Marketing & Statistics

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."

ORLANDO, FL - April 21, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Florida’s existing home and existing condo sales rose in March, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors®. Existing home sales increased 12 percent last month with a total of 18,522 homes sold statewide compared to 16,540 homes sold in March 2010, according to Florida Realtors. Statewide sales of existing condos last month rose 24 percent compared to the year-ago sales figure.Seventeen of Florida’s metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) reported higher existing home and existing condo sales in March; 17 MSAs also had higher condo sales. It’s the fourth consecutive month that Florida Realtors has reported higher year-over-year existing home and existing condo sales statewide.

LOS ANGELES, CA - April 20, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The share of distressed homes sold in March declined from February, but was unchanged from a year ago, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today.

SPRINGFIELD, IL - April 20, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Home sales in Illinois rose for the second consecutive month in March showing some momentum heading into the spring market, while sales remain lower than last year’s heightened totals from the tax credit.

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®.

MONROE, NJ - April 20, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The 41,000-square-foot clubhouse at Lennar’s celebrated Greenbriar Stonebridge active-adult community in Monroe Township, NJ, was named Best Clubhouse/Recreation Amenities in a Community at the 2011 Sales and Marketing (SAM) Awards banquet held last week in Atlantic City.

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."

Las Vegas, NV - April 18, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Statistics released today by the Greater Las Vegas Association of REALTORS® (GLVAR) show local home sales soared and prices slipped in March compared to the previous month and year.

Chicago, IL - April 15, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The metropolitan Chicago real estate market saw more homes sold and at higher prices in March than in February of this year, according to an analysis by RE/MAX of sales data compiled by Midwest Real Estate Date, LLC. Overall, however, the 2011 housing market still lags behind the brisk pace set during the first six months of 2010 when a federal tax credit helped stimulate sales

LOS ANGELES, CA - April 14, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Improvement in the overall economy and favorable market conditions led to increases in both the median price and home sales in March, according to data from the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.).

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.

JERSEY CITY, NJ - April 13, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The developers of 225 Grand, the premium rental building in downtown Jersey City overlooking the Manhattan skyline and Statue of Liberty, announced today that all of the 348 luxury residences in the building have been leased just 10 months after hitting the market.

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.

JERSEY CITY, N.J. - April 8, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Crystal Point in downtown Jersey City has unquestionably cemented its place atop the Hudson County real estate marketplace with more than 30 sales in just the first three months of 2011.

SOMERSET COUNTY, N.J. - April 7, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Summerfields in Somerset County is quickly off to a record breaking sales pace with several homes already reserved in its recently-released second phase of non-age restricted, Energy-Star single-family residences.

NEW YORK, NY - April 6, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- With a 30-year track record of success and such current notable sales achievements as The Sheffield and Linden 78 on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, The Marketing Directors, Inc. has been brought on to oversee the marketing, sales and leasing of four new residential buildings throughout New York City.

TOWN OF WALLKILL, N.Y. - April 6, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Baker Residential will welcome interested homebuyers to Woodside Knolls on Saturday, April 16th to participate in one of the final “Homebuyer Seminars” to be offered at Orange County’s fastest-selling new residential community

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 6, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage applications decreased 2.0 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 1, 2011.

NEW YORK, NY - April 4, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Jones Lang LaSalle announced that average asking rental rates rose slightly throughout much of Manhattan's office market in the first quarter of 2011. While Midtown South recorded a significant drop in vacancy rates in all property classes, the Midtown submarket posted the first increase in Class A vacancy rates in more than a year.

BROOKLYN, NY - April 4, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Park Slope’s fast-emerging Fourth Avenue corridor has taken another significant step forward with the grand opening of Arias, a new ultra-chic rental building located in the heart of this vibrant Brooklyn neighborhood.

LOPATCONG, N.J. - April 1, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- An open house will be held next weekend (Sunday, April 10th) for two new model residences recently completed at Belview Estates, the intimate collection of upscale single-family homes in Warren County’s Lopatcong Township.

LOPATCONG, N.J. - April 1, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- An open house will be held next weekend (Sunday, April 10th) for two new model residences recently completed at Belview Estates, the intimate collection of upscale single-family homes in Warren County’s Lopatcong Township.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - March 30, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mortgage applications decreased 7.5 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 25, 2011.

VIENNA, VA - March 30, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) today released its analysis of suspicious activity reports (SARs) that call attention to possible fraud in the commercial real estate financing arena. The analysis, Commercial Real Estate Financing Fraud Suspicious Activity Reports by Depository Institutions, found that reported incidences of suspicious activity in commercial real estate financing as reported by depository institutions filing SARs almost tripled between 2007 and 2010, the period which FinCEN examined.