Buyers beware: Homes going fast

If you're shopping for a home this spring, brokers say prepare to see a lot of fellow buyers.

"Open houses are just packed," said agent John O'Connor of Keller Williams, who saw 52 parties come through an open house in Winchester last weekend.

"I see a small increase in inventory this spring, but not nearly enough," said O'Connor. He added that Hub inventory is down about 25.7 percent year-over-year from 2013, and that the median sales price is up 24.5 percent. "We are really seeing the effects of five years of pent-up demand with no new supply."

O'Connor is listing a three-bedroom Cape at 47 Cottage St. in Wellesley for $999,000 this weekend and doesn't expect it to be on the market for long. He recently had seven offers on one Charlestown property, six on another condo and had seven listings go under agreement in one week, all above asking price.

Karen McCormack of McCormack & Scanlan in Jamaica Plain says she's recently seen a big uptick in available JP condos, with 35 listings since mid-March, including 13 in one day last week. She's just listed three three-bedroom condos at 300 Chestnut Ave., ranging from $569,000 to $589,000.

McCormack said properties are still selling very quickly, often under agreement on a Tuesday evening after a weekend open house and two days fielding competing offers. She says buyers are willing to overpay because they've lost out on other properties.

"Buyers are so desperate that they also do risky things such as forgoing home inspections and mortgage contingencies," McCormack said.

Jay Rooney of William Raveis Realty has 50 buyers interested in 11 market-rate condos at Seaport Crossing in South Boston that aren't on the market yet, and says he will sell out the building in less than 30 days after it's listed.

"Young professionals are getting gifts from their families to buy because the rents are so high and mortgage rates are still low," Rooney said. "But it's like a big sale. So many people want to buy that the store runs out of product."

Some people who want to sell but stay in the city are reluctant to put their properties on the market out of fear that they won't find anything they can buy, creating what O'Connor calls a "shadow inventory." And McCormack has been reaching out to potential sellers and offering to sell their properties for big money in private transactions.

"Right now, there's 10 buyers for every condo out there," Rooney said.

O'Connor said buyers in the spring market run the gamut.

"Besides the young professionals, the empty nesters selling big houses are back, young families want to trade up, and there's a slew of foreign buyers, especially from Asia."

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AG sues for-profit school for pushing risky student loans

The attorney general is suing the parent company of a for-profit school, alleging predatory loan practices and deceptive enrollment promises.

In a complaint filed yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court, Attorney General Martha Coakley said Corinthian Colleges, which operates Everest Institute in Chelsea and Brighton, pushed students into subprime loans with 18 percent interest, and misrepresented its job placement program.

"This for-profit school aggressively recruited and misled students," Coakley said.

Holly Roberts, a mother of three from Dorchester, said she was led to believe the program would result in a job, and was not told the total cost up-front.

"They rush the process; they want to get you enrolled as soon as possible," Roberts said. "They don't explain it to you; they don't give you a total."

Corinthian Colleges defended its schools in a statement.

"Today's action by the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office disregards substantial, independent evidence that our two schools in Massachusetts have a strong record of offering students a quality education and treating them honestly and fairly," the statement said.

Corinthian also said it was not given an opportunity to investigate specific complaints or issues from individual students.

"We would have looked into anything that they had shared with us," Corinthian spokesman Kent Jenkins said.

Brad Puffer, a spokesman for the attorney general, said, "The school is attempting to divert attention from its own unfair treatment of Massachusetts consumers."

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Markets unmoved by broadly in-line US jobs data

LONDON — European stocks closed the week on a high Friday after investors concluded that U.S. jobs data wouldn't prompt a change in the Federal Reserve's policy stance. U.S. stocks, however, gave up some early gains to trade modestly lower.

The U.S. Labor Department found that the world's largest economy added 192,000 jobs in March. That was slightly below February's total of 197,000 but more or less exactly the consensus of analysts' expectations. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.7 percent.

Because the figures matched predictions, they failed to change perceptions over the future policy path of the Federal Reserve. Over the past few months, the Fed has been reducing its monetary stimulus amid mounting evidence of a sustainable economic recovery in the U.S.

"The upshot is that tapering will continue unabated, but markets have learnt to cope with this status quo and are unlikely to be troubled by it as we head into the new week," IG market analyst Alastair McCaig said.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed up 0.7 percent at 6,695.55 while Germany's DAX rose the same rate to 9,695.77. The CAC-40 in France ended 0.8 percent higher at 4,484.55.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.1 percent at 16,557 while the S&P 500 index fell 0.3 percent to 1,882.

The dollar was trading more or less where it was before the data, with the euro down 0.1 percent at $1.3700. On Thursday, the euro faltered as European Central Bank President Mario Draghi stressed that the bank was ready to act if inflation in the 18-country eurozone remained low.

Earlier in Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 edged down 0.1 percent to 15,063.77 and Seoul's Kospi drifted down 0.3 percent to 1,988.09. Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.2 percent to 22,510.08. But mainland China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.7 percent to 2,058.83 while Australia's S&P ASX/200 added 0.2 percent to 5,422.80.

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Tech giants back Aereo vs. broadcasters

Tech giants have fired back at broadcasters, throwing their support behind Internet TV startup Aereo as a Supreme Court case looms later this month and setting up a showdown between two generations of technology companies.

In a brief filed with the Supreme Court in support of Aereo, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, which includes Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft and Facebook, said a finding against Aereo "would threaten one of the most important emerging industries in the U.S. economy: cloud computing."

Aereo CEO Chet Kanojia has repeatedly said the effects of a negative ruling on the cloud computing industry — which includes everything from Dropbox to cheaper, remote servers targeted toward small businesses — will be significant and "will endanger the thriving cloud computing industry just as it starts to mature."

Groups that filed briefs in support of Aereo also included the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Mozilla, which makes the Firefox browser, and Dish Network.

Aereo is being sued for copyright infringement by major broadcasters, who say the startup illegally transmits content without paying licensing fees. The National Football League and Major League Baseball, among others, are supporting the broadcasters' suit.

Using miniaturized antennae, Aereo receives over-the-air signals and sends them over the Internet. The service starts at $8 per month.

Aereo, headquartered in New York, has a majority of its employees, including its engineering office, in Boston.

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Steady, not spectacular: US jobs up 192K in March

WASHINGTON — U.S. employers added jobs at a solid pace in March and hired more in January and February than previously thought. Friday's government report sent a reassuring signal that the economy withstood a harsh winter that had slowed growth.

The economy gained 192,000 jobs in March, the Labor Department said Friday, slightly below February's revised total of 197,000. Employers added a combined 37,000 more jobs in January and February than previously estimated.

The unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.7 percent. But a half-million Americans started looking for work last month, and most of them found jobs. The increase in job-seekers is a sign that they were more optimistic about their prospects.

"We're back to where we were before the weather got bad," said John Canally, economist at LPL Financial. "It's a nice, even report that suggests the labor market is expanding."

March's job gain nearly matched last year's average monthly total, suggesting that the job market has mostly recovered from the previous months' severe winter weather.

Stocks fell modestly in late-morning trading, and the yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.75 percent from 2.8 percent late Thursday.

The March report included one milestone: More than six years after the Great Recession began, private employers have finally regained all the jobs lost to the recession. Businesses and nonprofits shed 8.8 million jobs in the downturn; they've since hired 8.9 million. Still, the population has grown over that time, leaving the unemployment rate elevated.

And many of the new jobs pay less than the ones they replaced. Last month, most of the hiring was in lower-paying industries: Temporary help agencies added 28,500 positions. Hotels and restaurants added 33,100, and retailers added 21,300.

Higher-paying positions didn't fare as well. Manufacturers shed 1,000 jobs, the first such drop since July. And professional and technical services, which includes accountants, engineers and information technology workers, added just 10,400.

The proportion of Americans in the labor force — those either working or seeking work — has rebounded this year after steady declines since the recession officially ended in June 2009. Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, noted that the labor force increased by 1.5 million in the January-March quarter after shrinking by 500,000 last year.

Encouragingly, the percentage of Americans age 16 or older who were working reached 58.9 percent in March — its highest point since 2009.

Americans worked an average of 34.5 hours last month, up from 34.3 in February, which was held back by the severe weather. The increase, though small, means many Americans received larger weekly paychecks.

Yet average hourly pay slipped a penny to $24.30 after a big 10-cent gain in February. That was a disappointment for many economists, who thought February's sharp increase might mark the start of a trend. Average hourly wages have risen 2.1 percent in the past year. Inflation has risen 1.1 percent in that time. In a healthy economy, hourly wages typically grow about 3.5 percent a year.

Freezing temperatures and heavy snowstorms this winter closed factories, slowed home sales and kept consumers away from shopping malls. Hiring averaged 178,000 in the first three months of this year, down from 198,000 a month in the final three months of 2013.

Still, many economists expect hiring to average about 200,000 jobs a month for the rest of the year. Hiring at that pace should lower the unemployment rate and support steady growth.

Other recent economic data suggest that the economy is picking up from the winter freeze.

Auto sales jumped 6 percent last month to 1.5 million, the most since November. That was a sign that Americans remain willing to spend on big purchases.

And surveys by the Institute for Supply Management, a group of purchasing managers, showed that both manufacturing and service companies expanded at a faster pace in March. Factories cranked out more goods and received slightly more orders, a good sign for future production. Service companies also received more orders.

Home sales and construction, however, have been weak in recent months. Sales of existing homes have fallen in six out of the past seven months. Cold weather has likely caused some of the decline. But higher mortgage rates, rising prices and a limited supply of available homes have also held back sales.

Many economists think growth slowed to a 1.5 percent to 2 percent annual rate in the January-March quarter, down from a 2.6 percent pace in last year's fourth quarter. But most also forecast that steady hiring and less drag from government spending cuts should lift growth to nearly a 3 percent annual pace for the rest of the year.

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AP Economics Writers Josh Boak and Paul Wiseman contributed to this report.

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Contact Chris Rugaber on Twitter at http://Twitter.com/ChrisRugaber .

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Mall staple Brookstone seeks bankruptcy cover

MERRIMACK, N.H. — Brookstone, a staple in malls and airports nationwide, is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as part of its $147 million sale to Spencer Spirit Holdings.

The purveyor of personal massagers, iPad keyboards and other quirky gadgets said Thursday that its 240 stores will remain open and business will continue as usual.

The Merrimack, N.H., company announced last week that it would be acquired by Spencer after it had filed for bankruptcy protection. Both companies are privately held.

Brookstone, which was punished by more pragmatic shoppers during the recession and then by growing online competition, has watched sales decline sharply. In its most recent quarter, sales declined by more than 7 percent.

In its bankruptcy filing, Brookstone estimated that it has liabilities between $100 million and $500 million and assets in the same range.

Spencer Spirit, based in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., also has a strong presence in malls. It sells clothing, jewelry and gag gifts at its 644 Spencer's stores and Halloween costumes at its Spirit pop-up shops.

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Tasty Burger cooks up Fenway Park deal

Move over Fenway Franks. Boston's famed Fenway Park now has an official hamburger, too.

Local quick-service restaurant chain Tasty Burger has signed a three-year deal to be the Official Burger of the Boston Red Sox, just in time for Opening Day.

Tasty Burger celebrated its new-found status by giving away 2,014 free burgers yesterday at its original Fenway location.

"It feels to us like such a natural fit because Tasty Burger was born right here in the Fenway in the shadow of the ballpark," said Tasty Burger Corp. CEO Dave DuBois, a Cambridge native. "I think it's so cool for somebody with the size and the weight of a brand like the Red Sox and Major League Baseball to tip their hats to a small local brand like ours."

The Fenway faithful will find a new Tasty Burger concession stand in the recently renovated third-base deck, which will sell burgers, fries, milkshakes and Tasty Burger tater tots made exclusively for Fenway Park.

Tasty Burger opened its first restaurant in the Fenway in 2010 and has added locations in Harvard Square and South Boston.

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Boston trumps gaming panel

The state gaming commission yesterday scheduled a meeting next month to decide how much sway Boston will have over proposed casinos in Everett and Revere — a move that will delay the awarding of the area's sole license by at least two months.

The Gaming Commission had hoped to award a license by June to either Wynn Resorts, which wants to build a resort casino in Everett, or Mohegan Sun, which has proposed a casino at Suffolk Downs in Revere, but now that decision likely won't come until August. On the advice of its lawyers, the commission decided to solicit public comment before a May 1 meeting, after which it will decide whether Boston is a "host community," a status that would give Hub voters veto-power over the projects.

"We're bending over backwards to give the city a fair opportunity — a very fair opportunity — to make its case," Chairman Stephen Crosby said. "I think it's the right thing to do. But a big price is being paid by a lot of people to try and accommodate the city."

Mayor Martin J. Walsh has argued that the commission has no power under state law to determine whether Boston is a host community. East Boston residents, who rejected a previous casino proposal, should have the opportunity to vote on the Mohegan Sun project, Walsh has argued, and Charlestown residents should have the chance to vote on Wynn's.

In an email last night, Kate Norton, a spokeswoman for Walsh, said: "The city is now evaluating today's response from the gaming commission and exploring the possible next steps in this process."

Richard McGowan, a Boston College professor and gaming expert, said the commission's decision to schedule the May 1 meeting and put off awarding a license for at least two months is a coup for the mayor.

"They could easily have said, 'You're just a surrounding community,' " McGowan said.

It's also a blow, he said, to Revere and Everett.

"Voters in those two communities said yes (to the projects)," McGowan said, "and right now, the mayor of Boston is calling the shots."

In a statement yesterday, Mohegan Sun said: "Our discussions with Mayor Walsh and the city of Boston have been positive, ... and we will continue to work with the gaming commission on the time line they have established."

A spokesman for Wynn had no comment.

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Penney teams up with Elle Macpherson for lingerie

NEW YORK — J.C. Penney is hoping that some supermodel magic will win over shoppers in the lingerie department.

The beleaguered department store chain is launching an exclusive lingerie collection in the U.S. with a partnership with Elle Macpherson, who along with Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford and others became part of a new generation of supermodels in the 1980s.

The collection will be in 300 of Penney's 1,100 stores starting April 11. Penney says it will wait to see how the brand fares before deciding whether to roll it out to its other stores.

The collection, called The Body by Elle Macpherson, which refers to her nickname, offers bras and panties in mostly cotton. Its emphasis is on the smoothest, most precise fit that can be worn every day.

The collection builds on Macpherson's lingerie business that she founded in 1990 with the launch of an collection of lacy and silk lingerie that's sold at upscale stores here and abroad including Bloomingdale's and Harrod's.

The Body Bras top out at around $50, while bras in the Elle Macpherson Intimates Collection can go as high as $150. The bras have four distinct silhouettes designed to suit varying needs and body shapes: the push up, a sporty demi-cut version, an unlined alternative, and a subtle lift.

"I created this for myself, because I thought there was a gap," Macpherson told The Associated Press. "I really wanted to address this idea of shape."

Macpherson, who is creative director for a series of fashion business ventures, said Penney offers the opportunity to design for a wider audience.

The collection comes as Penney is trying to recover from a botched transformation spearheaded by its former CEO Ron Johnson, who was fired in April 2013 after 17 months on the job. That month, Mike Ullman, Johnson's predecessor, returned to the helm and has restored frequent sales events and basic merchandise to help reverse plunging sales and massive losses.

A key focus: revitalizing its lingerie business. The partnership with Macpherson was forged under Johnson's regime. But under the former Apple executive, Penney got rid of bra specialists and its store brand Ambrielle, a conservative line of lingerie. In February, Penney brought back the specialists and Ambrielle.

Also, more than 600 Penney stores will see their lingerie areas refreshed with new graphics and special fixtures.

Penney executives said Victoria's Secret benefited the most from Penney's woes when it came to lingerie sales.

"By offering the best brands, a greater level of service and an inspiring environment, J.C. Penney is making the necessary improvements to reclaim its market share," said Ivy Spargo, a senior vice president for Penney.

Macpherson's collection will be at the high end of Penney's offerings. Bras are priced anywhere from $40 to $49, while panties will be priced at $12 to $14.

Spargo says Penney shoppers will be able to relate to Macpherson outside of being a celebrity.

"She's a working mom. She's a business owner," she said.

Macpherson, who is based in London but travels around the world, says she's "passionate" about lingerie. It began in 1990 with her partnership with Bendon Limited Apparel, the same manufacturer that is producing the line for Penney. It marked one of the first examples of a model becoming a fashion brand.

Macpherson said she created her original collection back then because she saw a void between European-style lingerie and the comfort that American brands offered.

"As a model, I was constantly getting undressed," Macpherson added. "I wanted to make sure I looked good."

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Alex Ferguson to teach at Harvard Business School

BOSTON — After years of giving pointers to soccer players, Alex Ferguson will pass his knowledge along to executives.

The former Manchester United manager and the most successful coach in British soccer history has been hired by Harvard Business School for a long-term position.

He will lecture to senior executives from around the world as part of a new program — "The Business of Entertainment, Media and Sports." The hiring was announced Thursday.

Anita Elberse, a professor of business administration, developed a case study in 2012 involving Ferguson, who retired after the 2012-13 season. Ferguson has participated in Elberse's classes and called his time at Harvard a "stimulating experience."

Under Ferguson, United won 13 Premier League titles, the Champions League twice and five FA Cups.

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