The Midtown real estate market has long been an anomaly compared to its Bluff City counterparts, with fundamentals as diverse as its demographics.

“The types of real estate that you’ll find in Midtown can be some of the most expensive or some of the most modest when it comes to prices and facility,” said Gary Myers of Gary Myers Co. “Retail in particular.”

2. Q1 Mortgages Up 12 Percent - Tuesday, April 17, 2012

As the new year got under way, it didn’t look like Shelby County’s mortgage market was going to be ringing in 2012 with a bang.

By the end of January, the market was in pretty much the same place as it was one year earlier, with total mortgage volume barely budging (to $67 million, barely up from January 2011’s mortgage volume of $65.3 million).

3. Recovery Roadblock - Monday, March 21, 2011

As the housing market inches closer to correction, the potential elimination of government-controlled housing institutions Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could bring the recovery to a screeching halt.

In 2008, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were pushed to the verge of collapse, partially because both failed to charge enough for the guarantees they sold to protect lenders and investors, which for decades were fully backed by the government.

4. Low Rates Spark Mortgage Activity - Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Mortgage rates that have fallen to the lowest levels on record are bringing with them a sound loan officers in Memphis no doubt like to hear – the incessant ring of the telephone.

A robust jump in second quarter local mortgage activity coincided with a dramatic plunge in mortgage rates, as rates on 30-year fixed mortgages that already were at historic lows dropped even further during the past several weeks.

5. Mortgage Numbers Stronger in Q1 - Tuesday, April 13, 2010

The mortgage industry’s first quarter was the picture of progress compared to the same quarter a year ago.

Although this year’s first quarter fell a little short of Q1 2009, each month of the new year showed a slight improvement and March showed a rare year-over-year improvement, giving the industry hope that recovery is near.

6. Loan Changes Could Alter Market - Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The Federal Housing Administration will enact a couple of changes in its loan procedures, including one going into effect next week, but how much they bear on home sales remains to be seen.

Beginning Monday, FHA will increase its upfront mortgage insurance premium from 1.75 percent to 2.25 percent. So, for someone buying a $100,000 home, that’s an additional $500 they’ll have to finance into the loan.

7. Mortgage Numbers Drop In February - Thursday, March 18, 2010

Like anyone in the real estate business, mortgage bankers have April 30 circled on their calendars.

That’s when the federal homebuyers tax credit is set to expire, bringing an end to the program that gives cash for a home purchase.

8. Dewald Selected to Chair Life and Health Insurance Foundation - Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Jack Dewald will serve as chairman of the board for the Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education.

Dewald is president and owner of Agency Services Inc.

9. Mortgage Activity Sums Up Dreary ’09 - Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Although the mortgage industry enjoyed an uptick in activity as the year ended, it by no means salvaged an otherwise abysmal 2009.

Lenders suffered one of their worst years for purchase mortgages in recent memory, making only 8,399 loans in 2009, according to real estate information company Chandler Reports, www.chandlerreports.com. (Data for this report included purchase mortgages only, not refinances.)

10. Mortgage Originator Not Consumed by Industry Woes - Monday, January 04, 2010

The road Sam Goff took to his current position as mortgage originator at Evolve Bank and Trust has been a long and winding one, to say the least.

11. Mortgage Activity Looks Up in November - Monday, December 14, 2009

It stands to reason that whenever home sales have a good month, the mortgage industry will also. Not surprisingly, the latest loan data held up their end of the bargain and for the first time all year outpaced the same month of 2008.

12. Mortgage Industry Hopes for Turnaround - Monday, November 23, 2009

Last week saw the installation of new officers for the Memphis Mortgage Bankers Association, and last month saw further stabilization of local mortgage numbers.

Meribeth LaBarreare, senior loan officer at Magna Bank and outgoing MMBA president, said the past year has been a rocky one for the industry, but that her tenure as president was a positive experience – even calling it a “blast” – despite these crazy financial times.

13. Mortgage Numbers Down But Rising - Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Keith Barger, an executive vice president at Patriot Bank, said the Millington-based community bank has considered itself blessed throughout 2009.

14. Experts: Mortgage Numbers Still Down, But Rebounding - Monday, September 21, 2009

It’s hard to find a mortgage banker who doesn’t appreciate the $8,000 first-time homebuyers federal tax credit. The program, set to expire Nov. 30 unless Congress extends it, has provided a spark for the industry as hundreds of thousands of buyers are taking advantage of it.

15. Q2 Mortgages Up 34 Percent - Tuesday, July 14, 2009

The mortgage industry is yet another group that viewed the second quarter numbers with some ambivalence. The period (April through June) was highlighted by slight improvements from the previous quarter but well off the mark from the same quarter the previous two years.

16. Q1 Mortgage Numbers So Predictable - Tuesday, April 14, 2009

With home sales continuing their dramatic decline, it stands to reason that mortgage activity would mirror the sales slump and register its own set of disappointing numbers.

That logic certainly prevailed in the first quarter of 2009, which saw a significant dropoff in residential mortgages, according to the latest data from real estate information company Chandler Reports, www.chandlerreports.com.

17. Mortgage Bankers Aflutter Over Refi Boom - Thursday, January 15, 2009

The new year brought new hope for the embattled mortgage industry, but it also brought a continuation of low interest rates, which has spurred a refinancing boom unlike any in recent memory in Memphis and elsewhere.

18. Bankers Thank Their Stars '08 is Over - Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Go ahead and count the mortgage industry as yet another group overjoyed to see 2008 come to an end.

“Thank God it’s over – that’s what everybody is saying, ‘Thank God it’s over,” said Meribeth LaBarreare, vice president and senior loan officer for Magna Bank and 2009 president of the Memphis Mortgage Bankers Association.

19. McDowell Named Radiology Director At Methodist University Hospital - Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Tina McDowell has been promoted to director of radiology at Methodist University Hospital. She served as the manager of diagnostic radiology at MUH for the past six years.

20. Boyle’s Halperin Receives Realtors Commercial Alliance Award - Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Mark Halperin of Boyle Investment Co. has received the 2008 Realtors Commercial Alliance National Award from the Realtors Commercial Alliance.

21. Mortgage Bankers Anticipate More Activity - Monday, September 22, 2008

The phone has been ringing nonstop for Sam Goff, mortgage loan originator for Evolve Mortgage and vice president of the Memphis Mortgage Bankers Association (MMBA).

With the recent drop of interest rates on the heels of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac crisis, Goff’s mortgage clients are calling to see if refinancing their mortgages might be a good idea.

22. July Mortgage Activity Drops 37 Percent - Monday, August 11, 2008

The federal housing bill recently signed into law might bring relief to the beleaguered mortgage industry, but it likely won’t bring results for a few months. In the meantime, the real estate market sputters along and lenders struggle to keep pace with last year’s numbers.

23. Mortgage Industry Gets Sound Drubbing - Wednesday, March 12, 2008

The mortgage industry continued to get knocked around this week, absorbing a flurry of punches on both the national and local fronts.

First, various media outlets reported that Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation's largest mortgage lender, is being investigated by the FBI for securities fraud.

24. Residential Growth Draws Commerce, Industry in DeSoto - Tuesday, February 06, 2007

It was only 50 years ago that DeSoto County was a collection of small, sleepy agrarian communities. But over half of a century, things have changed dramatically. And just in the past year, development has continued at a breakneck pace.

25. DeSoto's Dance with Development - Thursday, January 19, 2006

It's no secret the DeSoto County residential market has been thriving over the past few years, but commercial development is closing in fast on the heels of the many new DeSoto County residents.

Chuck Roberts, who has lived in Mississippi for around 20 years and owns Chuck Roberts Commercial Real Estate, has seen the area's commercial development pick up over the years. He points to the Southaven Towne Center at Interstate 55 and Goodman Road as the most obvious commercial development in the county.

26. Med Nurse Earns State Leadership Award - Wednesday, November 02, 2005

The Tennessee Nurses Association recognized Dr. Diane Todd Pace with the Alma E. Gault Leadership Award. Pace is a nurse practitioner/nurse scientist with the Regional Medical Center at Memphis/Health Loop Clinics. She earned a doctorate from the University of Tennessee.

27. UTHSC Names Neonatology Division Chief - Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Dr. Ramasubbareddy Dhanireddy was named neonatology division chief and Sheldon B. Korones Professor in Neonatology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Dhanireddy also will serve as medical director of the Sheldon B. Korones Newborn Center at the Regional Medical Center at Memphis. He previously served as neonatology division chief at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center.

28. Archived Article: Memos - Wednesday, August 07, 2002
Amanda Dame joined archer>malmo as an account supervisor, with day-to-day responsibility for managing the Valent U

Amanda Dame joined archer>malmo as an account supervisor. She will manage the Valent U.S.A. team and leading new business dev...

29. Archived Article: Memos - Wednesday, August 01, 2001
The Memphis Advertising Federation announces the following appointments to its 2001-2002 board of directors: Judy McCown of B Dr. Marian Levy was named director of grants and research and Sallie Hazelrigg was named director of major gifts and planne...

30. Archived Article: Milestones - Friday, July 16, 1999
The Memphis Advertising Federation has elected John Doyle of The Barking Dog Agency president for 1999-2000 The Memphis Advertising Federation has elected John Doyle of The Barking Dog Agency president for 1999-2000. Other officers include first vic...