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Real estate, finance experts raise red flags at 'bubble' hearing Premium Content

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Tuesday, September 12, 2006.

Economists and a representative for the National Association of Realtors, in congressional testimony today, raised red flags about "exotic" mortgages and rising interest rates, energy prices and house prices, though they said they do not expect a doomsday scenario for the nation's housing market.

"With rising mortgage rates, home buyers are becoming exhausted financially, which explains why sales have tumbled in high-priced regions of the country," said Tom Stevens, president of the National Association of Realtors and vice president of real estate brokerage giant NRT Inc., in writt  more...

Inland affiliate buys Minneapolis skyscraper

By Inman News, Tuesday, September 12, 2006.

A venture affiliated with Inland American Real Estate Trust Inc. recently purchased the IDS Center tower in downtown Minneapolis, Minn.

The value of the transaction was approximately $277 million.

The 51-story, 910-foot-tall, 1.4 million-square-foot IDS Center was designed by renowned American architect Philip Johnson.  more...

Republic Property Trust expands in D.C.

By Inman News, Tuesday, September 12, 2006.

Republic Property Trust purchased Dulles Park Technology Center, an approximately 181,000-square-foot office building in Herndon, Va.

The value of the transaction was approximately $48.3 million, or $267 per rentable square foot.

Dulles Park is a five-story, class A property situated on 7.6 acres. Completed in 1999, Dulles Park was approximately 70 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants including U.S. government agencies, IBM and government contractors.  more...

Multifamily, retail deals surpass $10M

By Inman News, Tuesday, September 12, 2006.

Charles Dunn Co. negotiated the sale of two apartment complexes in California and completed a 1031 exchange for two retail properties in Florida and Oklahoma.

The total value of the transactions was approximately $10.4 million.

The first transactions were on behalf of two Los Angeles-area apartment building owners, who sold their properties to a local land developer, Amoroso Cos. The properties, located at 11260 Missouri Ave. and 1921 Beloit Ave., sold for approximately $3.7 million and $3.5 million, respectively.  more...

National foreclosures up 24% Premium Content

By Inman News, Tuesday, September 12, 2006.

Property foreclosures nationwide increased 24 percent in August from the previous month and 53 percent from a year ago, marking the highest rate so far this year, a foreclosure service reported today.

A total of 115,292 properties entered some stage of foreclosure during the month, according to a report from RealtyTrac. The report also shows a national foreclosure rate of one new foreclosure filing for every 1,003 U.S.  more...

Buyer's market escalates in Twin Cities

By Inman News, Tuesday, September 12, 2006.

Home sales in the Twin Cities, Minn., area fell in August for the fifth straight month as rising inventory flattened home prices, according to reports from three Twin Cities-area Realtor associations.

Realtors recorded 5,079 closed home sales last month, down 27.2 percent from 6,979 sales in August 2005. During the same period, the median home price in the 13-county region was essentially unchanged at $235,000, compared with $234,900 a year ago, and was down slightly from $235,459 in July.  more...

Real estate loan applications rise 3.2%

By Inman News, Tuesday, September 12, 2006.

Overall mortgage applications were up 3.2 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted basis from the week before, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported today.

The seasonally adjusted purchase index increased by 5.3 percent to 410.2 from 389.7 the previous week, and the refinance index increased by 0.1 percent to 1,597 from 1,594.7 one week earlier.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 40.3 percent of total applications from 41 percent the previous week.  more...

Mozilo will stay at helm of Countrywide

By Inman News, Tuesday, September 12, 2006.

Countrywide Financial Corp. has a new president and chief operating officer, but CEO Angelo Mozilo plans to stay on past his previously announced retirement date.

Countrywide on Friday announced the appointment of David Sambol as president and chief operating officer.  more...

Overnight real estate rates mostly flat

By Inman News, Tuesday, September 12, 2006.

Long-term mortgage interest rates were mostly unchanged Tuesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield fell to 4.77 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average gained to 5.95 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate held at 5.65 percent. The 1-year adjustable was up at 5.32 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield decreased to 4.9 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...

Realogy, Coldwell Banker sue hazard reports company Premium Content

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Tuesday, September 12, 2006.

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage companies and parent Realogy Services Group LLC have filed lawsuits against a hazard disclosure report company this month charging that the company sent unsolicited reports and sought payment from agents and has withheld at least $600,000 that the company was supposed to pay through a business agreement.

The latest lawsuit, filed Sept. 7 in U.S.  more...

College towns feed second-home craze

By Tom Kelly, Tuesday, September 12, 2006.

If you will be dropping off a college student for the fall term, it might be worth your time to check the prices of homes for sale near campus. Not only have some red-hot markets slowed considerably, but the housing cycle could move back into positive territory by the time your student graduates.

Some of the more consistent and stable real estate markets for traditional second homes and rental properties are the residential neighborhoods surrounding established colleges and universities. Why?  more...

Plaster of Paris for a rock-free toilet

By Bill and Kevin Burnett, Tuesday, September 12, 2006.

Q: Since you were the ones who got my daughter started on the tile-the-bathroom thing, I don't hesitate to bring up the toilet once again.

One of the many self-help books my daughter bought before tackling this project suggested seating the toilet on plaster of Paris. This idea sounds good to me, but I thought that with all the advances in sealing products, there might be a more up-to-date solution.  more...

Job relocation holds real estate tax benefit

By Robert Bruss, Tuesday, September 12, 2006.

DEAR BOB: I have owned my condominium since March 31, 2005. But I am interested in relocating in the next few months for career purposes. Someone told me I might be exempt from capital gains tax on the sale of my condo -- although I have not lived in it for 24 months -- if I sell for career or educational purposes. Is this true?  more...

Homeowners facing foreclosure ask feds for help

By Robert Bruss, Tuesday, September 12, 2006.

Antonio and Kathlene Mareno obtained a home mortgage from Dime Savings Bank. The terms of the mortgage required them to pay their property taxes directly to the local tax collector. However, if they failed to do so, the mortgage allowed the lender to pay the property taxes, add the property tax amount to the mortgage balance, and adjust the monthly mortgage payment.

The borrowers allegedly failed to pay their property taxes for 2002 and 2003. As a result, Dime Savings paid the property taxes and increased the monthly mortgage payment from $754 to $1,268.  more...

Home loan delinquency rate falls in second quarter

By Matt Carter, Tuesday, September 12, 2006.

A survey of more than 42.5 million loans nationwide suggests that overall, homeowners are keeping up with their mortgage payments even as interest rates go up and their property appreciates more slowly.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's quarterly survey of delinquent home loans shows a modest increase in the percentage of borrowers who are behind on payments of prime, subprime and FHA loans.

But the overall delinquency rate fell 2 basis points to 4.39 percent compared to last quarter -- a reduction attributed to "significant decreases" in the delinquency rate for VA loans an  more...