News / Features

Prudential Gary Greene Realtors Teams Up with Smarter Agent to Create New App

Mobile platform designer Smarter Agent announced today it has developed a mobile application for Prudential Gary Greene Realtors. The app will benefit real estate clients by providing MLS data and location-based searches through any mobile

Mortgage Lender Disappearing Act Continues

The number of active mortgage originators declined for the fourth year in a row, a sign that economic conditions may not yet be ideal for sustained economic growth. According to the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), which tracks

The Shadow Knows: Hidden Inventories Slowly Coming to Light

According to a new report from noted research firm CoreLogic, the shadow inventories for U.S. residential housing continued their downward slope in July, falling to 1.6 million units, or a five-month supply of homes. Shadow inventory properties that are

Harris County Median Home Price Falls at $130,000

According to a national study, the median home in Harris County is priced at $130,000. This puts Harris County about a third of the way down the national list for median

Case-Shiller Reports 0.9 Percent Increase for Dallas Home Prices

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has just released the findings of its latest Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices that charts monthly price trends in the housing market. The newest report, which surveys home prices

Housing Advocates Step Up Lobbying for Loan Limits

The National Association of Realtors (NAR), Mortgage Bankers Association and the National Association of Home Builders have stepped up their lobbying efforts to Congress in recent weeks to fight the planned expiration of the federal loan limit size increase

Bankers Ask Govt. to Pull Funds Out of HUD Mud

Representatives from both the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) are asking the government to renew an $88 million fund for HUD non-profit counseling that was cut in recent budget negotiations. “This

New Homes Sales Better than Predicted

Newly-released data from the Census Bureau shows that though new home sales continued their sideways trend, declines were slight and above both analyst predictions and year-over-year sales. August 2011 sales were at 295,000, a 2.3 percent decline from July

Analysts Shill Predictions for Tuesday’s Case Report

Predictions from analysts and fellow indexes alike point to a positive showing on Tuesday from the Case-Shiller, the influential report from Standard & Poor’s that charts housing prices, though long-term analysis remains complicated. MacroMarkets, a financial tech company based

Nonprofits the Absent Component in REO Sales

According to a noted nonprofit in Berkeley, Calif., nonprofits should not only play a key role in any government plan for REOS, but should also ensure that REOs effectively help the entire community. The government’s catalog of REOs is

Are Local Banks the Answer?

Local banks, the small-scale, community-based financial institutions that seemingly avoided the financial crisis, could be the answer to the current housing blues, according to National Association of Realtors President Ron Phipps – though there may be some caveats that

New Fees and Regulations Lead to Unhappy Homebuilders

In regards to new home starts, the Houston real estate market is currently leading the nation. Houston has also managed to keep property value from falling during recent years. Unfortunately for homebuilders, new fees and regulations for home construction

Martin Fein Acquires Willowick Court Townhomes

The Houston-based real estate management company, McCord Development Inc., recently sold the Willowick Court Townhomes to an affiliate of Martin Fein Interests, a real estate development, construction and management business. Fein plans on demolishing the 10-acre property, located at

Summer Sales Increase for Woodforest

It’s been a good year for Woodforest, the master-planned community located along a Montgomery golf course. This year’s new home sales show an almost 20 percent increase over last year’s through early

Fed Invites Housing to Do the “Twist”

The Federal Reserve announced yesterday that it will begin a new round of stimulus to jumpstart the U.S. economy, with housing and refinancing being two main beneficiaries of the stimulus’ goal. The Fed’s plan, officially called “Operation Twist,” is

Huge Sales Increase for Riverstone Community

The community of Riverstone has set new records with 2011 new-home sales thus far, with a substantial increase over last year’s year-to-date sales for

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