New York-based AREA Property Partners and Armando Codina’s CC Residential have formed a partnership to develop apartment communities in South Florida. The AREA/CC Residential venture is building The Signature at Doral, a 352-unit community in central Miami-Dade, and The Signature at Davie, a 350-unit community in central Broward. Richard J. Mack, AREA’s North America CEO, and Armando Codina, founder and principal of CC Residential, outlined the venture in a statement released to the Business...

The Pioneer Square Preservation Board on Wednesday unanimously approved the edgy design of the second of three residential towers proposed for Stadium Place, a mixed-use project just north of Seattle's CenturyLink Field. The 25-story South Tower still needs city approval but board members and a Pioneer Square resident attending this morning’s board meeting were very enthusiastic about the tower’s appearance. Board members commented that the design would help stitch together the sports stadiums...

Mortgage delinquency and foreclosure rates have decreased both in Arizona and nationwide since last year, according to a new survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Arizona was below the national rate in both delinquencies and foreclosures. The Arizona mortgage delinquency rate fell to 6.35 percent, down significantly from 2011’s first quarter rate of 8.23 percent, according to the MBA. The delinquency rate includes properties that have missed at least one payment. Loans that are in foreclosure...

Pacific Waterfront Partners won a key victory for its 8 Washington St. housing project at the Board of Supervisors early Wednesday morning, though both sides of the development battle called the fight far from over. The Board of Supervisors voted 8-3 to turn down appeals to both the project’s environmental impact report and a conditional use package allowing the condominium plan to exceed city limits in height, bulk and parking. The three no votes were District 11 Supervisor John Avalos, District...

M.D.C. Holdings Inc. officials are lobbying shareholders to ignore a governance firm’s recommendation that they reject the company’s executive pay package. Denver-based M.D.C. (NYSE: MDC), which builds homes under the Richmond American brand, sent a letter to shareholders May 11 stating it was “surprised and disappointed” to learn that Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS), a for-profit corporate governance firm, advised shareholders to vote against M.D.C.’s executive compensation...

An historic fire station in West Seattle has sold for $613,000, more than double the minimum bid set by the city of Seattle of $250,000. After deducting closing costs and a 5 percent commission, the city netted nearly $580,000 on the sale. Proceeds will be placed in a fire levy fund to help renovate or replace neighborhood fire stations around the city. The fire station is one of two put up for sale by the city earlier this year. Fire Station 37 is located at 7300 35th Ave. S.W. in West Seattle....

The 2011 HomeInsurance.com RateReport released Wednesday shows a significant hike in average 12-month homeowners insurance premiums for new policies in December 2011. HomeInsurance.com’s data represents approximately 15,000 policies sold across the United States with carriers such as Travelers, Safeco, The Hartford, and ASI/Ark Royal. HomeInsurance.com’s RateReport shows 12-month home insurance premiums in December 2011 were $810 nationwide, a 19 percent increase from January 2011 at $682. RateReport...

The average Californian owes less in credit card and mortgage debt than they did last year, according to a new report, but credit scores still dropped a little. According a monthly report from Credit Karma, Californians owed $303,745 in mortgage debt in April, compared to $309,579 in March and $311,551 in April 2011. Californians also owed an average $5,674 in credit card debt, compared to $5,900 in March and $6,384 in the year earlier period. Student loan debt fell to $29,069, but auto debt rose...

The average Californian and Sacramentan owes less in credit card and mortgage debt than they did last year, according to a new report, but credit scores still dropped a little. According a monthly report from Credit Karma, Californians owed $303,745 in mortgage debt in April, compared to $309,579 in March and $311,551 in April 2011. Californians also owed an average $5,674 in credit card debt, compared to $5,900 in March and $6,384 in the year earlier period. Student loan debt fell to $29,069,...

The National Association of Realtors said its measure of housing affordability reached an all-time high last quarter, as prices, mortgage rates and family incomes converged. At the same time, home prices increased in the Austin market by 4.8 percent in March when compared to the same month last year. The real estate agent's trade group said the only thing missing from the equation is a return to normal lending standards. NAR bases its index on median housing prices, median family incomes and average...

Legend Communities Inc., an Austin-based developer, has acquired the 550-acre Harborwalk project in Galveston from Birmingham, Ala.-based bank BBVA Compass. The purchase price was not disclosed. The transaction with the bank was handled by Austin-based Legacy International Resort Properties. The deal was originally announced earlier this year, and in February Philip Jalufka, president of Legacy International, told the Houston Business Journal the 9-year-old property was originally designed for...

It's been more than a month since an unnamed buyer purchased the luxury French chateau Champ d'Or for an undisclosed sum at an auction. But deed records reveal that an affiliated company of Dallas-based real estate investment firm Tabani Group was behind the purchase. T Chateau Event Center LLC — located at the same address as the Tabani Group — acquired the 48,000-square-foot luxury mansion and property, which had an auction reserve price of $10.3 million, according to Denton County deed records. Zaffar...

Employment growth in the Raleigh market should exceed that of the nation as a whole in 2012 and 2013, according to a new analysis from PNC Financial Services Group. The Pittsburgh-based bank on Wednesday issued a market outlook for the Raleigh market, which it defines as the Raleigh, Durham, Goldsboro and Rocky Mount metro areas. PNC (NYSE: PNC) projects Raleigh employment growth at 1.9 percent this year and 1.9 percent in 2013. That’s higher than the 1.6 percent growth projected for the U.S....

Bank of America Corp. has launched a nationwide program that increases relocation payments to delinquent mortgage customers who complete qualifying short sales, Reuters reports. The bank says the program offers payments ranging from $2,500 to $30,000 to help homeowners move out of their homes. To qualify, borrowers must work out a pre-approved sale price with the bank, start the short sale before the end of the year and complete it by September 2013. BofA customers have completed 200,000 short...

Elianto Landvest GP Inc., an entity created by California-based Landvest of North America, purchased 2,389 acres of land in Buckeye for about $7.4 million from Bank Midwest of Kansas City, Mo. It is the largest land parcel sold so far this year in the metro Phoenix area. The sales price breaks down to about $3,098 per acre. The property, zoned for a community master plan by the city of Buckeye, is located at the northeast corner of Sun Valley Parkway and Thomas Road. Colliers International’s...

Wells Fargo Bank, a provider of residential mortgages, and Hammond Residential Real Estate, have signed a deal to offer mortgages for Hammond’s customers. The joint venture, Massachusetts Residential Mortgage, said it will provide consumers with home loans and services through Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, a division of Wells Fargo Bank. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Established in 1991 by Saul B. Cohen and Joseph Hare, Hammond reported closed sales volume in 2011 exceeding $1 billion....

The San Jose City Council on Tuesday approved a set of temporary incentives to encourage high-rise residential tower development in the city, particularly in downtown. The incentives include: - A guarantee that application reviews will be no more than 120 days. - A 50 percent reduction of fees in lieu of adding park areas to developments. - A 50 percent reduction of construction-related taxes. - Elimination of the requirement for systems in high-rises that contain air to help firefighters control...

Miami ranks eighth in the the Homes.com quarterly ‘State of the Housing Market’ report’s list of top searched cities by those looking to purchase a home. Miami was the object of 133,870 searches on the website in the first quarter compared with more than 200,000 for No. 1 ranked Orlando. The report is good news for a South Florida market that has shows signs of upticks amid lingering issues involving foreclosures and prices that are well below their pre-recession peaks. The quarterly report,...

Dayton Habitat for Humanity will dig in this week on a new house for a local family. The organization will begin at 11 a.m. Friday to construct a home for Peggie DeVoise and her five children at 1204 Clement Ave. The project has been made possible by contributions from several local organizations. To fund the build, Dayton Habitat worked with GE Capital, the MetLife Foundation Volunteer Project Fund, the city of Dayton through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program of the U.S. Department of Housing...

The Portland-area home market tightened significantly in April as the inventory of for-sale properties dipped well into seller-friendly territory. Prices remain stable and don’t yet reflect the imbalance between supply and demand, according to figures released Wednesday by the Regional Multiple Listing Service RMLS reported a 4.7-month inventory of unsold homes in April, down from 7.2 months and 7.3 months in 2011 and 2010, respectively. It is the tightest inventory since June 2007. As recently...