News / Features

Houston Fights Back Against High-Rise Development

Many Houston residents don’t want their neighborhoods to resemble big-time cities such as New York, Chicago and Miami, all of which have several high-rises within the downtown areas. Houston, in fact, is outraged by developer’s plans to build a

Highest-Priced Home in U.S. Sells for $85 Million

Once regarded as the highest-priced home in the U.S. with a price tag of $150 million, the former Los Angeles County home of Candy Spelling has sold for a drastically reduced price of $85 million (43 percent less) after

Mary Katherine Turner Newest Hire at Conway McKenzie Inc.

John T. Young, Jr., senior managing director of Conway MacKenzie Inc., recently announced the addition of Mary Katherine Turner to the corporation’s Houston team. Turner will specialize in providing advisory services to clients facing distressed and bankruptcy

Mortgage Rates Fall This Week: 30-year FRM Drops to 4.51 Percent

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) is down to 4.51 percent (with an average 0.7 point) this week and 15-year rates dropped to 3.65 percent (with an average 0.6 point), according to MarketWatch. While neither drop is incredibly drastic, it

Post-Bubble Homebuyers Tend to Overprice Homes

Zillow found that home sellers who bought their home after 2007’s housing bubble burst have a tendency to overprice their home by 14.1 percent more than those who bought a home during or before the bubble, said Agent

Canadian Luxury Sale Agent Disappearance Case Nearing Closure Months Later

Many are familiar with the case of the recent murder of Ashley Okland, the Des Moines, Iowa Realtor who was shot and killed at the open house she was showing. While the case (now active for three months) has

Construction Sector Proves Indestructable While Economy Requires Some Renovation

The job market for construction seems to be recovering; even as the entire economy experienced a 10 percent increase in layoffs, from May to June – to the highest level since August 2010 – construction hires and openings proved

Fannie Mae Survey Respondents Anticipate 3.9 Percent Increase in Home Rental Prices-Highest Recorded Expectation for Survey to Date

Fannie Mae released their monthly consumer attitudinal survey report, with results from June finding that Americans now expect a decline of 0.5 percent in home prices over the next year; this is slightly more optimistic than the beliefs measured

House Votes on Rules for Energy Efficient “Lightbulb Law”

A new law to be launched in 2012 is expected to take 100, 75, 60 and 40 watt incandescent bulbs out of manufacturing, hoping to promote energy efficient lightbulbs. According to Poynter, misconceptions of the law have led many

Obama Admits: Housing “Hasn’t Bottomed out as Quickly as we Expected”

The Obama administration is working to revive the housing market, following up on the administrations’ already active programs and modifications, which President Barack Obama said were “not enough, and so we’re going back to the drawing

Second Quarter Results for Wall Street Banks Expected to be Less Optimistic

After an optimistic first quarter, Wall Street banks are expected to report a drop of almost 25 percent in core trading revenue. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley are all expected to report similar

Survey Indicates Decline of Home and Lot Sizes Slowing; Suggests Turnaround

The downsizing trend that has gripped most of the real estate market during the past few years appears to be turning around, according to a survey by the American Institute of Architects

Home Prices Still Declining in Most Markets, but not Drastically

As home prices fell 3.2 percent during the last six months, many began to wonder where they will go from here. According to Housing Wire, Clear Capital believes that prices will drop another 2.4 percent throughout the remaining duration

Former Mortgage Loan Officers Plead Guilty: Mortgage Fraud Scheme Believed to be Connected to Over 70 Defaulted Loans

Houston residents, Claymon “Butch” Trammell, wife Jeannettea Williams and daughter Michelle Trammell partook in a multi-million dollar mortgage fraud scheme; they have pleaded guilty of “conspiracy to commit wire fraud,” said Agent

Apartment Vacany Rates Fall in Second Quarter

A recent analysis by Reis Inc. showed that the apartment vacancy rate fell to six percent, down from 6.2 percent in quarter one and 7.8 percent in quarter two of 2010, according to Calculated

NAR Survey Highlights Importance of Owning a Home

In addition to research from NAHB showing that home ownership is still valuable, yesterday, NAR released results from the “2011 National Housing Pulse Survey” a telephone poll of 1,250 adults which found similar

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