Oxley calls for federal title insurance investigation

The head of the House Financial Services Committee has written a letter to the Comptroller General requesting that theGovernment Accountability Office investigate the title insurance industry, Inman News has learned.

Michael Oxley, chair of the House Financial Services Committee, asked that the GAO examine and issue a report on the title insurance industry.  more...

Houston real estate posts strong January

The Houston real estate market continued strong in January as sales continued double-digit annual growth and prices set a monthly record, according to statistics released by the Houston Association of Realtors.

Total property sales, which includes single-family homes, townhomes, multifamily homes, country homes, high-rise properties and lots listed on the MLS, totaled 4,584 in January, up 16.4 percent from a year ago.  more...

California luxury-home values increase in 2005

Luxury-home values rose to all-time highs in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco in 2005, but appreciation slowed significantly in the fourth quarter, according to the First Republic Prestige Home Index, released today.

The Index, which has tracked luxury homes since 1985, found that Los Angeles values rose 0.7 percent from the third quarter of 2005 to the fourth quarter of 2005 and rose 16 percent for the year.  more...

Bank of America to restate earnings

Bank of America Corp. said Wednesday it will restate its earnings going back to 2002, resulting in a net gain of $345 million at the nation's second-largest bank.

Bank of America said the restatement adjusted the accounting of derivative transactions, which are used to offset volatility in interest rates and foreign currency.  more...

Michigan real estate loan losses soar

Mortgage fraud losses in Michigan jumped from nearly $9 million to $26 million over a two-year period in what has become one of the fastest-growing white-collar crimes in the nation, the Detroit News reported Tuesday.

"These criminals are literally trying to steal the homes out from underneath unsuspecting citizens," Oakland County Clerk Ruth Johnson told the News.  more...

Predatory lending targeting Latinos on the rise

Latinos are twice as likely as other groups to be targeted by a growing wave of predatory lending and other real estate con games and to help them avoid falling victim, CasaNuevaHouston.com has posted a "Home Buyers Bill of Rights" highlighting the most common abuses.

CasaNuevaHouston.com decided to create the bill of rights when its founders kept hearing stories of predatory lending and other real estate scams from consumers and real estate agents in Houston's Latino community.

"Latinos are quick to embrace the Ame  more...

Real estate remodeling drops in 4th quarter

Remodeling activity continued to slow in the fourth quarter of 2005, marking a six-month cooling trend, according to the National Association of Home Builders' Remodeling Market Index, released Tuesday.

The seasonally adjusted RMI measures remodeler perceptions of market demand for current and future residential remodeling projects. Any number over 50 indicates that more remodelers view market conditions as expanding.  more...

Classifieds site offers free rental listings to landlords

Local online classifieds site LiveDeal.com today rolled out a free rental listings service for landlords and rental agencies in cities across the United States.

The classifieds company enables landlords to post detailed property descriptions and photos of available apartments, condos, homes and vacation and commercial properties.

Renters can browse listings by city/state or ZIP code and will be shown properties within a 50-mile radius of their search entry.  more...

Mortgage quote site offers enhanced lead generation

Officials at Low.com, a consumer financial portal that is part of Oversee.net, today announced enhancements to LeadExpress, a lead platform that delivers real-time leads to its mortgage banking partners.

Low.com offers mortgage quotes nationwide for purchase, refinance and home equity loans.  more...

Real estate purchases pick up

Overall mortgage applications inched up 0.8 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted basis from the week before, ending a three-week slide, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's latest survey.

The seasonally adjusted purchase index increased by 4.3 percent to 408.7 from 391.7 the previous week, whereas the refinance index decreased by 4 percent to 1,571.4 from 1,636.7 one week earlier.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 38.2 percent of total applications from 41.2 percent the previous week.  more...