Southern California home sales hit 10-year low

Home sales in Southern California were down for the 11th straight month in October, slowing to the weakest sales pace in a decade, a real estate information service reported today.

A total of 22,117 new and resale homes sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month, down 2.4 percent from 22,654 in September, and down 22.4 percent from 28,489 for October a year ago, according to DataQuick Information Systems.  more...

Realtor trade group installs 2007 officers

The National Association of Realtors' board of directors on Monday installed new officers for 2007, with Pat Vredevoogd Combs, a Realtor from Grand Rapids, Mich., taking on the role of association president.

A Realtor since 1971, Vredevoogd is president of Coldwell Banker-AJS-Schmidt, a residential brokerage company in Cascade, Mich. She has served several former roles with the association, including NAR president-elect, first vice president and National Fundraising Chair for the Realtors Political Action Committee, among others.

Richard F.  more...

Maryland real estate feels impact from inventory

Maryland home sales dropped for the 13th straight month in October amid a massive supply of inventory, as home prices posted slight year-over-year growth, according to statistics provided by the Maryland Association of Realtors.

Realtors reported 6,076 sales last month, down 26.1 percent from October 2005 when 8,217 homes were sold.  more...

D.R. Horton earnings drop 50%

Home builder D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSI: DHI) today reported net income of $277.7 million for the fourth-quarter of the fiscal year, or 88 cents per diluted share. In fourth-quarter 2005 the company reported net income of $563.8 million, or $1.77 per diluted share.

The company reported 17,261 closed homes in the fourth quarter, compared with 18,622 homes in fourth-quarter 2005.  more...

Survey: Consumers confident home prices will rise

Americans remain highly confident about the nation's housing prospects, with more than four out of five homeowners expecting the value of their home to appreciate over the next five years and nearly seven out of 10 calling it their most valuable investment, according to results from a new nationwide survey.

"The poll clearly debunks the more sensational media reports speculating on the demise of the housing market," said David Pressly, president of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Statesville, N.C.  more...

Overnight real estate rates hit flat patch

Long-term mortgage interest rates leveled out Monday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield rose to 4.61 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average held at 5.76 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate stayed at 5.49 percent. The 1-year adjustable was unchanged at 5.34 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield edged up to 4.71 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...