RealEstateRama

The vast majority of U.S. metropolitan areas showed rising or stable home prices in the third quarter, with most experiencing modest gains compared with a year earlier, says the latest quarterly survey by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS

PARSIPPANY, N.J. (Nov. 19, 2007) – Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC announces the launch of its third “My Home: The American Dream” contest. In collaboration with Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company, Coldwell Banker® invites students in kindergarten through eighth grade to tell their personal stories, through images and words, about how their houses, apartments, or condominiums are not just places they live, but homes where dreams are shared and memories are made.

U.S. home builders broke ground on more apartment buildings in October, driving housing starts up 3 percent to an unexpected seasonally adjusted rate of 1.229 million, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday

WASHINGTON, Nov. 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The vast majority of metropolitan areas showed rising or stable home prices in the third quarter with most experiencing modest gains compared with a year earlier, despite a broad decline in existing-home sales, according to the latest quarterly survey by the National Association of Realtors.

Alexandria, VA, Nov. 20, 2007 -- Federally insured credit unions reported strong asset and share growth through September 30, 2007, according to third-quarter 2007 Call Report data submitted by the nation’s 8,163 federally insured credit unions.

Environmental awareness may be rising, but when it comes to buying a home, green by itself is not an easy sale, according to green market experts who spoke at “The Business Benefits of Green” during the 2007 REALTORS® Conference & Expo last week.

Commercial real estate market activity is expected to level out, suggesting stable business opportunities for commercial practitioners in the months ahead, according to a NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® forward-looking index for the commercial real estate sectors.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Subprime mortgage troubles continue as Congress considers proposals impacting taxpayers. The measures would give the federal housing administration or FHA - the largest mortgage insurer - and Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae - the largest mortgage lender - a larger role in the housing market.

NEW YORK, November 19, 2007 – AssetEye Inc, a leading provider of portfolio management solutions for real estate, today announced that AEW Capital Management, LP has selected AssetEye’s Portfolio Manager for deployment in its U.S. and Asian offices. AEW and its affiliates provide real estate investment management services to investors worldwide and currently manage over $41 billion of real estate assets

Washington, D.C., Nov. 15, 2007 – The mortgage crisis has forced a record number of working and middle class families out of their homes this year and more than two million American families face the prospect of foreclosure by the end of 2008. For these individuals, finding a reliable mortgage company is of utmost importance as they struggle to keep their homes.

WASHINGTON, D.C., Nov. 15, 2007 – U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) released the following statement today regarding the Senate’s attempt to pass a complex and critical mortgage reform bill without the opportunity for debate or amendment.

There are so many ways real estate professionals can get snagged by a lawsuit that it's hard to keep track of everything that poses a risk. But by looking at each transaction through the eyes of the buyer, you can protect yourself, trainer and author Barbara Nichols said at the 2007 NAR Conference & Expo in Las Vegas.

WASHINGTON, D.C., Nov. 15, 2007 – A bill designed to address abuses in the lending market would leave consumers worse off than if Congress did nothing at all, a group of national and local consumer and poverty law organizations told lawmakers today. The group is urging lawmakers to defeat H.R. 3915, the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2007, scheduled for a vote today in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“2007 has been a year of challenge; 2008 will be a year of opportunity for serious buyers and for REALTORS®,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun told a packed house at the NAR Conference Tuesday.

Home prices have risen in five major markets, while continuing to fall in the rest of the country, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for August, released Tuesday.

LAS VEGAS, November 13, 2007 - A new consumer survey shows that buyers and sellers are very satisfied with their real estate professionals. Home buyers use many tools in the transaction process, and both buyers and sellers highly value the personal touch and services real estate professionals offer. The survey was released here today at the 2007 REALTORS® Conference & Expo.

RealtyTrac(R) released its Q3 2007 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows a total of 635,159 foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported on 446,726 properties nationwide during the third quarter, a 30% increase from the previous quarter and an increase of nearly 100% from the third quarter of 2006.

LAS VEGAS, November 13, 2007 - The level of for-sale-by-owner transactions remains at a record low, according to the National Association of Realtors® 2007 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. The survey was released today at the 2007 REALTORS® Conference & Expo, here through November 16.

Phoenix, AZ, November 13, 2007 – Homeownership counseling and education are more important now than ever given the recent rise in mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures. Freddie Mac (NYSE: FRE), one of the nation's largest investors in residential mortgages, and the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the nation's largest Hispanic advocacy organization, are continuing their tradition of working together by educating Latinos in the Phoenix area on all aspects of homeownership, from maintenance to financial management and foreclosure prevention

Real estate professionals who want to work in property auctions need to adopt a new way of thinking, says Ted Cucuro, a senior broker associate with Sheldon Good & Co., Chicago. “We do everything in reverse,” Cucuro told attendees of an educational session at the 2007 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in Las Vegas.