Real estate companies pitch in for disaster relief

Real estate companies have come out full force to provide relief funding to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The National Association of Realtors is contributing more than $1 million to funds established by Realtor associations in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi to provide emergency relief to victims.

NAR is accepting contributions for the relief fund through Realtor.org/relief.  more...

Coldwell Banker settles with HUD in alleged kickback case

Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate has agreed to pay $250,000 in a settlement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development after a probe by HUD alleging violations of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, known as RESPA, HUD said today.

HUD asserted that Coldwell Banker's Atlanta real estate brokerage offices paid higher sales commissions and offered gifts and other incentives to its sales agents for referring business to an affiliated title company.  more...

Texas halts bogus foreclosure rescue service

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has won a temporary restraining order and asset freeze to stop a Houston woman from unlawfully exploiting distressed homeowners, some of them elderly, who now face foreclosure and eviction.

The action alleges that Bobbie Heckard fraudulently took possession of the home of an 85-year-old Houston man under the guise of helping the homeowner prevent foreclosure. The man allegedly was led to believe he was only allowing Heckard to consult with his mortgage company, but the transaction allowed her to take ownership of his home.  more...

Seven indicted in $6 million real estate loan scam

A former New York football player was indicted along with six co-defendants in connection with 15 allegedly fraudulent mortgage transactions that netted around $6 million, Brooklyn officials said Wednesday.

Kings County District Attorney Charles Hynes said Owen Larman, a former Canarsie High School football star and former New York Newsday's Brooklyn player of the year, was indicted along with six co-defendants.  more...

Katrina puts scare into real estate rates

Long-term mortgage rates dropped for the third consecutive week, as increasing oil and gas prices created economic uncertainty, according to surveys conducted by Freddie Mac and Bankrate.com.

In Freddie Mac's survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.71 percent for the week ended today, down from last week when it averaged 5.77 percent. The average for the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage this week is 5.32 percent, down from last week when it averaged 5.35 percent. Points on the 30-year averaged 0.6, while points on the 15-year averaged 0.5.  more...

Real Living eyes national growth

With an eye on growing its franchise network nationwide, Real Living has named a new chief operating officer to fill the post formerly held by Sherry Chris, who left in July to work with Prudential California Realty.

Kaira Sturdivant Rouda will take over as COO, and will maintain the company's brand as well as focus on selling franchises and growing the company as a whole.

Sturdivant Rouda previously held the position of chief marketing officer for Real Living and has been active in the residential real estate business for more than a decade.  more...

Real estate construction spending keeps $1 trillion pace

The U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce today announced that construction spending during July was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1.099.3 trillion, down slightly from the revised June estimate of $1,099.7 trillion but 6 percent above the July 2004 estimate.

During the first seven months of this year, construction spending amounted to $617.9 billion, approximately 9.3 percent above the $565.4 billion for the same period in 2004.  more...

Fidelity snaps up lien release service

Fidelity National Financial has added mortgage lien release products and services to its belt with the acquisition of DOCX LLC, the company said today.

DOCX LLC provides mortgage lien release products, assignment services, county recording office requirements and fee calculators to the mortgage banking industry.  more...

Pending real estate sales cool

Pending home sales declined slightly in July but remain historically high, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The Pending Home Sales Index slipped 1 percent to a reading of 125.1, but is 3.5 percent higher than July 2004.

The index, a leading indicator for the housing sector, is based on pending sales of existing homes.  more...

Freddie Mac earnings down 60% in first half of year

Freddie Mac's earnings dropped nearly 60 percent in the first half of the year as the mortgage giant emerged from its accounting crisis, the mortgage giant reported Wednesday.

The second-largest U.S. buyer of home mortgages reported that its net income fell to $1.64 billion, or $2.22 a share, in January through June 2005, from $4.07 billion, or $5.74 a share, in the same period last year.  more...

Drop in overnight real estate rates

Long-term mortgage interest rates were lower Wednesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield dipped to 4.01 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average fell to 5.26 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate sank to 4.86 percent. The 1-year adjustable was down at 3.85 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield fell to 4.25 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...