DOJ bars group from misleading down-payment statements

An Illinois down-payment-assistance organization and its president have been permanently barred from making false and misleading statements in promoting their program to house sellers, officials said today.

West Dundee, Ill.-based Partners in Charity Inc. (PIC) and its president, Charles M.  more...

Real estate price growth slows in San Francisco area

The year-over-year rate of home-price gains in the San Francisco Bay Area dropped below 10 percent for the first time in more than two years, according to the latest report by DataQuick Information Systems, a real estate research and information company.

The cost of median-priced homes in the nine-county area around San Francisco was up 9.5 percent from March 2005 to March 2006, the company reported.

Meanwhile, the number of Bay Area homes sold in March dropped 13.8 percent compared to March 2005 sales but was up 57 pe  more...

Massachusetts bill would open closing process to non-lawyers

The Real Estate Bar Association for Massachusetts and the Title Appraisal Vendor Management Association are squaring off over a bill in the Massachusetts legislature that would open the real estate closing business to non-lawyers, media reports say.

The bill, H 904, was sponsored by Democratic Rep.  more...

Architecture billings level off in March

Despite some signs of slowing, billings at U.S. architecture firms were positive for the 18th consecutive month in March, according to new seasonally adjusted figures from the American Institute of Architects.  more...

Sixth witness testifies in Stuart Wolff trial

Clayton Chan, 39, of San Francisco, testified in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Tuesday in the ongoing criminal trial of Stuart Wolff, former Homestore CEO.

Chan, who was the vice president of Homestore's Strategic Alliances Group from January 2001 to July 2001 and was later promoted to senior vice president of the group, is the sixth person called to testify in the trial, which began March 30.  more...

Homeowner remodeling spend falls

Estimated recent growth of homeowner remodeling spending has eased substantially but still remains near its long-term rate of 5 percent, according to a new report.

Homeowners spent more than an estimated $155 billion on home improvements and repairs over the past four quarters, representing a 4.5 percent increase over this period, according to Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies' Remodeling Activity Indicator released today.

"Rising interest rates and a cooling housing market have started to impact spending on home  more...

Real estate regulators oppose banks' development projects

The Association of Real Estate License Law Officials, a group of regulatory officials from U.S. states and other nations, has taken a stand against U.S.  more...

Rising rates cut further into real estate purchases

Overall mortgage applications slid 1.7 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted basis from the week before, as interest rates continued to climb, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported today.

The seasonally adjusted purchase index decreased by 2.7 percent to 407.4 from 417.7 the previous week whereas the refinance index decreased by 0.4 percent to 1,526.1 from 1,532.4 one week earlier.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 36.4 percent of total applications from 36 percent the previ  more...

Overnight real estate rates fall

Long-term mortgage interest rates dipped on Tuesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield slid to 4.98 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average decreased to 6.09 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate was down at 5.76 percent. The 1-year adjustable held at 5.18 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield dropped to 5.08 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...