Home-price growth hits the brakes

Home-price growth has slowed in Freddie Mac's quarterly national Conventional Home Price Index released today, adding to evidence the nation's housing market is cooling.

Freddie Mac's home-price-growth index rose 12.5 percent in the fourth quarter on an annualized basis, down from a revised third-quarter-2005 annualized rate of 13.4 percent and a second-quarter-2005 growth rate of 15.4 percent.

"Mortgage rates rose sharply in the fourth quarter and we are  more...

Spitzer opens title insurance probe

New York's attorney general and insurance department are investigating national title insurance companies for suspected illegal kickbacks, the insurance department confirmed today.

The two are probing whether title insurers illegally paid millions of dollars in premium rebates to real estate developers and national chain stores, as well as referral fees to title agents, mortgage brokers and attorneys who delivered clients, confirmed Michael Barry, spokesman for the New York State Insurance Department.

"We expect to wrap up the investigation in a few months," said Barry.

Alliance to make electronic public records access more efficient

A new alliance of industry groups promises to streamline the public property recording process and create more efficient electronic access to public property records.  more...

Real estate rates finish week lower

Mortgage rates dropped for the second consecutive week, Freddie Mac reported today in its latest mortgage survey.

Freddie Mac reported that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dipped to an average 6.24 percent for the week ended today, down from last week's average of 6.26 percent. The average for the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage remained at 5.89 percent.  more...

Former Fannie Mae CEO sued

Former Fannie Mae Chief Executive Officer Franklin Raines used the company's charity to compromise the independence of six current directors at the largest U.S. mortgage finance company, according to a suit filed by shareholders in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., Bloomberg News reported.

Raines allegedly dispensed grants exceeding $12 million from the Fannie Mae Foundation to groups such as the Brookings Institution and the John F.  more...

California housing starts fall 10%

California housing production dropped about 10 percent from January 2005 to January 2006, the California Building Industry Association announced today.

According to data compiled by the Construction Industry Research Board, housing starts (as measured by building permits issued) totaled 12,357 in January – a decrease of 1,430 units compared to January 2005.  more...

Online data service sees fewer risky home loan apps

Risky home loan applications are on the decline, indicating that the frenzied phase of the current real estate cycle has passed in most regional markets, a consumer Web site reported.

Lenders review home loan applications as a safeguard against potential market risk, and those reviews have helped collateral risk decline by 28 percent during the last year, according to HomeSmartReports.com, which provides consumers online access to sales trends and property value estimates.

The decline was strongest in Washington D.C.  more...

Banks get final guidance on Community Reinvestment

The federal banking agencies today announced final guidance implementing the recent changes to their Community Reinvestment Act regulations.  more...

Coldwell Banker reports record year in luxury real estate

Coldwell Banker today announced that its 2005 total sales volume of U.S. and Puerto Rico homes valued at $1 million or more hit a record high of $55.9 billion, up 24 percent from a previous record of $45.2 billion set in 2004.

Coldwell Banker-affiliated companies nationwide participated in more than 31,000 luxury transaction sides in 2005. There are two sides to every real estate transaction: a buy side and a sell side.  more...

East Coast real estate sales gap widens

Home sales in North Carolina posted double-digit growth for the 13th straight month in January, while sales in Massachusetts reported their weakest January in 10 years, according to Realtor associations in both states.

Existing-home sales in North Carolina totaled 8,399 in January, showing a 13 percent increase from sales recorded a year earlier, according to statistics compiled by the North Carolina Association of Realtors.

The state's average existing-home sales price was up 4 percent to $206,78  more...

Former Countrywide VPs settle insider-trading allegations

Two former vice presidents of Countrywide Financial Corp. settled charges of illegal insider trading with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the SEC told Reuters Wednesday.

The SEC said Alan Cao and Jun Shi agreed to settle without admitting or denying the charges, media reports said. The U.S.  more...