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Hines buys space in South Florida

By Inman News, Monday, December 11, 2006.

Hines's U.S. Office Value Added Fund has acquired Doral Corporate Center, a 276,000-square-foot office complex in Doral, Fla.

The value of the transaction was not disclosed.

Florida Office Property Co. Inc., a private REIT, sold the property, which comprises two seven-story buildings on 13.6 acres. Built in 1985, the project was 82 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants that included Citibank, New York Life, BP/Castrol and Medtronic.  more...

Industrial space fills up in New Jersey

By Inman News, Monday, December 11, 2006.

Regency Warehousing & Distribution Inc. leased 437,000 square feet at Raritan Industrial Center in Flemington, N.J., for an undisclosed price.

The space is located within an 851,705-square-foot industrial building -- formerly the Lipton Tea Building -- located at 1200 Route 523.

Lincoln Equities Group, the building owner, acquired the facility in 2001. Building features include 20- to 47-foot clear ceiling heights, air-conditioned manufacturing and packaging areas, and ample parking and trailer spaces.  more...

Seagis grows Miami portfolio

By Inman News, Monday, December 11, 2006.

Seagis Property Group expanded its Florida industrial holdings with the acquisition of a 215,000-square-foot warehouse building in Miami.

An unidentified entity sold Seagis the property for $10.5 million.

At the time of sale, the property, located at 6699 NW 36th Ave., was 93 percent leased to Colmar Storage LLC.

This latest purchase increases Seagis' Miami holdings to 19 buildings totaling approximately 1.6 million square feet, according to a press statement.  more...

Houston MLS puts real estate listings on Google Base

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Monday, December 11, 2006.

A Houston-area multiple listing service announced a first in pushing members' property listings information to Google Base, a free classified listings service operated by Google.  more...

Top real estate stories of 2006 Premium Content

By Inman News, Monday, December 11, 2006.

2006 for many real estate professionals will be remembered as the year the market turned. The year was by no means a bust for housing -- most economists still expect it to be the third best on record for sales -- but a slowdown hit hard in many markets, causing brokers and agents to hunker down and focus on the basics. Memorable developments in online real estate include the launch of Zillow, a free site that offers valuations and information on some 64 million properties, and the explosive growth of real estate blogs.  more...

Black couple gets $30,000 in rental discrimination settlement

By Inman News, Monday, December 11, 2006.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today announced it has negotiated a settlement that will pay more than $30,000 to an African-American couple who allege that a Bensalem, Pa., apartment complex refused to rent to them because of their race.  more...

New tax break for mortgage insurance

By Inman News, Monday, December 11, 2006.

Households with annual income of $100,000 or less can get a tax break on their mortgage insurance when purchasing a home in 2007 using less than the traditional 20 percent down payment.

That's because a new tax deduction effective Jan.  more...

Ownit Mortgage Solutions goes out of business

By Inman News, Monday, December 11, 2006.

Ownit Mortgage Solutions Inc. has closed its doors, leaving more than 700 workers at 15 branch locations around the United States out of work.

The Agoura Hills, Calif.-based subprime lender, which originated $8.3 billion in loans last year, was unable to obtain funding to continue issuing loans, news reports said.  more...

Forecast: Housing decline to continue in 2007

By Inman News, Monday, December 11, 2006.

Existing-home sales are expected to reach the third-highest total on record this year, the National Association of Realtors announced today in its latest forecast.

Existing-home sales are projected at 6.47 million this year, a decline of 8.6 percent compared to 2005, and are expected to fall 1 percent to 6.4 million in 2007.  more...

Central Indiana real estate continues to slow

By Inman News, Monday, December 11, 2006.

The Central Indiana housing market cooled further in October, as home sales and prices fell from their year-ago levels, according to the latest MLS statistics from the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors.

Home sales in the nine-county region surrounding Indianapolis totaled 2,429 in October, down 8.4 percent from a year earlier when 2,651 homes were sold.

The average sales price of a home in October dipped to $150,621, a decline of 2.5 percent from $154,489 posted in October of last year.  more...

More gains in overnight real estate rates

By Inman News, Monday, December 11, 2006.

Long-term mortgage interest rates edged up Friday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield jumped to 4.55 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average inched up to 5.61 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate gained to 5.38 percent. The 1-year adjustable was up at 5.31 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield increased to 4.66 percent.

Rates are current as of 7:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.  more...

NAR issues guidance on listings content copyright Premium Content

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Monday, December 11, 2006.

The National Association of Realtors is offering sample contracts that are designed to enhance copyright protection for property information created and collected by its members.  more...

Home buyer closing costs could drop with fed's help

By Jack Guttentag, Monday, December 11, 2006.

Every consumer taking a home mortgage today pays a tax in unnecessary charges for the various third-party services required to deliver the mortgage. These include services provided by title insurance companies, mortgage insurance companies, appraisers, credit reporting agencies, flood insurance companies, and escrow companies.  more...

Overpricing a home could lead to no sale

By Dian Hymer, Monday, December 11, 2006.

Overpriced home listings usually don't sell in any market. In today's market, there's no margin for error when selecting a list price. If your price is too high, the market can literally pass you by.

Many sellers ask: What's the harm in pricing high initially? You can always come down. While this is true enough, you may end up with a lower selling price if you start too high to begin with, particularly if the market is declining.  more...

Can extra yearly mortgage payment cut loan term in half?

By Robert Bruss, Monday, December 11, 2006.

DEAR BOB: I was told a long time ago if you make one extra home mortgage payment each year on a 30-year fixed-interest-rate loan, it will be paid off in 15 years. If that is not true, how many years will it take off the mortgage by making one extra payment every year? --Geri F.

DEAR GERI: Your information is incorrect. However, depending on the interest rate on your mortgage, making an extra mortgage payment each year (13 payments in a 12-month period) will usually cut the term of your 30-year mortgage down to about 22 years.  more...