Archives

AUSTIN, TX - May 26, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Vacation homes aren’t just for rest and relaxation; they are also a satisfying, moneymaking venture for many owners. HomeAway, Inc. – the world’s leading online vacation rental marketplace – finds in its latest “HomeAway Vacation Rental Marketplace Report” that 81 percent of vacation home owners who rent their homes to travelers are satisfied with the overall experience.

SACRAMENTO, CA - May 26, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Overall housing affordability in California continued to increase in the first quarter of 2011, but half of the state’s 28 metropolitan areas included in the report showed decreases, the California Building Industry Association announced today.

Washington, DC - May 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Housing Finance Agency today reported that the National Average Contract Mortgage Rate for the Purchase of Previously Occupied Homes by Combined Lenders, used as an index in some ARM contracts, was 4.80 percent based on loans closed in April. This is a decrease of 0.04 percent from the previous month.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Nationwide housing affordability during the first quarter of 2011 rose to its highest level in the more than 20 years it has been measured, according to National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI) data released today.The HOI indicated that 74.6 percent of all new and existing homes sold in the first quarter of 2011 were affordable to families earning the national median income of $64,400. This eclipsed the previous high of 73.9 percent set during the fourth quarter of 2010 and marked the ninth consecutive quarter that the index has been above 70 percent. Until 2009, the HOI rarely topped 65 percent and never reached 70 percent.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Sales of newly built, single-family homes rose 7.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 323,000 units in April, their best pace since December of 2010, according to figures released by the U.S. Commerce Department today. The report also showed that the nationwide inventory of new homes for sale continued to fall to just 175,000 units in April, which is a new record low."The fact that new-home sales have now risen for two consecutive months is certainly welcome news following an all-time low sales number in February," said Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Reno, Nev. "That said, builders are still contending with a great deal of competition from foreclosed properties for sale in certain markets, and in places where this is not an issue, it remains extremely difficult to obtain credit to build new homes."

EDGEWATER, N.J. - May 23, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Peninsula at City Place’s newest model home was born out of a recently-established partnership between Savanna Partners, developer of the luxury condominium community located along the Hudson Riverfront in Bergen County’s Edgewater, and furniture designer and retailer, BoConcept.

CHICAGO, LONDON, SINGAPORE - May 20, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Cross-border direct commercial real estate investment volumes reached US$37 billion in Q1 2011, up 25 percent from a year ago, according to the recent Global Capital Flows report from Jones Lang LaSalle. Inter-regional volumes (capital moving between the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific) rose to US$26 billion, a 70 percent increase over Q1 2010. This emphasises the appetite real estate investors have for acquiring foreign assets and far exceeds the 40 percent gain across the total market (cross border plus domestic investment) in the first quarter.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties increased to a seasonally adjusted rate of 8.32 percent of all loans outstanding as of the end of the first quarter of 2011, an increase of seven basis points from the fourth quarter of 2010, and a decrease of 174 basis points from one year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) National Delinquency Survey. The non-seasonally adjusted delinquency rate decreased 117 basis points to 7.79 percent this quarter from 8.96 percent last quarter.

Washington, DC - May 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Existing-home sales slipped in April, although the market has managed six gains in the past nine months, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Existing-home sales1, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, eased 0.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.05 million in April from a downwardly revised 5.09 million in March, and are 12.9 percent below a 5.80 million pace in April 2010; sales surged in April and May of 2010 in response to the home buyer tax credit.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage applications increased 7.8 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending May 13, 2011. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 7.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 7.1 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index increased 13.2 percent from the previous week and is at its highest level since the week ending December 10, 2010. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 3.2 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 3.3 percent compared with the previous week and was 1.7 percent lower than the same week one year ago

May 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Loudoun County Treasurer H. Roger Zurn Jr. reminds taxpayers that the deadline for payment of the first half business tangible personal property tax is Monday, June 6, 2011.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Nationwide housing starts fell 10.6 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 523,000 units as concerns regarding competition from foreclosures, a lack of consumer confidence in the housing market and the inability to secure production credit caused builders to slow production, according to newly released figures from the U.S. Commerce Department.“While mortgage rates are low and house prices are as affordable as they’ve been in a generation, the decline in April’s housing starts is indicative of the low level of confidence that consumers have in the housing market,” said Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Reno, Nev.

CHICAGO, LONDON, SINGAPORE - May 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Jones Lang LaSalle’s second quarter 2011 Global Market Perspective, which assesses the impact of economic forces on the world’s major real estate markets, predicts this year will be the strongest performance and real estate trade volume since the market height of 2007.

Miami, FL - May 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. has been named to the FORTUNE 500 list of the largest U.S.-based companies for the fourth straight year. CB Richard Ellis is the only commercial real estate services firm ever to be included in the FORTUNE 500.

Edison, NJ - May 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Real Estate Mortgage Network, Inc. (REMN), a national mortgage lender based in River Edge, N.J., is pleased to announce the launch of Menlo Park Funding, a new branch opportunity for select independent brokers and bankers. Menlo Park Funding will be the fourth business channel in REMN’s existing wholesale, retail and consumer direct divisions.

COLUMBIA, S.C. - May 16, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- South Carolina REALTORS® (SCR) today released its April 2011 Market Reports. The final month of year-over-year comparison to last year's tax incentive market is upon us. It bears repeating that April 2010 enjoyed uniquely strong activity due to the approaching credit deadline. New Listings in the state of South Carolina decreased 23.3 percent to 9/154. Pending Sales were down 37.9 percent to 4,008. Inventory levels shrank 7.0 percent to 57,680 units - a positive trend that should preserve market balance.

NEW YORK, NY - May 12, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- ING Clarion Partners, a leading real estate investment management organization, has acquired 44 Berry Street in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn for $27 million, it was announced today. The property, a 54,000 square foot, six-story, 42-loft unit apartment building includes six retail businesses on the ground floor and is fully leased.

Las Vegas, NV - May 12, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Statistics released today by the Greater Las Vegas Association of REALTORS® (GLVAR) show an increased number of local homes sold in April compared to one year ago.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 12, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Builder confidence in the 55+ housing market was markedly more upbeat in the first quarter of 2011 for apartment production and demand than for sales of single-family or condominium homes, according to a new survey released by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).The NAHB’s expected demand index for 55+ multifamily rental units rose 10 points, to 44, from a year earlier, while the 55+ Housing Market Indices for single-family units and condos declined 2 and 3 points, down to 17 and 8, respectively.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 11, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage applications increased 8.2 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending May 6, 2011.