RealEstateRama

Oct. 23, 2007 -- As pressure mounts for Congress and the Bush Administration to restrict mortgage lending abuses that have saddled economically vulnerable families with mortgages they can not afford, the mortgage lending industry continues to funnel millions of dollars in lobbying and campaign donations to Congress, even as some of those mortgage institutions are struggling to stay afloat, a new Common Cause report shows.

WASHINGTON, D.C., October 24, 2007 — The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending October 19, 2007. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 656.5, a slight increase on a seasonally adjusted basis from 656.3 one week earlier.

WASHINGTON, October 24, 2007 -- Comptroller of the Currency John C. Dugan today expressed support for provisions in a House bill that would set national standards for subprime mortgages comparable to federal banking agency standards, and provide enhanced regulation for all mortgage brokers, but expressed concern about some parts of the proposed legislation.

With more than 15,000 home plans to choose from, users may find the task of searching for a new home a bit daunting. But with HDA's new search features, finding that special luxury house plan is a breeze. Consumers are able to search by home plan style, size, and by estimated cost-to-build

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Three-fourths of Americans surveyed believe that either being smarter about development or improving public transportation are both better long-term solutions for reducing traffic congestion than building new roads, according to a survey sponsored by the National Association of Realtors and Smart Growth America.

Local real estate professionals discussed how to ride out a currently stormy housing market that holds promises of better times ahead at the eighth annual State of Real Estate in the Coachella Valley presentation, held today at the Doral Palm Springs Resort.

OCTOBER 16, 2007 -- The U.S. Census Bureau has released a series of 34 tables on the 40 million Americans who moved between 2005 and 2006, including characteristics of movers by type of move.

Washington, DC, October 10, 2007 --Thank you, Secretary Jackson, for being here today. And thank you to everyone here today with one common objective – helping homeowners stay in their homes. We all know well the turmoil in today's mortgage markets. A combination of stagnant or falling house prices, low down payment mortgages and resetting adjustable-rate mortgage rates are creating real challenges for many American homeowners.

Washington, DC, October 17, 2007 -- By a vote of 75-19, the full U.S. Senate last night approved the FY 2008 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) funding bill, providing a $41.4 million or 12 percent budget increase for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC), the nation's single largest source of funding for civil legal aid for the poor. LSC would receive a total of $390 million, approaching the $400 million received in FY 1995, the high-water mark in the Corporation's 33-year history.

Washington, D.C., October 2, 2007 —Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senators Chris Dodd and Charles E. Schumer, and Reps. Barney Frank and Carolyn Maloney today offered a plan to stem the rising tide of home foreclosures created by the subprime mortgage market crisis

Washington, DC, October 22, 2007 - Reps. Brad Miller (D-NC), Mel Watt (D-NC) and Barney Frank (D-MA) today introduced comprehensive legislation to combat abuses in the mortgage lending market, and to provide basic protections to mortgage consumers and investors. The bill, H.R. 3915, the “The Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2007” will reform mortgage practices in three areas.

National Association of Realtors(R) Revised 2007-2008 Statistical & Forecast News Release Schedule All released at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time except November Forecast/PHSI

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 , /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --- The first-ever investigation of Wal-Mart's local property tax records finds that the retailer systematically seeks to minimize its payments that support schools and other government services. That's the finding of Rolling Back Property Tax Payments, a report released today by Good Jobs First, a non-profit research center.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Many disaster survivors who have been forced from their homes will access critically needed housing information and assistance more quickly because of an agreement signed today between the American Red Cross and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

CHICAGO, Oct. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Association of Realtors(R) Center for REALTOR(R) Technology has released a free software toolkit to facilitate open standards-based Single Sign-On. SSO is an authentication process that allows users to enter one username and password to access all online real estate applications.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Planning Association (APA) today announced the country's first 10 Great Neighborhoods and 10 Great Streets to be singled out through the new national program, "Great Places in America." Launched last spring, Great Places in America is APA's flagship program celebrating places of exemplary character, quality, and planning. Places are selected annually and represent the gold standard in terms of having a true sense of place, cultural and historical interest, community involvement, and a vision for tomorrow.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pending sales of existing- homes activity will be dampened near-term as mortgage disruptions continue to impact the housing market, according to the National Association of Realtors(R).

Media Advisory: Center for Responsible Lending senior vice president Keith Corbett will be on a panel to discuss the impact of subprime lending on communities of color

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. General Services Administration has completed a draft master plan and draft environmental impact study at St. Elizabeths Hospital, marking another milestone in GSA's effort to establish a permanent, consolidated home for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Home Equity Lines of Credit --- Who Uses This Source of Credit? -- This report profiles single-family homeowners who used home equity lines of credit in 2001 and compares them to their counterparts from 10 years earlier, including age, home value, mortgage, age of home, number of loans for home improvements and proportion of people using home equity for debt consolidation.