TALLAHASSEE, FL – Lowe Enterprises Investors in joint venture with a foreign investment client has bought St. Augustine Plantation, a senior housing community in Tallahassee, Florida, from Capital Health Group, LLC (CHG). CHG will maintain a minority ownership in the 100-unit, 115-bed community located at 2507 Ancient St. Augustine Road.

“St. Augustine Plantation offers LEI the ability to invest in a strong, stable Class A property and improve it through expansion and renovation,” said Brad Howe, co-CEO of LEI. “We also have the benefit of partnering with CHG, an experienced and respected senior housing property operator.”

St. Augustine Plantation is a best-in-class senior housing community in the Tallahassee market and is currently 97 percent occupied. The community was developed in two phases, the 75-unit helped living building was built in 1998, and the 25-unit memory care building was built in 2012.The community’s common area amenities include a central dining room that serves three restaurant style meals a day, a beauty parlor and barber shop, activity centers for fitness, creative, social and spiritual programs, a craft/exercise center, chapel, and library.

The partners have developed a plot to improve common areas, expand the property by 24 memory care beds and add a wellness center for recreation and rehabilitation that will be managed by Florida State University.

St. Augustine Plantation is located approximately three miles southeast of downtown Tallahassee. Residents delight in simple access to health care providers, with five hospitals in a five mile radius, as well as shopping and entertainment with a major shopping mall just over a mile from the property. Tallahassee serves as a healthcare hub for 23 surrounding rural counties.

LEI continues to expand its investment activities in the Southeast with recent acquisitions that include a Hampton Inn in Jacksonville, FL, an apartment community in Greensboro, NC and a portfolio of three Hilton Garden Inns in Georgia. The firm will seek additional opportunities to team with CHG on senior housing investments nationwide.

John Gaghan led the LEI investment team, Kenneth Assiran and HFF led the seller’s team. Berkadia’s Senior Housing and Healthcare Group, led by Christopher Honn, Jeff Heath and Mike McKee, arranged financing for the transaction.

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DALLAS, TX – Despite positive economic indicators like record wage growth and falling unemployment, housing confidence remained flat from June through September, according to the new ValueInsured Housing Confidence Index.

Housing confidence rose a mere 0.2 points from June through September to 68.9 on the hundred-point scale. That figure is up 1.9 points since March. A number of factors are likely to blame for the subdued confidence measure, according to Joe Melendez, CEO of ValueInsured.

“Home prices rose over the summer, putting them out of reach for many renters who also saw their rents rising,” said Melendez. “Another factor suppressing housing confidence is the unsettling presidential contest and uncertain future it entails. Combine those factors with the hangover of the 2008 housing crisis, and many prospective buyers really need a confidence boost.”

The ValueInsured Housing Confidence Index is the aggregate mean of seven multidimensional confidence measures collected through the Modern Homebuyer Survey, which is conducted once per quarter. As such, the Index reflects the attitudes of American homeowners and non-homeowners toward the housing market and benefits of buying a home.

A significant factor in the flat confidence index is the continued uncertainty and anxiety of millennials. Although three-in-four (76 percent) millennial non-homeowners (i.e., would-be first-time buyers) want to buy a home, less than two-in-five (38 percent) are confident they can afford a down payment. Millennials also outpace Americans in general in a number of other home buying concerns measured by the survey:

Overall, millennials are skeptical and bracing for volatility. They are more likely to expect a price bubble and correction in the next two years than Americans overall (60 percent of millennials vs. 47 percent of Americans). Prospective first-time homebuyers in particular are nervous about market instability – only a quarter of these millennial non-homeowners are confident that the 2008 housing crisis will not happen again in their lifetimes. 

On the bright side, 70 percent of millennials said the American Dream is alive and well. They do, but, describe it differently than past generations. They want to own a home but not be tied down by it. More than four-in-five (83 percent) millennials say their new definition of the American Dream is “owning a home on my own terms while staying mobile, agile and financially secure.” In fact, more than four-in-five (81 percent) millennials plot to live in their current home for less than five years.

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NEW YORK, NY – Mortgage rates continued their go higher this week with the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate rising to 3.62 percent, according to Bankrate.com’s weekly national survey. The 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.22 discount and origination points.

The larger jumbo 30-year fixed climbed to 3.64 percent, the highest since late July, while the average 15-year fixed mortgage rate increased to 2.91 percent. Adjustable mortgage rates were also on the go, with the 5-year ARM rising to 3.12 percent and the 7-year ARM reaching 3.32 percent.    

Mortgage rates have been rising because of more than just the expectation of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike in December. Wages are increasing, oil prices have gone above $50 per barrel, and core inflation has ticked higher, all of which are pushing yields on government debt higher. Mortgage rates are closely related to yields on long-term Treasury bonds. But this isn’t to say that mortgage are now skyrocketing, or are at immediate risk of doing so, as mortgage rates have returned to levels seen in mid- September. With the backdrop of sluggish economic growth and low inflation around the world, there is a ceiling to how high rates will go right now – and we are likely very close to it.  

At the current average 30-year fixed mortgage rate of 3.62 percent, the monthly payment for a $200,000 loan is $911.54.

SURVEY RESULTS

30-year fixed: 3.62% — up from 3.56% last week (avg. points: 0.22)
15-year fixed: 2.91% — up from 2.85% last week (avg. points: 0.16)
5/1 ARM: 3.12% — up from 3.07% last week (avg. points: 0.24)

Bankrate’s national weekly mortgage survey is conducted each Wednesday from data provided by the top 10 banks and thrifts in 10 top markets.

For a full analysis of this week’s go in mortgage rates, go to www.bankrate.com

The survey is complemented by Bankrate’s weekly Rate Trend Index, in which a panel of mortgage experts predicts which way the rates are headed over the next seven days. Two-thirds of this week’s respondents predict mortgage rates will keep rising while one-third expect mortgage rates will hold steady at these levels over the next week. Fascinatingly, none of this week’s respondents forecast a decline in mortgage rates in the coming week.

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