Feds charge former Fannie Mae execs with manipulating earnings

Government regulators said Monday they will seek more than $100 million in civil penalties from three former Fannie Mae executives accused of submitting six years of inaccurate accounting reports, and the return of more than $115 million in bonuses.

The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight filed 101 charges against former Fannie Mae Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Franklin Raines, former Chief Financial Officer J. Timothy Howard, and former controller Leanne G. Spencer.  more...

Overnight real estate rates gain

Long-term mortgage interest rates were up Thursday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield rose to 4.6 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average climbed to 5.65 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate edged up to 5.42 percent. The 1-year adjustable was up at 5.3 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield increased to 4.72 percent.

Rates are current as of 7:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.  more...

Southern California home sales slide

Southern California home sales in November fell to the lowest total for that month since 1997, according to a report by real estate research company DataQuick Information Systems.

A total of 20,388 new and resale homes sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties in November, down 7.8 percent from October and 26.2 percent from November 2005.

Since 1988, average sales in October for the region are 21,200, with a high of 27,637 in November 2005 and a low of 13,537 in 1991.

"Sal  more...

More real estate cooling hits D.C.

Home sales and prices in the Washington, D.C., area continued to cool in November, and sellers took note, with fewer owners choosing to list their homes for sale, according to statistics released by Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc.

Sales in Washington, D.C., last month declined 17 percent from a year ago, falling from 672 to 558, and the city's median home price -- at which half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less -- sank 6.8 percent during the period to $410,000.

There were just 798 new listings added to the District of Columbia market last month,  more...

More people using Web for real estate search

The number of Internet users who look for housing information online has grown steadily over the last six years, a new study finds, thanks to more online resources for listings and other real estate information.

Nearly two in five adult Internet users in the United States, or 39 percent, have looked online for information about a place to live -- double the overall number of Americans who had done so in 2000, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project.  more...