WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 29, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Nearly 25 million homeowners across the country would face more expensive mortgages if a proposal by federal regulators goes unchanged. A proposal released by six federal agencies to implement credit risk retention provisions included in the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act would require homeowners to have at least 25 percent equity in their homes in order to qualify for a lower-rate "Qualified Residential Mortgage" (QRM) for refinancing. An analysis of the CoreLogic data shows 24.8 million U.S. homeowners – more than half of all U.S. homeowners with a mortgage - have less than 25 percent equity in their homes.Homeowners looking to refinance but fail to qualify for a QRM will be subject to additional costs associated with lenders' risk retention requirements included in the Dodd-Frank bill. According to the National Association of REALTORS®, consumers in a non-QRM loan could pay between 0.80 and 1.85 percentage points more in interest rate, simply because they could not meet the down payment or equity requirements.

Phoenix, AX - July 29, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Although office net absorption in Phoenix remains negative year to date, the local economic recovery gained traction in the second quarter. Businesses added 14,900 positions locally, a 0.9% staffing boost, in the past six months, compared to a nationwide increase of 757,000 jobs, or 0.6%. Improvements have been greatest in the Valley’s healthcare and leisure and hospitality sectors, with white-collar industries dampening overall growth through the first quarter of 2011. Nevertheless, Phoenix white-collar employers rebounded in the most recent quarter. Local office-using employment sectors augmented payrolls by an estimated 2,800 workers, a 0.7% quarterly gain, mirroring the healthy white-collar improvements that have been recorded nationally. Recent hiring announcements from companies including Safelite, Humana, Yelp and Easy Energy Systems Inc. support projections for a sturdy, albeit late, white-collar recovery through year end, helping to stabilize space demand. U.S. emp loyment will increase by a projected 1.65 million jobs in 2011, including to 39,000 positions in Phoenix, a 2.3% marketwide gain. Local white-collar sectors are anticipated to hire 5,600 workers, growth of 1.3%.

IRVINE, CA - July 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- RealtyTrac® (realtytrac.com), the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, today released its Midyear 2011 Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report, which shows that foreclosure activity decreased on a year-over-year basis in 178 out of the nation’s 211 metropolitan areas with a population of 200,000 or more. The report also shows that all top 10 metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates in the first half of the year posted decreasing foreclosure activity compared to the first half of 2010.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- David H. Stevens, President and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) issued the following statement today.

BOSTON, MA - July 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown, along with Congressmen Jim McGovern and Michael Capuano, today announced that two organizations that help homeless veterans in Massachusetts will receive two million dollars from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to improve housing and expand support services for those with very low incomes.

WALTHAM, MA - July 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Massachusetts Association of REALTORS® (MAR) reported today that June sales were down from the same time last year, but up from this past May. Median prices for single-family homes were down less than two percent on a year-over-year basis, but continue to go up from the month before. While condominium sales were also down on a year-over-year basis, median prices were up for the third straight month. Condominium month-to-month sales and median prices were both up as well.

CHICAGO, IL - July 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels today reported that the volume of hotel investment transactions that closed in the Americas market in the first six months of 2011 reached $7.4 billion—a robust increase of approximately 180 percent on the same prior-year period. The numbers represent preliminary totals from Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels’ Hotel Investment Highlights Americas report due to be released later this month. The firm’s research tracks hotel asset transactions in excess of $10 million, and excludes note sales, recapitalizations and foreclosures.

Miami, FL - July 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Market conditions have improved across Florida, but with little consistency between product types and classes, as reported by the CBRE 2Q 2011 Statewide MarketViews released today. CBRE MarketViews report on commercial real estate trends in the Florida. Markets tracked include Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa Bay, and South Florida.

July 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Jerry Seinfeld, the star and co-creator of hit US television show ‘Seinfeld’, has put his Colorado estate on the property market for US$18.25 million. Nestled in the Rocky Mountains and described as “an evolv...

SHELBYVILLE, IN - July 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller was in Shelbyville today to file a complaint against a California-based foreclosure consultant company. According to the lawsuit, homeowners in seven India...

Washington, DC - July 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Hawaii Congresswomen Mazie K. Hirono and Colleen Hanabusa and Alaska Congressman Don Young today introduced a bipartisan bill to continue programs providing housing assistance for low-income Native H...

TAVARES, FL - July 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Beginning Monday, Aug. 1, the Lake County Department of Growth Management, Building Services Division, located on the fifth floor of the Lake County Administration Building at 315 W. Main St. in Tavares, will change the days that building inspections are performed to Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday

WASHINGTON and FT. WASHINGTON, Pa. - July 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Business Solutions, a subsidiary of the American Bankers Association, named Aklero Risk Analytics, a provider of automated data and document validity assurance for the mortgage industry, the exclusive provider of mortgage quality control services to its members.

Los Angeles, CA - July 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Marking its entrance into the Los Angeles market, national landscape services provider The Brickman Group has acquired Dworsky Cos., one of L.A.’s leading commercial landscape services firms. The acquisition of Dworsky, a family-owned company founded in 2002, gives Brickman a stronger foothold in the Southern California market — with more than 1,000 employees — as it builds upon its nationwide expansion. Dworsky is headed by Founder Dave Dworsky, who in his 20 years in the industry has stamped an expansive mark servicing the Greater Los Angeles area. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Washington, DC - July 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Pending home sales increased in June following a wide swing down in April and then up in May, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Activity increased in the West and South but declined in the Midwest and Northeast; all regions show strong double-digit gains from a year ago.

EUGENE, OR - July 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, IDX, Inc. is pleased to announce IDX Broker has been enabled on the professional real estate website of Naples, Florida Broker Daniel Baber of Baber Realty. By adopting a customizable IDX solution, Baber has synced his website to the Sunshine MLS database, extracting raw listing data and seamlessly integrating it onto the search page he hosts. With IDX Broker software, Baber has created a dynamic online property search for his clients and other Naples area home seekers.

DENVER, CO - July 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Results from the J.D. Power and Associates 2011 Home Buyer/Seller StudySM, recognize RE/MAX for providing the highest overall consumer satisfaction for both home buyers and home sellers. In last year’s study, two different companies ranked the highest in each category, but this year home buyers and sellers both rated RE/MAX the highest.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - July 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The remodeling market slipped under pressure from a sluggish economy according to the National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) Remodeling Market Index (RMI), which dipped during the second quarter to 43.9 from the first quarter result of 46.5. An RMI below 50 indicates that more remodelers report market activity is lower compared to the prior quarter than report it is higher.The overall RMI combines ratings of current remodeling activity with indicators of future activity, like calls for bids. Current market conditions for the second quarter of 2011 fell to 44.8 from 46.1 in the first quarter. Future market indications dropped to 43.0 from 46.8 in the previous quarter.

Los Angeles, CA - July 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- HGA Architects and Engineers (HGA) has been awarded the architectural contract for the College of the Desert’s new Palm Springs West Valley Campus, which sets new benchmarks for integrating sustainable design and high-performance building technologies into the academic curriculum. HGA is directing master planning, programming, design and sustainability of the multi-phase campus.

Torrance, CA - July 27, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Keystone Pacific Property Management, a California-based community association management company, welcomes Kara Gonzalez as its newest community association manager. Gonzalez joins the firm with 15 years of management experience.

Following the Trust Board approval on July 8, the Trust can now move forward with executing a contract with Community Modernization Group to renovate over 1,000 apartments at the Brooklyn development

Moving into a new home is an exciting milestone—but it can quickly turn stressful if pests show up uninvited. Whether it’s ants in the kitchen, spiders in the basement, or mice in the walls, pest problems can make your dream home feel less than perfect. Luckily, with a little planning and maintenance, you can keep your new home pest-free from day one.

A Bay Area lawmaker is pushing for new federal legislation to study the threat rising groundwater poses — a hidden but growing environmental danger that experts say could worsen flooding, damage infrastructure, and contaminate drinking water.

The National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) proudly graduates 227 emerging developers from the NAREB Developers Academy on Tuesday, as the organization of Black real estate developers, known as Realtists, seeks to increase production of much-needed housing in communities nationwide.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman – and welcome to my hometown, Las Vegas, Nevada. And before, I get into my remarks – Mr. Chairman, as you know, Senate Republicans unilaterally thrusted the gaming economy and its patrons into uncertainty with the unjust inclusion of the wagering loss

U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL)introduced Mr. Bill Roark of Huntsville, Alabama, as a witness appearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. The hearing was about empowering workers by expanding employee ownership.

The New York State Division of Consumer Protection (DCP) is alerting consumers about the dangers of television (TV) tip-over hazards. Millions of New Yorkers will watch the Super Bowl this Sunday either on TVs at home or at parties with friends. DCP is taking this TV-focused occasion to remind consumers of critical TV safety tips.

Fast-growing Florida has been a favorite of real estate investors for many years. With so much interest having been focused on the state, though, investors need to take care to seek the best available opportunities.

Office of General Services Commissioner RoAnn Destito today announced that the Senator Walter J. Mahoney State Office Building located at 65 Court Street in Buffalo will be sold at auction in 2020. A work group formed earlier this year made up of City, County, and State officials working with professional real estate consultants CBRE, determined that in the current competitive and robust Buffalo real estate market

The Bureau of Land Management today announced that Karen Mouritsen has been named the new California State Director—a key leadership position based in Sacramento. As State Director, Mouritsen will direct a team that manages lands encompassing 15% of the Golden State’s total land mass

The New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) today announced the opening of the new JLC Recovery and Wellness Center in New York City. JLC is operated by Exponents Inc. and provides free help and support services for people affected by addiction and for their families.

In spite of a robust U.S. economy, a strong employment rate, and steadily increasing 401(k) plan earnings, Black homeownership rates continue to drop. Drawing from the 2019 release of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers

Yesterday, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, asked the Department of the Interior about its commitment to the Yakima River Basin during a hearing on the president’s FY 2017 budget request. Deputy Secretary of the Interior Michael Connor agreed with Sen. Cantwell that the Yakima River Basin plan “is a model for the rest of the nation in water management.”

“Consumers Energy is thankful to be a part of holiday celebrations across the state as warm Thanksgiving memories are being made, and we are committed to providing many more generations of Michigan families with reliable, affordable energy in all seasons,” said Garrick Rochow, Consumers Energy’s vice president and chief customer officer

WASHINGTON, D.C. - December 13, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Six federal financial regulatory agencies today issued a final rule that creates exemptions from certain appraisal requirements for a subset of higher-priced mortgage loans. The exemptions are intended to save borrowers time and money while still ensuring that the loans are financially sound

Atlanta, Georgia - November 13, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance (“Department”) entered into a Consent Order with Equity Loans, LLC, License Number 23300, located at 1150 Hammond Dr., Building E, Suite 650, Atlanta, Georgia 30328, to resolve allegations pertaining to violations of the Georgia Residential Mortgage Act