WaMu to let 3,150 workers go as mortgage losses mount

Washington Mutual Inc. said Monday it is laying off 3,150 workers and issuing $2.5 billion in preferred stock as part of efforts to cut costs and raise capital in the face of mounting losses in mortgage lending.

WaMu will said it would close 190 of its 336 home loan centers and sales offices and nine home loans processing and call centers, as fourth quarter charge-offs for loan losses are expected to hit $1.6 billion, or twice the amount previously expected.  more...

HotPads rolls out buy vs. rent search

HotPads.com, a map-based search and listing tool for homes and apartments, today announced the launch of a tool that customizes a view of matching of rental and for-sale properties based on the amount of money they are willing to spend each month on in rent or mortgage payments.

The "Buy vs. Rent" search portal has a sliding scale that can be used to set a minimum and maximum monthly payment amount.  more...

Job cuts in mortgage lending surpass 80,000

That's according to Chicago-based outplacement consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., which tallied 5,528 announced layoffs at mortgage lending institutions in November. That's down from a peak of 30,892 announced layoffs in August.  more...

Swiss bank UBS takes $10 billion subprime hit

Revising its estimates for losses on defaults in U.S. subprime mortgage pools, Swiss bank UBS AG said Monday it's writing down the value of those investments by an additional $10 billion, and may record a net loss in 2007.

On Oct. 1, UBS announced $3.4 billion in write-downs, most on securities related to subprime mortgages, and said it would lay off 1,500 workers (see Inman News story).  more...

Realtor group forecasts 1.9% drop in U.S. resale home price

The subprime market collapse and credit crunch has dealt a blow to sales of previously owned homes, the National Association of Realtors reported in a press conference today.

While sales of resale homes were on an annualized pace of 6.17 million in the first half of 2007, sales dropped steeply to a 5 million annualized pace in October and November, and the subprime share of loans fell from about 20 percent of the market in the first half of the year to less than 1 percent in October and November.

With the subprime market shattered and the market for jumbo loans also squ  more...

Overnight real estate rates climb

Long-term mortgage interest rates increased Friday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield moved up to 4.11 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average rose to 5.76 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate average increased to 5.33 percent. The 1-year adjustable rate increased to 5.52 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield was also up at 4.57 percent.

Rates and bonds 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...

Data standard mandatory for Realtor-affiliated MLSs

All multiple listing services that are owned or operated by state, regional or local Realtor associations must adopt a common data standard for the exchange of real estate information, known as the Real Estate Transaction Standard or RETS, by June 2009.  more...