Real estate sales slump continues in S.F. Bay Area

San Francisco Bay Area home sales declined on a year-over-year basis for the seventh month in a row in October, according to DataQuick Information Systems, a real estate information company. The median home price in October was up 17.2 percent since October 2004 but slipped 0.3 percent from September 2005.  more...

New England mortgage co. settles kickback investigation

The Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.  more...

Weekly real estate rates stand pat

Mortgage rates flattened this week as sinking oil prices reduced inflation fears, according to surveys conducted by Freddie Mac and Bankrate.com.

In Freddie Mac's survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.37 percent for the week ended today, up very slightly from last week's average of 6.36 percent. The average for the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage is 5.9 percent, also up very slightly from last week when it averaged 5.89 percent.  more...

Foreclosure.com launches new listing center

Foreclosure.com today announced its new Listing Center, a service that enables real estate agents to post and manage unlimited Real Estate Owned (REO) properties themselves.

Real estate agents can post new REO properties for sale on behalf of lenders nationwide directly to the Foreclosure.com online database by visiting http://agents.foreclosure.com/, according to Brad Geisen, president of Foreclosure.com.  more...

Mixed-use housing trend increases

Community design trends that integrate more mixed-use type of development are increasing, as well as home technology such as wireless telecommunication, according to a survey from the American Institute of Architects.

"To combat the isolation caused by distant residential construction and to increase accessibility for households, we are seeing a strong increase in community design trends that are integrating more activities into housing development," said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, Ph.D., Hon. AIA.  more...

RealBird integrates real estate listings with Google Base

RealBird Inc., a company that provides online mapping services to real estate brokers and agents, announced today the introduction of an integration with Google Base, a new online classified advertising service launched by Google Inc. that is now in beta testing.  more...

Housing starts drop in October

The rate of housing starts and building permit authorizations dropped slightly in October 2005 compared to October 2004 levels, the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S.  more...

Canadian real estate prices top record

The average home price in Canada's major markets reached a new high in October, while the number of homes trading hands via the Multiple Listing Service dropped, according to statistics released by The Canadian Real Estate Association.

The average price for MLS home sales climbed 9.8 percent to $275,061 in October from the same month last year to set a new monthly major-market record.  more...

Overnight real estate rates back down

Long-term mortgage interest rates were lower Wednesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield fell to 4.47 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average sank to 5.87 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate slipped to 5.46 percent. The 1-year adjustable was down at 4.46 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield dropped to 4.67 percent.

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