Real Estate

Real Estate News - cleveland.com

• New home sales up 2.3% in April
  Sales of new homes rose in April to the second highest level since the summer of 2008 while the median price for a new home hit a record high, further signs that housing is recovering.
  
  
• Rate on 30-year mortgages rises to 3.59%
  Average rates on fixed mortgage rose for the third straight week, hitting their highest levels since mid-March. Still, mortgage rates remained close to historic lows, a trend that should help sustain the housing recovery.
  
  
• Home sales keep rising in Northeast Ohio, nationwide, but inventory concerns persist
  Northeast Ohio house sales rose 15.9 percent from April 2012, while condo sales posted a 13 percent annual gain. Prices continue to creep up.
  
  
• Stern Advertising will move to Cleveland's Ernst & Young Tower from Pepper Pike
  The advertising agency, which will lease 14,000 square feet on the tower's seventh floor, is the first suburban tenant to announce a deal at the Ernst & Young Tower.
  
  
• Forest City explores sale, joint venture prospects for Tower City shopping, two office buildings
  Forest City has hired investment bankers to market the Avenue shopping mall, Post Office Plaza and the Skylight Office Tower at Tower City to potential buyers and investors. Terminal Tower is not part of the package.
  
  
• Housing starts fell in April but permits surged
  U.S. builders broke ground on fewer homes in April, one month after topping the 1 million mark for the first time since 2008. But most of the decline was in apartment construction, which tends to vary sharply from month to month.
  
  
• Mace strikes agreement with EPA over Vermont operations, ending federal contract ban
  The pepper-spray company, which is moving to Cleveland, has spent several years working through environmental issues at its production facility in Vermont.
  
  
• Trailside development could bring 95 new homes to Cleveland's hard-hit Slavic Village
  The homes at Trailside Slavic Village will be priced between $126,000 and $132,000 and will carry 15-year tax abatement.
  
  
• DDR Corp. to buy Blackstone's 95 percent stake in 30 shopping centers for $1.46 billion
  The deal, set to close late this year, includes two Northeast Ohio properties -- Great Northern Plaza and Belden Park Crossings.
  
  
• Townhouse project in Cleveland's University Circle bucks recent trend toward apartments
  Bluewater Capital Partners of Cleveland plans to build 20 townhouses on 0.7 acres along East 118th Street. The project, University Place Townhomes, would be the fifth new residential development on the street since 2007.
  
  
• Mace Security International, maker of pepper sprays, will move its headquarters to Cleveland's Midtown
  Mace has signed a 10-year lease on a Carnegie Avenue building and hopes to move its offices there in August, with manufacturing to follow. The publicly traded maker of pepper spray is led by a Northeast Ohio CEO and controlled by a local investment firm.
  
  
• Home building is surging, but job growth isn't
  U.S. builders and the subcontractors they depend on are struggling to hire fast enough to meet rising demand for new homes. Builders would be starting work on more homes -- and contributing more to the economy -- if they could fill more job openings.
  
  
• Average on 30-year US mortgage rises to 3.42%
  Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac says the average rate for the 30-year fixed mortgage edged up to 3.42 percent from 3.35 percent last week. That's still near the average of 3.31 percent reached in November, the lowest on records dating to 1971.
  
  
• Late-payment rate on mortgages tumbled in first quarter
  A resurgent housing market, rising home values and steady job gains are helping more U.S. homeowners stay on top of their mortgage payments.
  
  
• Grant contest yields 4 new tenants, 1 expansion for 5th Street Arcades in downtown Cleveland
  A coffee shop, a bookstore, a gift shop and a furniture gallery won grants through a Charter One program. The fifth winner, an existing sushi restaurant, is expanding.
  
  
• Clock and watch show coming to Lakeland Community College
  Clock and watch show coming to Lakeland Community College.
  
  
• Home prices up 10.5% in past year
  Core Logic, a real estate data provider, said annual home prices have now increased for 13 straight months. Prices are rising in part because more buyers are bidding on a limited supply of homes for sale.
  
  
• Victory Center project on Cleveland's Health-Tech Corridor nears milestone, with core, shell almost done
  With the outside restored and the inner walls nearly finished, it's easier to see how labs and offices will fit into the Victory Center on Euclid Avenue. But the Midtown project still faces a major hurdle -- finding tenants to fill 150,000 square feet.
  
  
• DDR reports higher FFO on acquisitions and internal growth, strives for blue-chip status
  DDR Corp., based in Beachwood, said funds from operations rose to 26 cents per share, up 24 percent from 21 cents a year before. Funds from operations are the key performance gauge for real estate investment trusts like DDR.
  
  
• Forest City CEO sees salary bump but total pay decline from promotion year: What the Boss Makes
  David LaRue, the chief executive and president at Forest City, received nearly $3.2 million in compensation during the company's 2012 fiscal year. Forest City reported on executive compensation in a proxy filing Tuesday.