Virtual Open Houses

It's an office trade of such a size that has not been seen in Connecticut, no less challenged by job losses and economic malaise than most other markets, in quite a while. Matrix Connecticut L.L.C. has just taken over ownership of the 1 million-square-foot Danbury Corporate Center in Danbury, Conn., from GERA Danbury L.L.C. in a $72.4 million merger transaction. The deal is a coup for Connecticut, as well as its neighbors, as it marks the largest multi-tenant office transaction in the suburban New York Tri-State area so far this year.

The latest Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller housing index numbers out today show the market falling less dramatically than it had been earlier in the year. The 10 and 20 city indices were both down 18% in April, versus the same month in 2008. But that decline was less severe than it had been in January, February and March.

"The pace of decline in residential real estate slowed in April,” says David Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor's. ”Every metro area, except for Charlotte, recorded an improvement in monthly returns over March. While one month’s data cannot determine if a turnaround has begun, it seems that some stabilization may be appearing in a few of the regions."

The worst hit cities include Phoenix (down 35%), Las Vegas (-32%) and San Francisco (-28%). Best performers were Denver (only down 4.9%), Dallas (-5%) and Boston (-7.7%). Dallas has held up the best since its market peaked in June 2007, falling only 9.6%. Phoenix fared worst, off 54% from its June 2006 peak.

Cameron Findlay, the Chief Economist of mortgage site LendingTree.com, says the clearest sign of where the housing market is now, lies not in a national price index from two months ago but in the cost of mortgages today. Rates on a 30 year conventional mortgage have dipped down to 5.37% from a recent high of 5.74%. That’s telling us the housing market hasn’t recovered. The Fed is still committed to buying $300 billion of long-term Treasury bonds to inject more liquidity into the system, he notes.

“There was a wide anticipation that the Fed would ease off on, not purchase as much,” he notes. “Bonds started selling off, rates started rising.” That's changed. Findlay expects rates to stay at this level at least until the Fed finishes its bond buying in September or until more convincing signs emerge that the housing market has come back.

“It’s still down,” Findlay says of the Case-Shiller index. “The only positive news is that Colorado slightly improved. There’s still extreme pressure due to (mortgage) delinquencies.”

Ory Schwartz, senior director of NorthMarq Capital's Los Angeles office, has arranged an $18 million first mortgage for Meadowridge Apartments, a 176-unit multi-family complex located in Santa Clarita, Calif.

When the easy money was flowing, you could get a great deal on a mortgage from just about anyone. But in today's credit-challenged world, all the avenues for finding a mortgage come with their own set of problems.

Newly-formed value-added real estate fund KABR Real Estate Investment Partners L.L.C. has purchased a 235,000-square-foot office building at 85 Challenger Road in Ridgefield Park, N.J., from AIG.

The combination of a deep recession and widespread law-enforcement funding cuts will most likely spell a banner summer for burglars. If your house makes a good target - it's upscale, off the beaten path, and in or near a city - an alarm system is your best defense, according to Temple University economics professor Simon Hakim, who studies security and policing. Installing one will reduce your risk of a break-in by two-thirds. To determine what you really need, follow the guidelines below.

Omega Commercial Finance Corp. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority interest in EcoCalifornia L.L.C., a firm currently in the process of developing a golf resort and housing project in the Fresno, Calif., area.

Check out this great Washington Post story from yesterday about the backlog in foreclosures. The human interest is a woman from Glen Allen, Va., who moved out of her house last July and has been begging the bank to foreclose so it won't be her responsibility anymore. As long as her name is on the title, she's been going back and trying to keep it neat. She even tried to clean up from a fire that broke out in January. Here's the final quote in the story:

We could have walked away like everyone else and said, 'We don't care.' But we loved our neighbors and our neighborhood. We hold ourselves responsible.

I don't know why she fell behind on her mortgage in the first place, but I admire her sense of responsibility at this stage.

Hat tip to Matt Stichnoth at Seeking Alpha.

A former Verizon call center in Upper Darby, Pa., has been acquired by a buyer with plans to transform the 84,000-square-foot property into office space.

Hartz Mountain Industries has agreed to a lease deal with Breeze-Eastern Corp., a publicly-traded designer of lifting devices for military and civilian aircraft.