Cendant: profit down because of hurricanes

Real estate franchise giant Cendant Corp. today said its quarterly profit declined because of hurricane-related travel disruptions in the United States.

The New York-based owner of the Century 21 real estate brand, among other divisions including travel services, reported third-quarter net income of $514 million, or 44 cents a share, compared with $593 million, or 47 cents a share, a year earlier.  more...

Bush nominates new Fed chief

President George W. Bush announced today that he will nominate his top economic adviser Ben S. Bernanke to succeed Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

Bush chose Bernanke to replace Greenspan, whose 18-year tenure at the Fed runs out on Jan. 31. The announcement came this afternoon.

"The President has made a distinguished appointment in Ben Bernanke. Ben comes with superb academic credentials and important insights into the ways our economy functions.  more...

Most interest-only real estate borrowers pay principal

A Wells Fargo-commissioned survey of American homeowners shows that the majority of homeowners do pay principal on interest-only real estate loans, despite rising concern over this type of debt.

Of the 8 percent of homeowners with interest-only real estate-secured accounts, a 73-percent majority pay both the principal and interest at least some of the time, according to the results of Wells Fargo's Second Annual Survey of American Homeowners.  more...

A la mode partners with Pipeline Solutions

A la mode and Pipeline Solutions plan to partner to bundle a la mode's Mortgage XSites with Pipeline's loan origination system, the companies said today. The partnership also would integrate paperless appraisal ordering.

Pipeline and a la mode will create a custom interface from a la mode's Mortgage XSites into Pipeline's loan software.  more...

First American streamlines real estate loan divisions

First American Title Insurance Co.  more...

Bill to limit Fannie, Freddie heads to US House floor

A bill to overhaul supervision of mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac moves to the U.S.  more...

Zillow secures Series A financing

Zillow.com, a pre-launch consumer online real estate service, today announced it received a Series A round of financing with investors Benchmark Capital and Technology Crossover Ventures.

Bill Gurley, general partner at Benchmark Capital, and Jay Hoag, founding general partner at Technology Crossover Ventures, will join Zillow's board of directors.  more...

Real estate banking association forms new think tank

A national mortgage banker's association has formed a think tank of real estate finance leaders to guide industry and company planning for the next decade, the association said today.

Mortgage Bankers Association Chairman Regina Lowrie, who is also president of Gateway Funding Diversified Mortgage, announced the Council to Shape Change today.

"This Council will assemble leading strategic thinkers in our industry and draw upon broad input from industry practitioners and outside experts to discuss and map out the future of issues fundamental to the industry's future success,"  more...

Cendant to split into four public companies

Cendant, the real estate franchise giant that also has businesses in travel and hotel services, today said it would split the corporation into four independent, publicly traded companies.  more...

Flat-fee real estate co. offers home market analysis

Next Generation Realty, an Iowa flat-fee residential real estate company, is offering a service to provide prospective home sellers an inside peak at properties comparable to their own, the company announced.

"Historically, homeowners have had to either rely on their county assessor's records, a real estate agent's market analysis or an appraisal to determine how well their home stacks up against another property that seems to be similar to theirs," said Next Generation Realty Owner Tom Franklin.

Assessor's reco  more...

Overnight real estate rates slip

Long-term mortgage interest rates slipped Friday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield dipped to 4.38 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average decreased to 5.62 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate fell to 5.22 percent. The 1-year adjustable was down at 4.27 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield fell to 4.6 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...