Poll shows increase in popularity of some 'creative' mortgages

An increasing number of mortgage holders have "creative" financing, but the number of people buying homes above their price range appears to be declining, according to a new poll.

The poll, conducted at the end of August by Harris Interactive for the Wall Street Journal Online, also found that mortgage brokers still have an edge over direct lenders, with 42 percent of respondents using a broker and 28 percent going direct for home loans.

Of the 2,790  more...

New Century moves to tighten underwriting, disclosure standards

Subprime mortgage lender New Century Financial Corp. says it will tighten underwriting and disclosure standards in response to new guidelines from federal regulators.

New Century said it will also offer low-fee, 30- and 40-year fixed-rate loans to customers with adjustable-rate mortgages.

In the next few months, the company's operating subsidiaries, New Century Mortgage Corp. and Home123 Corp., will tighten underwriting procedures for adjustable-rate loans made to "at-risk" borrowers.  more...

NetBank sells most of its portfolio to IXIS Real Estate Capital

Online mortgage lender NetBank Inc. has sold mortgage-servicing rights to $8.5 billion in loans -- about 70 percent of its portfolio -- and mortgage-backed securities that it held as a hedge, at a combined loss of $28.1 million.

NetBank said today it sold servicing rights to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans totaling $8.2 billion to IXIS Real Estate Capital Inc., while another buyer purchased servicing rights to about $230 million in Ginnie Mae loans.  more...

Fed reports 'widespread cooling' in housing

The economy continued to grow in the first weeks of fall, despite a "widespread cooling" in residential real estate markets, the Federal Reserve said in an economic report Thursday.

Reports from the Fed's 12 districts cited lower asking prices, rising inventories of homes on the market and softening sales in the majority of areas.  more...

Southern California homes sell at slowest pace in 9 years

Home sales in Southern California dropped for the 10th consecutive month in September, while home-price appreciation slowed to a snail's pace, a real estate information service reported Thursday.

A total of 22,654 new and resale homes sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month, down 11.6 percent from 25,628 in August, and down 28.6 percent from 31,740 for September a year ago, according to DataQuick Information Systems.  more...

Century 21 expands real estate network

Century 21 Real Estate LLC this week announced that four real estate companies joined its global franchise network in September.

The combination of franchisee growth and the addition of the new companies expanded the Century 21 Real Estate's network by 18 offices that month, for a total of about 7,800 offices worldwide.

The new companies who joined the Century 21 system in September include: Century 21 Blue Ridge Properties, Sylva, N.C.; Century 21 HomeStar, Garden Grove, Calif.; Century 21 Manhattan Realty Group, Orlando,  more...

Freddie Mac economists see housing markets nearing floor

Signs that housing markets are nearing a floor include stabilizing mortgage applications for home purchases, "cautiously optimistic" consumer sentiment, and a slowdown in price appreciation that will help improve affordability.

That's the assessment of economists at Freddie Mac in their monthly report on the outlook for the economy and housing.

Economists at the government-sponsored mortgage repurchaser warn that there "will undoubtedly be more bumps on the way" and that the  more...

Real estate rates up overnight

Long-term mortgage interest rates were up again Thursday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield dipped to 4.77 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average increased to 5.92 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate rose to 5.62 percent. The 1-year adjustable held at 5.32 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield slipped to 4.9 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...