Home prices up for 1st time in 3 years

The value of U.S. homes grew on a monthly basis in May for the first time in nearly three years, according to 20-city index released Tuesday.

The month-over-month increase was 0.5%, according to the report from financial data company Standard & Poor’s and economists Case-Shiller. It was the first increase in the monthly index since July 2006.

On an annual basis, home prices in the 20 cities fell 17.1%, but it was the second straight month that the year-over-year decline lessened.
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Zell’s Equity International May Open Brazil Real Estate Unit

Sam Zell’s Equity International may open a real estate financing company in Brazil as record-low interest rates in Latin America’s biggest economy boost demand for alternative investments.

Equity International is seeking partners to grow Brazil’s “still nascent” real estate financing market, Chief Strategic Officer and Vice President of Investments Thomas McDonald said in an interview in Sao Paulo. The real estate investment company hasn’t found a partner yet to begin those
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Price correction encourages Gurgaon real estate market

Encouraged by price correction and lowering of interest rates the real estate market, after a period of relative inactivity lasting the first
few months of the year, witnessed improved levels of activity on the part of retail investors in the residential sector, especially in the low to mid-end housing segment, said experts as well as market analysis reports of the second quarter in 2009.
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NY to launch mortgage probe

he Supreme Court ruled Monday that the New York attorney general’s office can investigate whether national banks discriminated against minorities seeking mortgages.

The justices overturned part of a ruling by a U.S. appeals court that entirely blocked the state office from investigating or enforcing the fair lending laws against national banks because they are subject instead to federal regulation.
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Qinetiq wins $39M GSA real estate contract

QinetiQ North America subsidiary ITS Corp. has won a contract worth up to $39 million from the General Services Administration to provide a new inventory system to help manage GSA’s real estate.

Under the five-year contract, QinetiQ will develop new inventory management software to replace GSA’s Public Buildings Service’s existing
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Airways Business Center sells for $7.27M

Owners of a warehouse at the Airways Business Center in Aurora have sold the property for $7.27 million, according to Adams County real estate records.

County records show that the building, located at 2460 Airport Blvd., includes 162,000 square feet of space and was completed in
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Hypo Real Estate needs more state aid

Stricken German bank Hypo Real Estate will need more state support even after a capital increase the German government is pushing through to take full control of the lender, its chief executive said.

“There is a need for more capital after the capital increase that the general meeting will address on Tuesday,” Axel Wieandt told the Frankfurter
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Chinese find opportunity in U.S. real estate slump

BEIJING — Amid a downturn in real estate prices, some wealthy Chinese are signing up for home-buying tours to the U.S., and Chinese media tout the trend as another sign of the strength of what’s now the world’s third-largest economy behind the U.S. and Japan.

“The real estate prices in America have gone down drastically,” said Yin Guohua, a partner in a law firm who recently returned from an 11-day U.S. tour with a group of Chinese elite. “It’s a good option for Chinese people who want to buy for investment.”
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Weichert Sees New Housing Bill Aiding an Already Improving Real Estate Market

Weichert Sees New Housing Bill Aiding an Already Improving Real Estate Market

At the start of the year, James M. Weichert, president and founder of Weichert, Realtors(R), one of the nation’s largest privately-held real estate companies, called upon Congress to take action to stimulate the struggling economy amid growing national concern.

Specifically, Weichert proposed a tax credit for home buyers to rejuvenate the slowing housing market. A little more than 6 months later, Weichert’s proposal has become policy as the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 was signed in to law.
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BioMed Realty Trust Reports Second Quarter 2008 Financial Results

BioMed Realty Trust Reports Second Quarter 2008 Financial Results
Rental revenues for the quarter were $54.2 million, representing a 9.6% increase versus the second quarter of 2007. Same property net operating income increased 6.1% on a cash basis for the second quarter of 2008 compared to the second quarter of 2007.
Total revenues for the quarter were $70.8 million, compared to $68.4 million in the second quarter of 2007. Net income available to common stockholders for the quarter was $14.1 million, or $0.20 per diluted share,
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