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Google Maps serving up European listings Premium Content

By Matt Carter, Friday, January 29, 2010.
Flickr image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/albertane/120077777/" target=blank>Albertane</a>.

Google is accepting property listings from listing aggregators and other sources, expanding integration of Google's property "place pages" for listings into Google Maps across Europe.

The expansion of Google Maps' real estate search capabilities already available in the U.S., Canada and Australia into Europe has caused a stir in the British press.

An article in The Independent of London this week predicted that Google, "the biggest name on the Internet," will soon be "cutting out the middleman and challenging the property professionals at their own game."  more...

IM me

By Frank Borges LLosa, Friday, January 29, 2010.

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IPad: a real estate game-changer?

By Andrea V. Brambila, Friday, January 29, 2010.

The real estate "Twitterverse" could barely contain itself with excitement about Apple Inc.'s new tablet this week.

"For all you Realtor geeks like me, today is like Christmas with the Apple conference," tweeted Colorado-based broker Randy Bell (@5280digs) just before Apple's tablet ceased to be rumor and became ...

"Apple iPad. It's real! (High-definition) video and pictures. Run your e-contracts on it. Yep, this is a great real estate tool," Bell said.  more...

Foreclosures hammer Sun Belt states

By Inman News, Friday, January 29, 2010.

Metro areas in four Sun Belt states accounted for the top 20 foreclosure rates in the nation last year, according to a report this week by foreclosure data company RealtyTrac.

Nine of those cities were in California, eight were in Florida, two were in Nevada, and one was in Arizona. RealtyTrac's Year-End Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report analyzed foreclosure properties in metro areas with more than 200,000 people.

The nation as a whole posted a total of more than 2.82 million foreclosure filings, or 2.21 percent of all housing units.  more...

Brokers give Uncle Sam mixed marks Premium Content

By Matt Carter, Friday, January 29, 2010.

The best thing the government can do for real estate brokers is to implement tougher licensing requirements that would raise the bar for entry to new agents, said a group of real estate brokers surveyed by Inman News.

Conducted from Oct. 16 to Jan. 12, the online survey captured the views of 179 brokers doing business in 37 states and Washignton, D.C., and also generating two responses from Canada and one from India.

The survey found that new rules for appraisals on loans slated for purchase or guarantee by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are viewed as the most problematic government law or regulation affecting the real estate business today.  more...

Obama pledges 'step up in refinancing' Premium Content

By Inman News, Thursday, January 28, 2010.

The government "will step up refinancing so that homeowners can move into more affordable mortgages," President Barack Obama said in his first State of the Union address Wednesday evening.

"We're working to lift the value of a family's single largest investment: their home. The steps we took last year to shore up the housing market have allowed millions of Americans to take out new loans and save an average of $1,500 on mortgage payments."  more...

Rentometer offers property management

By Inman News, Thursday, January 28, 2010.

Rental price assessment site Rentometer.com has rolled out a new property management system, site owner Investment Instruments Corp. announced today.

Rentometer.com allows tenants and landlords to plug in an address and rent amount to get an analysis of how their rent compares to other rental properties in their location.  more...

Buy a house at your local grocery

By Andrea V. Brambila, Thursday, January 28, 2010.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/iboy_daniel/92313158/" target=blank>iboy_daniel</a>.

Some consumers will now be able to go to their local supermarket and pick up a more substantial purchase than dinner -- a house.

RE/MAX of New England is teaming up with a large supermarket chain to open "micro" real estate offices in grocery stores, the franchise real estate brokerage announced this week.

The company has signed an exclusive, five-year agreement with Quincy, Mass.-based Stop and Shop Inc., one of the largest supermarket chains in New England with more than 375 stores throughout New England, New York and New Jersey, according to Stop and Shop's Web site.  more...

Surviving Las Vegas real estate downturn Premium Content

By Inman News, Wednesday, January 27, 2010.
Forrest Barbee

Q: What is the biggest change you have made to the brokerage in the past year, and what prompted this change? How has this change impacted the bottom line, if at all? What has changed about your service offering in the past year?

A: With the declining market, particularly in terms of market prices, we've had to shrink the brokerage department, reduce staff, and what we've really had to do is take advantage of technology so we could do more work with fewer people. Volume of units has been going up, which is an interesting dilemma.  more...

New-home sales fall to record low in '09

By Inman News, Wednesday, January 27, 2010.

Sales of new single-family homes dropped to a record-low estimate of 374,000 homes sold in 2009, down about 22.9 percent from the previous year, federal agencies reported today. In U.S. Census Bureau records dating back to 1963, annual new-home sales have never dropped below 400,000.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales in December, at 342,000, fell both year-over-year and month-to-month. This rate, a projection of a monthly sales total over a 12-month period, adjusted for typical seasonal fluctuations in sales activity, is an estimated 7.6 percent below the revised November figure and an estimated 8.6 percent below the December 2008 rate, Census and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reported.  more...

Survey: President's 'report card' falls

By Inman News, Wednesday, January 27, 2010.

On the eve of President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, the results of a survey conducted for real estate search site Trulia reveal that 38 percent of respondents believe the president deserves a "D" or an "F" for his efforts in restoring homeownership as part of the American Dream.

More than half (62 percent) of the U.S. adults surveyed think the president should focus on creating jobs and job security in 2010, while 45 percent think he should focus on reducing foreclosures.

   more...

REDC buys Commerce Title platform

By Inman News, Wednesday, January 27, 2010.

A national real estate auction marketing firm has signed an agreement to buy a retail title insurance agency platform, according to a release.

Real Estate Disposition LLC (REDC) expects to close the purchase of Commerce Title from homebuilder Pulte Homes Inc. during the first quarter of 2010.  more...

California home production hits new low

By Inman News, Wednesday, January 27, 2010.

In 2009, California hit a record low for home production, according to a report by the California Building Industry Association trade group. The association has data for housing starts since 1954.

Local governments statewide issued a total of 36,209 permits last year for new homes, apartments, condominiums and townhomes. That's down 44 percent from the previous record low in 2008 -- 64,962 -- and way down -- 83 percent -- compared to the decade's peak in 2004 when governments issued 212,960 permits.  more...

Realtors and the rumored Apple Tablet

By Katie Lance, Wednesday, January 27, 2010.

On Wednesday, Jan. 27, Apple is expected to unveil the company's long-rumored tablet device. Apple sent out invitations to select media outlets Monday morning, asking people to "join us for an invitation-only event at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco."

The tablet is rumored to cost from $500 to $1,000, and many Realtors will undoubtedly be wondering if they should make the move to a tablet-like device. The launch of an all-in-one, touch-screen tablet computer could spark the same excitement from agents and brokers that followed the iPhone's launch in 2007.  more...

Case-Shiller: No clear sign of recovery

By Inman News, Tuesday, January 26, 2010.

November home prices fell year-over-year in 16 out of 20 markets covered in the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, according to a report published Tuesday.

Prices dropped 5.3 percent in the 20-city composite and 4.5 percent in the 10-city composite, a smaller decline year-over-year than in October when the former registered a 7.3 percent decline and the latter a 6.4 percent decline. Both composites registered a 0.2 percent drop month-to-month.

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