Revised exit strategy

Knowing when and how to leave are two of life's great, underrated skills.
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They have also happened to be two of Dick Syron's professional strengths. He accomplished important goals and then left on top at a series of big jobs, running the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the American Stock Exchange, and Thermo Electron Corp. (now called Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.) in Waltham. That didn't happen by accident.

He had a plan to leave his current job, chief executive of mortgage giant Freddie Mac, in the same fashion. This time, events have knocked Syron's last big corporate exit strategy way off the rails.

First, his hand-picked successor had a change of heart this year.

Gene McQuade, the former Fleet and Bank of America executive who had moved to Freddie Mac as Syron's number two, decided in May he didn't want the top job after all. Syron, who was prepared to step down early to make way for McQuade this year, instead ended up signing a one-year contract extension through 2009 last month.

More recently, the roof has fallen in on the mortgage business, as everyone knows. The industry's biggest player, Fannie Mae, has lost piles of money. Freddie Mac has lost even more.

Freddie Mac reported third-quarter losses of about $2 billion and expects to post a similar number for the fourth quarter.

It's stock has sunk like a rock, down 55 percent this year. Freddie has sold billions of dollars worth of preferred stock and cut the dividend to protect its capital.

So much for scripted exits. Now Syron talks about digging in and getting through a real estate cycle that will inflict more damage for years to come.

"I don't plan on exiting before it's fixed," Syron said yesterday. "I'll have to stay longer than I originally planned, but I'm confident in the organization. We're going through some tough times. It's a mix of accounting noise and reality, but both will get better."

Freddie Mac, like the bigger Fannie Mae, is a creation of Congress that exists to boost mortgage finance by purchasing loans from lenders. It makes investment income by holding mortgages and mortgage bonds. It also earns fees by packaging and guaranteeing home loans as securities. Together Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac own or guarantee about 40 percent of the $11.5 trillion US home loan market.

Syron came to Freddie Mac in 2004, drawn by an opportunity to fix a damaged institution. Serious accounting mistakes had eroded confidence, and regulators imposed much higher capital requirements as a result. Syron had an opportunity to fix Freddie Mac during a booming housing market.

Syron had good political skills and serious economic credentials. He had plenty of real-world experience with capital markets and publicly traded companies. It was a good fit and the story followed a fairly predictable plot until this year.

Now the market's problems are profound, and Syron, speaking at a Goldman Sachs conference this week, said Freddie Mac expected mortgage default rates of 3 percent or higher, the worst levels since 1991. His message: Don't expect good news anytime soon.

"I signed a contract to re-up through 2009," Syron told me yesterday. "I don't think we'll have finished the cycle by '09, but by that period people will see things getting a lot better."

That is the backdrop for Syron's new exit strategy, a plan that envisions him leaving a restored institution. "I don't intend to leave [Freddie Mac] in a bad place," he said. "This is the last thing I want to do on a full-time basis. I don't want to go out on something that isn't a success. I feel extremely strongly about that."

He has time, but there's a lot of digging out to do.

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source: boston.com

Home sales down 15.4% in November

Home sales in Massachusetts dropped in November at a double-digit rate for the third straight month, yet house prices fell only modestly in neighborhoods that have so far escaped the subprime mortgage crisis.
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Sales of single-family houses plunged 15.4 percent last month compared with November of last year, Warren Group, a Boston real estate and publishing firm, reported yesterday. The sales total of 3,538 single-family homes last month was the lowest for November since the recession of 1991. Condo sales plunged 23.2 percent in November.

"The number of sales are just plain dropping," said Alan Pasnik, Warren Group's real estate analyst.

The Warren report tallies residential sales that closed in November, which were typically put under agreement in late September and October.

Sales have clearly weakened over the course of the year, and November's sales slump followed declines of 17.1 percent in October and 18.7 percent in September.

Price declines were steeper in markets and neighborhoods with high levels of foreclosed properties than in the state as a whole, the monthly data indicate. The statewide median price for a single-family home last month fell by 5.8 percent, to $295,000.

But when bank seizures of foreclosed properties are excluded from the data, Warren said, the median price last month was just 1.6 percent lower than November of last year. And, over the course of the first 11 months of this year, the median price was virtually unchanged from the same January-November period last year.

"At the end of the year, we're going to come out and say it wasn't a great year but it wasn't that bad, either," said Patrick Fortin, an agent with Century 21 Commonwealth in Winchester.

The statewide median condo price fell to $258,006. But excluding foreclosed properties, the median was $270,000.

Pasnik said one reason why prices aren't falling further is because the number of homes for sale is shrinking, limiting the amount of oversupply.

The escalation in subprime mortgage delinquencies forms a dark cloud over the market: Warren recorded 386 houses and condos repossessed by lenders in November - nearly double the amount in November of last year.

Ron Huth, owner of Buyer's Choice in Wenham, said distressed properties have increased to about 10 percent of the housing market in a swath from Boston's western suburbs to the North Shore. These include short sales by homeowners trying to prevent foreclosures and houses repossessed or auctioned off by lenders.

The soft market has presented some great bargains for buyers. Some real estate agents and buyers report home purchases that are $100,000 below listing price, although such opportunities can draw a crowd of interested buyers. "Unless you get a property that has really been reduced significantly, they sit," Huth said. "When they do come into a price range where they are appealing to buyers, then multiple buyers come out of the woodwork."

Housing markets such as Arlington that have largely escaped the subprime crisis are showing pockets of strength. Arlington's single-family home sales declined 2.8 percent so far this year compared to the first 11 months of last year, Warren Group said.

But Robert Bowes, who owns Bowes Pennell & Thompson GMAC Real Estate in Arlington, said his office has seen strong demand increase this year from young, professional couples gravitating to the town's urban feel and its good public schools. He predicted 2007 sales handled by his agents, about 330, will exceed 2006 sales of a little more than 300.

"Seldom in our history have we had a time of low unemployment, low mortgage rates, good inventory, and lower house prices," he said. "That's why we're having the best year we've ever had."

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source: boston.com

Real estate market to enjoy a boom in 2008

ietNamNet Bridge – The personal income taxation, high foreign capital inflow, and the new policy which allows Viet Kieu to purchase houses in Vietnam are all believed to make the real estate market more bustling in 2008.
For the last month, a lot of investors have been flocking from HCM City to Binh Duong province to hunt for land. Just within one month, the land price in Chanh Nghia urban area in Thu Dau Mot town has increased by ten folds, now trading at VND26mil/sq m. Meanwhile, land owners in Thuan An district do not sell land at this moment for fear that they would take losses if the land price increases further.



Nguyen Khanh Hung, Deputy Director of Dat Xanh Real Estate Company, said that the land in Binh Duong province has become more expensive since the beginning of the year, but the price has been skyrocketing for the last few days as a lot of investors are seeking to buy land here.



The land plots in Long An province have also been attracting investors though the land price is double now compared to one month ago. The prices of the land plots in the areas contiguous to HCM City, especially in the areas linking with Nguyen Van Linh Road in district 7 of HCM City, have soared to VND7mil/sq m. Meanwhile, in Dong Nai province, the land plots on the roads linking to Long Thanh airports are being most hunted by investors.



Analysts said that investors now tend to make investments in neighbouring provinces instead of HCM City. Director of a real estate company in district 3, HCM City said that the transport is not the big problem for investors any more because the transport system has been well developed. Meanwhile, the land prices in the provinces are considered affordable for many investors, while the land price in HCM City is quite exorbitant.



Marc Townsend, Managing Director of CBRE Vietnam, said that the HCM City real estate market would see a boom in 2008. The apartment prices would increase by 20% on average, though a lot of apartments will be marketed, including the ones under the projects of Saigon Pearl, Phu My Hung, The Everich, Cantavil, and River Garden.



Why will the apartment prices still escalate despite the profuse supply? Mr Townsend said that it is because investors will count on the inflation rate into the apartment selling prices.



Under the current regulations, investors cannot mobilize capital from the public until they finish the construction of buildings’ foundation, and this certainly leads to the higher cost of construction.



Lam Van Chuc, Director General of Phuc Duc Property Company, also said that the real estate market would bounce back again in 2008 for many reasons. The state will impose the personal income tax on real estate assignments. Meanwhile, the demand for land and houses will increase as the Government has turned the green light on the house purchasing of foreigners and Viet Kieu.



Nguyen Manh Ha, Director of the House Management Department under the Ministry of Construction, believes that the property market would be hot thanks to the high inflow of foreign capital.



According to Mr Ha, there are 13 operational foreign investment funds in Vietnam which target real estate investments. Some of the funds have been raising more funds from the public, and the move can be understood that the funds are planning long term investments in Vietnam.



In the last two years, a lot of big real estate projects capitalized at several hundred millions dollars have been kicked off, including the Bac An Khanh new urban area in Ha Tay province, Keangnam Landmark Tower in Hanoi, and Kumho Asiana Plaza in HCM City.



The high inflow of overseas remittance is also believed to make the real estate market hotter in 2008. It is estimated that some $5bil have been remitted into Vietnam, and a part of which will be injected in land and houses. Vietnamese people have the habit of purchasing houses in last or first months of a year.

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source: vietnamnet.vn

Ken Hendricks, CEO of ABC Supply, Dies in Roofing Accident

n a sad story, Rick Hendricks of Beloit, Wisconsin, died after falling through his garage roof. The 66 year old was the founder and CEO of ABC Supply and the 91st richest man in the United States.

The self made billionaire fortune was built by consolidating many of the suppliers of roofing and building supplies across the country. Hendricks also through his Hendricks Development Group owned over 20 million square feet of real estate.

Rock when he fell through, the sheriff’s department said. He suffered massive head injuries, according to his company, ABC Supply Co. Hendricks was the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of the company, the self-described nation’s largest wholesale distributor of roofing. The Beloit-based company does about $3 billion in business a year.
Hendricks had a net worth of $3.5 billion in September, according to Forbes magazine. That made him the country’s 91st richest person, according to the magazine’s ranking of American billionaires. Hendricks, the son of a Janesville roofer, worked side-by-side with his father growing up. A high school dropout, he started his own roofing business at age 21, according to his biography on ABC Supply’s Web site. via ajc.com

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source: myspace.com

First Night 2008 Celebrations

First Night seeks to foster the public’s appreciation of visual and performing arts through an innovative, diverse and high quality New Year’s Eve program, which provides a shared cultural experience, accessible and affordable to all. The price of admission varies in each community, ranging from $5 to $15 per person. Many offer discounts for children and for those buying in advance.

This year’s celebrations will be hosted in Haddonfield, Camden County and Mt. Holly, Burlington County.

In Haddonfield, churches, schools, and community buildings will host almost four-dozen performances along Kings Highway throughout the six-hour event. Organizers plan for two separate New Year’s "countdowns" in the center of town at the intersection of Tanner Street with Kings Highway, one specifically for the children at 9 PM and a second at the traditional hour of Midnight. New entertainment for 2007 includes Brigid’s Cross performing a blend of Celtic folk/rock music; Galumpha, an acrobatics trio and Argen-Tango dance duo. For more information visit www.firstnighthaddonfield.org

First Night Burlington County is celebrating its ninth year of hosting the family-friendly and substance-free event. The organizers are expecting over 2000 revelers who will have access to events in and around historic structures in the county seat. Previous years featured activities that included art exhibits, a comedy show, and theatrical and musical events. Burlington also features public spectacles that do not require buttons for entry, such as the pet parade, street entertainers and fireworks at 9:30 and midnight. For more information visit www.mainstreetmountholly.com

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source: roxanneardary.com

Willingboro Housing Market Update

As of today there are 450 homes for sale in Willingboro. On average, 29 homes per month have been sold over the last 12 months giving Willingboro a 15 month inventory of homes for sale. The number of days on market averages to 81.

October 2007 residential housing market activity:

Listed: 103
Pended: 22
Sold: 25

October 2006 comparison:

Listed: 88
Pended: 37
Sold: 38

The average sold price for properties sold so far in Willingboro in 2007 is $192,904 with the lowest sales price being $100,000 and the highest property sold for $305,500.

For those interested in purchasing a home in Willingboro; the price range for 3 bedroom single family homes that are currently listed ranges between $139,000 (property needs work) to $350,000. The 4 bedroom single family properties asking price ranges between $119,900 (property needs extensive work) to $369,000. Click the following link to request the current MLS listings be sure to indicate which towns you would like emailed to you.

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source: roxanneardary.com

BURLCO Native American Heritage Celebration Sat., Nov. 17

In honor of Native American Heritage Month, Burlington County will host a free program featuring Native dancing, music, storytelling, demonstrations, and photo exhibit at the Mount Holly Library Saturday, Nov. 17 from noon to 4 p.m.

Sponsored by the Burlington County Freeholders and the Division of Cultural Affairs and Tourism, the second annual celebration will also include a lecture on tribal history and contemporary culture by Chief Mark Gould, Tribal Chairman of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribe.

The program offers a unique opportunity for the public to learn more about the traditions, accomplishments and rich ancestry of Native Americans.

A special highlight of the event will be performances by Justice and Trinity Norwood, teenaged brother and sister from Moorestown who represent the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Tribe. The reigning tribal princess, Trinity is an award-winning fancy shawl dancer and tribal presenter. Justice is an award-wining southern straight style dancer and water and war drummer. The siblings, who have represented their tribe nationally and internationally, will perform wearing colorful, traditional regalia.

The celebration will also feature war drumming and pow-wow style dancing, including a grand entry, honor song, and intertribal and specialty dancing by the Red Blanket Drum Group and the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Dancers with Native New Jersey.

Also planned are Native flute music, storytelling, beading and basket making, an exhibit of Native artifacts, and arts and crafts for children.

A photo exhibit on Native American culture and history by photographer Cara Lee Blume will be on display. An archaeologist and historian who has worked with and for American Indian communities in Delaware and New Jersey for 20 years, Blume views her photographs as a tribute to the people in these communities who have become her friends.

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source:roxanneardary.com