Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Housing News Digest, September 20

Housing Starts decline in August
Housing Starts:
Privately-owned housing starts in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 571,000. This is 5.0 percent (±10 6%)* below the revised July estimate of 601,000 and is 5.8 percent (±12.0%)* below the August 2010 rate of 606,000.

Single-family housing starts in August were at a rate of 417,000; this is 1.4 percent (±10.3%)* below the revised July figure of 423,000. The August rate for units in buildings with five units or more was 148,000.

M.D.C. Holdings Announces Notice of Redemption of all Outstanding 7.0% Senior Notes
DENVER, Sept. 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: MDC) today announced that it will redeem all of its outstanding 7.0% Senior Notes due 2012 (the "2012 Notes"), which total $86.3 million, on October 19, 2011. The Notes will be redeemed at a redemption price that will include a premium based on the present values of the remaining scheduled payments on the Notes as described in the indenture, together with accrued and unpaid interest on the Notes to the redemption date of October 19, 2011.

Hines building at Interlocken
Hines, the international real estate company, has began construction of a 186,000-square-foot office facility at the Interlocken Business Park in Broomfield.

Continental Realty Advisors buys apartments
Continental Realty Advisors (CRA) of Denver bought a 355-unit apartment complex near Louisville, Ky., for $25 million, according to a news release Monday.

The company, which owns multifamily housing properties nationwide, plans $4 million in upgrades to the complex, called Jamestown at St. Matthews. The property will be added to its CRA-B1 Investment Fund.

On the bright side, building permits are up
Permits for news construction increased in August, government data showed on Tuesday, offering a glimmer of light in otherwise gloomy numbers for housing starts.

The Commerce Department reported that building permits hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 620,000 last month, up 3.2 percent from a revised rate of 601,000 in July.

But the report overall was a bummer for those seeking a rebound in real estate, which (along with more jobs) would be a necessary ingredient to help resuscitate the overall economy.