News Updates

Industry Veteran Tapped to Spearhead Hoffman’s New Market Services

Land brokerage firm The Hoffman Company has hired Patrick Simons to lead the company’s expansion into the multifamily sector. Simons, a 25-year veteran in multifamily development, will join the firm as senior vice president and managing director of multifamily markets. “Although The Hoffman Company has occasionally assisted multifamily clients over the years, our core business has always been single-family lots for home-builders. We believe our firm has much to offer multifamily clients as well and are excited to have Patrick here to lead that effort,” said company president and co-owner Norm Scheel. Among the services Simons will offer are land acquisition tailored to the specific needs of multifamily clients as well as strategic disposition for owners of sites that either are or can be entitled for multifamily use. Simons has held executive positions with publicly traded and privately held apartment investment and development companies. He founded an international consulting practice advising both large institutional and small private clients on multifamily assets. Author admin View all posts

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Which U.S. Housing Markets Are Most Vulnerable to Coronavirus Impact?

Nearly half of the 50 most vulnerable counties are in New Jersey and Florida. ATTOM Data Solutions released a special report on April 7 spotlighting U.S. housing markets at the county level to show which areas are more vulnerable to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. According to the report, the Northeast region of the U.S. has the largest concentration of the most at-risk counties, with clusters in New Jersey and Florida. On the other hand, the report indicates the West and Midwest regions are least at risk of housing market challenges. Markets are considered more or less at risk based on the percentage of housing units receiving a foreclosure notice in fourth quarter 2019, the percent of homes underwater (LTV 100 or greater) in fourth quarter 2019 and the percentage of local wages required to pay for major home ownership expenses. Rankings were based on a combination of those three categories in 483 counties in the U. S. with sufficient data to analyze. Counties were ranked in each category, from lowest to highest, with the overall conclusions based on a combination of the three rankings. The full methodology can be found on the ATTOM Data Solutions’ website. “It’s too early to tell how much effect the Coronavirus fallout will have on different housing markets around the country. But the impact is likely to be significant from region to region and county to county,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer with ATTOM Data Solutions. “What we’ve done is spotlight areas that appear to be more or less at risk based on several important factors. From that analysis, it looks like the Northeast is more at risk than other areas. As we head into the spring home buying season, the next few months will reveal how severe the impact will be.” Northeast Vulnerabilitiy Housing markets in 14 of New Jersey’s 21 counties are among the 50 most vulnerable in the country, according to the report. The Top 50 also include four in New York and three in Connecticut. The 14 counties in New Jersey include five in the New York City suburbs: Bergen, Essex, Passaic, Middlesex and Union counties. New York counties among the Top 50 most at risk include Rockland County, in the New York City metropolitan area; Orange County, in the Poughkeepsie metro area; Rensselaer County, in the Albany metro area; and Ulster County, west of Poughkeepsie. Additional High-Level Findings The 10 counties in Florida are concentrated in the northern and central sections of the state, including Flagler, Lake, Clay, Hernando and Osceola counties. Other southern counties that are in the Top 50 are spread across Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana and Virginia. Among the counties analyzed, only two in the West and five in the Midwest (all in Illinois) rank among the Top 50 most at risk. The two western counties are Shasta County, California, in the Redding metropolitan statistical area and Navajo County, Arizona, northeast of Phoenix. The Midwestern counties are McHenry County, Illinois; Kane County, Illinois; Will County, Illinois and Lake County, Illinois, all in the Chicago metro area; and Tazewell County, Illinoic, in the Peoria metro area. in the Top 50 with a population of at least 500,000 people include Bergen, Camden, Essex, Middlesex, Ocean, Passaic and Union counties in New Jersey; Lake, Will and Kane counties in Illinois; Delaware County, Pennsylvania; Prince George’s County, Maryland; and Broward County, Florida. Texas has 10 of the 50 least vulnerable counties from among the 483 included in the report, followed by Wisconsin with seven and Colorado with five. The 10 counties in Texas include three in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area (Dallas, Collin and Tarrant counties) and two in the Midland-Odessa area (Ector and Midland counties). Eighteen of the 50 least at-risk counties have a population of at least 500,000, led by Harris County (Houston), Texas; Dallas County, Texas; King County (Seattle), Washington; Tarrant County (Fort Worth), Texas; and Santa Clara County, California, in the San Jose metro area. where median prices ranging from $160,000 to $300,000 comprise 36 of the Top 50 counties most vulnerable to the impact of the Coronavirus. with median home prices below $160,000 or above $300,000 make up 14 of the Top 50 most vulnerable to the impact of the coronavirus. Those with median prices below $160,000 are among the most affordable in the nation to local wage earners, while those where median prices exceed $300,000 have some homes with the highest equity and smallest foreclosure rates. Author admin View all posts

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CBRE Group, Inc. Named Top Real Estate Brand in Lipsey Survey for 19th Consecutive Year

CBRE Group has been named the top global brand in commercial real estate by The Lipsey Company. This is the 19th year in a row CBRE has achieved this recognition. CBRE’s development services subsidiary, Trammell Crow Company, was the top-ranked development company for the third consecutive year. Lipsey is a training and professional development firm specializing in commercial real estate. It has surveyed commercial real estate professionals on their perceptions of the industry’s leading brands since 2002. CBRE has been ranked No. 1 every year Lipsey has conducted its survey. The survey is open to U.S. and international professionals, including property owners, investors, lenders, occupiers, brokers and property managers. Earlier this year CBRE was the top real estate company on Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies list and was ranked #13 on Barron’s list of the 100 Most Sustainable Companies in the U.S. Author admin View all posts

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Title Insurance Giant First American to Buy Docutech

First American Financial Coporation announced in mid-February that it has reached an agreement to purchase Docutech—a provider of document, eClose and fulfillment technology for the mortgage industry—for $350 million. Docutech’s management team, including President and CEO Amy Brandt, will continue to lead the company’s operations. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of March. Author admin View all posts

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Blue Ocean Acquires Waterfront Multifamily Community

Maryland-based real estate firm Blue Ocean has expanded its footprint into Howard County, Maryland, with its acquisition of The River Front Apartments in Savage, Maryland. The 144-unit, water-front and gated, residential community is located in Howard County, a few milesfrom downtown Columbia. The purchase of The River Front Apartments aligns with Blue Ocean’s long-term strategyto acquire real estate in Class A locations that provide tangible opportunities to create or add value for its Investors. The seller was represented by Transwestern Mid-Atlantic Multifamily Group of Dean Sigmon, Robin Williams, Justin Shay and Michael D’Amelio. Author admin View all posts

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Brett Meringoff Joins Fairstead

Brett Meringoff, a prominent affordable and mixed-income housing developer has steppedin to help lead Fairstead’s expanding development business across the country. In his new role as senior vice president, he will be based in the firm’s Bethesda, Maryland, office. Fairstead is a fully-integrated real estate firm committed to affordable housing. Meringoff will work on ground-up developments and new acquisitions for both affordable and mixed-income projects across the country. Meringoff most recently served as senior vice president for Winn Companies, where he was responsible for the company’s Mid-Atlantic affordable housing development and asset management activities, as well as its market-rate investments. Under his leadership, his team entitled, developed and completed more than 4,900 units across 19 properties. Before  joining Winn, Meringoff founded BEM Companies LLC and BEM Consulting LLC, aVirginia-based real estate organization that specializes in affordable housing development andconsulting services to small-and medium-sized companies in all areas of multifamily real estate.He earlier served as director of development for Coalco International (now operating asCorigin), a global real estate development and investment company. He began his career with The Related Companies in New York City. Meringoff has led several well-known developments throughout his career, including the restructuring and repositioning of the Sursum Corda site in Washington, D.C.; major acquisition rehabilitation affordable housing projects such as Sencit Liberty Apartments in Atlantic City, New Jersey; Venango House and Breslyn House Apartments in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and ground-up affordable housing projects such as Southern Hills Redevelopment in Washington, D.C., and Gordon Mansfield Veterans Village in Tinton Falls, New Jersey. Author admin View all posts

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