California real estate sales hit peak in 2005

The number of newly built homes sold by builders in California last year reached the highest level in at least two decades, according to DataQuick Information Systems, a real estate information service.

The company credited strong demand and lower-than-average mortgage interest rates for the sales.

The median price paid for a new home was $439,000 last year, up 13.7 percent from $386,000 the year before. Newly built homes were most expensive in San Mateo County where last year's median was $900,000.  more...

California home production down in 2005

Housing production in California was down slightly in 2005, but still broke the 200,000-unit mark for the second year in a row, the California Building Industry Association announced Thursday.

According to preliminary year-end data compiled by the Construction Industry Research Board, housing starts – as measured by building permits issued – totaled 207,154 during 2005, a 2.7 percent decrease from 2004.  more...

North Carolina posts record real estate year

Sales of existing homes in North Carolina were 13 percent higher in December than sales recorded a year earlier, capping off a record-breaking year of double-digit growth for 12 straight months, the North Carolina Association of Realtors reported.

According to statistics compiled by NCAR, December sales totaled 10,459, up from 9,246 in December 2004. For the year, 131,603 residential units were sold on an adjusted basis, surpassing the previous year's figures by 15 percent.  more...

New-home sales up in December

Sales of new single-family houses in December were up about 1.8 percent from the December 2004 rate, and up 2.9 percent from the revised November rate, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development reported today.

Sales in December 2005 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of about 1.27 million.  more...

House panel plans hearing on Fannie Mae report

A U.S. House panel will hold an oversight hearing on a report due on mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae's multibillion-dollar accounting problems, according to a letter released by the House Committee on Financial Services late Thursday.

Separately, U.S.  more...

Realtor launches radio/Web home makeover show

Horrible homes will become virtual palaces in an extreme home makeover show running simultaneously on a real estate radio talk show and the Web site of a South Carolina Realtor.

Jerry Fowler of the Results Team Realtors, who has had a radio talk show in South Carolina for 14 years, will report on the makeovers, while photos on his Web site will reflect the progress of the six-week makeover.

The show launches this Saturday, Fowler said.

"It's going to be a 10- to 15-minute segment of our Saturday morning scene.  more...

Overnight real estate rates jump

Long-term mortgage interest rates were up Thursday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield climbed to 4.51 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average rose to 5.75 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate climbed to 5.33 percent. The 1-year adjustable was up at 4.51 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield increased to 4.7 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...