The nationwide credit crunch has taken a toll on Hawaii’s commercial real estate sector, which saw sales volume plunge 58.5 percent in the first half of the year, according to a new report.

Local real estate deals, affected by more stringent lending requirements and a disconnect in pricing between buyers and sellers, fell only 7.3 percent from 113 transactions in the first six months of 2007. But year-to-date sales volume plummeted to $536 million from $1.2 billion, according to the latest investment market report released today by Colliers Monroe Friedlander Inc.

Those waiting for signs that the housing slump is nearing an end were disappointed Thursday, as MDA DataQuick reported 2,004 San Diego County homes went into foreclosure in July, a 9 percent increase over June and a jump of nearly 213 percent over last year.
The July foreclosure tally was a record high since DataQuick began [...]

Inc. ranked Las Vegas real estate developer Group Gemstone today in the top five on its annual ranking of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the country. Group Gemstone also ranked as the fastest growing real estate developer in America, as well as the fastest growing private company west of the Mississippi.
“We’re pleased that [...]

In July 2008, there were a total of 8,165 resale homes recorded sold. Foreclosure activity represented 42 percent (3,470 transactions), while there were 4,695 traditional market transactions. Foreclosed transactions represent home owners losing their property to successful individual bidders or the lender of record. In June 2008, the spilt was 3,275 foreclosed homes and 4,565 [...]

There’s a silver lining in San Diego’s slumping housing market: improved affordability.
The National Association of Home Builders yesterday ranked San Diego County as the nation’s 20th least affordable metro area, a major improvement from four years ago, when the region was ranked the most unaffordable market in the nation.
It was the best ranking San Diego [...]

The number of homes and apartments being built in the US sank in July to the lowest level in more than 17 years, government figures show.
Builders started work on 965,000 properties, on an annualised basis, from 1.08 million in June, the Commerce Department said.
However, this was not as bleak as some had been expecting.
Separately, inflationary [...]

Bay Area home prices plunged to a 53-month low in July as a brisk business in foreclosed properties depressed prices and buoyed sales volume, according to a real estate report released Tuesday.
The median price for both new and resale homes and condos stood at $470,000, down 29.3 percent from a year ago, according to MDA [...]

How much is your house worth in this turbulent market? That’s the question on the minds of many Bay Area homeowners, but it’s become increasingly tough to answer, even for the pros.
Instability in the region’s housing market is making it difficult to determine values, according to mortgage brokers and real estate appraisers. “It’s miserable,” said [...]

A national firm reports that Idaho foreclosures rose nearly 41 percent from June to July and 121 percent from the same period last year.
RealtyTrac’s market report ranked Idaho at the 15th highest rate of filings among U.S. states for the month of July. But a local bank officials says the foreclosure trend isn’t as bad [...]

A bankrupt Arizona mortgage lender paid $856,000 in bonuses, marketing fees and “non competition” fees to mortgage brokers, builders and real estate brokerages that referred nearly $1 billion in business to the company, according to two audit reports by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
HUD said the lender, First Magnus Financial Corp., violated anti-kickback [...]