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New Mexico rescinds controversial real estate rules Premium Content

By Inman News, Sunday, July 16, 2006.

The New Mexico Real Estate Commission has voted unanimously to rescind the language in a controversial real estate rule that set service requirements for real estate licensees in the state. A commission task force will continue to study the issue.

Despite objections from the U.S.  more...

SEC charges N.Y. real estate firms with fraud

By Inman News, Sunday, July 16, 2006.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is moving to freeze the assets of several real estate investment companies, claiming they cheated 275 investors out of at least $15 million.

An SEC complaint filed in the Western District of New York charges Edward "Ted" Tackaberry, Mark Palazzo and real estate investment companies including Pittsford Capital LLC, Pittsford Capital Mortgage Partners LLC and Pittsford Capital Group Inc., with making fraudulent solicitations and misappropriating investor funds.  more...

Parkway Properties grows by 1 million square feet

By Inman News, Sunday, July 16, 2006.

Parkway Properties Inc.  more...

Kite Realty Group Trust buys shopping centers

By Inman News, Sunday, July 16, 2006.

Kite Realty Group Trust recently announced the acquisition of three shopping centers totaling 318,522 square feet in Naples, Fla.

The total value of the off-market transaction was approximately $58 million, or $182 per square foot.

Highlights of the acquired properties:  more...

Apartment complexes sold south of Boston

By Inman News, Sunday, July 16, 2006.

CB Richard Ellis/New England recently negotiated the sale of two apartment communities in Randolph, Mass.

The total value of the transaction was $32.6 million.

Home Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust, purchased Highland House, a 172-unit apartment community, and Liberty Place, a 107-unit apartment community, from MB Management Co.

Highland House consists of four three-story buildings and one four-story, elevatored building on five acres of land at the intersection of Highland Avenue and Highland Glen Drive.  more...

Foreclosures accelerate in some areas

By Inman News, Sunday, July 16, 2006.

ForeclosureS.com says property foreclosures are accelerating in the Midwest, Southeast and New England for different reasons. 

The company, which tracks foreclosures in 946 counties, says foreclosure rates in the Midwest remain above the national average because of the region's dependence on manufacturing.  more...

Congress to probe identity theft issues

By Inman News, Sunday, July 16, 2006.

A House of Representatives subcommittee will examine issues surrounding identity theft and assess possible solutions to e-mail phishing scams during a hearing Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

Identity theft, where one individual assumes the identity of another to commit fraud, has continued to increase on the Internet in the last decade. In high-tech forms of identity theft, thieves acquire sensitive personal information about consumers by breaching computer databases or Internet sites.  more...

No Red Tape creating outside sales force

By Inman News, Sunday, July 16, 2006.

No Red Tape, a wholesale lender that lets brokers submit loan applications online, says it will hire an outside sales force of 50 people to demonstrate and sell its paperless system to brokers nationwide.

At a time when jobs in the real estate finance industry are disappearing at a brisk pace -- one economist told Inman News in February that 25,000 to 50,000 jobs could be eliminated this year alone --  more...

Consumer interest in second homes grows

By Inman News, Sunday, July 16, 2006.

When it comes to second homes, Americans remain fairly bullish, with sizable numbers saying they plan to purchase second homes soon and wouldn't mind flying -- not driving -- to reach them, according to findings of a new consumer survey by HomePages.com, operated by HouseValues.

The HomePages.com survey of more than 1,300 adult consumers found that 21 percent say they are considering purchasing a second home within a year, while another 42 percent said they're considering buying within the next two to six years.  more...

Fort Collins tops 'Best Places' list

By Inman News, Sunday, July 16, 2006.

Money magazine rated Fort Collins, Colo., as the best place to live in America, according to its latest annual list. Naperville, Ill., ranked second, while Sugar Land, Texas, was third.

The magazine report also includes a list of cities with the highest median home price and cities with the highest annual rate of home-price appreciation.  more...

Overnight real estate rates tumble

By Inman News, Sunday, July 16, 2006.

Long-term mortgage interest rates fell slightly Friday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield fell to 5.06 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average fell to 6.31 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate decreased to 6.02 percent. The 1-year adjustable fell to 5.47 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield was unchanged at 5.11 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...

Realtor says raising the commission pays off

By Robert Bruss, Sunday, July 16, 2006.

DEAR BOB: As a Realtor, I want to thank you for your recent item about the drawbacks of cutting home sales commissions below the customary rate in the community. My specialty is listings. I find working with buyers is much less productive (although I make exceptions for good referrals). I've been selling homes for 14 years and will "negotiate" the sales commission on expensive homes to remain competitive. However, I tactfully tell my sellers if I reduce my commission to 4 percent or 5 percent, the buyer's agents will show my listings last only after showing the full-commission listings.  more...

Unfair loan pricing hits borrowers at closing table

By Jack Guttentag, Sunday, July 16, 2006.

(This is Part 1 of a two-part series. Read Part 2.)

"I read about a study recently claiming that African Americans and Hispanics paid more for mortgages than white borrowers who were otherwise similar. Do you believe this to be true, and if so, why does it happen, and what should be done about it?"

I have looked at the studies, including a very recent one by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL).  more...

Pros and cons of pre-emptive real estate offers

By Dian Hymer, Sunday, July 16, 2006.

In pockets of the residential housing market where inventories remain low, some buyers resort to pre-emptive offers in an effort to avoid bidding contests. A pre-emptive offer is one that's made either before the property hits the market, or before the seller's designated offer date.

There are pros and cons to this strategy. As a buyer making a pre-emptive offer, you'll never know if you could have paid less if you'd waited to see the market response to the listing.  more...