New York property listings database will open to public

The Real Estate Board of New York on Wednesday announced plans to launch a new service to provide a Web-based searchable database of residential properties for sale and for rent in New York City.

REBNY says it has begun developing a Web portal that will incorporate its members' property listings and make the portal available to the general public for free in early 2007.

REBNY is New York City's largest trade association with more than 11,000 members from more than 300 brokerages.  more...

Lawsuit challenges Illinois anti-predatory-lending program

A pilot program that requires some borrowers in 10 Chicago ZIP codes to receive credit counseling before signing off on a home loan amounts to state-sponsored redlining, according to a lawsuit by residents and real estate professionals.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, seeks to stop Illinois regulators from enforcing the Predatory Lending Database Pilot Program, commonly referred to as HB 4050 after the state legislation that created it.  more...

Economy falters, mortgage rates dive

Mortgage rates dropped this week on news that economic growth came in under expectations, according to surveys conducted by Freddie Mac and Bankrate.com.

In Freddie Mac's survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to an average 6.31 percent, down from 6.4 percent last week, while the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage sank to an average 6.02 percent from last week' 6.1 percent.

Points, which are fees charged by lenders for loan processing expressed as a percent of the loan, averaged 0.4 on the 30- and 15-year loans.

The five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mort  more...

Realty World announces 27 new franchises

Realty World Inc. announced the sale of 27 new franchises in the third quarter.

"We are particularly pleased to see the growth in emerging markets such as Washington state," said Gary Longobardo, president and chief operating officer.

Ed Rush, broker-owner of Realty World-Premier in the Palm Springs, Calif., market area, has converted his four offices to Realty World franchises, the company reported, in Desert Hot Springs, Morongo Valley, Yucca Valley, and Murrieta, Calif.

Realty World Inc.  more...

Low-income Americans get $633M in housing assistance

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development this week announced $633.2 million in housing assistance grants to create affordable housing for very low-income elderly and people with disabilities.

The funding includes $511.9 million in Section 202 grants and $121.3 million in Section 811 grants.  more...

Real estate rates fall further overnight

Long-term mortgage interest rates continued lower Wednesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield dropped to 4.56 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average sank to 5.79 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate fell to 5.5 percent. The 1-year adjustable was down at 5.33 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield declined to 4.68 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...