Illinois real estate posts record year

Continued strong demand for home ownership drove Illinois home sales to an all-time high in 2005, with a slower pace in the last quarter, according to the Illinois Association of Realtors.

Total home sales, which include single-family homes and condominiums, were up 2 percent in Illinois in 2005, according to a year-end analysis by the association. In 2005, a total of 183,123 homes were sold across the state, compared with 179,549 sales in 2004.  more...

Hurricane Rita evacuees receive housing assistance

Families who lost their homes in Hurricane Rita can now get vouchers for rent payments that were formerly only available to Hurricane Katrina victims, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said today.

HUD said it has used a new $390 million supplemental appropriation to replace and expand its current rental assistance program that aided families who lost their homes to hurricane Katrina.

The Disaster Voucher Program (DVP) extends eligibility for assistance to families who lost their homes to both Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  more...

Online help-wanted ads jump

Online job ads rebounded sharply in January to 2.16 million new unduplicated online job ads posted for the month, according to The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series. The January total was up 529,000, an increase of 32.5 percent from the December low.

January's total was slightly higher than the August 2005 monthly peak of 2.13 million, The Conference Board reported.

In January, there were 1.44 online job ads per 100 persons in the U.S. labor force, up from 1.09 in December and 1.21 in November.  more...

Web site monitoring tool enables specific ad tracking

Real estate companies using VisiStat to track their Web analytics can now target Web clicks from specific marketing campaigns through new functionality the company has added, according to an announcement today.

The new AdCaM feature enables users to create campaign URLs for tracking specific advertising promotions, such as individual e-mail campaigns, banner ads, pay-per-click advertising and press campaigns.  more...

ZipRealty rolls out new online real estate search tools

ZipRealty, a residential real estate brokerage that offers rebates to consumers, has introduced new features to its Web site, such as a "View Similar Homes" search feature and the option to search for a real estate agent by languages spoken, the company announced today.

"With 77 percent of prospective home buyers and sellers starting their search online, we continue to offer features that make navigating home listings easier and more efficient than ever before," said Eric Danziger, ZipRealty's CEO.

Among the other new feat  more...

Michigan home buyers awarded $27.5 million settlement

More than 60,000 new-home buyers in Michigan will share $27.5 million from the tentative settlement of a lawsuit filed by owners who claimed they were overcharged for title insurance, media reports said Saturday.

On Friday, a federal judge in Detroit tentatively approved the settlement, reports said.  more...

Real estate transaction management system releases new version

Relay, a Web-based transaction management system for real estate professionals to use and optionally share with clients, service providers and affiliates, has released a new version, the company said Monday.

Relay Version 2.0 makes it possible for agents and brokers to track and manage all activities related to a transaction; export these activities directly into Outlook Calendar; receive automatic, color-coded notifications when tasks need attention; and create custom checklist templates, organize transaction progress and repeat successful closings.

Relay already enables su  more...

Overnight real estate rates climb

Long-term mortgage interest rates were up Monday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield slipped to 4.58 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average rose to 5.84 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate increased to 5.46 percent. The 1-year adjustable was unchanged at 4.56 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield rose to 4.56 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...