IndyMac says Fannie, Freddie changes will hamper growth

Shares of alt-A lender IndyMac Bancorp Inc. were in freefall this week after the company reported a significant increase in delinquencies among prime, first-lien loans in November, and said new policies being implemented by mortgage repurchasers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could limit future growth.  more...

Zillow to get half a million property listings

Zillow.com today announced partnerships with brokerage Prudential California/Nevada/Texas Realty and real estate publisher Network Communications Inc. in which more than 500,000 for-sale home listings will be fed daily to its site.

The agreement to feed listings through the Zillow Listings Feed program aims to boost marketing exposure for those properties listed for sale with Prudential CA/NV/TX and NCI, and for NCI  more...

Countrywide rushes out December numbers

As rumors of an impending bankruptcy continued to hammer the company's stock, Countrywide Financial Corp. published statistics on December loan production a few days earlier than expected.  more...

Home loan apps jump 32%

Mortgage application volume during the first week of January posted the sharpest rise in four years as borrowers jumped at falling interest rates, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported today.

The group's market composite index, a measure of home loan application volume, jumped 32.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis between Christmas week and the first week of 2008.  more...

Real estate rates drop for 5th night

Long-term mortgage interest rates continued to fall Tuesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield dipped to 3.78 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average sank to 5.55 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate slid to 5.06 percent. The 1-year adjustable rate, however, was up at 5.34 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield slipped to 4.31 percent.

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

Realogy opens OpenHouse.com

Realogy's OpenHouse.com soon will be a resource for any and all agents and brokers who want to add exposure for their open house information, company executives told Inman News.

Later this month, the franchise giant will begin accepting applications from all brokers and agents who want to send bulk open house data feeds to the OpenHouse.com Web site, which launched in June as a site where buyers could find easy-to-access open house information.

Arizona Realtors to go paperless

The Arizona Association of Realtors today announced a partnership with Stewart Transaction Solutions that aims to get more than 54,000 Realtors statewide trained and using paperless transaction management technology to close real estate deals.

The transaction management system, SureClose, lets real estate professionals manage and share digital documents online during the home purchase or home sale process, and also allows for easy indexing and archiving of closed transactions online for future reference by buyers and sellers.  more...