Old Town developer Dave Burk is at it again — this time planning to convert the building where Player Piano Co. Inc. was located, at 404 E. Douglas, into a 40-unit apartment building. George Laham shared the news during his presentation Wednesday about the Wichita real estate market at J.P. Weigand & Sons Inc.’s 11th annual Real Estate Forum at the Hyatt Regency Wichita. The event drew about 700 people. Burk is pretty occupied these days. He’s a partner in the Ambassador Hotel project downtown, which has been in the news a lot lately and is expected to be completed by year’s end...

Wells Fargo & Co. was hit with an Ash Wednesday protest from clergy demanding that the bank write down principals on underwater mortgages. The clergy, which represented several Christian denominations, occurred at Wells Fargo's San Francisco headquarters. The protesters also called on the bank to freeze all mortgages pending an investigation after a San Francisco audit found just about all of 400 foreclosures studied in the city were done under questionable, if not illegal, circumstances. Click here to read more about the clergy's demands and view photos of the protest.

Shea Homes is bringing baby boomers the netzero concept. The home builder claims to the first in the nation to offer homes that produce as much electricity as they consume and are calling it the “SheaXero: The No Electric Bill Home.” The homes will feature energy efficient cooling and heating systems, appliances, insulation, dual-pane windows, and solar panel systems provided by San Mateo-based SolarCity. SheaXero homes are available at the company’s 10 Trilogy communities in Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada and Washington including one in Brentwood in the East Bay and in Rio Vista near the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta...

Clergy from several denominations held an Ash Wednesday protest this morning calling on Wells Fargo to freeze all mortgages until an investigation is completed after a San Francisco audit found several foreclosures in the city were done under questionable, if not illegal, circumstances. Click the photo to start a slideshow of protest images. The clergy also called on Wells Fargo to write down principal on underwater mortgages, which are those loans in which balances now exceed the value of the house...

The apartment vacancy rate fell in five of six Colorado major metro areas in the fourth quarter, for a combined vacancy rate of 5.6 percent, according to the state Division of Housing. That 5.6 percent rate was down from the 5.8 percent rate at the end of 2010. It was the lowest fourth-quarter statewide vacancy rate since the division began measuring it in 2007. Denver’s Q4 2011 vacancy rate, detailed in an earlier report, fell to 5.4 percent — the lowest fourth-quarter level in 12 years. Greeley was the only city to report a year-over-year increase in vacancy rate, from 5...

A seventh person has pleaded guilty in a mortgage fraud scheme at the Cloud 9 Sky Flats condo development in Minnetonka. The Star Tribune reports that John Halvor Ketcham, 50, of Eden Prairie, pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of fraud. Federal prosecutors said Ketcham lied to lenders and received kickbacks of more than $68,000 for his help in the scheme. The government said more than $793,000 was lost on five properties involving Ketcham. He faces up to five years in prison and will be sentenced at a later date...

January home sales in Central Ohio reached their highest level since 2008 as more than 1,100 homes sold in the first month of the year. The 1,125 homes sold last month represented a 6 percent increase over the same time period a year ago, the Columbus Board of Realtors said. Another 1,845 homes went into contract in January, 40 percent more than in January 2011. “Sales last month were at the same level as we experienced just prior to the housing boom,” Board President Jim Coridan said in a release...

Housing sales improved in January, with the number of existing home sales rising 4.3 percent from December, the third time in four months existing home sales rose, according to the National Association of Realtors. The Washington-based trade group says sales of existing homes were up 0.7 percent from a year ago, while inventory, or the number of homes listed for sale, was down 20.6 percent from January 2011. "The uptrend in home sales is in line with all of the underlying fundamentals - pent-up household formation, record-low mortgage interest rates, bargain home prices, sustained job creation and rising rents," said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun...

Vail Resorts Inc. agreed to buy Kirkwood Mountain Resort for $18 million. Effective immediately, pass holders from Heavenly Ski Resort and Northstar California will be able to ski at Kirkwood, and vice versa. Kirkwood is about 35 miles south of South Lake Tahoe. The deal also includes land zoned for both residential and commercial development around the base of the resort, although the seller will keep some of the land in the area and will also keep a “participation interest” in the other parcels...

Toll Brothers Inc. recorded a loss for its fiscal first-quarter but saw an increase in the number of people who signed contracts to buy one of its houses. The Horsham, Pa., company had a first-quarter net loss of $2.8 million, or 2 cents per diluted share, compared with income of $3.4 million, or 2 cents per diluted during the same period a year ago. Before taxes, Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) narrowed its losses, which were $6.4 million compared to $17 million for the same period a year ago. Its fiscal first quarter ended Jan...

An Archstone-sponsored partnership has acquired a 192-unit apartment community in Sunnyvale called Parkside Apartment Homes. The complex is expected to be renamed Archstone Sunnyvale. The acquisition price was $63.2 million. The deal, announced Wednesday, was brokered by Phil Salimbeni and Stan Jones of Marcus & Millichap of Palo Alto. The property is located at the corner of North Wolfe Road and Stewart Drive. Archstone specializes in apartment investment and operations. Click here to read the press release from Archstone...

Home sales in the Dayton area are on the rise, according to figures released by the Dayton Area Board of Realtors Multiple Listing Service. In six of the past seven months, including January, sales have increased year-over-year. The 577 local home and condo sales in January rose 4 percent from January 2011 and its 554 sales, according to DABR. The increase in monthly sales, however, did not translate into a higher median sale price and average sale price, which fell below year-ago levels. The median sale price fell to $76,000, down 3...

Home sales in Greater Cincinnati started the year ahead of 2011, posting a 10.6 percent gain in January. There were 1,250 homes sold in the Greater Cincinnati region last month, up from 1,130 sales in January 2011. "Mortgage rates remain at historical lows, the stock market showed more confidence and the mild winter were all contributing factors that helped encourage some would-be buyers to stop looking and buy," Tom Hasselbeck, president of the Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors, said in a news release...

Housing sales improved across the U.S. in January, and strong sales in the West led the way. The number of existing home sales rose 4.3 percent from December to January, the third time in four months existing home sales rose, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales in the West, which include Arizona, jumped 8.8 percent. The Washington-based trade group says sales of existing homes were up 0.7 percent from a year ago, while inventory, or the number of homes listed for sale, was down 20...

Some 660 acres of land in South Kona on Hawaii's Big Island that Hokulia developer Lyle Anderson had tried to develop as a golf course community more than a decade ago is being sold through a sealed-bid auction. West Hawaii Today reports bids are being taken on the lands between Hokulia and the Captain Cook Monument on Kealakekua Bay, known as the Keopuka Lands, until March 22, with an opening bid of $5 million, according to keopukahawaiiauction.com. Anderson's plan to develop the land was thwarted in October 2000, when the state Land Use Commission ruled that the developer would have to request to have the land reclassified from agricultural to urban.

An Oahu construction worker died after being trapped underneath a pile of dirt that had collapsed into a trench where he and two other men were working at a house in the Waialae Iki neighborhood in Honolulu. KHON reports that the two other workers, who were all with W.A. Felix Builders of Waipahu, were able to dig themselves out of the collapsed trench Tuesday morning, but the third was trapped until other workers were able to dig him out.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, a chief source of funds for mortgage lending, said today advances to lenders fell $2.8 billion last year, as banks remain flush with cheap deposits amid historically low interest rates. But preliminary fourth quarter results show net income more than tripled, as as credit losses from mortgage-backed bonds narrowed. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2011 was $64.7 million, compared with net income of $23.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2010, the bank said...

Single-family home sales increased 10 percent in January in the Albany, New York, area, a healthy jump during the typically slow winter selling season. There were 434 closed sales during the month through the Capital Region Multiple Listing Service compared to 393 in January 2011, according to preliminary figures released by the Greater Capital Association of Realtors. The median price dropped 1 percent, to $173,000. The average price declined 2 percent, to $201,197. The CRMLS includes 11 counties, but most sales are in Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady counties...

Existing-home sales in the U.S. rose in January, marking three gains in the past four months, according to the National Association of Realtors. Total existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased 4.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.57 million in January from a downwardly revised 4.38 million-unit pace in December and are 0.7 percent above a spike to 4.54 million in January 2011. Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, said strong gains in contract activity in recent months show buyers are responding to very favorable market conditions...

Toll Brothers Inc. recorded a loss for its fiscal first-quarter but saw an increase in the number of people who signed contracts to buy one of its houses. The Horsham, Pa., company had a first-quarter net loss of $2.8 million, or 2 cents per diluted share, compared with income of $3.4 million, or 2 cents per diluted during the same period a year ago. Before taxes, Toll Brothers (NYSE:TOL) narrowed its losses, which were $6.4 million compared to $17 million for the same period a year ago. Its fiscal first quarter ended Jan...