Saddest Thing About This Mess: Congress Had Chance To Stop It (Investor's Business Daily)
Investor's Business Daily - Could the crisis at Fannie Mae - Freddie Mac and the subprime meltdown have been avoided? More »
Loans Are Available, But Harder To Get (Investor's Business Daily)
Investor's Business Daily - Think the credit crisis, spawned by the implosion of mortgage-backed securities, means that home loans are out of reach? Think again. More »
After Hardin, State Pay Lists Improved
The financial revelations that led to Lu Hardin's resignation as president of the University of Central Arkansas also gave Arkansans a much better idea of what they are paying state employees. More »
New Burger King Being Built in WLR After $880K Deal (Real Deals)
A look at important real estate transactions in Arkansas for the week of Sept. 29, 2008. More »
Bank of England Set for New Little Rock Location
The Bank of England is a few weeks away from opening its first full-service location in Little Rock. More »
Condo Conundrum Goes to County Courthouse
Condo developer and construction company appear likely to square off in court over about $350,000. More »
Another NWA Builder Goes Bankrupt
Terry Hobbs and his wife, Angel, have filed for bankruptcy protection. More »
Santander said to take Bradford & Bingley deposits (AP)
AP - The troubled British mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley will be nationalized and sold off in parts, with Spanish banking giant Santander SA taking over its retail deposits and branch network, British media reported Monday. More »
German mortgage bank near bankruptcy: report (AFP)
AFP - Germany's Hypo Real Estate, a mortgage bank, is on the brink of bankruptcy, the daily Financial Times Deutschland reported in an advance copy of its Monday edition. More »
A successful bailout? Watch lending between banks (AP)
AP - The New Deal it is not. The government's biggest economic bailout since the Great Depression is aimed not at relieving unemployment or reforming questionable business practices, but at resuscitating financial markets debilitated by lousy bets on the housing market. More »
Couple say home's ex-owner tried to scare them out (AP)
AP - John and Jamie Petree couldn't believe their luck. The home they bought in this Columbus suburb was near family and quality schools. Its huge backyard promised years of afternoon fun for their 2-year-old daughter and about-to-be-born son. More »
UK set to nationalize B&B bank, may sell savings (Reuters)
Reuters - Britain's government will nationalize troubled mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley and is discussing the sale of its savings book and branches, people in the banking industry familiar with the matter said. More »
Britain to nationalize Bradford & Bingley: report (Reuters)
Reuters - Britain will nationalize troubled mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley , the BBC reported on Saturday, but the government said discussions on the bank's future were still going on. More »
Political Economy: Building a Floor (CQPolitics.com)
CQPolitics.com - Even at $700 billion, the biggest bailout ever isn't by itself going to solve the U.S. economy's problems. If that wasn't already evident, it should have been clear from the testimony of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke last week and from the bad news on home sales. Still, the nuance is quite possibly lost on many lawmakers and the public alike. More »
Housing giant dropped meeting with McCain adviser (AP)
AP - Last March, a consultant to Freddie Mac arranged a meeting between the top economist in John McCain's campaign and Hollis S. McLoughlin, a prominent Republican and top executive at the failing housing giant that is central to the nation's credit crisis. More »
Bradford & Bingley may be nationalised: reports (AFP)
AFP - British mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley, which has been hit by a housing downturn and weakness in the wider economy, may be nationalised, according to newspaper reports. More »
Cirrus reveals The Vantage
Cirrus Developments has launched its tower, The Vantage located at Nakheel's Waterfront, a residential 50 storey building that will offer a range of apartments plus townhouses. The property is aimed at achieving a 'green' certification through LEED accreditation, with solar panels on the roof planned to produce enough power for all the common areas of the tower. More »
Limitless plans $1.7bn project in Indonesia
Limitless, the global real estate arm of Dubai World, is to develop Rasuna Epicentrum, a $1.7bn, 33 hectare mixed-use project in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. Rasuna Epicentrum, which will accommodate 40,000 people in more than 1.2 million square metres of office and residential towers, is the first project for Limitless in Indonesia, and the fourth in South East Asia. The announcement follows a joint venture signing between Limitless and Jakarta-based Bakrieland Development (BLD). Under the agreement, Limitless becomes a 30% shareholder in Bakrie Swasakti Utama, Bumi Daya Makmur and Superwish Perkasa, subsidiaries of BLD. More »
Philippine property show to be held in Dubai
Trends in urban planning in Asia as well as good master planning will be discussed at the first Philippine Property Show in the Middle East which opens this Friday in Dubai. The show's project director, Jose Tuano, said that 'unlike other markets, the growth in Philippines real estate industry is driven by realistic demand from commercial and residential end-users and not by speculators'. Philippine Ambassador to the UAE Libran Cabactulan will lead Philippine government officials, international business community, investors and the Filipino expatriate community in the opening ceremonies. More »
Property profit may slow in some areas of Dubai
The director-general of Dubai's Lands Department said yesterday that profits in the emirate's real estate sector could slow and sales may ease in certain areas, but the overall outlook remains positive, reported Khaleej Times. Sultan Butti bin Mijrin said buyers had become very selective in property investments in the wake of the global credit crisis, but the outlook for the sector remains positive with registered property sales so far this year reaching Dhs200bn ($545bn). He explained that a correction may be felt in some areas of Dubai but it is not likely to occur across the entire emirate. More »
Aldar signs deal with Standard Chartered
Standard Chartered Bank has signed an agreement with Aldar Properties, Abu Dhabi's property development, investment and managing company, to offer complete mortgage solutions for their property development in Abu Dhabi. Aldar is the first Abu Dhabi-based property developer to sign an agreement with the bank and the fifth in the UAE to avail of Standard Chartered's mortgage solutions. More »
Democrats claim progress in reaching bailout deal (AP)
AP - The Bush administration and Congress anxiously revived negotiations Friday on a $700 billion financial bailout, one day after the largest bank collapse in U.S. history provided a brutal reminder of the risks of failure. Democrats talked optimistically of agreement by the end of the weekend. More »
Prosecutors to add charges by Dec 5 in NY subprime case (Reuters)
Reuters - The U.S. government will file more charges by December 5 in the case of two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers accused in the first major federal criminal case stemming from the subprime mortgage crisis, prosecutors said on Friday. More »
Australian government to invest billions in mortgage market (AFP)
AFP - The Australian government announced Friday it would invest four billion dollars (3.32 billion US dollars) in the mortgage market in response to the global credit crunch. More »
Commerce Department Reveals 2Q GDP, Revised 2006 GDP
The year-over-year growth of the GDP for Little Rock, North Little Rock and Conway combined trumps the national average after the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released revised 2006 figures Thursday. More »