Business News - Real Estate

Total existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – fell 8.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate 1 of 5.04 million units in September from a downwardly revised pace of 5.48 million in August, and are 19.1 percent below the 6.23 million-unit level in September 2006, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Even so, prices rose in the Northeast and Midwest.

SoCal Home Sales at 15-year
Low, Prices Edge Down

Home sales in Southern California dropped to their lowest level since 1992 as buyers, sellers and lenders held back in an environment of market uncertainty. Prices are off their peak, markedly so in lower cost neighborhoods, a real estate information service reported.

Foreclosure Acitvity Decreases 7% in June

Foreclosure Filings Still Up 87 Percent From June 2006

RealtyTrac, the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, released its June 2007 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows a total of 164,644 foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported during the month, down 7 percent from the previous month but still up 87 percent from June 2006.

Foreclosure Filings Up Nearly
90 Percent From May 2006

RealtyTrac (realtytrac.com), the leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, released its May 2007 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows a total of 176,137 foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported during the month, up 19 percent from the previous month and up nearly 90 percent from May 2006.

Civil Rights Groups Want
Foreclosure Moratorium

National civil rights groups are calling for mortgage lenders, loan servicers and loan investors to institute an immediate six-month moratorium on subprime home foreclosures resulting from reckless and unaffordable loans in the subprime market.

Southland Home Sales: Slowest
January Since 1998, Stable Prices

La Jolla,CA----Southern California home buyers and sellers continued to eye each other without doing much last month, resulting in the slowest January in nine years, a real estate information service reported.

Home Sellers in a "Wait and See" Attitude

As we kick off 2007, many would-be home sellers are taking a cautious “wait and see” attitude toward the housing market. The latest ServiceMagic.com poll shows more than one in three respondents – 36% – would like to sell their homes, but are holding off until the housing market regains its strength.

Mortgage Grader Launches Software Allowing
Consumers to Get the Upper Hand on Lenders and Brokers

Mortgage Grader launches a consumer driven real-time loan shopping service, http://www.mortgagegrader.com, offering loan pricing to every borrower's advantage. Knowledgeable as well as uninformed borrowers will have the ability to equally leverage meaningful lending information in a simple and transparent process to find their lowest cost loan provider. Minority borrowers will not fall victim to discrimination or redlining when shopping for a loan through Mortgage Grader.

California Sold for $53,000

A worldwide land grab is underway as people rush to purchase states and cities at Weblo.com, a first-of-its-kind virtual duplicate of the world based on real properties, cities, states and Internet domains. Since its Sept. 26 launch, Weblo.com has sparked a virtual real estate boom. California sold for $53,000 USD, New York State sold for $18,433 and the Canadian province of Ontario sold for $16,900.

Southland Home Sales Slow to Ten-year Low

La Jolla,CA----Last month was the slowest October for Southern California home sales in a decade. Prices continued to level off, a real estate information service reported. A total of 22,117 new and resale homes sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month.

California Foreclosure Activity
Surged to its Highest Level

72% in Los Angeles County, 111.8% from 2005's Third Quarter

Residential foreclosure activity in California surged to its highest level in more than four years last quarter, the result of slower home sales and flattening prices, a real estate information service reported.

Debt Consolidation, Good or Evil?

Thousands are caught in the debt trap each year. Many approach debt consolidation companies, but such companies should be handled with care. Nobody is ever alone.

Cowboy Capitalism: European Myths, American Reality

Olaf Gersemann, a German reporter who came to America, checked the facts and discovered that the common perception in Europe and elsewhere of America's economic model is either wrong or misleading.