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Existing real estate sales fall in December Premium Content

By Inman News, Wednesday, January 25, 2006.

National existing-home sales dropped for the third consecutive month in December, and were down 3.1 percent over December 2004, the National Association of Realtors reported today.

Total existing-home sales – including single-family, town homes, condominiums and co-ops – fell 5.7 percent in December to an adjusted annua  more...

Austin posts record year in real estate

By Inman News, Wednesday, January 25, 2006.

Home sales in the Austin, Texas, region climbed again in December, helping to make 2005 a record year, while prices were unchanged from the previous month, according to the latest report from the Austin Board of Realtors.

The 2,019 homes sold in December, which represent a 7 percent increase from the year before, helped push the total number of 2005 sales to 24,539, the ABoR reported.  more...

Overnight real estate rates sit tight

By Inman News, Wednesday, January 25, 2006.

Long-term mortgage interest rates were unchanged Tuesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield rose to 4.39 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average held at 5.64 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate stayed at 5.22 percent. The 1-year adjustable was down at 4.49 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield increased to 4.57 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...

Residential ships bring the oceans to your front door Premium Content

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Wednesday, January 25, 2006.

About 70 percent to 75 percent of the Earth's surface is covered in water. For condo developers, this means that something less than 25 percent to 30 percent of the globe can be stacked with residential units. And the percentage of available, developable waterfront property is far scarcer.

Then again, what if condos could float?  more...

Homeowners sue over missing square footage Premium Content

By G.M. Filisko, Wednesday, January 25, 2006.

More homeowners have sued builder JTS Communities of Sacramento, Calif., alleging that the square footage of their homes is smaller than the sales brochure indicated -- as many as 168 feet smaller, to be exact. This case, filed as a class action, is the third suit filed against JTS over the difference between the square footage advertised in the company's marketing materials and the actual square footage of buyers' homes.

JTS has acknowledged there were discrepancies of up to 168 square feet involving just under 200 homes built between 1998 and 2004.  more...

Ignorance keeps homeowners from mortgage insurance refunds

By Tom Kelly, Wednesday, January 25, 2006.

If a private company has approached you to help track down funds you might be owed from paying off a Federal Housing Administration home loan, try taking on the chore yourself. The steps are simply much easier than they used to be, and the cash could come in handy to pay off those holiday credit card bills.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees all FHA loans, increased its research efforts three years ago to locate approximately 348,000 homeowners owed $250 million in FHA mortgage insurance refunds.  more...

Electrician takes 'irregular' path to repair stucco

By Bill and Kevin Burnett, Wednesday, January 25, 2006.

Q: I have a problem that I just can't find the answer to. I had a new circuit breaker box put on the outside of my house. In order to do this, the electrician told me he had to knock out the old stucco in an irregular shape so that it could be repaired correctly.

He said that if he cut it out neatly, the repair wouldn't be as strong. Now I have a new box with a big sloppy hole around it. Can you tell me how to mix and repair the stucco?

A: As we've said many times, home improvement isn't brain surgery. It only takes the willingness to get your hands dirty.  more...

Playground injury puts owner at risk of negligence

By Robert Bruss, Wednesday, January 25, 2006.

While 10-year-old Colmore Rinehart IV was playing with friends in the playground of the Boys and Girls Club, he was hit in the head by a rock thrown by an unknown assailant from outside the premises. Colmore was enrolled in an after-school program at the club.

Through his guardian, Rinehart brought this lawsuit against the club, alleging there should have been more than one supervisor for the playground area. Club officials replied they had never seen any nonmembers throwing rocks from outside the fenced playground.  more...

How to get rid of mortgage insurance payments

By Robert Bruss, Wednesday, January 25, 2006.

DEAR BOB: I have been making mortgage insurance payments on my home loan for 11 years. The bank tells me I need to make these payments for the life of the loan. But friends have told me that is not true. What are the facts? --John O.

DEAR JOHN: The answer depends on the type of home loan you have. If you have an FHA home loan, it is virtually impossible to get the FHA mortgage insurance premium cancelled by your lender. No FHA mortgage lender in their right mind would give up the FHA mortgage insurance benefit.  more...

Real estate sales slump in California Premium Content

By Inman News, Wednesday, January 25, 2006.

California existing-home sales slipped 17.6 percent from December 2004 to December 2005 while median prices jumped 15.6 percent to $548,430, the California Association of Realtors reported today.

Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled 531,910 in December at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate, according to information collected by C.A.R. from more than 90 local Realtor associations statewide.  more...

Home loans to drop in 2006 Premium Content

By Janis Mara, Wednesday, January 25, 2006.

Observers of the housing market can breathe a sigh of relief, with strong economic growth projected for 2006 and moderate growth in 2007, a mortgage banking group said in its long-term forecast released today.

The Mortgage Bankers Association is predicting growth of 3.5 percent in the gross domestic product for 2006, with moderate, below-trend growth of 3.3 percent in 2007, the group said

Total residential mortgage production in 2006 will be $2.24 trillion, the fifth-biggest year on record, but a 19.5 percent decrease from 2005.  more...

New company serves up real estate reports for a fee Premium Content

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Wednesday, January 25, 2006.

Mike Ela, a past president of DataQuick, a real estate information service based in La Jolla, Calif., has returned to Southern California to launch a real estate information company with a consumer focus.

After a three-year stint as president at C&S Marketing (now CoreLogic), a Northern California company that offers risk assessment, property valuation and fraud prevention tools for the mortgage industry, Ela is serving as president for  more...

Real estate business booming in Florida

By Inman News, Wednesday, January 25, 2006.

The median price for existing single-family homes in Florida continued to rise in December and home sales in 2005 increased 2 percent over the previous years, according to the Florida Association of Realtors.

The median price for existing single-family homes in Florida continued to rise in December, reaching $247,000 -- an increase of 27 percent compared to the statewide median price of $194,000 in December 2004, according to FAR.

In December 2000, the statewide median sales price was $116,200, which is an increase of 112.5 percent over the five-year period, according to FAR  more...

Hurricane-hammered states get $11.5 billion to rebuild

By Inman News, Wednesday, January 25, 2006.

U.S.  more...

Intel strikes industrial deal in Colorado

By Inman News, Wednesday, January 25, 2006.

Binswanger negotiated the recent sale of a 200,000-square-foot industrial facility in Fort Collins, Colo.

The sale price was $13 million.

The property, situated on 30 acres at 4701 Technology Parkway, features 36-foot ceiling heights and 49,386 square feet of office space.

The seller, Toronto-based Celestica Inc., is an electronics manufacturing services company. Celestica sold the Fort Collins facility as part of an effort to consolidate its manufacturing operations.  more...