Yearly Archives: 2011

WASHINGTON, D.C. - January 20, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Nationwide housing starts declined 4.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 529,000 units in the final month of 2010, according to newly released figures by the U.S. Commerce Department. While this was the slowest pace of starts activity since October 2009, the year-end data indicate that production of new homes improved 6.1 percent in 2010 from the previous year. On another positive note, permit issuance for construction of new homes and apartments rose 16.7 percent in December to a rate of 635,000 units, the strongest pace since March of 2010

DENVER, CO - January 20, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- RE/MAX, LLC today announced the promotion of two key executives as the Denver-based franchise continues to dominate the real estate industry both domestically and internationally

Las Vegas, NV - January 20, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Most homeowners in Las Vegas are so far “upside down” on their homes (owing significantly more than their home is worth) that they don't qualify for the government's $75 billion Home Affordable Mortgage Plan

WASHINGTON, D.C. - January 20, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Members of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) elected four senior officers to top leadership positions within the federation during the association's International Builders' Show in Orlando.With more than 800 affiliated state and local home builders associations and more than 160,000 members across the country, NAHB is the "voice of the housing industry," representing the interests of the nation's housing professionals through advocacy, education and research

CLEVELAND, OH - January 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- County Prosecutor Bill Mason and the Cuyahoga County Mortgage Fraud Task Force operating under authorization of Ohio Attorney General's Office and Ohio's Organized Crime Investigations Commission announced that Jeffrey St. Martin was sentenced to six years in prison. He was ordered to pay $3,089,750 in restitution and $30,000 in forfeiture

WASHINGTON, D.C. - January 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) today announced southern West Virginia housing programs have been awarded nearly $1.4 million in grant funding for housing assistance to homeless individuals a...

WASHINGTON, DC - January 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Justice Department today announced that Mississippi property owner Indigo Investments LLC, has agreed to pay $50,000 in monetary damages and civil penalties to settle the government’s Fair Housing Act lawsuit. The government alleged that Indigo and its former employees, Barbara A. Hamilton and Edward L. Hamilton, discriminated against African-American residents and members of interracial households at Homestead Mobile Home Village in Gulfport, Miss., which Indigo formerly owned and the Hamiltons formerly managed.

SEATTLE, WA - January 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Office of Housing today announced nearly $23 million in capital funding, divvied up amongst eight nonprofit housing developers, to create and preserve affordable apartments. The investment will help create 375 new units for seniors, homeless individuals and low-income working families, plus rehabilitate another 291 apartments currently home to seniors and people with disabilities

NEWARK, NJ - January 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Office of Weights and Measures within the State Division of Consumer Affairs today conducted unannounced inspections of home heating oil delivery trucks near two fueling depots, with some trucks placed out of service because of serious violations found during the inspections

NEWARK, NJ - January 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Office of Weights and Measures within the State Division of Consumer Affairs today conducted unannounced inspections of home heating oil delivery trucks near two fueling depots, with some trucks placed out of service because of serious violations found during the inspections

Washington, DC - January 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Senators Kent Conrad and John Hoeven and Congressman Rick Berg announced today that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is awarding $1,665,449 in federal grants to organizations and government agencies throughout North Dakota to combat homelessness in the state

BOSTON, MA - January 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- During testimony in Brockton today, Patrick-Murray Administration Undersecretary for Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation Barbara Anthony outlined proposed regulations and legislation that would increase notification of mortgage ownership by lenders to homeowners and the Land Court.The testimony came at the first of three public hearings on regulations being drafted by the Division of Banks regarding foreclosure right-to-cure notices and reverse mortgages. The regulations are mandated as part of legislation signed by Governor Deval Patrick in August 2010 that increases consumer protection for homeowners facing foreclosure

SPRINGFIELD, IL - January 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- First-time buyers continued to be a driving force in the Illinois housing market as they took advantage of the first-time homebuyer tax credit and the most affordable housing market in years, according to the 2010 Profile of Illinois Home Buyers and Sellers. The survey results released by the Illinois Association of REALTORS® (IAR) found 53% of buyers were first-time buyers, compared to 50% nationwide (a figure which has averaged closer to 40% nationwide since 2001).

WASHINGTON, D.C. - January 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congressman Lynn Westmoreland today was named to two influential subcommittees on the House Financial Services Committee: the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee and the Insurance, Housing, and Community Opportunity Subcommittee.

BOISE, ID - January 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Idaho Housing and Finance Association (IHFA) announces that James M. Gruber has joined the Association as grant programs manager.

Anchorage, AZ - January 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Qualifying Alaskans will have greater access to homeownership through a $625,000 loan approved by the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation board of directors. The loan will allow Fairbanks Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc. (FNHS) to continue its down-payment assistance loan program for under-served markets and provide assistance to borrowers who would not qualify for home ownership due to income limitations, down-payment requirements, loan-to-values, or other considerations

EUGENE, OR - January 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, The Carrabba Group and IDX, Inc. unveil their unique IPhone-enabled website, hosted by Monique Carrabba. Now, thousands of California Real Estate Technology Services (CARETS) listings are seamlessly integrated onto the search page Carrabba supports. This revolutionary page has forever changed and simplified the online property search, by making it faster and more efficient. CARETS listings are not the only new feature IDX Broker has added to Carrabba's website, but it has monumentally changed the way home seekers experience the online property search.

EUGENE, OR - January 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- IDX, Inc. has uploaded IDX Broker software onto the real estate website of Rick Jusenius, bringing thousands of property listings to his clients instantly. Jusenius has enabled an IDX solution, and in turn received the most thorough online real estate website, simplifying both the home search for potential buyers and his own job of managing his online realty solution. With his customizable IDX synced website, Jusenius has forever changed the way Seattle, Washington home seekers participate in the online property search.

Washington, DC - January 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has announced the newly elected officers and new directors to its 2011 Board of Directors. At elections that closed in December, USGBC’s membership elected the following individuals to serve as directors:

WASHINGTON, D.C. - January 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending January 14, 2011. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 5.0 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 6.4 percent compared with the previous week

Jersey City, NJ - January 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- SILVERMAN, the developers of Hamilton Square, a premier adaptive reuse and new construction development in the Hamilton Park neighborhood of Jersey City, today announced that a new grocery store committed to local, organic, and conscientious consumerism, Downtown Co-op (http://www.downtowncoop.com/) is now open.

Denver, CO - January 19, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Defying the seasonal trend, December home sales rose by 13.2% from November in a survey of 54 metropolitan areas. Home sales dropped 5.0% from December 2009, but this is the lowest year-over-year drop the survey has seen in five months.

NEW YORK, NY - January 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Jones Lang LaSalle reported in its winter 2010 Skyline Review that Midtown’s trophy office buildings posted the first increase in average asking rental rates since spring 2008. In the second half of 2010, the submarket’s high-end buildings saw rents grow by 6.8 percent compared with a 1.2 percent drop in rents in the first half of the year. Rates for Midtown’s highest-quality spaces increased to $77.65 per square foot in winter 2010 from $72.71 per square foot six months earlier

Torrance, CA - January 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A Lee & Associates team put together two different buyers to successfully close the sale of an 11-building, 86,667-square-foot office park in Southern California’s Inland Empire

EUGENE, OR - January 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- IDX, Inc. is pleased to announce the growing network of real estate agents and brokers utilizing the incredible IDX Broker software on their professional websites has grown once again, with the addition of a customizable IDX solution to the website of Janis Kinkela. As a Michigan real estate broker, Kinkela has the unique ability to give her clients a comprehensive online property search directly on her website. MiRealSource MLS instantly displays thousands of detailed home listings on the results page of her website, giving home seekers on the website of Kinkela a complete and thorough online search experience.

EUGENE, OR - January 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- IDX Broker software is now enabled on the website of Grant Pearman, thanks to his partnership with IDX, Inc. the innovative IDX solution can easily be displayed and utilized on his professional website. With the additional Colorado Real Estate Network (CREN) MLS listings, thousands of properties are automatically synced to the website Pearman hosts, giving his clients and other western Colorado home seekers the unique ability to experience a comprehensive property search online. Never before has such an easy-to-use real estate solution been so widely accessible and available to potential buyers, as now thanks to Pearman and his IDX solution

Portland, OR - January 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley today visited the North Portland home of a family who is struggling to keep their home and unveiled his plan to address the ongoing foreclosure crisis and boost the nation’s troubled housing market. A range of economists have concluded that repairing the housing market is critical to adding jobs and accelerating the slow recovery.

TRENTON, NJ - January 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced that a Paulsboro woman who formerly worked as a local administrator of the New Jersey Home Energy Assistance (HEA) Program has pleaded guilty to defrauding the program of $22,980 by filing false applications to obtain benefits.

January 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Yep - I said those words. No - Wait - I "EXCLAIMED" (which is a nice way to say I screamed it at the top of my lungs) those words. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was late 2007, we were just coming off our first year in real estate which included about $200,000 in personal commissions, An average commission check of $10,000, awards such as Rookies of the year and Top Agents in the Company, 7% listing contracts with sellers who had equity and wanted to sell, buyers with lender approval letters in hand that really meant something, and a complete blind eye as to how this would soon all shift to an entirely different business.

Las Vegas, NV - January 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- According to the Associated Press, the bleakest year in the foreclosure crisis has only just begun. Lenders are poised to take back more homes this year than any other since the U.S. housing meltdown began in 2006.