Housing slowdown takes pressure off mortgage rates

Mortgage rates dropped this week as markets bet the Fed would soon pause its interest-rate hikes amid modest economic growth and declining home sales, according to surveys conducted by Freddie Mac and Bankrate.com.

In Freddie Mac's survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to an average 6.72 percent this week, down from last week's average of 6.8 percent. The average for the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage also dipped from last week, falling from 6.41 percent to 6.34 percent.  more...

SoCal MLS implements Clareity's security system

Clareity Security on Wednesday announced the successful implementation of the SAFEMLS solution for the Southern California MLS.

Clareity's SAFEMLS solution protects against unauthorized MLS access using a token-sized security device that generates single-use passwords. This type of authentication technology safeguards the networks and databases of thousands of companies worldwide and is effective regardless of access method.

The implementation included several phases, starting with an education and communication campaign to the SoCal MLS membership in late 2005.  more...

New-home sales fall 11%

Sales of new single-family houses in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.13 million, down 3 percent from the previous month and down 11 percent from a year ago, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The median sales price of new houses sold in June was $231,300, down from $235,300 in May, the report found.

The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of June was 566,000, which represents a supply of 6.1 months at the current sales rate.  more...

Realogy joins S&P 500 Index

Realogy Corp., which is expected to be spun off from Cendant Corp. on Monday, announced that its stock will become a member of the Standard & Poor's 500 Index upon expected commencement Aug. 1 of "regular way" trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Widely regarded as the best single gauge of the U.S. equities market, the world-renowned index includes a representative sample of 500 leading companies in leading industries of the U.S. economy. The S&P 500 represents the U.S.  more...

OnBoard LLC releases home-value estimator

SAN FRANCISCO -- OnBoard LLC, a real estate data provider, has released a new home-value estimator tool for real estate brokers to offer to online consumers.

The application will give high and low estimated value ranges of properties, facts about how the range was calculated, and information on requesting a comparative market analysis from a real estate agent.

The value estimator currently covers more than 1,250 counties nationwide and will be available in August for local, regional and national usage, the company said.

Many real estate companies and online services h  more...

Overnight real estate rates steady

Long-term mortgage interest rates were mostly unchanged Wednesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield dipped to 5.03 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average held at 6.24 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate edged up to 5.95 percent. The 1-year adjustable was down at 5.42 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield decreased 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...