Homestore slogs through online real estate

"Fun" isn't at all how Homestore CEO Mike Long would describe his job of keeping the online real estate company alive through a couple of rough years in the wake of its legacy accounting scandal.  more...

'Super termites' attack real estate

The fight goes on in New Orleans, La., and 10 other states against the Formosan subterranean termite, a particularly destructive breed of termites that has been dubbed the "super termite." The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research division reports that these termites, which likely arrived in the U.S. on ships sailing back from the Pacific after World War II, cost homeowners about $1 billion each year in damages and pest control costs.

Formosan termites can penetrate plaster, plastic and asphalt, and built large carton nests above or below ground.  more...

Fewer homeowners plan to refinance

Only 8 percent of consumers plan to refinance their mortgages in the next year, down by half from the 16 percent who had planned to refinance in October 2002, according to the Cambridge Consumer Credit Index.

Of those surveyed, 35 percent have refinanced in the past two years, up from 24 percent who had done so in 2002.  more...

Real estate: The week ahead

• The National Association of Realtors will host its 2004 Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo, May 10-15 in Washington, D.C. The trade show runs from May 12-14. The association will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially open the new Realtor building to Midyear attendees onWednesday, May 12, at 12:30 p.m.  more...

Midsized real estate title agencies get squeezed

Preliminary results from a new survey of independent title agents show that medium-sized agencies are disappearing nationwide.

The Independent Title Agent Survey 2004 measures the perceptions, technology usages, trends and business practices and relationships of independent title agents. Based on results of the 300 telephone interviews completed so far, the report has found that about 80 percent of the independent title agents are small, or have less than $3 million in revenue and sales.  more...

ERA develops real estate messaging system

ERA Real Estate today introduced a personalized e-mail messaging system developed to further help its network of brokers and sales associates keep in touch with potential, current and past customers by providing valuable information about the home-buying or -selling process.

ERA e-Direct is comprised of three separate contact cycles designed to coincide with the different timeframes within the home-buying or -selling process: ERA Client Builder, ERA Move Planner and ERA e-Follow-up.  more...

Overnight interest rates shoot higher

Long-term mortgage interest rates continued to rise Thursday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield moved up to 4.6 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average climbed to 5.92 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate jumped to 5.25 percent. The 1-year adjustable was unchanged at 3.26 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield increased to 5.37 percent.

Rates 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...