Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Arbor Closes $1.9M Fannie Mae DUS® Loan for Centrum Apartments in Shreveport, LA

Uniondale, NY (July 28, 2009) - Arbor Commercial Funding, LLC (“Arbor”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Arbor Commercial Mortgage, LLC, announced the recent funding of a $1,900,000 loan under the Fannie Mae DUS® Loan product line to refinance the 84-unit complex known as Centrum Apartments in Shreveport, LA.

The 10-year loan amortizes on a 30-year schedule and carries a note rate of 5.92 percent.

The loan was originated by Jay Porterfield, (top right photo) Vice President, in Arbor’s full-service Plano, TX lending office. “Arbor provided financing for the acquisition of this property,” said Porterfield. “This was the second loan that Arbor has funded for this sponsor and we look forward to continuing to grow our financial partnership.”

Contact: Ingrid Principe, iprincipe@arbor.com

Hunter Realty Brokers Six Hotels in Six Weeks

ATLANTA, July 28, 2009—Officials from Hunter Realty, a leading national hotel investment services firm, today announced that the firm brokered the sale of six properties in six weeks.

The six hotels, aggregating 693 rooms, are located in Georgia, Alabama, Pennsylvania and Maryland, and comprise independent hotels as well as such brands as Holiday Inn, Comfort Inn, and Days Inn.

“We are beginning to see more distressed hotels coming to the marketplace, including several of these six completed sales, which were distressed hotels sold for banks,” commented Lee Hunter, (top right photo) CHB, ISHC and COO, Hunter Realty. “We expect this trend to gain momentum over the next 12 to 18 months.”

“The hotel industry has been through five recessions since 1973,” said Bob Hunter, (middle left photo) the firm’s founder and CEO. “We have advised banks, lenders, special servicers and hotel owners in each of these difficult economic climates.

"Based on our experience, these transactions require an in-depth understanding of hotel pricing and financing, as well as the ability to create a win-win situation for both the buyer and seller.”

“Transactions under $10 million began to show signs of loosening up late in the first quarter,” said Teague Hunter, (bottom right photo) CHB, president, Hunter Realty.

“However, deals involving hotels valued above $10 million are still a challenge because financing is not readily available. Buyers today are very cautious and selective and demand good value. In the $10-plus million segment, transactions still remain few and far between.”

“Financing for these six hotels was varied and ranged from all-cash to community banks and SBA loans,” Teague Hunter added. “A prior, strong relationship with the bank was necessary to complete the transactions.”

Teague Hunter noted that the firm increasingly is providing guidance on distressed hotels to lenders and special servicers. “We have conducted more Broker Opinions of Value in the past six months than we have in the past two years.”

Hunter Realty, founded in 1978, has offices in Atlanta, Washington, DC and Minneapolis, MN. Hunter’s exclusive focus is in hotel brokerage and financing.


For more information or to view current listings, please visit http://www.hunterhotels.net/ or contact us at 770-916-0300 in Atlanta, 301-215-7507 in Washington, DC or 952-837-6207 in Minneapolis.

Contact: Melanie Boyer, media, (703) 435-6293, Melanie@dalygray.com

Home Price Declines Continue to Abate, According to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices

New York, NY, July 28, 2009 – Data through May 2009, released today by Standard & Poor’s for its S&P/Case-Shiller1 Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, show that, although still negative, the annual rate of decline of the 10-City and 20-City Composites improved for the fourth consecutive month in 2009.


The chart above depicts the annual returns of the 10-City and 20-City Composite Home Price Indices. The 10-City and 20-City Composites declined 16.8% and 17.1%, respectively, in May compared to the same month last year.

These values are improvements over April’s data, which show annual declines of 18.0% and 18.1%, respectively. After 16 consecutive months of record annual declines, beginning in October 2007 and ending in January 2009, the indices have now shown four consecutive months of improvement in annual returns.
1 Case-Shiller® and Case-Shiller Indexes® are registered trademarks of Fiserv, Inc.


"The pace of descent in home price values appears to be slowing" says David M. Blitzer, (middle right photo) Chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s.

"There is a clear inflection point in the year-over-year data, due to four consecutive months of improved rates of return, after the steep decline that began in the fall of 2005. In addition to the 10-City and 20-City Composites, 17 of the 20 metro areas also saw improvement in their annual returns compared to those of April.

"Looking at the monthly data, 13 of the 20 metro areas reported positive returns; and the 10-City and 20-City Composites reported positive returns for the first time since the summer of 2006. To put it in perspective, these are the first time we have seen broad increases in home prices in 34 months.

"This could be an indication that home price declines are finally stabilizing.

"While many indicators are showing signs of life in the U.S. housing market, we should remember that on a year-over-year basis home prices are still down about 17% on average across all metro areas, so we likely do have a way to go before we see sustained home price appreciation." Blitzer added."

The chart above shows the index levels for the 10-City and 20-City Composite Indices. As of May 2009, average home prices across the United States are at similar levels to where they were in the middle of 2003, indicating that the three years of appreciation that occurred from 2003-2006 were all given back in the following three years.

From the peak in the second quarter of 2006, the 10-City Composite is down 33.3% and the 20-City Composite is down 32.3%.

In terms of annual declines, the numbers remain relatively somber with all metro areas and the two composites in negative territory, and 16 out of the 20 metro areas are reporting double digit declines. Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, Seattle and Tampa posted their lowest index levels in May since their respective peaks.

From peak to trough Phoenix and Las Vegas are the worst off, down 54.5% and 53.4%, respectively. More upbeat news is seen in the monthly data; Dallas and Denver have reported three consecutive months of positive returns. Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, San Francisco and Washington D.C. each reported two consecutive months of positive returns.

Eight of the 13 MSAs reporting positive monthly returns for May were greater than +1.0%.

The table below summarizes the results for May 2009. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices are revised for the 24 prior months, based on the receipt of additional source data. More than 22 years of history for these data series is available, and can be accessed in full by going to http://www.homeprice.standardandpoors.com/


For more information contact:
David Blitzer 212 438 3907 david_blitzer@standardandpoors.com
David Guarino 1 212 438 1471 dave_guarino@standardandpoors.com