Monthly Archives: April 2011

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- According to the National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) Remodeling Market Index (RMI), the remodeling market is heading into recovery with an increase to 46.5 in the first quarter of 2011 from 41.5 in the fourth quarter of 2010. This marks the highest level for the RMI since the fourth quarter of 2006. An RMI below 50, however, indicates that still more remodelers report market activity is lower (compared to the prior quarter) than report it is higher.

COLUMBIA, S.C. - April 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Repeal of Point of Sale reassessments will increase investment in South Carolina real estate upward of $2.4 billion, resulting in a direct impact on jobs and the economy, according to an economic analysis commissioned by the South Carolina REALTORS® (SCR).

Charleston, WV - April 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Shelley Moore Capito (WV-02) announced today that affordable housing projects in Fairmont, Fayette County, Huntington, McDowell County, Wheeling and White Sulphur Springs have been awarded nearly $800,000 in Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grants.

DENVER, CO - April 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Niki Stearman, an experienced real estate professional, has joined Kentwood City Properties in downtown Denver as a Broker Associate. Stearman brings more than 10 years of experience to Kentwood Cit...

Anchorage, AK - April 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today awarded $915,440 to renew support for a statewide HIV-AIDS housing program administered by the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation. The t...

WASHINGTON, DC - April 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Urban Land Institute (ULI) Terwilliger Center for Workforce Housing is recognizing states and localities with innovative public policies and practices in workforce housing development through a major new award program, the Robert C. Larson Workforce Housing Public Policy Award.

NORFOLK, VA - April 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- ForRent.com, anchor website for For Rent Media Solutions and a division of Dominion Enterprises, has seen a dramatic increase in traffic just one month after introducing the exclusive new partnership with Marketplace on Facebook.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage applications decreased 5.6 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 22, 2011. There was no adjustment made for Good Friday.

Phoenix, AZ - April 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A portfolio of eleven prime former 76-Conoco Philips service stations (most vacant parcels) and one restaurant, located in Phoenix, AZ; Las Vegas, NV; Oakland, Carpinteria, Pomona, Stockton, Turlock, Rodeo, Corcoran, CA, are to be sold at two auction events in early June through CBRE Auction Services.

SAN DIEGO, CA - April 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Real Estate Mortgage Network, Inc. (REMN), a national mortgage lender based in River Edge, N.J., continues their west coast expansion with the opening of a new office in San Diego, CA, and the addition of three new team members. Located in the city of Carlsbad, the new office will better help REMN service the needs of southern California’s future and existing home owners, real estate professionals and residential builders.

San Francisco, CA - April 26, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Zephyr Real Estate, a long-established market leader in San Francisco, has made the leap across the Golden Gate and opened a new location in Marin County. With a number of agents whose market expertise extends north, the new location in Corte Madera connects Marin County and San Francisco to better serve client interests on both sides of the 1.7-mile span.

April 26, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- For too long, middle-class taxpayers have been stuck with the costs of paying for more and more government. In 2000, the average property tax on a median value home in Wisconsin was $2,110. By 2006 it had risen to $2,729. Today it’s $2,963. Without the property tax reforms in our budget, these middle-class tax bills would rise to $3,425 by 2013.

Lewis Center, OH - April 26, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Real Property Management, an Associa company, is proud to announce that its Landscape Division, with the aid of state-of-the-art virtual design software, has provided a redesign for many of its communities’ common areas.

WASHINGTON, DC - April 26, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Potential homeowners who participate in prepurchase education and counseling programs may be more likely to pay their mortgages on time, although the evidence on this point is not consistent and compelling, according to a study released today by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The study also finds that those who participate in default counseling are more likely to have their loans modified.

Washington, DC - April 26, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Education announced today the creation of the Green Ribbon Schools program, which will recognize schools that have taken great strides in greening their curricula, buildings, school grounds and overall building operations. The program, celebrated during a tree planting ceremony at the Department of Education headquarters, will help cash-strapped schools save money and prepare students for 21st Century jobs.

Tucson, AZ - April 26, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva last week introduced the Right to Rent Act of 2011 (H.R. 1548), an updated version of a bill he introduced in 2009 to allow families facing foreclosure to remain in their homes as renters by paying fair market value each month. Approximately one in 175 homes in Arizona received a foreclosure filing in January, second highest in the nation behind Nevada.

WASHINGTON, DC - April 26, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that more than a thousand extremely low-income persons living with HIV/AIDS will continue to receive permanent housing as a result of $23 million in grants. During each of the next three years, this HUD funding will help provide permanent supportive housing for 1,015 households so they can manage their illnesses while receiving critically needed support services.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 26, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Commercial and multifamily mortgage origination volumes increased 44 percent in 2010 over the previous year, with mortgage bankers reporting $118.8 billion of closed commercial and multifamily loans, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's 2010 Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Finance: Annual Origination Volume Summation.

WASHINGTON, DC - April 26, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan today announced HUD will speed federal disaster assistance to Atoka County in Oklahoma and provide support to homeowners and low-income ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 26, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- On April 22, 2011, an administrator working for the Federal Trade Commission mailed 3,162 refund checks to borrowers allegedly harmed by Golden Empire Mortgage, Inc. and Howard D. Kootstra. The refund checks stem from a lawsuit the FTC filed against Golden Empire and Kootstra, alleging that they illegally charged Hispanic consumers higher prices for mortgage loans than non-Hispanic white consumers – price disparities that could not be explained by the applicants’ credit characteristics or underwriting risk.