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Housing segregation rampant Premium Content

By Inman News, Tuesday, December 9, 2008.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/wwworks/2988469720/in/set-72157608035966422/" target=blank>woodleywonderworks</a>.

Discrimination in housing and lending continues to produce "extreme levels of residential segregation" 40 years after the passage of the Fair Housing Act, according to a comprehensive report by a bipartisan commission chaired by former housing secretaries Jack Kemp and Henry Cisneros.

The report, which follows on the heels of hearings in five cities from July to October, found "severe and ongoing problems" with the Department of Housing and Urban Development's enforcement of fair-housing laws, and room for improvement in housing programs that may be promoting, rather than preventing, racial segregation.  more...

Pending sales up in West

By Inman News, Tuesday, December 9, 2008.

A National Association of Realtors index that gauges pending sales of resale homes dropped 1 percent in October compared to the same month last year.

Regionally, the Pending Home Sales Index -- which is based on contracts signed for transactions that have not yet closed -- rose 17.4 percent in the West while falling 14.1 percent in the Northeast, 6.8 percent in the Midwest, and 2.9 percent in the South year-over-year in October, NAR reported.  more...

NAR: Resale home prices to fall 9.3% in '08

By Inman News, Tuesday, December 9, 2008.

The National Association of Realtors expects a 9.3 percent drop in the median price of resale homes and a 7.8 percent drop in the price of new homes this year, with sales of resale homes sliding 12.3 percent and sales of new single-family homes falling 37.3 percent.  more...

Real estate pushes stimulus wish list Premium Content

By Inman News, Tuesday, December 9, 2008.

With president-elect Barack Obama calling for Congress to stimulate the economy by passing the biggest public works bill in 50 years -- and the Bush administration signaling likely agreement on a bailout for automakers -- the real estate industry remains determined to get its own slice of the government assistance pie.

The National Association of Home Builders and about 100 other groups representing builders and manufacturers have formed a coalition, Fix Housing First, that's put together a list of demands from Congress including more generous tax breaks for home buyers.  more...

Roost.com gets $8M, adds foreclosures

By Inman News, Tuesday, December 9, 2008.

Roost.com, a real estate search company built through data-exchange agreements among real estate brokers, today announced that it has secured $8 million as an investment from Shasta Ventures.

That brings the company's investment total to $13.5 million -- the original $5.5 million in contributions was put up by investment groups General Catalyst Partners, The Cross Country Group LLC and Geolo Capital.  more...

Realogy parent faces tough times

By Inman News, Tuesday, December 9, 2008.


A New York Times article details troubles facing Apollo Group, the private equity firm that bought real estate giant Realogy Corp. in a heavily leveraged multi-billion-dollar buyout deal completed last year.  more...

Yahoo revamps real estate site

By Inman News, Tuesday, December 9, 2008.

Photos accompanying listings on Yahoo! Real Estate are now four times bigger, and listings update automatically as users refine search parameters, the company said in announcing a revamp of the site.  more...

Nestoria co-founder shares the rest of the story

By Inman News, Tuesday, December 9, 2008.

Ed Freyfogle is co-founder of Nestoria, a real estate search company that advertises properties in the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and Italy.

He will speak during a session on Web analytics at the upcoming Real Estate Connect conference in New York City, which runs from Jan. 7-9, 2009, at the New York Marriott Marquis Times Square hotel. Freyfogle will also attend a "Meet the Leaders" networking session during the conference.

Freyfogle responded to a set of questions posed by Inman News:  more...

Real estate execs see opportunity in 'Shift' Premium Content

By Patrick S. Duffy, Tuesday, December 9, 2008.

There's certainly no doubt that we're currently in the midst of one of the most challenging real estate markets in decades, but if the authors of the book "Shift: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times" are to believed, this also marks a time of great opportunity.

Written in a fairly elementary format by Keller-Williams Realty co-founder Gary Keller and colleagues Dave Jenks and Jay Papasan, the book acts as both a primer for newly minted agents as well as a supportive roadmap for veteran agents in need of an attitude tune-up.  more...