Home loan apps slide for third week

Overall mortgage application volume cooled again last week despite falling interest rates, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported today.

The market composite index, which measures total home loan volume, dipped 0.3 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted basis from the week before.  more...

Pending home sales up nationwide

A forward-looking indicator based on pending sales of existing homes suggests the market may stabilize in the months ahead, the National Association of Realtors reported today.

Although the Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in June, was still 8.6 percent lower than a year ago, it rose 5 percent to 102.4 from the downwardly revised May index of 97.5. This is the largest monthly gain in more than three years, since a 6.1 percent increase in March 2004, according to NAR.  more...

LandAmerica profits down on flat revenue

LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. on Tuesday reported that second-quarter income remained essentially flat compared to last year at $1 billion, while net income slipped 77.8 percent to $7.9 million.

Pretax income was down $45.7 million from the previous quarter, the company said in a press release, which reflected weakness in the housing market and an increase in claims provision of $34.3 million.  more...

HouseValues closing call center, laying off 100

HouseValues will cut 100 positions companywide and close its Yakima, Wash.-based call center, after second-quarter revenues plunged 28 percent from last year to $16 million and the company posted a loss for the quarter.

HouseValues said it suffered a net loss from continuing operations of $286,000 during the second quarter, compared to net income of $2.5 million during the same quarter last year.  more...

Overnight real estate rates higher

Long-term mortgage interest rates edged up again Tuesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield sank to 4.74 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average rose to 6.28 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate increased to 5.95 percent. The 1-year adjustable dipped to 5.5 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield was down at 4.9 percent.

Rates and bonds 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...

Coldwell Banker, OnBoard make social media play

SAN FRANCISCO -- A new social media application for real estate debuts today, offering real estate agents another place on the Internet to strut their local knowledge.

SpotIt, which comes from a partnership between one of the largest real estate brokerage companies -- Coldwell Banker Real Estate -- and local data provider OnBoard LLC, enters a crowded space of online offerings that hope to catch user-generated content about local places and happenings.

What's different is that SpotIt represents the first such venture to partner with a major real estate brand, and the data will  more...

Seattle Bloggers: Ardell DellaLoggia

"You're not the commercial, you're the show," says Ardell DellaLoggia, a Seattle real estate broker with Sound Realty and avid blogger on Rain City Guide and Seattle Area Real Estate Blog.  more...