RealEstateRama

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - March 11, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- While the buzz over 3D, tablets, and other hot technologies has been a global phenomenon, upon a closer look, the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association (CEDIA) has found that homeowners have different expectations for their technology depending on where in the world they call home.

WASHINGTON, DC - March 11, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- HOPE NOW, the voluntary, private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, mortgage insurers and non-profit counselors, released its January 2011 loan modification data, which shows that an estimated 101,000 homeowners received permanent, affordable loan modifications from mortgage servicers in the first month of the year.

ASTORIA, NY - March 10, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D?NY), New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Former NYC Council Speaker Peter Vallone, Sr., Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, HPD Commissioner Rafael E. Cestero, Enterprise Community Partners, Citi, among others, joined HANAC, Inc., a nonprofit, multi?funded, citywide organization that serves local community residents, in opening today the HANAC George T. Douris Tower, a new green, mixed?use building providing affordable housing for seniors and community space for services that support them.

NEW YORK, N.Y. - March 10, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage rates showed little change this week, with the benchmark conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate now 5.04 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.42 discount and origination points.

WASHINGTON, DC - March 10, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson (D-SD) held a hearing on the state of the nation’s housing market. The Committee heard from industry leaders and experts, and discussed the current condition and challenges facing the housing market.

CHICAGO, IL - March 9, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- At a time when the world is searching for facts about the stability of property markets, The Counselors of Real Estate professional association will offer an unbiased and realistic view of the U.S. property markets this week at MIPIM. MIPIM, held in Cannes, France, is the world's largest global real estate conference

WASHINGTON, DC - March 9, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training Service today announced the availability of $600,000 in "Stand Down" grants that will provide an estimated 10,000 homeless veterans with opportunities to reintegrate into society. The grants are being awarded under the department's Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Program

Washington, DC - March 8, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- A new Consumer Federation of America (CFA) survey has found that the public overwhelmingly believes that improving the energy efficiency of home appliances is critically important and strongly supports appliance efficiency standards. In a report released today, CFA reveals that home energy costs now take an equal bite out of consumers’ pocketbooks as gasoline expenditures. And similar to their support for fuel economy standards, Americans want energy efficiency standards for home appliances. With oil prices skyrocketing, reducing home energy costs has become critically important to American consumers.

WASHINGTON, DC - March 7, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Life -changing stories of working families benefiting from a range of federal housing programs will be at the forefront of this week’s annual Legislative Conference of the National Council of State Housing Agencies (NCSHA).

SHELTON, CT - March 7, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The New Homes Division of William Raveis Real Estate, Mortgage & Insurance has been selected as marketing and sales agent for Cranberry Hill Estates, Shelton’s newest family community

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 7, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- As part of the Federal Trade Commission’s continuing crackdown on scams that target homeowners behind in their mortgage payments or facing foreclosure, the FTC has charged a national operation with marketing bogus loan modification services. The FTC seeks to stop the illegal practices and make the defendants pay refunds to consumers

Alexandria, VA - March 4, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- An analysis in the March issue of the ABI Journal found that several bankruptcy courts are dealing with the foreclosure crisis through the adoption of loss-mitigation programs (LMPs). As Congress examines a possible repeal of the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) due to ineffectiveness in modifying mortgages, John Rao of the National Consumer Law Center Inc. in Boston writes that several bankruptcy courts have provided a useful solution through the adoption of LMPs.

WASHINGTON, DC - March 4, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- In conjunction with National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW), March 6-12, NeighborWorks America, The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, HOPE Now, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and a coalition of national government agencies, nonprofit organizations and financial institutions are empowering homeowners to combat loan modification scams.

NEW YORK, NY - March 4, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Labor has taken legal action to seek debarment of Lettire Construction Corp., a New York City general contractor, and Nicholas Lettire, president of the company, from working on future federally funded contracts for a period of three years.

Ladera Ranch, CA - March 3, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- More than 300 homeowners attended a Foreclosure Prevention Workshop hosted by the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco (FHLBank San Francisco) and the Orange County Home Ownership Preservation Collaborative. Rep. Ken Calvert (CA-44) was a special guest at the event, which was held Saturday, February 26, 2011.

March 2, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Even as 50,000 new foreclosures start every week, the House Financial Services Committee votes tomorrow on four bills to dismantle programs aimed at helping homeowners. Industry figures show that more households than ever are in some stage of foreclosure, with over five million mortgage holders now at risk of losing their homes. Avoiding unnecessary foreclosures and encouraging loan modifications will be key to economic recovery, as the nation is sorely missing the jobs and growth provided by a healthy housing market.

AUSTIN, TX - March 1, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- HomeAway ®, Inc. – the world’s leading network of online vacation rentals – today introduced Community from HomeAway, a site for vacation rental owners and managers to share expertise and opinions, and access blogs and resources to optimize their vacation rental businesses

February 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- An administrator working for the Federal Trade Commission is mailing 1,455 refund checks to consumers defrauded by a mortgage loan modification and foreclosure rescue scam. The FTC alleged, and the court found, that operators of the scam falsely told consumers they would prevent their homes from being foreclosed and negotiate lower mortgage interest rates, monthly payments, and principal balances. The court also found that homeowners got few, if any, loan modifications, and many people lost their homes to foreclosure after paying up to $5,500.

WASHINGTON, DC - February 28, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Fannie Mae's latest national housing survey finds that Americans are more confident about the stability of home prices than they were at the beginning of 2010, even though they lack confidence in the strength of the economy:

COLUMBIA, MD - February 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Enterprise Community Investment, Inc. (Enterprise), a national leader in community development and affordable housing, today secured $62 million in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund). Enterprise is one of 99 Community Development Entities receiving an allocation of the $3.5 billion in NMTC awarded as part of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Authorization and Job Creation Act of 2010. This new allocation brings Enterprise’s total NMTC awards to $672 million, $595.5 million of which has previously been invested in low-income communities nationwide, making it one of the largest allocatees of NMTCs in the country

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - February 25, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- … Crescent Resources, LLC hired Charlotte real estate attorney Nina Shor to serve as general counsel and create the company’s in-house legal department. Shor brings more than 25 years of experience to the new post

SPRING VALLEY, NY - February 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Continuing a comprehensive urban renewal plan to revitalize downtown Spring Valley, Village, County, Town and State officials today joined with representatives of CPC Resources, Inc. and Rockland Housing Action Coalition to celebrate the groundbreaking of a multi-use development featuring affordable housing and commercial space in downtown Spring Valley.

NEW YORK, N.Y. - February 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage rates retreated further this week, with the benchmark conforming 30-year fixed mortgage rate dropping back to 5.09 percent, according to Bankrate.com's weekly national survey. The average 30-year fixed mortgage has an average of 0.45 discount and origination points

February 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Kim Armanini of Apollo Home Mortgage and Carole Morgan of StageRight Home Staging were named Affiliate of the Year. The Association cites their outstanding contribution to their industry by participating in local Association and community activities

February 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- USAA Real Estate Company is pleased to announce that the Federal Bureau of Investigation Regional Facility located in Chicago, Illinois recently has been awarded The Outstanding Building of the Year Award (TOBY) in the highly competitive Chicago market.

WASHINGTON, DC - February 24, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Akinola George, 40, of Washington, D.C., has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of bank fraud, mail fraud, and conspiracy to commit bank/mail fraud in a scheme that led to $2.4 million in losses.

Washington, D.C. - February 23, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The NAIOP Research Foundation has made individual state reports available that detail the state's data for commercial construction spending, employment and personal earnings in a 2009 vs. 2007 comparison.

February 22, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Homeowners in the Seattle-Tacoma, Wash., metro area paid a median of $1,576 in monthly housing costs in 2009, compared with $1,019 for renters, according to data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Renters, however, typically paid a higher percentage of their household income on housing costs than did owners (30 percent compared with 23 percent). These figures come from the 2009 American Housing Survey (AHS), which provides extensive data on the quality and characteristics of the housing supply in selected metropolitan areas around the nation. Data for these areas are published on a rotating basis. In addition to Seattle, data were released today for the New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Northern New Jersey, and Detroit metro areas.

February 22, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco (FHLBank San Francisco) awarded $36.6 million in Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grants in the second round of its 2010 funding competition. The grants approved by the Bank’s Board of Directors in AHP Round B were awarded to 60 projects that address the affordable housing needs of communities in Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, and Washington, and will produce or preserve 3,213 housing units that are affordable to lower-income individuals and families. The total amount of AHP funds awarded in 2010 is $69.1 million.

AUSTIN, TX - February 22, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- HomeAway® , Inc. – the world’s leading network of online vacation rentals – today announced the launch of its HomeAway Vacation Rental Search Application for Android. The app, developed by Mobiata, creators of the popular travel applications FlightTrack and TripDeck, enables travelers to search, filter and share the more than 230,000 global vacation rental listings available on HomeAway.com. Android users can now download the application for free from the Android Market.