Federal regulators dispute Fannie Mae exit packages

Former Fannie Mae CEO Franklin Raines, forced out last week as head of the mortgage giant, is due to receive of a pension of about $1.3 million a year for life, according to documents filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In the SEC documents, Fannie Mae also revealed that Raines has deferred compensation of $8.7 million to be paid through 2020 and owns more than $5.5 million in the company's stock.

But Fannie Mae's federal regulator, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, has asked the company to hold off paying any compensation to Raines unt  more...

Consumer confidence edges upward

Consumer confidence posted a strong gain in December, as consumers were more positive about overall economic prospects for the year ahead, according to the latest University of Michigan Survey of Consumers.

"Consumers have shown a remarkable degree of resilience throughout the past year and as a consequence their behavior has added a good deal of stability to the overall economy," according to Richard Curtin, the director of the University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers. Consumers have not become overly optimistic, however.  more...

Inman News real estate forecast rates a B+

A year ago, Inman News provided a list of real estate predictions for 2004. Here's how we did: (Click here to see Inman News' 2005 Real Estate Forecast.)

Prediction 1. Interest rates on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage will jump to near 7 percent, cooling the pace of housing sales.

Interest rates stayed in the 5 percent range this year, increasing in the spring, but not enough to significantly cool home sales.  more...

The ghosts of real estate past

The first house history that James Johnstone researched didn't uncover a grandiose story of former celebrity residents or the scene of a gruesome murder. The home was one of four houses built by a Vancouver, B.C., builder between 1908 and 1910 and was home to a Vancouver police detective, whose picture still hangs in the city's police museum.

Johnstone, a Vancouver resident, has taken his curiosity of house histories and turned it into a business, Home History Research Services.  more...

'Happy' Hale heads Houston Realtors

Native Texan Bob Hale is president and CEO of the Houston Association of Realtors. Hale is widely known as a visionary within the real estate industry.

Hale believes strongly in providing high-tech member services. During his tenure with HAR, the association's Web site has become the premier real estate portal for Houston, with 300 million hits per month. HAR also offers free Web sites to every member.

Hale holds a bachelor of business administration and law degree from the University of Texas.  more...

Inman News Readers 2005 Real Estate Forecast

Editor's note: The real estate industry is heading for big change in 2005. Experts once again are predicting slower home sales and easing price appreciation due to an anticipated rise in interest rates. In this Inman News forecast series, we attempt to get a clear picture of the industry next year, including what we can expect from housing numbers, who the industry should be watching and what the best and worst-case scenarios might be for housing in 2005.  more...