Resale real estate sets second-highest pace

Total existing-home sales, which include single-family, apartment condominium and co-operative sales, rose in 47 states and the District of Columbia in the fourth quarter of 2003 from the same period in 2002, and were at the second-highest pace on record, the National Association of Realtors reported today.  more...

Real estate pros open for action

Richard Mendenhall, 2001 president of the National Association of Realtors, and Dick Ward, a former executive at Fidelity National Financial and Microsoft's HomeAdvisor, have opened WMWorks, a "business action company" that will help real estate-sector companies create and implement business action plans.  more...

Weekly mortgage rates slip

Long-term mortgage interest rates dipped slightly this week, as markets awaited Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's testimony on current economic conditions, according to surveys conducted by mortgage buyer Freddie Mac and Bankrate.

In Freddie Mac's weekly survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.66 percent for the week ended today, down from 5.72 percent last week. The average for the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage this week is 4.96 percent, down from last week's average of 5.03 percent. Points on both the 30- and 15-year averaged 0.7.  more...

MortgageIT grows branches

MIT Lending, the wholesale lending division of MortgageIT, today announced the addition of two new branch offices in Denver, Colo. and Kansas City, Kan. The company plans to open an additional six branches by 2005.  more...

Cendant declares dividend

Cendant Corp.'s board of directors has declared the company's first-ever regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.07 per common share. The dividend will be payable March 16, 2004, to stockholders of record Feb. 23, 2004.

The board also approved a $750 million increase in Cendant's common stock repurchase program. The increase is intended to cover the repurchase of shares expected to be issued as a result of the conversion of the Company's CODES convertible bond and the existing share repurchase program.  more...

Lender latches on to voice technology

Countrywide Home Loans is taking its customer service to a new level with the adoption of voice automation products.

The lender signed a deal to implement voice automation provider Nuance's speech software. Nuance's software enables automated access to things like account balances, flight information, e-mail reading and voice activated dialing.  more...

Overnight interest rates sink

Long-term mortgage interest rates were slightly lower Wednesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield decreased to 4.02 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average slipped to 5.32 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate decreased slightly to 4.61 percent. The 1-year adjustable was unchanged at 3.3 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield decreased to 4.9 percent.

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

Federal Reserve: Policy or politics?

"The picture has brightened." That was Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's assessment of the U.S. economy in his semiannual report to Congress this morning.

"The gross domestic product expanded vigorously over the second half of 2003 while productivity surged, prices remained stable, and financial conditions improved further. Overall, the economy has made impressive gains in output and real incomes; however, progress in creating jobs has been limited," he said.  more...