Title company slapped with $1 million fine

Investors Title Co. has agreed to end what the California Department of Insurance called illegal rebating activities and pay a $1 million fine, the department announced today.

The settlement follows a California Department of Insurance investigation into accusations that the company was steering title business by using illegal rebate activities.

The investigation, based on employee interviews and an examination of the company's books and records, found that Investors Title Co.  more...

Real estate rates trend lower

Long-term mortgage rates dropped for the second consecutive week, according to surveys conducted by Freddie Mac and Bankrate.com.

In Freddie Mac's survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.77 percent for the week ended today, down a little from last week when it averaged 5.8 percent. The average for the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage this week is 5.35 percent, down from last week when it averaged 5.4 percent. Points on the 30-year averaged 0.5, while points on the 15-year averaged 0.6.  more...

Real estate foreclosures continue to climb

Real estate properties in the process of foreclosure grew for the second consecutive month in July, according to data released today by RealtyTrac.

The number of new properties in foreclosure rose to 78,979 in July, a 4.7 percent increase from June and the most new foreclosures reported in any month year-to-date. New foreclosures have jumped more than 12 percent in the last two months, pushing the nation's foreclosure rate to one foreclosure for every 1,465 households, according to RealtyTrac.  more...

Luxury home builder doubles profits

Luxury home builder Toll Brothers today reported record third-quarter earnings for the fiscal period ending July 31.

The company's third-quarter net income of $215.5 million was the highest for any quarter in its history. Net income grew 103 percent from the same period a year ago. Earnings per share was $1.27, up 92 percent from the same period last year.  more...

Real estate closings go wireless

In a move that aims to make real estate closings more timely and easier to complete, Chicago Title has launched a pilot program that enables real estate title businesses to conduct closings at a remote site, such as a lender's, developer's or agent's office.

Chicago Title, a subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial, announced the pilot launch Thursday.  more...

Mortgage options abound for home buyers

Chase Home Finance has expanded its adjustable-rate mortgage products to allow borrowers to choose from a range of documentation programs for amortizing and interest-only ARMs, the company said Wednesday.

The mortgage lending industry has grown fiercely competitive in the wake of a shrinking refinance market. Many lenders have expanded mortgage product offerings to enable borrowers more flexibility as home prices continue to rise in most U.S. housing markets.  more...

Ellie Mae moves to protect real estate loan data

Positive Networks, a provider of hosted, private computer networks and security services, today announced an agreement with Ellie Mae, a supplier of software and services for the mortgage industry, to provide services to Ellie Mae clients who need secure private network access for their remote users.  more...

Help-wanted ads grow

The Conference Board's help-wanted advertising index, a key measure of job offerings in major U.S. newspapers, edged up to 39 in July. It was 38 in June.

In the last three months, help-wanted advertising increased in five of the nine U.S. regions. Largest increases occurred in the East South Central (4.7 percent); Pacific (4.7 percent); and West North Central (2.7 percent) regions.  more...

Overnight real estate rates fall

Long-term mortgage interest rates continued lower Wednesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield sank to 4.17 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average dropped to 5.31 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate slipped to 4.92 percent. The 1-year adjustable was down at 3.83 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield decreased to 4.39 percent.

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