'Best and brightest' convene in San Francisco

Home to the famous Golden Gate Bridge, the island prison of Alcatraz and now the center of controversial gay marriages, San Francisco is as diverse as it is beautiful. This week, the City by the Bay welcomes the famous, controversial and free thinkers of real estate to Inman News' Real Estate Connect 2004.  more...

Real estate data products think outside the box

The Inman Innovator awards will be presented July 28 at Real Estate Connect in San Francisco. A complete list of finalists in each category is available online.

Six companies will compete this year for the Inman Innovator Award in the real estate data category.  more...

Weichert gets Web makeover

Weichert, Realtors recently revamped its Web site to capture the growing number of consumers who use the Internet for home buying and selling.  more...

Stewart earnings drop

Stewart Information Services Corp. reported second-quarter net earnings of $30 million, down from $41 million for the second quarter of 2003.

On a diluted per share basis, net earnings were $1.65, compared with $2.29 for the second quarter of 2003.

Revenues in the second quarter increased 1 percent to $565 million from $558 million for the same period last year.  more...

Consumer confidence keeps rising

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index, which increased sharply in June, posted further gains in July. The index now stands at 106.1 (1985=100), up from 102.8 in June. The expectations index jumped to 105.8 from 100.8. The present situation index edged up to 106.5 from 105.9 in June.

"Consumer confidence has now increased for four consecutive months, and is at its highest level since June 2002 when it registered 106.3," said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center.  more...

New FICO score taps underserved markets

Fair Isaac Corp. today extended its standard-setting FICO score to help lenders and other businesses better serve consumers who have minimal or no credit history on file.

This FICO score can tap non-traditional sources of consumer data to assess the credit risk of these consumers – such as recent immigrants, people with low incomes, recent widows and divorcees, and young adults.  more...

New-home sales slide in West, Northeast

The seasonally adjusted number of new homes sold and for sale declined 14.2 percent in the Northeast and 13.1 percent in the West from May 2004 to June 2004, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today, but rose 9.6 percent in the South. Overall, the number of new houses sold and for sale dropped 0.8 percent across the nation during that period, while June 2004 new-home sales were 11.1 percent above June 2003 levels.  more...

Real estate tech expert Lynn Sites arrested

A former drug dealer who went by the assumed name Lynn Sites was arrested last week in San Diego. He started a new life under his Sites identity 17 years ago

His real name is Mark Miller. He surrendered to the San Diego Violent Crimes Task Force on Friday at his workplace on Kearny Villa Road, according to Task Force spokesman Brian Lucio.

Miller has been running a computer-programming business called Trustium in recent years, investigators said.  more...

LendingTree enters settlement services business