Ray's Blog

The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to keep its target for the federal funds rate at 5-1/4 percent.Economic growth was moderate during the first half of the year. Financial markets have been volatile in recent weeks, credit conditions have become tighter for some households and busine...

WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 25, 2007) - The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending July 20, 2007.  The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 609.0, a decrease of 3.6 percent on a seasonally adju...

LOS ANGELES (July 25) - Home sales decreased 24.7 percent in June in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home increased 3.2 percent, the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.) reported today. "The focus on foreclosures and subprime lend...

La Jolla, CA.--Lenders sent California homeowners the highest number of mortgage default notices in over a decade last quarter, the result of flat or falling prices, anemic sales and a market struggling with the excesses of the 2004-2005 home buying frenzy, a real estate information service repor...

 WASHINGTON --The United States Senate Committee on Appropriations adopted an amendment to the FY2008 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill that permanently prohibits national bank conglomerates from engaging in real estate brokerage and property management. "Today's actio...

WASHINGTON, June 29, 2007 - The National Association of Realtors® welcomes today's statement issued by the federal regulators of banks, thrifts and credit unions that prescribes strong underwriting and consumer protection standards in connection with certain subprime adjustable rate mortgages (AR...

The Conference Board announced today that the U.S. leading index increased 0.3 percent, the coincident index increased 0.2 percent and the lagging index increased 0.2 percent in May.The May increase in the leading index reverses its April decline. And April's large decrease was revised up slightl...

WASHINGTON, July 11, 2007 - Home prices are expected to recover in 2008 with existing-home sales picking up late this year and new-home sales rising early next year, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors®. Lawrence Yun, NAR senior economist, said a good buyers' ...

Citing moderate economic growth during the first six months of the year, the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee last week decided to leave its short-term interest rate at 5.25 percent, where it has stood since June 2006. The federal funds target rate is the interest rate charged by banks whe...

Per CAR:Pending Homes Sales Index Declines While Some Regions Are UpWASHINGTON, July 03, 2007 -  Pending home sales, a forward-looking indicator, shows existing-home sales may ease but should stay fairly close to present levels in the months ahead, according to the National Association of Realtor...