The 234 Apartment

WASHINGTON — Homebuilders pulled back sharply on construction of apartment complexes in July, causing housing starts to tumble to a three-month low. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that housing starts fell 4 .8 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.16 million. Groundbreakings for multi- family buildings such as apartments slumped 17.1 percent, while single- family house construction slipped 0 .5 percent. Home construction has increased 2.4 percent year-to-date, but the gains have done little to offset the dwindling number of homes listed for sale. The shortage of properties for sale has pushed prices up at a faster pace than income growth, making home ownership less affordable for many would-be buyers. Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Amherst Pierpont Securities , said that because of the lack of homes on the market "builders are attempting to meet that need but are hamstrung to a degree by shortages of skilled workers" and land restrictions...

Fewer of these, please. iStock/Thinkstock It's possible to get rich if your business only caters to rich people. But it's hard to have a massive and really successful industry in the United States today if you only cater to rich people. There are only so many people in the country with good credit and lots of cash sitting around. And this week, we got evidence that one of America’s largest industries may be running into trouble because its products appeal only to the upper crust. I’m not talking about jewelry or apparel. I’m talking about housing. On Tuesday, luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers reported a blow-out quarter, noting that contracts and sales were up 20 percent from the year before, and said it might sell more than 2,500 homes in the upcoming quarter. Advertisement On Wednesday, the Census Bureau announced that new home sales in July were down 9.4 percent from June, and down 8.9 percent from July 2016. On Thursday, the National Association of Realtors reported t...

July 10 William Griffin Sr. to Catalina Espinosa Rodriguez , Ld: Lot, on the north side of Barnes Street, $60,800 Brenda Thomas Tharpe to K&G Investments LLC , Ld: Executor’s Deed, Lot 7, Block B Subdivision: Haltom Hills, $80,000 Brenda Thomas Tharpe to K&G Investments LLC , Ld:, Tract A R-50 2362 Executor’s Deed, $20,000 Brantley Chin Yu and Shannon Faye Yu to Good Faith Management LLC , Ld:, 1856 Formosa Drive, Lot 21, Block W Subdivision: F R Miles Section Five, $34,000 Cloreta Marshall and Robert Rhodes to Cloreta Marshall and Brian Marshall , Lot 7, Block B Subdivision: Tara Pines, $54,000 William W. McCartney and Luciann M. McCartney to Paul C. Mann and Sara N. Mann, Lot 4, Block Subdivision: Aumond Tract, $482,500 Roger Alan Barnes, Bobby Lee Barnes and Sandra Kay Phillips to Good Faith Management LLC , Ld: Lots 13 &14, Plat Book 17-D 116, $5,000 Jay W. Foster to Austin T. Cochran, Ld:, Lot 17, Block Subdivision: Bedford Heights Section A, $102,000 Lucille Sul...

caption Sellers rejoice. source Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Homebuyer demand is surging in many markets across the US, sending home prices skyward . Even though the number of home sales are slightly down this summer, the national median home price rose 6 .5% year-over-year to an all-time high of $263,800 in June, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). “The demand for buying a home is as strong as it has been since before the Great Recession,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun . “Listings in the affordable price range continue to be scooped up rapidly,” he said, “but the severe housing shortages inflicting many markets are keeping a large segment of would-be buyers on the sidelines.” In a new report, GOBankingRates examined home prices for the 100 most populous markets using Zillow data, comparing prices in each market for June 2016 and June 2017. Overall, 19 cities saw a median home price increase of more than 14% in the last year, and an average incr...

Freedom Gardens in Brooksville, Fla., features one- to three-bedroom units with rents ranging from $400 to $880 per month. BROOKSVILLE, FLA. — Housing Trust Group (HTG) has opened Freedom Gardens , an $18. 5 million affordable housing community situated in the Central Florida city of Brooksville. Located at 932 Freedom Way, the 96-unit property is part of a two-phase development. The second phase of Freedom Gardens will provide an additional 94 units and is slated to break ground in the first quarter of 2018. Freedom Gardens offers one-, two- and three-bedroom units with rents ranging from $400 to $880 per month. Community amenities include a cyber café, swimming pool, after-school care, laundry facility, fitness center, walking path, community gathering area and a pet park. The property achieved a green building certification under the National Green Building Standard administered by the National Association of Home Builders. Tagged new_projects

( College Park Fire Department/YouTube) COLLEGE PARK, Maryland (NBC Washington) - A five-alarm fire at a College Park, Maryland, apartment building burned much longer than it should have, putting firefighters and the public at unnecessary risk, according to College Park Fire Chief Bill Corrigan . The Fuse 47 building on Berwyn House Road was still under construction at the time of the fire. FirefighterNation: Multiple-Alarm Fire at Maryland Apartment Building Construction Questioned in Maryland Five-Alarm Fire Corrigan told the News4 I-Team the standpipe valves firefighters typically use to pump water up through a building in an emergency were left in the "closed" position. The design of the building limited firefighter access to the structure, Corrigan said, and the sheer size also hampered firefighter efforts . "This building was 100 percent within the allowable parameters, but it was built to the absolute max," Corrigan said. "Probably to within ...

Crews from Overland Park and Leawood Fire Departments were called to a building fire in the 11800 block of Perry Street at the Highland Ridge Apartments . First units on the scene reported heavy smoke and fire from a two- story apartment building . [Read More] Two people were killed after a car overturned on Interstate 15 near Rancho Bernardo, California Highway Patrol (CHP) officials said. [Read More] Kizer let loose with a throw that showcased all of his talent... [Read More] U.S. and South Korean military officials plan to move ahead with large-scale exercises later this month that North Korea, now finalizing plans to launch a salvo of missiles toward Guam, claims are a rehearsal for war. [Read More] Abby's dad had some C.P.R knowledge and did the mout-to-mouth while Knapp did the compressions. [Read More] I am a S.O.B. (son of a butcher)..08/10/2017 22:16:25PM EST. [Read More] Two teenagers were arrested Wednesday in connection to the Monday night shooting death of 19-ye...