. 30. Last month, the government extended the credit until April 30 and created a credit of up to $6,500 for would-be buyers who have owned their current homes for five years.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/01/business/AP-US
White House ramps up pressure on mortgage industry
Daily News
The Obama administration said Monday it will crack down on mortgage companies that are failing to do enough to help borrowers at risk of foreclosure, as part of a broad effort to ramp up participation in its mortgage assistance program. The Treasury Department said it will withhold payments from mortgage companies that aren't doing enough to make the changes permanent. Officials will monitor the largest mortgage companies through daily progress reports.
http://www.dailynews.com/search/ci_13893660?IADID=
Solar panels causing some storms
Los Angeles Times
When the Spanish Hills Homeowners Assn. said no, Weinberg sued the group. Under the state's Solar Rights Act, he argued, a homeowners association can't unreasonably block solar installations. Weinberg won, and the Spanish Hills Homeowners Assn. was ordered to not only permit the solar panels but to cover the tens of thousands of dollars that Weinberg had spent on legal fees. Since last fall, when he installed a double row of matte black panels, three other homes in the hilltop neighborhood of luxury estates have added panels.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-solar-panels30
Dicey economy hasn't kept consumers from craving bigger homes
Dallas News
A few weeks ago, I took a drive through the neighborhood surrounding Bent Tree Country Club. Back in the 1980s, it was considered one of Dallas' most desired residential areas. But what really caught my eye was the number of huge new houses replacing the ones first built in the late 1970s and 1980s. Most of the homes being knocked down are big, more than 5,000 square feet in some cases. But the '80s suburban spreads are being supplanted by even larger mini manses that mimic European styles.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/columni
Home Sales in October Rose to a 2-Year High
New York Times
Existing-home sales in October rose to the highest level in more than two years, according to a report released Monday, driven by the popularity of a credit for first-time home buyers. The surge far outpaced expectations and nurtured hope that the stubbornly frail housing market might be on the upswing. Sales of existing homes were up 10.1 percent in October to an annual rate of 6.1 million, the National Association of Realtors said in a report.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/24/business/economy/24
Banks take billions but won't bother to help homeowners
Chicago Sun-Times
One out of four homeowners is now under water, owing more on their homes than the homes are worth. Why? The biggest single factor behind the housing crisis is rising unemployment. According to the latest ABC-Washington Post poll, one of every three Americans has either lost their job or lives in a household with someone who has lost a job. Today it takes two and sometimes three incomes to buy the groceries and pay the mortgage or the rent. So if one of those incomes is gone, a homeowner can't make the payment.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/otherviews/1917701,CST-E
Las Vegas' new CityCenter, a big gamble, prepares to open
USA Today
Some of the world's top architects and designers have taken a fresh deck of cards and created a Xanadu on the Las Vegas Strip. CityCenter's half-dozen glass-and-steel towers – including two condo high-rises that lean 5 degrees instead of standing upright – add a futuristic look to this desert destination....Six buildings in the complex already have gold status in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. That's based on a third-party rating for eco-correctness; CityCenter's status is a record in energy-squandering Vegas. (The 400-room Harmon boutique hotel, not due till late next year, isn't LEED-certified yet.)
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2009-11-24-cityce
China pushes solar, wind power development
USA Today
The world's solar companies gathered here recently amid the nation's largest solar market under a brilliant sun – and the looming shadow of China. China leads the world in making solar cells, the key component in solar panels, many of which are exported to the U.S.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/environment/ |
