Origination

Roberts Realty Investors, an Atlanta-based publicly traded real estate investment trust that owns multifamily properties, is up for sale. The company has hired Sandler O'Neill + Partners LP to "explore potential strategic alternatives."

Less than one year ago I came before this committee and testified in support of modernizing and reauthorizing the National Flood Insurance Program. Last year, NFIP lapsed three times before the Senate authorized a one-year extension. As you know, that extension expires this September.

I'd like to suggest four targets to add to your list of ethics training recipients if they aren't already included. The first two are high-risk groups often overlooked when developing ethics and values training. The second two are seemingly obvious groups also often overlooked though for entirely different reasons.

Housing permits rose sharply in May in California to their highest level of the year -- but the gain was entirely in the multifamily sector, with single-family production actually falling in the month.

A new study from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business and its Tayloe Murphy Center shows that by better serving under-banked consumers, depositories can effectively raise property values.

Residential lenders and investors no longer have to fear steep declines in home prices and mortgage credit should become more available later this year, according to a new report from Bank of America/Merrill Lynch.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York has approved the reorganization plan of Innkeepers USA Trust, a real estate investment trust which filed for Chapter 11 protection in July 2010.

Synovus has created a Senior Housing Group to serve the needs of owners of such properties as convalescent and assisted-living care facilities and nursing homes. William E. Shine joins Synovus as director of corporate banking for specialized healthcare lending.

The CoreLogic Home Price Index for May increased 0.8% over April but declined by 7.4% when compared with May 2010. Take out distressed sales, and year-over-year prices declined by a mere 0.4% when compared with May 2010. That follows a 0.8% year-over-year decline when distressed sales were removed from the equation for April.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., an insurance brokerage based in Itasca, Ill., has bought Mortgage Insurance Agency Inc., Crystal Lake, Ill., a provider of surety bonds, errors & omissions coverage and fidelity bonds for mortgage brokers and mortgage bankers nationwide. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.