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Feb

18
2008

What is this 'craigslist,' and what does it want?

By Glenn Roberts, Jr., Monday, February 18, 2008.
A legal battle is ongoing as to whether online community site craigslist is afforded federal protections for discriminatory housing ads posted by the site's users. Oral arguments were heard in the case Friday (and can be heard here). Watch for...  more...

Will that be cash or charge?

By Matt Carter, Monday, February 18, 2008.
Homes and condos priced at more than $3 million weren't lingering on the market in the San Francisco Bay Area during the final quarter of 2007 -- 40 properties valued at $213.8 million changed hands, almost double the number a...  more...

Storm clouds on the credit crunch horizon

By Matt Carter, Monday, February 18, 2008.
Two major bond insurers are reportedly weighing plans to separate their municipal bond businesses from riskier guarantees of securities tied to mortgage loans -- a move that could increase losses at banks with subprime exposure and prolong the credit crunch....  more...

Q4 home prices fall in 76% of U.S. ZIP codes tracked Premium Content

By Inman News, Monday, February 18, 2008.

Home prices fell during the fourth quarter in 76 percent of the 7,472 ZIP codes tracked by mortgage data aggregator First American CoreLogic.

While just over half of ZIP codes nationwide saw prices decline for the year, trends varied widely by state. For the year, prices fell in 98 percent of California ZIP codes, compared to 51 percent in New York, First American said in announcing the release of the December 2007 LoanPerformance Home Price Index.  more...

DJM Capital Partners inks 20-year lease in SF Bay Area

By Inman News, Monday, February 18, 2008.

DJM Capital Partners has signed a 20-year lease with Contra Costa County at its Ellinwood Corporate Center office complex in Pleasant Hill, Calif., according to an announcement today.

The value of the 20-year lease agreement was not disclosed.

Ellinwood Corporate Center comprises 140,000 square feet.

DJM said it will immediately begin a $16.5 million "turn-key" tenant improvement program for the three-building office campus to meet the specific requirements of the county's Employee Human Services Division.  more...

Inland brokers Illinois retail center sale

By Inman News, Monday, February 18, 2008.

Maple Plaza, a 31,298-square-foot retail center in Downers Grove, Ill., has sold for $4.25 million, according to an announcement today.

The property is located on the southwest corner of Belmont and Maple Ave., and is anchored by a 5,250-square-foot Just Tires Store.

Other tenants include Benjamin Moore, Subway and Dairy Queen along with a number of others.

The center was purchased by an Oak Brook Terrace investment group, according to Inland Real Estate, which brokered the deal.  more...

Chicago's Citicorp Plaza sells for $100 million

By Inman News, Monday, February 18, 2008.

Parkway Properties Inc. today announced today the purchase of Citicorp Plaza on behalf of Parkway Properties Office Fund LP, for a purchase price of $100 million.

The property is situated on 11.5 acres in the O'Hare submarket in Chicago, and it consists of three interconnected, 11-story class A office buildings totaling 600,000 square feet.  more...

Florida Realtors report 31% drop in Q4 resale home sales

By Inman News, Monday, February 18, 2008.

The median sales price of single-family resale homes in Florida fell 9.9 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the same quarter in the previous year, the Florida Association of Realtors reported, and sales fell 31 percent.

Every metro area tracked by the Realtor group in the fourth-quarter report had a year-over-year drop in sales and in the median price of single-family resale homes.

The median price of resale homes was $216,000 in the fourth quarter,  more...

Overnight real estate rates rise again

By Inman News, Monday, February 18, 2008.

Long-term mortgage interest rates rose again Friday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield decreased to 3.77 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average climbed to 5.81 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate increased to 5.24 percent. The 1-year adjustable rate, however, dipped to 4.96 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield was lower at 4.58 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...

Hangin' in the realty office

By Alison Rogers, Monday, February 18, 2008.

I've been finishing up my continuing education (five hours to go) so I've been in the office nearly every day for a week.

This is pretty unusual for me, because I'm almost never in the office. If I'm meeting a client, I go to where the client is. If I have to run a computer search, I sit in my apartment.

I notice as I'm hanging out that the office is LOUD. All those other agents, yakking away about their own things. There's a lot of trading info back-and-forth ("I have this listing, any customers for it?") but nothing that I couldn't get if I stopped in once a week.  more...

Monthly statements would eliminate loan servicing fraud

By Jack Guttentag, Monday, February 18, 2008.

(This is Part 3 of a three-part series. Read Part 1, "New mortgage underwriting rules will be tough to enforce," and Part 2, "Rebates to mortgage brokers rile regulators.")

Two previous articles examined the Federal Reserve Board's proposals for tightening underwriting requirements and for limiting broker charges to borrowers. These are longstanding areas of board concern.  more...

Refinance not best choice for everyone

By Benny Kass, Monday, February 18, 2008.

DEAR BENNY: I have an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) with one more year to go. When is the best time to refinance? Also, should I get an equity line of credit for household emergencies or home improvements? --Michael

DEAR MICHAEL: Your second question is easy. I strongly recommend that every homeowner who has some equity in his or her house get a HELOC, or home equity line of credit. Many banks will not charge any fees for setting this up.  more...

Housing downturn makes refinancing more difficult

By Dian Hymer, Monday, February 18, 2008.

Refinance applications jumped during the first week of 2008, according to a recent weekly survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The catalyst was lower interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages that hovered below 6 percent on average at the end of the first week in January, and rates have fallen further since then.

During the recent years of record home buying, most buyers opted for adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) rather than fixed-rate financing.  more...