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FHA regaining market share  Premium Content

By Inman News, Friday, August 29, 2008.

Private mortgage insurers saw demand hit a low for the year in July, with applications falling 4.6 percent from the previous month and 52 percent from a year ago, an industry group said.

The 86,734 applications received by private mortgage insurers in July continues a downward slide that began in the spring. Private mortgage insurance applications hit a high for 2008 in March, with 160,139 received, according to the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America.  more...

Brokerages can learn from Prudential Georgia

By Inman News, Friday, August 29, 2008.

Editor's note: The following is a reader comment in response to an Aug. 19 Inman News story, "Real estate company makes the news."  more...

McCain keeps hands off housing Premium Content

By Marcie Geffner, Friday, August 29, 2008.
Republican presidential candidate John McCain

Real estate professionals who turn to John McCain's Web site for information about his housing policy may be disappointed to discover there's not much there to examine. But the omission of specific plans and programs may be less of an oversight on the candidate's part and more of a statement in and of itself as to his views.  more...

Fed gets it: Credit crisis trumps inflation Premium Content

By Lou Barnes, Friday, August 29, 2008.

Mortgage rates improved again this week, slightly, to 6.375 percent and the 10-year T-note trading often just under 3.8 percent, a resistance level since spring. The improvement anticipates a weakening economy, but a further decline in rates will depend on the fact of weakness. A test comes quickly, in the first August data due next week.  more...

Guardian Mortgage Documents has new parent

By Inman News, Friday, August 29, 2008.

Guardian Mortgage Documents Inc. has been acquired by a former client, LenderLive Network Inc., in the latest fallout related to Mercury Companies Inc.'s hasty exit from the title insurance and settlement services business.

Denver-based LenderLive, which provides outsourcing services for lenders, including mortgage originations, loan processing, underwriting, closing and post-closing, said it will leave Guardian's management and operations intact, with founder Michael O'Leary continuing as president of the company.  more...

Housing bottom: Who cares anyway?

By Inman News, Friday, August 29, 2008.

Jonathan Miller tackles every real estate analyst's favorite game right now -- "calling the bottom." It is probably one of the most talked about issues for anyone even remotely involved in real estate, and Miller does an excellent job addressing the issues behind the need to know where the bottom of the market might be. He also does an even better job explaining why all of the discussion might be pointless.  more...

New CEO named at REA Group

By Inman News, Friday, August 29, 2008.

Australian-based REA Group, which operates RealEstate.com.au in Australia, nine other country-specific sites and a global property site, on Thursday announced the appointment of Greg Ellis as the company's new chief executive officer.  more...

Represent REOs with caution Premium Content

By Bernice Ross, Friday, August 29, 2008.

Up to 50 percent of all transactions in many markets are foreclosures, short sales and REOs. Like it not, these types of transactions are part of the landscape. While you're busy protecting everyone's interest, are you taking the necessary measures to protect yourself and your brokerage?

Back in the early 1990s, I specialized in representing REOs (properties that the banks had taken back in foreclosure).  more...

Don't let home inspector out of your sight

By Paul Bianchina, Friday, August 29, 2008.

Q: In as much as there are a great number of current issues regarding disclosure to the purchaser of real property, when, if ever, is it going to be the responsibility of the purchaser to investigate particular items of relevance to them? --George D.  more...

Urban planning's future: people, not cars

By Arrol Gellner, Friday, August 29, 2008.

What's an architect doing writing about cars, anyway?

I always get indignant e-mails asking me this whenever I criticize some aspect of our autocentric society -- whether it's our parking-obsessed city planning, our mania for fruitless road widening and freeway building, or our laughably primitive traffic control systems.  more...

Fixed-rate mortgages more affordable

By Inman News, Friday, August 29, 2008.

Rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.4 percent with an average 0.6 point for the week ending Aug. 21, down from 6.47 percent a week ago and 6.67 percent a year ago, Freddie Mac said in its weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.93 percent with an average 0.6 point, down from 6.00 percent a week ago and 6.12 percent this time last year.  more...

Rehava, a one-stop real estate shop Premium Content

By Glenn Roberts Jr., Thursday, August 28, 2008.

It's no coincidence that rehava, a real estate company that offers rebates to buyers and flat-fee services to sellers, chose to open in a retail mall in South Carolina.

Rehava (pronounced REE-haw-vah) offices are intended to operate much like typical retail shops in offering real estate brokerage, mortgage, home insurance and legal services, said Steven DeGuzman, the company's founder and broker in charge.  more...

British Columbia home sales at decade low

By Inman News, Thursday, August 28, 2008.

Home sales in the Canadian province of British Columbia during July fell to their lowest level this decade amid a rising number of for-sale inventory and increasingly cautious buyers, according to a report this month in The Vancouver Sun.  more...

Forecaster iEmergent sees 2009 bottom in lending

By Inman News, Thursday, August 28, 2008.

Purchase mortgage lending volume will bottom out in late 2009, but won't get back in step with long-term trend lines until 2011 or 2012, market research and forecasting firm iEmergent projects.

The Des Moines, Iowa-based company estimates that total purchase mortgage volume will fall 4 percent in 2009, to 4.95 million loans totalling $837.9 billion. Total mortgage volume, including refinancings, will range from a low of $1.53 trillion to a high of $1.61 trillion, iEmergent said in its Preliminary Mortgage Volume Forecasts for 2009-2013.  more...

Formulas for a real estate recovery Premium Content

By Inman News, Thursday, August 28, 2008.

Editor's note: The following is a collection of real estate professionals' views on an industry-related topic.

QUESTION: What is the key to the housing market recovery in your market area?


Dominic Labriola
Associate broker
Selman & Associates
387 South Lake Havasu Ave.
Lake Havasu City, Ariz.  more...

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