Archive for August 2007

Applications for residential mortgages fell last week for the first time in three weeks, due to a sharp drop in demand for home-purchase and refinancing loans, Reuters reported.

The Mortgage Bankers Association announced this morning …

The World Food Prize Foundation has selected an architecture firm to renovate the old Des Moines downtown library. “We’re very excited about our selection,” said Justin Cremer, director of communications for the world food prize …

The Ankeny Plan and Zoning Commission recommended to the city council that the land occupied by Karl Chevrolet Inc. should be rezoned from a light industrial district to a central retail, highway oriented and central …

Keeping track of the commercial real estate market may be a bit easier thanks to an innovation announced by Standard & Poor’s earlier this month. The S&P/GRA Commercial Real Estate Indices (SPCREX) will measure changes …

The housing market may be as bleak as Iowa in February, but the commercial real estate market is looking up. According to the National Association of Realtors, the commercial leading indicator for brokerage activity rose …

The West Des Moines Plan and Zoning Commission denied a request by Walters Cos. Inc. to change six of 15 acres in the comprehensive plan from medium density residential to office. The property is east …

Iowa’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate peaked for the year at 3.9 percent in July as hiring cooled considerably, according to Iowa Workforce Development. The rate was up from 3.8 percent in June and 3.7 percent …

Iowa had 621 foreclosure filings in July, up 35.89 percent from June, according to RealtyTrac Inc. Nationally, the number of default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions totaled 179,599, up 9.1 percent from June …

The Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. said this morning that it is looking at ways to divest its 31 percent stake in the London Stock Exchange Group PLC, reversing its earlier position that it did not …

Fritz Jünker, former executive director of the Des Moines Music Coalition, has sued Hollywood actor David Arquette and his production company, Coquette Productions Inc., for copyright infringement.

In a lawsuit filed last week in U.S. …