Marketing & Statistics

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 27, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Commerce Department’s U.S. Census Bureau today released new home sales data for September 2010. Sales of new, single-family homes increased 6.6 percent, exceeding private-sector expectations of a 4.2 percent increase. Sales have increased 8.9 percent from the historic low posted in May

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 27, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Sales of newly built, single-family homes rose 6.6 percent in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 307,000 units, their best pace since June, according to data released by the U.S. Commerce Department today."The fact that new-home sales are finally moving in the right direction – albeit slowly – is definitely good news following an exceptionally quiet summer at builders' sales offices and model homes," said Bob Jones, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Bloomfield Hills, Mich. "The road to recovery will be a long one, however, and a key hurdle that must be surpassed is the lack of available credit for new-home construction so that builders can meet improving demand for new homes moving forward."

BOISE, ID - October 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Idaho Housing and Finance Association today announced a 30-year fixed interest rate of 3.75%, the lowest rate in IHFA’s history. This low rate provides opportunity for qualified homebuyers who can choose from FHA, VA, and RD loan products that best meet their needs. Potential homeowners can visit www.IdaMortgage.com, our homeownership resource center, to check their eligibility for a loan.

SACRAMENTO, CA - October 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Total housing production in California posted a decrease for the first time in five months in September, the California Building Industry Association announced today. According to statistics compiled by the Construction Industry Research Board (CIRB), permits were pulled for 2,562 total housing units in September, down 16 percent from the same month a year ago and down 31 percent from August. Permits for single-family homes totaled 1,604, down 30 percent from September 2009 and down 14 percent from the previous month, while multifamily permits totaled 958, up 27 percent from a year ago but down 48 percent from August.

Atlanta, GA - October 26, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Mortgage Bankers Association expects to see mortgage originations fall from an estimated $1.4 trillion in 2010 to slightly under $1 trillion in 2011. The drop will be driven by a decline in refinance originations, but the industry will see an increase in purchase originations. The economy will grow at a slow pace but with no significant job growth until 2011. The increase in purchase originations will be driven by modest increases in home sales and stabilizing home prices. In contrast, MBA refinance originations are expected to fall steadily as mortgage rates gradually increase throughout 2011 and 2012

BOSTON, MA - October 25, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- MassHousing recently recognized the efforts of 95 property management companies that make a concerted effort to do business with Minority and Women-Owned Businesses (M/WBEs).

SPRINGFIELD, IL - October 25, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Record low mortgage interest rates and more affordable home prices benefited buyers in September, although the Illinois housing market remains subdued after the tax credit without stronger signals from the economy in the areas of jobs and improved consumer confidence. According to the Illinois Association of REALTORS® latest report, statewide total home sales (which include single-family and condominiums) in September 2010 totaled 8,024, down 4.7 percent from August’s 8,419 home sales; year-over-year home sales are down 23.4 percent compared to September 2009 sales of 10,470 homes. Year-to-date sales remain positive, up 4.9 percent January through September 2010 with 81,669 home sales compared to 77,860 home sales for the same period in 2009

Chicago, IL - October 25, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- September marked the first month in which the metropolitan Chicago real estate market felt the full impact of the end of the federal income tax credit for homebuyers, which had been in effect in one form or another for nearly two years. The result was a mix of signs, with homes selling more quickly than they did in the same month last year but with fewer homes changing hands

Washington, DC - October 25, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Existing-home sales rose again in September, affirming that a sales recovery has begun, according to the National Association of Realtors

IRVINE, CA - October 21, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Benchmark Contractors, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Morley Builders, has completed the third and largest phase of UC Irvine’s East Campus Student Housing Project. Adding 1,198 undergraduate students (Camino del Sol Housing), 562 graduate students (Puerta del Sol Housing) and 1,800 parking spaces, these additional facilities will allow UCI to house 45 percent of its student body on campus, more than any other UC institution

EMERYVILLE, CA - October 21, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Some homes across the country at various price points are selling above asking price, according to the Q3 2010 Home Hunter Report released today by ZipRealty (NASDAQ: ZIPR)

LOS ANGELES, CA - October 21, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- California home sales posted their second consecutive monthly gain in September, but were down from the same period a year ago, according to data from the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.)

McLean, VA - October 21, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), which found that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate rose slightly for the first time in five weeks. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage rate also rose slightly while the 5-year ARM and 1-year ARM fell.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 21, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- WHAT:Winners of the marketing category for 2010 NAHB Multifamily Pillars of the Industry Awards will be announced tomorrow in a new webcast format.

WASHINGTON, DC - October 20, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Sluggish job creation and modest consumer spending continue to spur slow economic growth according to the October 2010 Economic Outlook released today by Fannie Mae's (FNMA/OTC) Economics & Mortgage Market Analysis Group. The economy is expected to grow at a rate below two percent in the current quarter before picking up modestly in the first half of 2011 and strengthening in the second half of next year. The current outlook remains clouded with uncertainty and has not changed materially from the previous forecast, with 2.2 percent growth projected for all of 2010, followed by a 2.5 percent pace for 2011.

McLean, VA - October 20, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) announced today that it priced its new 0.375% $5 billion two-year USD Reference Notes® security due on November 30, 2012. The issue, CUSIP number 3137EACP2, was priced at 99.772 to yield 0.484%, or 12.5 basis points more than two-year U.S. Treasury Notes. The issue will settle on Friday, October 22, 2010.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 20, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending October 15, 2010. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 10.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index also decreased 10.5 percent compared with the previous week. This week’s results do not include an adjustment for the Columbus Day holiday.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 19, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Nationwide housing starts edged up 0.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 610,000 units in September, due entirely to a 4.4 percent gain in the single-family sector, according to U.S. Commerce Department figures released today."Builders are cautiously responding to the small improvement they are seeing in interest among potential home buyers," noted Bob Jones, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Bloomfield Hills, Mich. "However, as consumer demand for new homes rises, a major limiting factor for a housing recovery continues to be builders' inability to access credit for new construction."

McLean, VA - October 19, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), which found that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate fell again to break the survey’s all-time low; the 30-year FRM has been under 5 percent for 23 weeks in a row. The last time 30-year FRM rates were this low was April 1951 (based on a data series of FHA rates going back to 1948). The 5-year ARM tied the all-time survey low set last week

Washington, DC - October 19, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- In 2009, 2,725 different multifamily lenders provided a total of $52.5 billion in new financing for apartment buildings with five or more units, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Annual Report on Multifamily Lending for 2009. The 2009 dollar volume represents a 40 percent decline from 2008 levels. The most active 122 lenders represented just four percent of active lenders, but 77 percent of the dollar volume lent. Three-quarters of the active lenders made five or fewer loans over the course of the year.

SEATTLE, DC - October 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today released its 2009 Seattle Metropolitan Area Housing Survey, the most comprehensive analysis of the area's housing stock since the Department's last substantive assessment in 2004. HUD estimates that there were nearly 1.5 million housing units in King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties in 2009, more than 15 percent of which were constructed since 2000 (see attached data).

Needham, MA - October 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- HubConnected LLC, a provider of social media solutions for the real estate industry, announced its official launch today. With 95% of real estate consumers using the Internet and the exponential growth of social networking sites such as Facebook, HubConnected provides innovative Web 2.0 solutions for Realtors® and real estate settlement agents who want to use social media to grow their business.

Denver, CO - October 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The summer season of home buying was a difficult one because many buyers purchased earlier in the spring in an attempt to qualify for the government’s Tax Credit. The market is still attempting to return to traditional seasonal trends. A monthly survey of 54 metropolitan areas indicates that sales were 6.4% below those in August and 20.6% below sales in September 2009. The inventory of homes for sale is dropping slightly, which has resulted in a stabilization of prices.

Detroit, MI - October 15, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Quicken Loans Inc., the nation’s largest online home lender, and among the top-five overall retail lenders in the country, reported its largest monthly closed volume in the company’s 25-year history in September 2010.

Washington, DC - October 15, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- In 2009, 2,725 different multifamily lenders provided a total of $52.5 billion in new financing for apartment buildings with five or more units, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Annual Report on Multifamily Lending for 2009. The 2009 dollar volume represents a 40 percent decline from 2008 levels. The most active 122 lenders represented just four percent of active lenders, but 77 percent of the dollar volume lent. Three-quarters of the active lenders made five or fewer loans over the course of the year.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 13, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending October 8, 2010. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 14.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 14.8 percent compared with the previous week

MILFORD, CT - October 12, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Total Mortgage Services, LLC, a leading mortgage lender and broker that offers some of the lowest mortgage rates available, announced today that its 30-year fixed jumbo mortgage rates are back below 5 percent for qualified borrowers. Currently, Total Mortgage is offering qualified borrowers a 30-year fixed jumbo mortgage up to $729,000 at rate of 4.875 percent and an APR of 4.932 percent with 0 point

Boston, MA – October 11, 2010 – For the first time in three years, the national vacancy and availability rates in the U.S. office and industrial markets have declined, according to the latest analysis from CBRE Econometric Advisors (CBRE-EA). In the third quarter (3Q) of 2010 the national office vacancy rate fell by 10 basis points (bps) to16.6%, the first drop since the office market correction began in the second half of 2007. The national industrial availability1 rate also recorded its first decline in three years, decreasing 10bps to 14.0% in 3Q 2010

EMERYVILLE, CA - October 7, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The number of price-reduced homes on the market this September increased dramatically compared to the same time last year, rising 24.2 percent according to a report issued by national real estate brokerage ZipRealty (www.ziprealty.com; NASDAQ: ZIPR).

McLean, VA - October 7, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Freddie Mac (OTC: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®), which found that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate dropped yet again to break the survey's all-time low; the 15-year fixed-rate did the same. The 5-year ARM also set an all-time survey low.