FBI nabs pair at mortgage closing table

A Michigan woman and her niece were arrested in Atlanta by the FBI at the closing of a $1 million mortgage loan in an alleged mortgage fraud scheme, federal officials said last week.

Donna June Baker, 60, of Kalamazoo, Mich., allegedly used the stolen identity of a disabled retiree from Florida at a Feb. 17 closing on a million-dollar mortgage loan to refinance a property at 940 Glengate Place in Atlanta, according to officials.

The closing, however, was a sting operation set up by the federal government.  more...

Freddie Mac supports strong regulator

Freddie Mac supports the idea of a strong regulator for itself, Timothy Bitsberger, treasurer for the second-largest U.S. home funding company, told a conference in London Wednesday, media accounts said.

Members of Congress are debating whether to create a more powerful regulator of Freddie Mac and its sibling Fannie Mae. The two mortgage giants hold a combined $1.4 trillion in their mortgage portfolios, and U.S.  more...

Canadian resale real estate smashes records

Fueled by record activity in Alberta and Newfoundland, and by strong activity in Ontario, national sales of existing homes via the Multiple Listing Service rose to their fifth-highest seasonally adjusted monthly level on record in January, The Canadian Real Estate Association reported.

According to CREA's statistics, a seasonally adjusted total of 41,347 units were sold through MLS in January, up 2.7 percent from the 40,265 sales recorded during the previous month.

Sales activity reached its highest monthly level on record in Alberta and Newfoundland, CREA reported.  more...

Residential real estate construction spending holds steady

Residential construction was at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of about $649.9 billion in January, or 0.1 percent above the revised December estimate and 6.5 percent above the January 2005 rate, the U.S.  more...

Real estate Web sites get more traffic

More than 8.8 million unique visitors cruised by Classified Ventures' three real estate sites in January, according to internal statistics reported Tuesday.  more...

Real estate site offers map of NYC toxic sites

PropertyShark.com and Toxics Targeting this week posted an online map that pinpoints more than 12,000 toxic dumps, leaking tanks and pollution discharges throughout New York City's five boroughs.  more...

Real estate refinancings rise

Overall mortgage applications dropped 1.2 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted basis from the week before, as refinancings increased slightly, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly survey.

There was an adjustment included in the seasonally adjusted indexes to account for the President's Day holiday, MBA reported.

The seasonally adjusted purchase index decreased by 1.9 percent to 400.8 from 408.7 the previous week, whereas the refinance index increased by 0.1 percent to 1,573.5 from 1,571.4 one week earlier.

The refinance share of mortgage activi  more...

Overnight real estate rate movement varied

Long-term mortgage interest rates were mixed Tuesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield fell to 4.55 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average stayed at 5.75 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate dipped to 5.41 percent. The 1-year adjustable was unchanged at 4.63 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield decreased to 4.51 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...