Security system debuts for real estate transaction systems

Clareity Security has released a new security product that aims to protect real estate transaction management systems used by brokers and agents to track property deals.

The product, SafeTMS, protects against unauthorized access to sensitive customer and transaction information using a one-time-use, password-generating device called an authenticator, or key-fob token.

Brokers and agents use transaction management systems to track real estate deals online, enabling communication among all the parties and vendors while a deal is in progress.  more...

North Carolina judge orders mortgage rescue company to shut down

North Carolina officials have shut down a company they claimed was preying on homeowners who were behind on their mortgage payments, sending them direct mail offers of help.

"We can help you ... we are the foreclosure consultants that really care!" the company promised, according to Attorney General Roy Cooper. Instead, Cooper said, Mortgage Assistance of the Carolinas Inc.  more...

Mortgage rates fall to 4-month low

Mortgage rates dropped for the fifth straight week to lows not seen since April on expectations that the housing market slowdown will ease inflation fears, according to surveys conducted by Freddie Mac and Bankrate.com.

In Freddie Mac's survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage sank to an average 6.48 percent this week, down from last week's average of 6.52 percent, and is now at its lowest since April 6, 2006, when it averaged 6.43 percent.  more...

Two mortgage trade groups to merge

The National Home Equity Mortgage Association board of directors has voted unanimously to merge with the Mortgage Bankers Association, according to an announcement Wednesday. The MBA board had previously approved the concept of the merger.

NHEMA represents the nonprime mortgage lending industry and is comprised of 220 mortgage lenders accounting for 80 percent of outstanding nonprime mortgage loans.  more...

Prudential affiliate forms alliance with real estate auction company

Prudential Fox & Roach, Realtors, a large real estate firm serving the Greater Philadelphia market, today announced a strategic alliance with Sheldon Good & Co.  more...

ZipRealty opens online listings to consumer comments

Emeryville, Calif.-based ZipRealty announced today the release of a new comments and ratings feature at the real estate brokerage company's Web site, enabling home shoppers to see what others have said about a particular property listing.

The company displays about 900,000 home listings on its Web site from markets including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Boston, Miami, Houston and Seattle, among others.

Registered users can rate each property on a scale of one to five, with five being an excellent rating, b  more...

Occupancy restrictions land property owners in trouble

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Wednesday announced it has charged Draper and Kramer Inc. with violating the Fair Housing Act for refusing to rent an apartment to a family because the presence of the family's infant child would exceed the landlord's self-imposed occupancy limit.  more...

New single-family home sales fall in July

The rate of new single-family home sales fell about 4.3 percent from June to July and dropped about 21.6 percent from July 2005 to July 2006, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development reported today.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of new single-family home sales slipped to 1.07 million in July. This rate is a projection of a monthly total over a 12-month period, adjusted for seasonal fluctuations in sales activity.  more...

Overnight real estate rates mostly flat

Long-term mortgage interest rates barely budged Wednesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield held at 4.81 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average edged up to 5.98 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate sank to 5.7 percent. The 1-year adjustable was unchanged at 5.33 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield increased to 4.95 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...

Prudential California offers Zillow tools

Prudential California/Nevada Realty and Zillow today announced a partnership to provide consumers with free, instant home valuations and a property comparison tool on the PruRealty.com broker Web site.

Using open API (Application Programming Interface) from Zillow, PruRealty.com said it will offer consumers Zillow's home market-value estimations and area median prices, as well as other tools to access agents, homes and housing market information online.  more...