Fidelity, Clareity team up for MLS security

Fidelity National has teamed up with Clareity Security in an agreement offering Fidelity National's MLS customers the opportunity to deploy Clareity Security's SAFEMLS solution to their users, the company said today.

Fidelity National MLS Systems and Solutions is the first MLS vendor to complete the integration of SAFEMLS into all their MLS platforms, Fidelity said.  more...

S.F. Bay Area real estate prices nail record

San Francisco Bay Area home prices set another record in August, as sales picked up from the month before, a real estate information service reported.

The median price paid for a Bay Area home was $619,000 last month, according to DataQuick Information Systems. That was up 2.1 percent from $606,000 in July, and up 19 percent from $520,000 in August 2004.  more...

Former lawyer extradited in real estate fraud case

A former lawyer wanted on fraud and money-laundering charges has been brought back from Brazil to face the music in an alleged $3 million scam, the U.S. Attorney for Middle Tennessee said.

George Nason, a former Nashville, Tenn., attorney, is one of 11 people named in a 2002 federal indictment in connection with the former Loan Ranger company, the office of Jim Vines, the U.S. Attorney, said.  more...

Partnership to drive data standards for real estate

The Appraisal Institute and the Open Standards Consortium for Real Estate have agreed to work closely together on an international effort to set data standards to drive out inefficiencies in the real estate industry and, in turn, save billions of dollars.  more...

Congress to discuss Katrina housing relief

A Congressional subcommittee will meet on Thursday to discuss the critical housing needs in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, chaired by Rep. Robert W. Ney (Ohio), will meet on Thursday at 10 a.m. in room 2128 of the Rayburn Building for a hearing.  more...

Real estate refinancings tumble

Overall mortgage applications slid 1.4 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted basis from the week before, fueled by a significant drop in refinancings, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly survey.

The seasonally adjusted refinance index decreased by 6.7 percent to 2,198.7 from 2,357.1 one week earlier, while the purchase index increased by 2.9 percent to 513.4 from 499.1 the previous week.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 42.9 percent of total applications from 44.8 percent the previous week.  more...

Overnight real estate rates lose ground

Long-term mortgage interest rates flattened Tuesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield fell to 4.13 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average dropped to 5.29 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate held at 4.86 percent. The 1-year adjustable was unchanged at 3.86 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield decreased to 4.41 percent.

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