Foreclosure Activity Falls 6% From Last Month, Still 18% Higher From Year Ago A national industry tracking website released its May 2009 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 321,480 U.S. properties during the month, a decrease of 6 percent from the previous month but an increase of nearly 18 percent from May 2008. Full Story
Pending Home Sales Up for Three Months in a Row Record low mortgage interest rates boosted pending home sales for the third consecutive month, with some benefit now from the first-time buyer tax credit, according to the National Association of Realtors. Full Story
A Vital Mortgage Market Needs Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac A secondary mortgage market model that includes some level of government participation is necessary to ensure affordable and available home mortgages. That is the message the National Association of Realtors delivered during a House Financial Services Subcommittee hearing today. Full Story
Home Staging Helps Realtors Sell Homes Join Marilyn Deutsch as she reports on the benefits of home staging and how one company actually provides "managers" to occupy listings for faster sales. Full Story
5 Blunders You Must Avoid By Thomas M. Mitchell The opportunities in this market segment are excellent for smart and patient buyers but these opportunities exist in a market that's full of land mines and pitfalls. Full Story
The Money-Making Power of Client Recognition by Craig Forte, Contributing Author Have you ever noticed that most people are "Recognition and Appreciation" starved these days? Think about it. We're all so busy and involved with our own personal lives, we hardly ever take the time to recognize and appreciate those around us. When was the last time your boss really recognized you? When was the last time your spouse said, "I'm so lucky to have you in my life"? Full Story
Buffering Your Business With Buyers in a Down Market By Craig Proctor Traditional wisdom in this industry states that if you want to succeed in real estate, you must chase listings. This mindset springs from the fact that, historically, working with buyers was very much a hit and miss situation. Because there was no such thing as buyer agency, it was quite common for agents to spend hours and hours driving buyers from house to house to help them find a home, only to have these buyer prospects find a home through another agent. What was wrong with this picture? Well, lots of things were wrong with it – on both the agent's and the buyer's part. Full Story
Interest
Rate Trends
Low Inflation Figures Push Mortgage Rates Back Down Thursday, June 18, 2009 Freddie Mac released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.38 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending June 18, 2009, down from last week when it averaged 5.59 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.42 percent. Full Story
Industry Press Releases
Zillow.com Adds New iPhone OS 3.0 Features to Zillow Application Friday, June 19, 2009 Zillow.com Real estate website Zillow.com announced the availability of the second version of its Zillow app, which integrates features made possible by the release of iPhone OS 3.0 update. Search filtering and the ability to save favorite homes were among the features most requested by the 402,000 users who have downloaded the app since its launch in April, and are two of the many new features that have been added into this latest version. Full Story
Proxio Introduces New Groups Feature for Real Estate Professional Network Thursday, June 18, 2009 Proxio Proxio, one of the first international MLS and global referral networks, announces the launch of its new Groups feature that allows members to join and create online referral groups based on common specialties, affiliations, languages, as well as geographical locations. Agents worldwide now have the ability to build personal referral networks within specialist communities, where they can promote listings and become more visible to other agents who can send referrals, while interacting in a trusted online environment. Full Story
Rich Media Solution Helps Realtors and Home Buyers Visualize MLS Listing Thursday, June 18, 2009 MarketLinx, Inc MarketLinx, Inc., a provider of information technology to the residential real estate industry and a member of The First American Corporation family of companies, and Blue Dasher Technologies, the award-winning 360-degree street-level imaging technology developer, announced a new reseller agreement that will make Blue Dasher's neighborhood virtual tour system available to users of MarketLinx's multiple listing service (MLS) systems. Full Story
FHA's Expanded Market Share Must Be Supported, Say Realtors Thursday, June 18, 2009 National Association of Realtors Without the Federal Housing Administration's mortgage insurance program, a large portion of today's home buyers would be unable to realize their dreams of homeownership. The National Association of Realtors urged Congress today to invest resources that will ensure FHA's continued role in stabilizing housing to stimulate the nation's economy. Full Story
RealEstate.com Unveils New Website Featuring Community Social Network Friday, June 12, 2009 RealEstate.com Today RealEstate.com rolls out its all-new website, offering what the company says is even faster, easier access to nearly three million homes for sale, as well as current home values, local resources and advice for homebuyers and sellers. At the heart of the website is Town SquareSM, a real estate social network that creates an open dialogue between homebuyers, sellers and real estate professionals through blogs, forums, wikis, groups and more. Full Story
Home Staging Helps Realtors Sell Homes