Ohio backs off tighter limits on real estate partnerships

Ohio officials are drafting new regulations governing affiliated real estate business arrangements, but have backed away from tightening restrictions on how much of a stake real estate and mortgage brokers can own in title insurance agencies.

Affiliated business arrangements, or ABAs, are legal, but investigations in several states have turned up instances in which they were allegedly used to facilitate the illegal payment of referral fees and kickbacks to generate business for affiliated title insurance companies, stifling competition.

In Ohio, where consumers have sued a n  more...

Fed stands pat on short-term interest rates

The Federal Reserve Board's Federal Open Market Committee today decided to keep its target for the federal funds rate at 5.25 percent.

The committee said in an announcement released shortly after its meeting that a moderation in economic growth is continuing, partly due to a cooling housing market.

"Readings on core inflation have been elevated, and the high levels of resource utilization and of the prices of energy and other commodities have the potential to sustain i  more...

S.F. Bay Area home sales drop 25%

Home sales in the San Francisco Bay Area fell 24.9 percent in August compared to August 2006, real estate research company DataQuick Information Systems reported today, and median prices dropped in three counties compared to year-ago levels.

A total of 9,128 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the nine-county Bay Area region last month, which was up 14.9 percent since July 2006.

It was the slowest August since 1997 when 9,080 homes were sold, DataQuick announced.  more...

Dallas home sales decline

Home sales in the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area fell 7.5 percent in August from their year-earlier level, while prices maintained modest growth, according to preliminary statistics provided by North Texas Real Estate Information Systems.

Realtors recorded 8,386 single-family home sales last month, down from the August 2005 level of 9,067.

The median single-family home price gained 3 percent during the period, rising from $148,000 to $152,500.

There were 15,245 new single-family listings placed on the market in August, up 10 percent from the year-ago level, bringing the  more...

College-town property rents increase

Rents at student housing properties increased during a difficult two-year period for conventional apartments, according to a new research report by the National Multi Housing Council, a Washington, D.C.-based industry trade group.  more...

HUD settles discrimination complaint against architect, developer

The U.S.  more...

Real estate refinancings jump

Overall mortgage applications were up 2 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted basis from the week before, taken higher by a surge in refinancings, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported today.

The seasonally adjusted refinance index increased by 9.5 percent to 1,748.7 from 1,597 one week earlier, while the purchase index decreased by 3 percent to 397.9 from 410.2 the previous week.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 43.7 percent of total applications from 40.3 percent the previous week.  more...

Overnight real estate rates fall

Long-term mortgage interest rates were down Tuesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield dropped to 4.73 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average sank to 5.93 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate declined to 5.64 percent. The 1-year adjustable dipped to 5.31 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield decreased to 4.86 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...