Firmness, commodity and delight for the homeless

Lawsuit charges family with mortgage-based securities fraud

The New Jersey Attorney General's Office and the New Jersey Bureau of Securities have filed a lawsuit against a New York City man, several members of his family and 68 corporations they allegedly created to carry out a massive securities fraud scheme.

The suit claims individual defendants obtained more than $42 million from more than 100 real estate investors, and diverted millions to pay their personal expenses.  more...

Economic growth keeps home builders confident

The nation's home builders expect the housing market to remain strong in 2005, as a growing economy helps offset the impact of slowly rising mortgage interest rates, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index released today.

The January HMI was 70, down one point from December but the same as the average monthly level for the final quarter of 2004, which was the strongest period for the index last year. January's index is based on responses from builders who were surveyed during the past two weeks.  more...

Long Island real estate sales shatter record

Overall home sales processed through the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island Inc. in 2004 have surpassed the previous record set in 2003, according to the West Babylon, N.Y.-based organization.

There were a total of 32,421 existing-home sales in 2004, up 13.4 percent from the previous record of 28,583 in 2003.

The year ended with a reported sales volume of $14.4 billion for Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties combined, reflecting a 27 percent increase over the $11.3 billion reported in December 2003.

Housing invento  more...

New product automates real estate valuation process

Fidelity National Financial Inc. has released a new product that was developed to assist real estate brokers in conducting home-price evaluations for bank-owned foreclosure properties, also known as "real estate owned" properties or REOs.

The product automates the broker price opinion (BPO) process that is used to determine a rough value of the property and allows brokers to enter data online through a Fidelity Web site. Broker price opinions are professional valuations but are not formal appraisals.  more...

BofA reports earnings soar to $14.1 billion

Bank of America today reported record 2004 earnings of $14.1 billion, or $3.69 per share. The company's fourth-quarter earnings were $3.85 billion, or 94 cents per share, up 41 percent from $2.73 billion, or 92 cents per share a year ago.

Fourth-quarter revenue grew to $13.9 billion from $9.79 billion the previous year. Net interest income was $7.96 billion, compared to $5.75 billion a year earlier.

Results reported for periods in 2003 and the first quarter of 2004 do not include the impact of FleetBoston Financial Corp., which BofA acquired in April.  more...

Real estate loan insurer boosts profits

Private mortgage insurance provider MGIC Investment Corp. (NYSE:MTG) reported fourth-quarter net income of $134.5 million, up 29.5 percent from the $103.9 million reported for the same quarter a year ago. Diluted earnings per share gained to $1.39 in the fourth quarter, up 32.4 percent from $1.05 for the same quarter a year ago.  more...

Wells Fargo profit rises to $1.8 billion

Wells Fargo today reported record net income of $7 billion for 2004, up 13 percent from $6.2 billion in 2003. Diluted earnings per common share was $4.09 for 2004, up 12 percent from $3.65 in 2003.

For fourth quarter 2004, net income was a record $1.8 billion, or $1.04 per share, compared with $1.6 billion, or 95 cents per share, for fourth quarter 2003, an increase in earnings per share of 10 percent.  more...

Overnight real estate rates stay put

Long-term mortgage interest rates were flat Monday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield stayed at 4.21 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average held at 5.25 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate remained at 4.74 percent. The 1-year adjustable was up at 3.53 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield rose to 4.73 percent.

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

Mortgage rate figures are according to Bankrate.com, which publishes nightly averages based on its survey of 4,000 banks in 50 states.  more...