Mortgage rates rise on market apprehension

Mortgage rates marched higher this week as markets held onto a slight belief that inflation may not yet be fully contained, according to surveys conducted by Freddie Mac and Bankrate.com.

In Freddie Mac's survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to an average 6.8 percent this week, up from last week's average of 6.74 percent.  more...

WaMu sells $140 billion in home loans to Wells Fargo

Washington Mutual is selling all of its government mortgage servicing and part of its conforming, fixed-rate loan portfolio to Wells Fargo & Co. -- about $140 billion in debt, all told, held by 1.3 million customers.

To smooth the transition, most of Washington Mutual's loan servicing and support staff in Milwaukee will become Wells Fargo employees late this year and early next year, the companies said in a press release.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.  more...

Rental market rebounds in Western markets

Occupancy rates have increased since last year in all but one of the 29 major metropolitan areas studied by RealFacts, a research company that tracks the multifamily housing industry.

Rent prices also showed gains "across the board," RealFacts reported.

"The strong occupancy and rents recently seen in Southern California, Las Vegas, and Phoenix remained on pace, while every other (metro area), except Fresno, joined them with positive annual occupancy growth, with none below 90 percent," according to the report.

Nort  more...

Smarter Agent, Sprint launch wireless real estate application

Real estate technology company Smarter Agent and Sprint have teamed up to launch a new location-based wireless phone application called Recently Sold Homes, the companies announced today.

The application instantly returns information -- such as last sold price, last sold date, taxes and square footage -- about the closest homes sold within the last three years.  more...

Home builder D.R. Horton's earnings sink

Home builder D.R. Horton Inc.  more...

Economy ticks higher in June

The U.S. leading index, a key barometer of economic conditions, increased 0.1 percent in June, the Conference Board reported today, and now stands at 138.1.

June's increase comes on the heels of two consecutive declines. Based on revised data, this index decreased 0.6 percent in May and decreased 0.1 percent in April.

The largest positive contributors to the leading index last month were average weekly initial claims for unemployment insurance (inverted) and the index of consumer expectations.  more...

Overnight real estate rates flat

Long-term mortgage interest rates were mostly unchanged Wednesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield dropped to 5.05 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average held at 6.32 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate inched up to 6.02 percent. The 1-year adjustable remained at 5.47 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield declined to 5.1 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...

Infomercial producer gets piece of online real estate

Direct marketing giant Guthy-Renker has acquired a stake in online real estate lead generation service RealtyTracker, the companies announced today.

Under the agreement, Guthy-Renker will provide RealtyTracker with a national media campaign that will include development and distribution of real estate content and create television exposure for the online company.  more...

Real estate publisher rolls out national video program

Homes & Land Magazine, a national real estate publication company, is offering streaming video tours of homes for sale in cities across the United States, the company said Wednesday. The home tour videos will appear on HomesAndLand.com and other Web sites.

The videos feature listings from real estate brokers and agents who advertise in Homes & Land Magazine, as well as personal profile videos of brokers and agents.  more...