APARTMENT FINANCE TODAY

Christine Serlin, Editor
cserlin@hanleywood.com

Cisneros to Keynote AFTC

In today’s uncertain economic times, it’s more important than ever to find ways to stay ahead of the curve. And the fifth annual Apartment Finance Today Conference will help developers and owners do just that.

Henry G. Cisneros, former secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and executive chairman of CityView, will keynote the conference March 30–April 1 at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix.

The celebrated housing, business, and city government leader will highlight a high-voltage lineup of multifamily owners, developers, and capital partners working out high-level plans and in-the-trenches tactics to weather the economic storm and position apartment properties large and small for a sustainable marathon run to recovery in the future.

In a luncheon keynote presentation, March 31, Cisneros plans to address a wide-ranging agenda of issues for survival amid our era’s most hostile economies. His remarks will focus on the importance of apartments and rental housing, particularly in the throes of the broader housing and economic crisis.

“A countercyclical balancing of for-rent versus for-sale housing needs to have a sound, strategic plan,” says Cisneros. “For-rent should not take second place to homeownership.”

Another highlight of the event will be Apartment Finance Today’s “Annual Forecast for Rental Demand” with Linwood Thompson, managing director of Marcus & Millichap. Thompson will give a fast-paced look at what to expect in 2009 and 2010 from apartment markets across the nation.

Attendance for the conference is reserved for people who are primarily owners and developers of apartments. Register now, the early-bird registration rate of $645 has just been extended. The past-year attendee rate is $600, and regular registration is $745.

For more information or to register for the conference, visit www.AptFinanceConf.com.

Massive losses and deep layoffs in the finance industry didn’t stop bankers and commercial real estate dealmakers from converging on San Diego for this year’s Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Commercial Real Estate Finance/Multifamily Housing Convention & Expo—but the crisis that started in 2008 did put a damper on the mood.
FULL ARTICLE

Shaun Donovan outlined an ambitious agenda for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) at a housing conference hosted by New York University Friday, Feb. 13.
FULL ARTICLE

In two separate research reports released this week, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) paints a sobering picture of the recent past and immediate future.
FULL ARTICLE

Fannie Mae invested $35.5 billion in multifamily housing in 2008. But its total multifamily investments last year fell by almost half compared with the total $60 billion Fannie Mae invested in 2007, largely because of the collapse of the market for commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS).
FULL ARTICLE

Freddie Mac had a record-setting year in 2008. Despite being seized by the federal government and put under the oversight of a conservator, Freddie Mac invested a record $24 billion in its multifamily whole loan and bond guarantee business. That’s up from $22 billion in 2007.
FULL ARTICLE

When Washington Mutual was acquired by JPMorgan Chase last fall in a marriage arranged by the federal government, questions arose about the long-term prospects of its multifamily division. But the newly formed Chase Commercial Term Lending division wants borrowers to know that it’s open for business.
FULL ARTICLE

Walker & Dunlop, the parent company of Green Park Financial, has merged with Column Guaranteed, a subsidiary of Credit Suisse Group, effective immediately.
FULL ARTICLE

Resident screening provider First Advantage SafeRent recently released its Multifamily Applicant Risk (MAR) Index for the fourth quarter of 2008.
FULL ARTICLE

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Poll: Industry Believes Donovan Right Man for Job

HousingFinance.com recently asked visitors a two-part question: Do you think Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan will live up to the hype and the high expectations the affordable housing industry seems to have for him and what will you be looking for as a measure of success for his first year?

Seventy-seven percent of respondees say they think Donovan will make HUD more effective and efficient, while 14 percent believe he will get bogged down in HUD bureaucracy and won’t be able to foster change.

As a measure of success for his first year, 34 percent of respondees would like to see Donovan create management reform at HUD, while 31 percent want to see him quickly address the foreclosure crisis and keep families in their homes, 20 percent want to see him work to improve HUD’s rental programs, and 3 percent want him to green the HUD portfolio.

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To reach APARTMENT FINANCE TODAY Executive Editor Christine Serlin, please e-mail cserlin@hanleywood.com

To reach APARTMENT FINANCE TODAY online Web Producer Spencer Markey,
e-mail smarkey@hanleywood.com

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