Economic growth holds steady

The Conference Board today announced that the U.S. leading index was unchanged in February from the previous month.

The leading index now stands at 115.1 (1996=100). Based on revised data, this index increased 0.4 percent in January and increased 0.4 percent in December. During the six-month span through February, the leading index increased 1.7 percent, with eight out of 10 components advancing (diffusion index, six-month span equals 80 percent). The leading index is increasing at a 3 percent to 4 percent annual rate, and this growth continues to be widespread.  more...

Realtors oppose OCC rule

A new rule by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency that exempts national banking conglomerates from state consumer protection and lending laws harms consumers, small business and the local real estate community, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday.

NAR joined the National Association of Attorneys General, the U.S. Conference of State Banking Supervisors, the Consumer Federation of America and U.S. Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) at a press conference Wednesday in opposition to the rule.  more...

Mortgage rates dip again

Mortgage rates continued to fall this week, inching closer to the historic lows recorded last June, according to surveys conducted by mortgage buyer Freddie Mac and Bankrate.

In Freddie Mac's weekly survey, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.38 percent for the week ended today, down from last week when it averaged 5.41 percent. The average for the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage this week is 4.69 percent, unchanged from last week's average. Points on both the 30- and 15-year averaged 0.7.  more...

Countrywide, Prudential Rand enter joint venture

Countrywide Home Loans and Prudential Rand today announced the formation of Hudson Home Loans, a mortgage venture that will enable home buyers across New York's Westchester, Rockland and Orange counties access to a wide array of home financing programs.

Hudson Home Loans, an operating division of Countrywide Mortgage Ventures, will offer qualified home buyers zero down-payment loans and a variety of fixed- and adjustable-rate options with optimum flexibility on rate and terms.  more...

SoCal real estate attains record prices

Southern California home prices surged to a new record last month, and sales counts were at their highest for the season in more than 15 years, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

The median price paid for a southern California home was $351,000 in February, a new record, according to DataQuick figures. That was up 2.3 percent from $343,000 in January, and up 20.2 percent from $292,000 for February 2003. Year-over-year price increases have been around 20 percent since last summer and are expected to ease back to around 15 percent by summer.  more...

Joint effort targets loan origination

Document Systems Inc. on Tuesday announced the merger of its FillMagic document processing engine with Framework Inc.'s LendWare credit fulfillment platform, which aims to provide lenders the ability to seamlessly develop and print mortgage documents.  more...

Overnight mortgage rates sink

Long-term mortgage interest rates were lower Wednesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield stayed at 3.68 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average fell to 5.05 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate dropped to 4.38 percent. The 1-year adjustable decreased to 2.92 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield remained at 4.64 percent.

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