Abusive real estate loans lead to home loss

Predatory loan terms, namely prepayment penalties and balloon payments, increase the risk of mortgage foreclosure in subprime home loans, even after controlling for the borrower's credit score, loan terms and varying economic conditions, according to a report by the Center for Community Capitalism at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  more...

Homeownership Alliance to homeowners: Duck and cover

The Homeownership Alliance and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have released a free emergency preparedness guide for homeowners with tips on emergency supplies, emergency planning and terrorist threats.

"We were approached by the Department of Homeland Security to work on the guide because we do a lot to promote the fact that the American home is where many people have most of their money and we want to help them keep it safe and protect their investment," said Karen Kay Chappell, spokeswoman for the Homeownership Alliance.  more...

Virtual real estate tours get satellite enhancement

Real Tour Vision today announced it has added satellite aerial views of real estate locations to its list of virtual tour features.  more...

Bankrate revamps advertising with real estate lead aggregators

Bankrate Inc. today announced it has signed exclusive marketing agreements with LowerMyBills.com and iHomeowners Inc., two Internet companies that connect consumers with mortgage lenders.  more...

Man pleads guilty to real estate flipping scheme

Pantelis Karsos, 45 of Towson, Md., on Friday pleaded guilty to charges stemming from his role in a mortgage-flipping scheme, according to a U.S. Attorney's office in the District of Maryland.

Karsos, the owner of Nations Mortgage in Towson, admitted to brokering loans for investors in a mortgage fraud scheme involving "flipped" properties in Baltimore City. He pleaded guilty to mail fraud, and will be sentenced on March 25.  more...

Senators support effort to keep banks out of real estate

The National Association of Realtors is again pushing for legislation aimed at permanently prohibit big banking companies from entering real estate brokerage and property management, and a group of senators signed on this week.  more...

Real estate purchases dip

Overall mortgage applications fell 3.6 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted basis from the week before, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly survey.

The MBA seasonally adjusted purchase index decreased by 2 percent to 439 from 448.1 the previous week. The seasonally adjusted refinance index decreased by 5.7 percent to 1,932.8 from 2,048.6 one week earlier.  more...

Midwest real estate markets post sales records

Home sales in Illinois and Ohio reached record highs in 2004, according to Realtor associations in both states.

Last year marked the strongest year on record for housing in Illinois with December sales of existing, single-family homes ending the year on a high note, up 5.5 percent over December 2003 sales. According to the latest survey from the Illinois Association of Realtors, a total of 126,946 sales statewide have been reported for the year 2004, up 4.3 percent from 121,712 total sales in 2003.  more...

Fidelity adopts real estate bundling technology

Fidelity National Financial, a Fortune 500 provider of products, services and technology to the financial and real estate industries, has announced plans to develop a new tool for its title agencies that will enable bundling of services.  more...

Trouble brewing in wake of home refinance boom

In the wake of the mortgage-refinancing boom of the last few years, Americans own less of their homes today than they did in the 1970s and early '80s, according to a new report released by Demos, a nonpartisan public policy organization based in New York.

The report, "A House of Cards: Refinancing The American Dream," found that between 1973 and 2004, homeowner's equity fell from 68.3 percent to 55 percent.  more...

Online ad site launches in 100 cities

The popular online classified site Craigslist is inspiring a host of businesses to launch their local classified channels online. The latest, Belmont, Calif.-based startup ZiXXo, this month launched its online classified services nationwide.

ZiXXo combines free online classified advertising with printable coupons businesses use to attract new consumers with special discounts and free offers.  more...

Overnight real estate rates unchanged

Long-term mortgage interest rates were flat Tuesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield jumped to 4.19 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average stayed at 5.19 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate remained at 4.7 percent. The 1-year adjustable was down slightly at 3.68 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield climbed to 4.68 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...