Fed leaves short-term interest rate at 5.25%

Saying worries about inflation outweigh the ongoing "adjustment in the housing sector," the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee said Wednesday it is keeping the short-term federal funds rate at 5.25 percent.

The rate banks charge each other for overnight loans has been unchanged since June, when the committee approved the last of 17 straight 25-basis-point increases.  more...

Joel Burslem joins Inman News

Joel Burslem was named Social Media/Interactive Marketing Manager at Inman News today.

Burslem is a communications professional with many years of experience in consumer marketing, public relations, crisis communications and Internet marketing. He's worked in government, rode the dot-com boom (and bust), and slogged it out as a PR flack and newsmagazine publisher.  more...

Oodle raises $11 million in funding

Oodle, an online classifieds search engine, has raised $11 million in funding from a new investor, JAFCO Ventures, as well as from Greylock Partners and Redpoint Ventures, both of which led the company's previous round of financing.

The company offers more than 20 million classified listings from more than 75,000 sources, and sells featured listings across its network.

Oodle said in an announcement today that it will use the funding to further expand its Web site and provide additional features.  more...

Home loan apps drop

Overall mortgage application volume dropped last week amid rising interest rates, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported today.

The market composite index, a measure of home loan application volume, fell 2.7 percent last week, down to 672.1 on a seasonally adjusted basis from 690.5 the week before.

The index that tracks refinancings posted the largest decline, down 4.5 percent from the previous week, while the purchase index dipped 0.9 percent.

Both the refinancing and adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) shares of mortgage activity sank last week, with refis dropping to a  more...

Accredited Home Lenders gets $200 million cash infusion

Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co. will pay 13 percent interest on a five-year, $200 million loan that will help the subprime lender stay afloat.

In addition to the high interest rate, the loan from Farallon Capital Management LLC comes with other strings attached, the company said Tuesday in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Farallon will get options to buy 3.3 million shares at a price of $10 each, which it has 10 years to exercise.  more...

Overnight real estate rates stand still

Long-term mortgage interest rates were unchanged Tuesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield sank to 4.55 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average held at 5.68 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate stood at 5.44 percent. The 1-year adjustable stayed at 5.32 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield was unchanged at 4.71 percent.

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