HouseValues boosts revenue, misses profit projections

Second-quarter revenue was up but profits were down at real estate lead generator HouseValues Inc., the company said today as it announced the departure of its chief financial officer and a plan to buy back up to 2 million of its own shares.

HouseValues, which generates sales leads from information consumers enter at Web sites including HomePages.com, TheLoanPage.com, HouseValues.com and JustListed.com, says it signed up more than 3,700 new agents as customers during the quarter.

Th  more...

Wells Fargo rolling out 40-year fixed-rate mortgage

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage said today it would join the growing club of lenders offering home buyers the option of a 40-year, fixed-rate mortgage.

Wells Fargo is pitching the loan as a tool to bring down monthly payments in areas where home prices have soared, without resorting to an interest-only or option adjustable-rate mortgage, which it says are riskier.  more...

California home sales plunge 26%

California home sales plunged 26.3 percent in June compared to last year while the median price of an existing home increased 6.2 percent, an industry trade association reported today.

Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled 483,690 in June at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate, according to information collected by the California Association of Realtors.  more...

Nonprofit institute promotes open MLS

David Barry is at it again.

The San Francisco lawyer, who for decades has filed antitrust lawsuits against real estate industry groups across the country, is now leading an Open MLS Institute that seeks to open up property listings information to consumers nationwide.

Barry is serving as director and executive officer for Open MLS Institute, a nonprofit corporation with a mission "to bring competition to real estate markets in the United States by opening multiple listing services nationwide.  more...

Countrywide boosts profits despite falling loan volume

Countrywide Financial Corp. managed to boost profits by 27 percent in the second quarter of 2006 despite rising interest rates and a 3 percent decline in loan volume, the company announced today.

The Calabasas, Calif.-based lender reported earnings of $722 million for the quarter, up 27 percent from 2005. That brought earnings per share to $1.15, up 25 percent from the same quarter last year. Total loan fundings were down 3 percent to $118 billion.  more...

Florida home sales drop 29%

Existing-home sales in Florida fell 29 percent in June from the year-ago level, as overall home-price growth slowed to a more normal level, according to an industry report released today.

A total of 18,089 existing single-family homes sold statewide last month, down from 25,552 homes sold during the previous June, the Florida Association of Realtors reported.

Statewide, the existing-home median price rose 3 percent to $257,800 last month, up from $249,800 a year ago.  more...

'Click-to-talk' technology catches on

In a move that could help improve real estate agents' lagged response times to online consumer inquiries, electronic forms provider ZipForm has partnered with realPING, which offers immediate interaction between agents and consumers surfing the Web.

RealPING in January launched its push-to-talk, VoIP button that connects Web site visitors with a real estate agent's telephone.  more...

RealtyBaron offers real estate rebate auctions

As the real estate market transitions from a seller's market to a buyer's market in many areas of the country, an online site is offering agents a chance to bid for home buyers' business.

RealtyBaron, which launched in 2004, has offered an online platform through which sellers can negotiate real estate commissions with agents and consumers can rate real estate professionals.  more...

Consumers not bullish on economy

Although the Conference Board today reported that its Consumer Confidence Index for July inched higher for the second consecutive month, sentiment about current and future economic conditions remains quite mixed.

The index now stands at 106.5, up from 105.4 in June. The present situation index rose to 133 from 132.2. The expectations index edged up to 88.8 from 87.5 last month.

"Consumer confidence continues to hold steady, with the prognosis little changed from last month," said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center.  more...

Overnight real estate rates varied

Long-term mortgage interest rates were mixed Monday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield held at 5.04 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average gained to 6.24 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate stayed at 5.94 percent. The 1-year adjustable was up at 5.46 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield increased 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...