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Jan

14
2008

Post Event Blog Coverage of Real Estate Connect

By Joel Burslem, Monday, January 14, 2008.
REALTOR® Magazine picked up on the Bloggers Connect session moderated by Dustin Luther and Brian Brady (the video should be available shortly on InmanTV). But in addition to helping us wrap up Bloggers Conect, Dustin also weighed in with perhaps...  more...

Foreclosure home goes to pieces

By Glenn Roberts, Jr., Monday, January 14, 2008.
The Sun newspaper in San Bernardino County, Calif., reports that a resident in Ontario, Calif., was selling pieces of her Ontario, Calif., home on the Internet. The house is in a foreclosure process and the owner had reportedly entered into...  more...

Can Fed talk the talk without walking the walk?

By Matt Carter, Monday, January 14, 2008.
Last November, Federal Reserve Board member Frederic Mishkin told economics undergrads at MIT that he wished everybody would stop being so obsessed about what the Fed's Open Market Committee (FOMC) would do with short term interest rates at its next...  more...

Countrywide originators: living on borrowed time?

By Matt Carter, Monday, January 14, 2008.
Is Bank of America, through its planned acquisition of Countrywide Financial, getting back into the wholesale and correspondent lending game? HousingWire's Paul Jackson -- an astute observer of the mortgage lending industry who calls the pending deal "arguably the most...  more...

A Video Tour of Beer with Bloggers

By Joel Burslem, Monday, January 14, 2008.
Last week at Connect, we thought we'd try something new and so we handed a few bloggers some Flip video cameras and asked them to try and capture some of the atmosphere of the event. The footage they shot is...  more...

Seattle's Park Place gets buyer

By Inman News, Monday, January 14, 2008.

Transwestern Investment Co. LLC, on behalf of Aslan Realty Partners III LLC, recently acquired Park Place in Seattle, Wash.

Park Place, a class A, 21-story office tower totaling more than 310,000 square feet, is located in the heart of Seattle's central business district.

Neither the sales price nor the seller's identity was disclosed.  more...

Joint venture expands U.S. self-storage holdings

By Inman News, Monday, January 14, 2008.

Two self-storage properties totaling 129,000 square feet in Houston, Texas, have sold to a joint venture for an undisclosed amount.

The partnership, which includes 180 Development Services LLC, Harrison Street Real Estate and Morningstar Properties LLC, bought from an unidentified buyer.  more...

Developer sheds South Florida apartments

By Inman News, Monday, January 14, 2008.

A New York City-based home builder/developer recently sold a large apartment community in Jupiter, Fla., for an undisclosed price.

Tarragon Corp. unloaded the property on an unidentified buyer, who purchased it free and clear of debt.  more...

Bankers project major declines in home sales, lending Premium Content

By Inman News, Monday, January 14, 2008.

Mortgage loan fundings will fall 16 percent in 2008, dropping below the $2 trillion mark for the first time since 2000, according to the latest forecast by the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Sales of new and existing homes will see declines of a similar magnitude, the group said.  more...

MLS exec says data sharing needs to evolve Premium Content

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Monday, January 14, 2008.

NEW YORK -- Data sharing among multiple listing services is not a bad thing, but it may not be the best solution for all parties involved, said David Charron, president and CEO for the Washington, D.C., area Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc.  more...

HUD won't raise multifamily mortgage insurance rates

By Inman News, Monday, January 14, 2008.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has dropped plans to increase mortgage insurance premiums on loans to for-profit developers who build or renovate multifamily rental and cooperative housing for moderate-income families, the elderly and handicapped residents.

HUD gave notice in November that it would raise premiums on the Federal Housing Section 221(d) (4) and other program by up to 16 basis points, but delayed implementing the plan the face of industry opposition.  more...

New Web site touts benefits of Realtors, home ownership

By Inman News, Monday, January 14, 2008.

The National Association of Realtors trade group has launched a new Web site, HousingMarketFacts.com, as a part of a public awareness campaign to promote the possible benefits of home ownership and to counter news about the housing market slowdown.  more...

Real estate rates dip overnight

By Inman News, Monday, January 14, 2008.

Long-term mortgage interest rates headed lower Friday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield dropped to 3.79 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average sank to 5.52 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate slipped to 5.03 percent. The 1-year adjustable rate was down at 5.34 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield fell to 4.38 percent.

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

Subprime relief plan's major flaw

By Jack Guttentag, Monday, January 14, 2008.

(This is Part 2 of a two-part series. Read Part 1, "Mortgage market recovery hinges on investors.")

The first article in this series indicated that the current stringency in the mortgage market will ease when investors regain their confidence, which won't happen until they can see a floor in house prices and a peak in foreclosures. Neither is yet in sight.  more...

When buying home, don't rely on seller's inspectors

By Dian Hymer, Monday, January 14, 2008.

It is common for sellers to obtain inspections of their homes before they put them on the market. These reports, called presale inspections, are then assembled with the sellers' disclosures into a disclosure package of documents about the property. Disclosure packages are made available to prospective buyers who have serious interest in the property so that they can review the property information before making an offer.  more...

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