North Carolina home sales cool

Existing-home sales across North Carolina slipped for the second straight month in October, as the state's average home price held steady, the North Carolina Association of Realtors reported.

According to statistics, 11,257 homes sold last month, down 2 percent from 11,499 sales in October 2005.  more...

Construction lull pulls down mortgage rates

Mortgage rates declined for the second straight week as the continuing slowdown in home construction helped alleviate inflation concerns, Freddie Mac reported today in its weekly survey.

"Housing starts in October were down more than expected, which the market saw as an indication housing would be a bigger drag on the economy than had previously been thought," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "Slower growth usually means less inflation and less inflation means lower interest rates.  more...

Consumers cautiously upbeat about economy

Despite growing weakness in the housing market, consumers remained cautiously upbeat about prospects for the overall economy in a November survey of consumer confidence.

The index of consumer sentiment was 92.1 in the November 2006 survey, just below the 93.6 in October and substantially above the 81.6 recorded last November, according to the University of Michigan's Survey of Consumers. The November 2006 data reversed only a minor part of last month's surge, as the index remained 10 points above the level recorded three months ago.  more...

Home buyers gain upper hand in Central Ohio

Central Ohio home sales in October dropped to their lowest level in four years amid a massive supply of listings, which sent the average sales price down further, the Columbus Board of Realtors reported.

According to statistics, 1,982 homes were sold last month, down 9.7 percent from 2,196 a year earlier.  more...

PropertyShark launches in San Francisco

PropertyShark, a company that provides detailed online property information and mapping for several major U.S. real estate markets, has launched mapping tools for San Francisco.  more...

Home loan applications slow

Although the 30-year fixed mortgage rate dropped to its lowest level since January, overall mortgage applications last week were down 3.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the week before, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's latest survey.

The seasonally adjusted refinance index decreased by 4.3 percent to 1,935.3 from 2,022.2 the previous week, and the purchase index decreased by 2.8 percent to 401.4 from 412.9 one week earlier.  more...

Overnight real estate rates stall

Long-term mortgage interest rates were mostly flat Tuesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield dropped to 4.57 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average held at 5.72 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate fell to 5.48 percent. The 1-year adjustable was down at 5.32 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield decreased to 4.66 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...