Fannie to school rural real estate appraisers

Fannie Mae on Thursday will present an appraisal training via digital network in seven states in an effort to help rural real estate appraisers and professionals better address and understand issues related to secondary-market appraisal, manufactured housing, underwriting and eligibility requirements.  more...

Housing boom or bust?

About 88 percent of Americans responding to a survey of their home-buying plans for 2004 said they don't plan to buy this year, global marketing research firm Ipsos-Insight reported.

That leaves 12 percent of respondents who said they will purchase a house this year. Nearly half of them will be first-time buyers.  more...

California endures housing crisis

A new study to be released by the Public Policy Institute of California suggests there's a major housing shortage in the state's employment centers, a top official with the California Building Industry Association said Tuesday.

Timothy L. Coyle, CBIA's senior vice president for governmental affairs, said although the study has flaws in its methodology, it repeatedly acknowledges that there's a serious housing shortage in the key job centers of the state – San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles and the Bay Area.  more...

Real estate purchases increase

Despite falling interest rates, overall mortgage purchases climbed just 1.2 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly survey.

The MBA seasonally adjusted purchase index increased by 1.4 percent to 428.6 from 422.6 the previous week. The seasonally adjusted refinance index increased by 1 percent to 3,567.6 from 3,532.2 one week earlier.  more...

Property flipper convicted

A Potomac Falls, Va., man has been convicted in federal court in a mortgage fraud scheme involving residential property in Westfield, Mass., according to a U.S. Attorney statement.

A jury late last week convicted Angel Serrano Jr., age 42, of conspiracy, wire fraud and making false statements in connection with a property-flipping scheme. Serrano faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $25,000 fine, on each of the three counts of the indictment.  more...

Reverse mortgage activity surges

The volume of federally insured reverse mortgages taken out by older homeowners in recent months has increased by 76 percent from a year ago, as a blistering record pace of originations continues, according to the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association.

NRMLA attributed the surging popularity of reverse mortgages to several factors, including greater consumer awareness of and comfort with the product, and the increasingly tighter budgets of America's seniors.  more...

Overnight mortgage rates hold steady

Long-term mortgage interest rates were mostly flat Tuesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield sank to 3.72 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average stayed at 5.13 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate slid to 4.41 percent. The 1-year adjustable dipped to 2.97 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield decreased to 4.67 percent.

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