National City profits up 15% as bank exits subprime mortgage biz

Third-quarter profits at National City Corp. were up 15 percent as the Cleveland-based bank continued to reduce its subprime mortgage portfolio in order to concentrate on consumer and small-business banking.  more...

S.F. Bay Area home prices fall for first time in 4 years

San Francisco Bay Area median home prices fell 0.8 percent in September compared to September 2005 -- the first time in about four years that prices fell on a year-over-year basis in the region, according to a report by real estate data company DataQuick Information Systems.

Sales were at their lowest level in five years in September, DataQuick also reported.

The median price paid for a home in the nine-county Bay Area was $611,000 in September, down 1.5 percent from August  more...

Dallas home sales tumble 15%

Home sales in the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area fell 15 percent in September from their year-earlier level, which sent single-family home prices lower, according to preliminary statistics provided by North Texas Real Estate Information Systems.

Realtors recorded 6,622 single-family home sales last month, down from the September 2005 level of 7,790.

The median single-family home price lost 3 percent during the period, falling from $147,577 to $143,150.

There were 13,219 new single-family listings placed on the market in September, up 8 percent from the year-ago level, br  more...

Wells Fargo posts record profits

Wells Fargo & Co. saw third-quarter profits rise 11 percent to $2.19 billion, despite a 36 percent decline in revenue from the bank's home mortgage division.

Third quarter earnings of 64 cents per share were driven by increased consumer and business lending, the company said.

At $923 million, revenue generated by the Wells Fargo Home Mortgage division was down $502 million from $1.4 billion in the third quarter of 2005.  more...

Online job ads dip in September

New online job ads across the United States dropped to 2.46 million in September, as the Pacific region overtook New England in per capita supply, according to The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series, released today.

Last month's supply of online job ads decreased by 115,089, or 5 percent, from the previous month. In September, there were 1.62 online job ads per 100 persons in the U.S. labor force, compared with 1.71 in August 2006 and 1.55 in July.  more...

Overnight real estate rates stall

Long-term mortgage interest rates were mostly flat Monday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield dipped to 4.78 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average slipped to 5.93 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate held at 5.63 percent. The 1-year adjustable was unchanged at 5.33 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield decreased to 4.91 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...