Home

WaMu has new CEO, regulatory scrutiny

By Inman News, Monday, September 8, 2008.

Washington Mutual Inc. is entering the latest phase in its struggle to survive the housing downturn and credit crunch with a new chief executive officer and under scrutiny by federal banking regulators.  more...

Realtors weigh in on Fannie, Freddie takeover

By Inman News, Monday, September 8, 2008.

The U.S. Treasury Department takeover of mortgage entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could "short-circuit" the role of the entities during real estate downturns and lead to higher down-payment requirements and lower home-ownership rates, the California Association of Realtors cautioned in a statement Monday afternoon.  more...

August foreclosures top 100,000

By Inman News, Monday, September 8, 2008.

Nearly 102,000 homeowners lost their properties to foreclosure in August, up nearly 6 percent from July and more than 80 percent higher than in August 2007, according to data released Monday by Foreclosures.com, a provider of foreclosure information.

So far this year, lenders have repossessed a record 656,545 properties nationwide -- or 8.6 of every 1,000 households in the United States -- and remain on track to repossess more than 1 million nationwide by year-end, Foreclosures.com reported.  more...

Should contractor perform home inspection?

By Barry Stone, Monday, September 8, 2008.

DEAR BARRY: We're selling our home, and the buyer wants his brother, a contractor, to do the inspection, instead of hiring an actual home inspector. We've never heard of this kind of inspection and are not sure if we should allow it. What do you think? --Amy

DEAR AMY: If your buyer chooses an inspection by someone who is not a professional home inspector, he is the one on the short end of the stick -- not you. Many people assume that home inspectors are merely contractors who inspect homes instead of building them.  more...

'Frannie' bailout makes money cheaper, not easier Premium Content

By Matt Carter, Monday, September 8, 2008.

The government takeover of mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could mean lower interest rates for many borrowers, but is unlikely to solve one of the biggest problems of credit crunch: the shrinking number of people who can get a loan in the first place.

Fannie and Freddie will be permitted to expand their direct investments in mortgage-backed securities from $1.5 trillion to $1.7 trillion over the next year.  more...

ZipRealty, RE/MAX sites trade places in August Premium Content

By Inman News, Monday, September 8, 2008.
<a href="http://cache.inman.com/files/stories/hitwiseaugust2008.gif">Click here to view top-20 chart</a>.

Real estate brokerage company Web sites ZipRealty.com and RE/MAX's remax.com swapped places in the latest top-20 rankings of industry Web sites, published today by online metrics company Hitwise.  more...

Home-price slump isn't leaving Las Vegas Premium Content

By Inman News, Monday, September 8, 2008.

Sales of resale homes in the Las Vegas area rose for the seventh consecutive month in July but were down 7.6 percent compared to the same period last year, and the resale median price was down 24.5 percent year-over-year in July, a research company reported.

The Las Vegas metro area had steep climbs in home sales and pricing during the boom years (see Inman News report) but has since ranked among the hardest-hit markets during the current slump, with high levels of foreclosures and price declines.  more...

Deadline for 'Most Influential' picks is Friday

By Inman News, Monday, September 8, 2008.

Friday, Sept. 12, is the last day to submit your nominations for the annual Inman News 100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders and 25 Most Influential Real Estate Bloggers lists.

The annual list of most influential people in the industry recognizes those who embrace leadership, innovation, ingenuity, power and persistence -- they are the industry's best and brightest and also include those outside figures whose actions influence the business of buying and selling homes.  more...