Newspaper classifieds push to cell phones

Real estate and other classified ads are going mobile at one of the nation's newspaper publishing companies under a new service with CellSigns, which also provides mobile services for real estate property listings.  more...

Florida home sales dive, prices follow

Florida's resale real estate market cooled further in October, as single-family home sales tumbled for the 11th straight month and prices in many major markets declined, the Florida Association of Realtors reported.

A total of 12,773 existing single-family homes sold statewide last month, down 22 percent from the 16,407 homes sold a year ago. The overall existing-home median price last month of $242,500 was down 0.4 percent from $243,400 a year ago.

For resale condos, sales statewide registered 3,440 in October, down 31 percent from the 5,001 sales in October 2005.  more...

New-home sales sink 25% from last year

The rate of new single-family home sales dropped 25.4 percent in October compared to the same month last year, while the median price increased 1.9 percent and the average price increased 5.5 percent, the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development announced today.  more...

Real estate refinancings fall 9.6%

Overall mortgage applications last week fell 3.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the week before, taken lower by a significant decline in refinancings, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's latest survey.

The seasonally adjusted refinance index decreased by 9.6 percent to 1,749.6 from 1,935.3 the previous week, while the purchase index increased by 1.3 percent to 406.7 from 401.4 one week earlier.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 46.9 percent of total applications from 48.6 percent the previous week.  more...

Overnight real estate rates down

Long-term mortgage interest rates fell Tuesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield dropped to 4.5 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average dipped to 5.67 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate sank to 5.44 percent. The 1-year adjustable was down at 5.3 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield decreased to 4.59 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...

California home sales drop 29%

Single-family home sales in California declined 28.7 percent in October compared to the same month last year, the California Association of Realtors reported Tuesday.

The median sales price of existing single-family homes slipped 1.5 percent since September but rose 2 percent in the state compared to October 2005, the association also reported.  more...