Get the real estate story from Prudential Douglas Elliman exec.

Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of Prudential Douglas Elliman's Retail Leasing and Sales Division, is among the most renowned retail brokers and consultants in the country.  more...

Best-case scenario for housing next year

"Moderation in all things." -- Aristotle

As John and Jane Doe Home Buyer enter the year 2006, driving their Ford Focus down Main Street, they see a moderate number of townspeople buying lunch boxes and new work clothes, signifying modest job growth. As they pass a local bank, the automated ticker display registers interest rates at 6 percent. Best of all, flyers in the window of the local real estate brokerage show house prices reflecting modest appreciation.

At least, that's the best-case scenario for 2006 predicted by experts consulted by Inman News.  more...

Economy up in latest index

The U.S. Leading Index, a key barometer of economic conditions, increased 0.5 percent in November, following a large gain in October, The Conference Board reported Thursday.

The leading index now stands at 138.8 (1996=100). Based on revised data, the index increased 1 percent in October and decreased 0.7 percent in September.  more...

New-home inventory rises, prices flatten

Sales of new one-family houses in November 2005 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of about 1.245 million, according to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

This is 11.3 percent below the revised October rate of 1.4 million and is 6 percent above the November 2004 estimate of 1.175 million.  more...

Real estate technology companies announce agreement

RealBird Inc., a leading provider of online map-based Internet data exchange (IDX) property search Web sites and geographic information system (GIS) tools for the real estate industry, has partnered with MLSSoftware.com, a provider of IDX search services, the companies announced today.

Through the partnership agreement, MLSSoftware will resell a branded version of RealBird's service to its clients.

"Our agreement with RealBird comes at the right time for us," said Rick Th  more...

Fannie Mae reports success with fiscal diet

Fannie Mae last Friday reported success with its financial diet, having shrunk its mortgage portfolio by an annualized 2.8 percent in November, the mortgage giant's 13th consecutive monthly decline.

Fannie Mae's retained mortgage holdings totaled $715.5 billion at the end of November, down from $717.3 billion at the end of October, the government-sponsored enterprise said in its monthly summary report.

Year-to-date, the Washington-based company's portfolio has shrunk at an annualized 22.6 percent pace as it took action to meet a Sept.  more...

Consumer view of home-buying conditions at 15-year low

Consumer confidence improved overall by a substantial amount in December, posting the fourth largest monthly gain in a quarter century, but consumers' views of home-buying conditions fell to the lowest level in 15 years, according to the University of Michigan's Survey of Consumers, released Friday.

"Declines in gas prices were responsible for the substantial gain, which nearly restored confidence to the levels recorded prior to the spike in gas prices last August," said Richard Curtin, director of the university's consumer survey.  more...

Zillow CEO to speak at Real Estate Connect conference

Rich Barton, a familiar name in e-commerce and new to the real estate industry, will speak at Inman News' Real Estate Connect in New York City, Jan. 11-13, 2006.

Barton is chairman and CEO of Zillow.com, a Seattle start-up that has attracted a lot of attention in recent months.  more...