ZipRealty improves online search for real estate listings

ZipRealty Inc., a tech-powered residential real estate company, has rolled out some new features for its Web site, including live online chat with real estate agents, satellite imagery and more comprehensive search capabilities for property listings, and a Spanish-language version, according to a company announcement today.

An interactive mapping system allows consumers to search for homes by school district, proximity to a specific address, or by a designated area on a map that is defined by consumers.  more...

Homeseekers.com to get real estate maps

Homeseekers.com users will have access to RealBird's online real estate maps through a new partnership the company has with Realigent, which operates the Homeseekers real estate Web portal.

Under the partnership, the companies said they also will cooperate to develop better map-based search systems for the real estate industry.

Mapping technology has turned the online home shopping experience on its head, enabling peop  more...

Electronic real estate loan goes to secondary market

A secondary mortgage market investor has purchased in a cash sale an electronic mortgage loan in a pioneering move toward the paperless real estate transaction, Document Processing Systems said today.

The company today reported that its DPS eMortgage Studio online lending platform has been used by 1st Advantage Mortgage to execute the industry's first cash sale of an electronic mortgage loan to a secondary market investor through the MERS eRegistry.  more...

Toronto real estate sales grow

Sales of existing homes in the Toronto, Canada, metro area climbed 5 percent in the first half of August compared to the same period a year ago, the Toronto Real Estate Board reported.

Areas outside Toronto's city core showed some of the highest activity in the first half of August. East of the city, sales of detached homes in Whitby nearly doubled, pushing overall sales up 38 percent over the first half of August 2004.  more...

Real estate remodeling strong in 2nd quarter

Remodeling activity continued to grow in the second quarter of 2005, according to the National Association of Home Builders' Remodeling Market Index. Today's second-quarter results were slightly below the seasonally adjusted first quarter of 2005 but remained in the positive-growth range.  more...

Overnight real estate rates scattered

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

The 30-year fixed-rate average inched up to 5.36 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate remained at 4.96 percent. The 1-year adjustable was up at 3.87 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield increased to 4.43 percent.

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