REAL ESTATE NEWS...Boost for Hispanic homeownership, realtors

Boost for Hispanic homeownership, realtors
California’s Hispanic community should benefit from a new partnership announced Tuesday by two industry bodies. The Mortgage Bankers Association and the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals have joined forces to boost the level of homeownership among Latinos across the US and also to bring more Hispanics into the real estate and mortgage professions. The MBA’s education program will be actively promoted by both organizations in colleges and universities with high Hispanic enrolment.

Gary Acosta, NAHREP co-founder and CEO enthused: "There are incredible career opportunities in real estate finance and the Mortgage Bankers Association is doing some of the most innovative work in attracting new entrants into the industry.”
David H. Stevens, President and CEO of MBA said that homeownership is a key part of the American Dream: "And yet real challenges remain for many Americans, especially first-time homebuyers, the self-employed, and new Americans, to access credit. To serve our diverse customers, the real estate finance industry needs a diverse workforce.”
 
The Osbournes swap renting for homeownership
Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne are ending a few years of renting and buying a new home in Beverly Hills. TMZ.com reports that the celebrity couple are paying $10 million for the English-style home with 5 bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms. There is also a two-story guesthouse and plenty of outdoor features including pool, spa and rose garden.
 

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Bay Area housing affordability crisis needs collaboration says study
The San Francisco Bay Area faces a housing affordability crisis created by a number of factors, including the large number of people moving to the area for jobs, recent policy and spending shifts in California and major growth in Asian capital into the real estate market. Those are some of the findings of a new study by RICS, an international organization focusing on the built environment, which believes that a collaborative approach is required to tackle the issues. Director of strategy Daniel Cook said: “We need much more collaboration between public and private sectors on financing and provision of both housing and infrastructure. The major issues San Francisco is facing are replicated in many major cities of the world. They are directly related to growing populations, ongoing high rates of urbanization and growing resource scarcity.”

Linda Mandolini, president of Eden Housing, Inc., based in Hayward, says one approach would be to create an affordable housing real estate investment trust (REIT) to help with financing. She believes that an essential next step would be for RICS and the industry to work with housing and infrastructure providers, local governments, and California state government to address the range of issues associated with these major challenges