WaMu lays off 256 more workers

Washington Mutual is laying off 256 workers from its Florence, S.C., support center, a spokesman confirmed today.

This is the second layoff at the Florence support center this year, the spokesman, Tim McGarry, confirmed. In January, 26 workers were let go from the center.

In February, the company said it would close 10 of its 26 home-loan processing centers, eliminating 2,500 jobs.

Washington Mutual, the third-largest U.S.  more...

'Slam-dunk' home loans declining

Louisiana has seen the strongest decline in "slam-dunk" mortgage lending nationwide during the last half year, a consumer Web site reported today.

Nationwide, mortgage applications that are approved with a minimum of underwriting fuss accounted for 66.6 percent of the last six month's application volume. That was down from 68.7 percent for the prior six months, according to HomeSmartReports.com.

In Louisiana the "slam-dunk" category accounted for 59.5 percent of mortgages, down from 70 percent.  more...

California housing starts plunge nearly 20%

Total starts of California's single- and multifamily housing dropped 19.5 percent in March from the same period a year ago, the California Building Industry Association announced Tuesday.

According to data compiled by the Construction Industry Research Board, total housing starts, as measured by building permits issued, totaled 16,119 in March, down from 20,027 in March 2005.  more...

Mississippi real estate loan trial slated for summer

A federal mortgage fraud case in Hattiesburg, Miss., against eight defendants is slated to start July 24, media accounts said.

The U.S. District Court could take up to four weeks to try, according to documents on file in the Hattiesburg Division clerk's office, the Hattiesburg American reported April 30.

The trial of Richard B. Lucas and seven other defendants is to start July 24 with Judge Keith Starrett presiding and is likely to hinge on former partners testifying against each other, media accounts said.

The trial of Richard B. Lucas, Phillip N.  more...

Georgia couple arrested in alleged mortgage fraud

A Georgia man and his girlfriend have been arrested for mortgage fraud, police officials said.

Ajesh Shretta, 33, and his girlfriend, Angela Keaton-Goodin, 40, both of Sandy Springs, Ga., were arrested in connection with an alleged mortgage fraud case that involved a property at 163 Flat Shoals Ave., in Atlanta, according to the Gwinnett County Police Department.

Warrants for the two were obtained April 7 and April 28, and the two were subsequently arrested, police said.

Investigators with the Computer Crimes Squad of the Gwinnett County Police Department are currentl  more...

Company integrates property search with Microsoft Virtual Earth

Sonic Eagle, a real estate technology company based in Pleasant Hill, Calif., announced that it has integrated its property-search tools with Microsoft's Virtual Earth mapping technology.

The integration allows users to view bird's-eye views of properties at a 45-degree angle, which differs from standard top-down aerial views. "This technology gives consumers and agents useful new ways to map properties and better visualize their surroundings from multiple vantage points.  more...

Real estate purchases bounce back

Overall mortgage applications jumped 8.8 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted basis from the week before, ending a three-week slide, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported today.

The seasonally adjusted purchase index increased by 11.3 percent to 433.3 from 389.4 the previous week, and the refinance index increased by 5.1 percent to 1,565.6 from 1,489.4 one week earlier.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 35.2 percent of total applications from 36.7 percent the previous week, which is the lowest share since June 25, 2004.  more...

Freddie Mac extends hurricane relief through August

Freddie Mac announced Tuesday it is extending many of its emergency hurricane relief policies through Aug. 31, 2006, in the Gulf Coast counties and parishes hardest hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, according to a May 1 Guide Bulletin sent to the company's seller/servicers.

The extended policies had been scheduled to expire at the end of May. The new Bulletin also makes several underwriting policy changes intended to promote the housing recovery in the least-damaged Gulf Coast jurisdictions.  more...

Overnight real estate rates up

Long-term mortgage interest rates moved higher Tuesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield slipped to 5.11 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average gained to 6.15 percent, and the 15-year fixed-rate inched up to 5.82 percent. The 1-year adjustable held at 5.25 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield sank to 5.21 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...

Homestore announces $2 million loss in Q1

Homestore Inc.  more...