Subprime mortgage lender to restate results for most of 2006

Subprime lender New Century Financial Corp. will restate results for the first three quarters of 2006 because it failed to properly account for expected losses on bad loans it was forced to repurchase, officials said.

New Century said it will postpone today's planned announcement of fourth-quarter and 2006 earnings while it corrects accounting errors.  more...

Turn on and tune in to InmanWiki video

Got real estate video? Share it now on InmanWiki, the largest online real estate encyclopedia.

InmanWiki, which launched last week, accepts user-contributed content from real estate experts around the globe. The site has 5,000 articles from industry experts and consumer advice columnists and now can accept video streams.  more...

Job news pushes mortgage rates lower

A rise in jobless claims and weaker employment growth sent mortgage rates down this week, according to surveys conducted by Freddie Mac and Bankrate.com.

In Freddie Mac' survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to an average 6.28 percent from last week's 6.34 percent, while the average rate on 15-year fixed-rate loans dipped from 6.06 percent to 6.02 percent. Points, which are fees lenders charge for loan processing expressed as a percent of the loan, averaged 0.3 on the 30- and 15-year loans.  more...

Redfin expands to new markets

Online real estate broker Redfin has expanded into Southern California with the opening of offices in Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego, the company announced today.

Redfin says the expansion increased the number of properties for sale on its Web site by more than 340 percent.

The company's business model centers on the use of technology to shave money off the final commission to the consumer. Redfin will refund two-thirds of the commission to Southern California buyers who work with the company.  more...

Home buyers rule in central Indiana

Home sales across central Indiana fell below their 2005 levels for the ninth straight month in December while the median home price gained ground, according to the latest MLS statistics from the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtors.

There were 2,103 homes sold for the month in the nine-county region surrounding Indianapolis, down 13.7 percent from 2,437 homes sold in December 2005.

The area's median sales price grew 1.2 percent during the period, rising from $121,000 to $122,500.  more...

Reply! announces new guarantee for real estate leads

Reply! Inc., an online services company, has announced a guarantee protection program for real estate agents and brokers who use the company's online lead-generation services.

Reply! Real Estate announced this week that it is offering free leads for up to one year to agents who do not convert at least one of its leads into a sale within 12 months of using the service.  more...

Overnight real estate rates flat

Long-term mortgage interest rates were mostly unchanged Wednesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield sank to 4.73 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average held at 5.8 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate was down at 5.57 percent. The 1-year adjustable dipped to 5.37 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield decreased to 4.85 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...