Marketing & Statistics

Los Angeles, CA - May 10, 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.

CHICAGO, IL - May 10, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- According to the REAL Trends Top 500 Report recognizing the top real estate companies in the country, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® once again was named the highest-producing network in terms of total sales for 2010 among this elite top 500 group of companies.

Washington, DC - May 10, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Existing-home sales continued to recover in the first quarter with gains recorded in 49 states and the District of Columbia, while 22 percent of the available metropolitan areas saw prices rise from a year ago, according to the latest survey by the National Association of Realtors®.

Washington, DC - May 5, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- First quarter 2011 commercial and multifamily mortgage originations were 89 percent higher than during the same period last year and 25 percent lower than during the fourth quarter of 2010, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Quarterly Survey of Commercial/Multifamily Mortgage Bankers Originations. The decrease from fourth quarter 2010 reflects the industry’s usual push to finalize deals before the end of the year, and subsequent drop-offs in first quarter numbers.

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA - May 4, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Home improvement store shoppers are more satisfied with store facilities, merchandise and pricing in 2011, compared with 2010, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2011 U.S. Home Improvement Retailer Satisfaction Study^SM released today.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - May 4, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage applications increased 4.0 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 29, 2011.

Phuket, Thailand - May 3, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Following a series of delays over the last two years, construction of the new International terminal at Phuket International Airport is now scheduled to get underway at the beginning of November.

Washington, DC - April 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- March saw another increase in pending home sales, with contract activity rising unevenly in six of the past nine months, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

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.

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) -- 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 4.84 percent based on loans closed in March. This is an increase of 0.05 percent from the previous month.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 26, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Sales of newly built, single-family homes rose 11.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 300,000 units in March, the U.S. Commerce Department reported today. The gain partially offsets a large decline that occurred in new-home sales this February, when activity hit a record low due partly to poor weather conditions."The fact that new-home sales have regained some of the ground they lost earlier this year is a promising sign at the start of the spring home buying season," said Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Reno, Nev. "While potential buyers continue to be extremely cautious, they are starting to take a look around and evaluate their very good options with regard to attractively priced new homes."

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 20, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage applications increased 5.3 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 15, 2011.

Washington, DC - April 20, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Sales of existing-home sales rose in March, continuing an uneven recovery that began after sales bottomed last July, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Nationwide housing starts rose 7.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 549,000 units in March from an upwardly revised number in the previous month, the U.S. Commerce Department reported today. Coming on the heels of disappointing declines in February, this gain was represented in both the single- and multifamily sectors, and was mirrored by substantial improvements in building permit issuance for the same period."While the overall rate of new-home production remains quite low and is still being weighed down by significant uncertainties among both home builders and buyers, this latest report is encouraging," said Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Reno, Nev. "It means that some builders are cautiously beginning to re-stock their extremely thin inventories of new homes in anticipation of gradual improvement in consumer demand as the economy slowly inches toward recovery."

Washington, DC - April 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A new bill to improve the process for approving short sales may soon bring relief to distressed home owners who are unable to keep their homes and hope to avoid foreclosure. The bill, introduced in the U.S. House yesterday and strongly supported by the National Association of Realtors®, would impose a deadline of 45 days on lenders to respond to short sale requests.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage applications decreased 6.7 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 8, 2011.

CHICAGO, IL - April 11, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Luxury Portfolio International™, the luxury face of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World®, is proud to welcome six new brokerage members and four new developments to its’ luxury brand during the first quarter of 2011. The positive signs indicated by the program growth show a commitment to high end space as well as Luxury Portfolio’s success in helping its members market their listings through innovative technology and tools not offered by other luxury real estate networks.

April 11, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Research Center Partners with Local Home Builder Associations on April 13th to Deliver Builder Education on Green Home Building & Marketing. That: North Carolina has long been recognized as one of the nation's leaders for building high-performance, green homes

LAKE TAHOE, NV - April 8, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Homes around Lake Tahoe experienced a 29 percent jump in average price, according to a quarterly report released by Chase International real estate. The figures compare sales and home prices from first quarter 2011 to first quarter 2010.The average price of a home in Lake Tahoe rose to $937,501 and the median is $564,500 (an 11 percent drop). Sales volume is up 23 percent and units sold is up six percent.