Net cost of real estate loan origination falls 26%

On a per-loan basis, the net cost of originating a loan last year was $739, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's 2004 Cost Study.

That's 26 percent less than what it cost in 2002. The cost is calculated as the origination fees less associated expenses such as loan officer and broker commissions, overhead and production support expenses.

The study analyzes trends in income, expense, productivity and profitability for one- to four-unit residential mortgage operations through 2003.  more...

What is iNest?

INest, a new-home builder referral network, is one of those rare cases of a dot-com company that survived the bust and poised itself for growth. Like other successful survivors of that rocky period, iNest management was the key to its success, which paid off today as LendingTree announced it had purchased iNest.

Andy Wolf, founder and CEO of iNest Realty, built iNest's growth from a one-person operation to one of the new-home category leaders.  more...

ZipRealty goes public

Shares of ZipRealty Inc. priced at $13 each, rose as high as $17.50 in early trading and were at $16.10, a gain of $3.10, or 23 percent, at noon Eastern time today. ZipRealty filed for an offering of 4.55 million shares.

Trading volume of Zip stock is strong today at 3.4 million shares.  more...

New software calculates real estate purchase costs

Wheatworks Software today announced the release of Real Estate Calculator Suite 2.3.50, a Windows-based collection of 16 real estate calculators that aim to help determine home-loan payments and other home-purchase-related costs.

Real Estate Calculator Suite features tools that calculate downpayment savings, loan spread, biweekly payments, estimated closing costs, home seller's proceeds, mortgage prepayment, and monthly and annual loan amortization schedules, among others.  more...

The good, the bad and the lucky

Four years ago, Florida was the center of an election drama that delayed a final decision on the nation's presidency.

This year, Charles E. Cook Jr. said he's glad it didn't happen again.

Cook, a political analyst, handicapper and commentator who spoke last week during a political forum at the National Association of Realtors conference in Orlando, Fla., said, "I'm absolutely ecstatic with this outcome." He said it doesn't matter to him who won the presidency – what matters is that there is a winner.  more...

Twin Cities real estate sales hit slowdown

Home sales in Minnesota's Twin Cities region fell for the second consecutive month in October, while year-to-date sales are ahead of the same period last year by 1.5 percent, according to the Saint Paul Area Association of Realtors.

Closed home sales in October lagged behind October 2003 by 10.3 percent, with 4,855 closed sales in the 13-county metro area compared to 5,410 in October 2003. To date, however, there have been 49,157 closed sales compared to 48,448 through October 2003.  more...

LendingTree acquires iNest

LendingTree has added another online real estate brand to its network today with the purchase of iNest, a new-home builder referral network that serves builders and buyers of newly constructed homes.

The services and functionality of iNest will be integrated with RealEstate.com, an operating business of LendingTree.  more...

New wireless real estate device hits market

The PocketSurferWeb viewer is the latest technology to offer wireless Web access for palm devices to the real estate industry. The product provides Internet access to home listing data, including photos, maps and directions.

Along with accessing Multiple Listing Service data, the device enables access to mortgage information, financial calculators, mapping information and e-mail.  more...

Real estate purchases cool

Overall mortgage applications dropped by 4.5 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly survey.

The MBA seasonally adjusted purchase index decreased by 2.7 percent to 483 from 496.5 the previous week. The seasonally adjusted refinance index decreased by 6.7 percent to 2,148.7 from 2,303.9 one week earlier.  more...

Overnight real estate rates hold steady

Long-term mortgage interest rates were flat Tuesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield rose to 4.22 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average remained at 5.34 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate held at 4.76 percent. The 1-year adjustable was up slightly at 3.29 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield climbed to 4.94 percent.

Rates are current as of 7:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.  more...