RealEstateRama

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.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Association of Realtors(R) supports the Homeowners' Defense Act of 2007, H.R. 3555, because it would help protect homeowners, commercial property owners, and potential property owners by ensuring the availability of adequate and affordable insurance, which NAR views as an important consumer issue.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Existing-home sales fell in August when mortgage availability problems were peaking, according to the National Association of Realtors(R)

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Most commercial real estate markets are enjoying relatively low vacancy rates and healthy rent growth from a fundamentally sound economy, according to the latest COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE OUTLOOK of the National Association of Realtors(R).

New York, N.Y. - September 17, 2007 - Turner Construction Company, the nation’s leading general builder, today published its quarterly Turner Building Cost Index forecasting that construction costs in the US building industry are continuing to increase in the Third Quarter

COLLEGE STATION, TX – High-risk home mortgages are facing national scrutiny thanks to the recent rise in subprime foreclosures, but a noted research economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University is coming to their defense.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Hispanic Real Estate Professionals overwhelmingly favor Federal Housing Administration reforms and believe Hispanic homebuyers and those with adjustable-rate subprime loans could be better served if proposed changes to FHA programs are quickly adopted by Congress, according to a survey released today by the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP).

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Tighter credit for home mortgages will measurably dampen home sales in the short term and postpone an expected recovery for existing-home sales until 2008, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors(R).

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The 2nd Quarter National Delinquency Survey, released today by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), shows that mortgage loans entering foreclosure have increased in 47 states since this time last year. On average, the increases were 50% higher. Only four states -- North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming -- did not experience increases in new foreclosures. Less than two percent of the American population lives in those states.