McLEAN, VA -- Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.73 percent with an average 0.4 point for the week ending July 19, 2007, unchanged from last week. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.80 percent.
The 15-year FRM this week averaged 6.38 percent with an average 0.4 point, down from last week when it averaged 6.39 percent. A year ago, the 15-year FRM averaged 6.41 percent.
Five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) averaged 6.35 percent this week, with an average 0.5 point, unchanged from last week. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 6.36 percent.
One-year Treasury-indexed ARMs averaged 5.72 percent this week with an average 0.5 point, up from last week when it averaged 5.71 percent. At this time last year, the 1-year ARM averaged 5.80 percent.
"In a week marked by stock indexes reaching new highs on Wall Street, mortgage rates lingered near the previous week's level as the latest economic indicators did not affect inflation expectations significantly," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "June's core producer price index inched up higher than market expectations, pushing the year-over-year growth rate to 1.8 percent, while the core consumer price index held steady at a 2.2 percent annual growth rate."
"The most recent statistics suggest that the housing market has yet to reach a trough. Although June's housing starts unexpectedly rose to 1.47 million units, construction of one-unit houses still saw a decline of 0.2 percent: At 1.15 million units, it was the slowest pace since January. Building permits fell by 7.5 percent last month to the lowest level since June 1997."
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Friday, July 20, 2007
Blogger Renaissance the new Summer of Love
Forty years ago this summer about 100,000 young people from around the world flocked to San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district to join in a cultural experience known as the "Summer of Love."
This year, San Francisco again will be the meeting place, but this time it will be remembered as the "Renaissance in Real Estate Media." Starbucks will replace the old psychedelics with double nonfat lattes, and laptops and iPhones will replace platforms and headbands.
Bloggers Connect marks the industry's first official real estate blogging conference, and top real estate bloggers from around the country are planning to attend.
Real estate blogging took off in 2006, with hundreds of new industry- and consumer-facing blogs coming online.
Ardell DellaLoggia, Joe Ferrara and Rudy Bachraty, Noah Rosenblatt, Dustin Luther, Kevin Boer, Teresa Boardman, Brian Brady, Jeff Turner, Marlow Harris, Pat Kitano. These are just a few of the leading names in real estate blogging who will rub elbows, share ideas and debate the future of real estate blogging, July 31-Aug. 1, at the Palace Hotel in downtown San Francisco.
"People love to say they were at the first Real Estate Connect conference many years ago in the Redwoods," said Bradley Inman, publisher of Inman News, the producer of the blogging event. "People will no doubt want to say they were at the first Bloggers Connect."
Keynoting the two-day conference is Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin, who will discuss what it has been like to manage the clash between old and new media. The online brokerage company is always in the media eye or subject to bloggers' wrath. Kelman expresses his views at Redfin's company blog, communicating key messages and humanizing the corporate mission.
Bloggers Connect will also dive into the practical questions on every blogger's mind: how to gain customers, make money, find your voice and use your blog to network with colleagues and potential clients.
ActiveRain's Matt Heaton and Jonathan Washburn will reveal the winners of the four-month-long Project Blogger contest in which 12 teams competed for the top industry blogger title. The competition was co-sponsored by ActiveRain and Inman News.
Attendees will also learn how to use search-engine optimization techniques to get their blogs noticed in search engines and how to convert their site visitors into paying clients.
In addition, speakers will discuss new widgets and other doo-dads that help lighten up blogs and create community and open communication that keeps readers coming back.
The conference will also spotlight how some bloggers are incorporating ads, sponsored links and other mechanisms that can make them money without compromising their original intent or goals.
In the spirit of the Summer of Love, Sellsius bloggers Joe Ferrara and Rudy Bachraty in July kicked off BlogTourUSA, their multiple-stop tour from New York City to San Francisco. The duo is making the trek in an RV, fully decked out with sponsor logos and pictures of top real estate bloggers on the sides. They're making stops in cities along the way to meet up with bloggers they've met online over the last few years.
The full Bloggers Connect conference program is available online.
Confirmed speakers include Anil Dash, chief evangelist at Six Apart; Ted Murphy, founder and CEO of PayPerPost; Drew Meyers, community relations specialist at Zillow; Philip Ferrato, editor of Curbed SF; Paul Chaney, vice president of marketing at Blogging Systems; Robyn Tippins, community manager at MyBlogLog; and Jim Cronin, owner and author of Real Estate Tomato, among others.
Bloggers Connect precedes Inman News' annual Real Estate Connect conference where technology innovators and top brokerage executives meet for three days of networking, debate and exposure to the latest online innovations in real estate. The entire event takes place Aug. 1-3, at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.
This year, San Francisco again will be the meeting place, but this time it will be remembered as the "Renaissance in Real Estate Media." Starbucks will replace the old psychedelics with double nonfat lattes, and laptops and iPhones will replace platforms and headbands.
Bloggers Connect marks the industry's first official real estate blogging conference, and top real estate bloggers from around the country are planning to attend.
Real estate blogging took off in 2006, with hundreds of new industry- and consumer-facing blogs coming online.
Ardell DellaLoggia, Joe Ferrara and Rudy Bachraty, Noah Rosenblatt, Dustin Luther, Kevin Boer, Teresa Boardman, Brian Brady, Jeff Turner, Marlow Harris, Pat Kitano. These are just a few of the leading names in real estate blogging who will rub elbows, share ideas and debate the future of real estate blogging, July 31-Aug. 1, at the Palace Hotel in downtown San Francisco.
"People love to say they were at the first Real Estate Connect conference many years ago in the Redwoods," said Bradley Inman, publisher of Inman News, the producer of the blogging event. "People will no doubt want to say they were at the first Bloggers Connect."
Keynoting the two-day conference is Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin, who will discuss what it has been like to manage the clash between old and new media. The online brokerage company is always in the media eye or subject to bloggers' wrath. Kelman expresses his views at Redfin's company blog, communicating key messages and humanizing the corporate mission.
Bloggers Connect will also dive into the practical questions on every blogger's mind: how to gain customers, make money, find your voice and use your blog to network with colleagues and potential clients.
ActiveRain's Matt Heaton and Jonathan Washburn will reveal the winners of the four-month-long Project Blogger contest in which 12 teams competed for the top industry blogger title. The competition was co-sponsored by ActiveRain and Inman News.
Attendees will also learn how to use search-engine optimization techniques to get their blogs noticed in search engines and how to convert their site visitors into paying clients.
In addition, speakers will discuss new widgets and other doo-dads that help lighten up blogs and create community and open communication that keeps readers coming back.
The conference will also spotlight how some bloggers are incorporating ads, sponsored links and other mechanisms that can make them money without compromising their original intent or goals.
In the spirit of the Summer of Love, Sellsius bloggers Joe Ferrara and Rudy Bachraty in July kicked off BlogTourUSA, their multiple-stop tour from New York City to San Francisco. The duo is making the trek in an RV, fully decked out with sponsor logos and pictures of top real estate bloggers on the sides. They're making stops in cities along the way to meet up with bloggers they've met online over the last few years.
The full Bloggers Connect conference program is available online.
Confirmed speakers include Anil Dash, chief evangelist at Six Apart; Ted Murphy, founder and CEO of PayPerPost; Drew Meyers, community relations specialist at Zillow; Philip Ferrato, editor of Curbed SF; Paul Chaney, vice president of marketing at Blogging Systems; Robyn Tippins, community manager at MyBlogLog; and Jim Cronin, owner and author of Real Estate Tomato, among others.
Bloggers Connect precedes Inman News' annual Real Estate Connect conference where technology innovators and top brokerage executives meet for three days of networking, debate and exposure to the latest online innovations in real estate. The entire event takes place Aug. 1-3, at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Get Three Free Credit Reports From AnnualCreditReport.com
After a landmark overhaul of federal credit laws, there's still lots of work to be done, including getting more consumers to check their credit report.
One in three consumers have no idea what's on their credit report and that could cost them money and hurt their chances at landing a mortgage, insurance or a job.
This summer, a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) statement prepared for the U.S. House of Representatives' House Committee on Financial Services, said when the feds upgraded the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) with Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) provisions, the effort included 30 rules, guidelines, compliance forms, notices, educational campaigns, studies, and reports.
Indicating that credit reporting accuracy issues remain a thorn in regulators' side, the statement included remarks about actions against companies that allegedly furnished inaccurate information to credit reporting agencies.
"The Commission is troubled that, despite its efforts, consumers continue to report errors in their credit reports that have made it difficult, or more expensive, to obtain credit, insurance, or employment," the statement said.
That federal regulators are still wringing their hands over credit report inaccuracies is enough to make most consumers run out and get their credit report -- but too many still don't get the free documents.
A recent Bankrate report "One-third Of Nation Flying Blind With Credit" found that 32 percent of Americans surveyed never check their credit reports and have no idea if information is incorrect, missing or otherwise a potential problem.
Your credit report is your fiscal fitness report on your credit habits. It names your credit accounts, identifies them by type and tracks balances, credit limits, available credit, open-or-closed status and payments, all to reveal how well or how poorly you pay each account.
The information is also factored heavily into your credit score, a statistical analysis or numerical value placed on your credit behavior. Your credit score is commonly used to nay or yea your requests for credit.
The report also documents your applications for credit as well as notices of liens, judgments and other "derogatory" remarks, remarks from the consumer, credit freezes, identity theft actions, dispute notices and other information.
It also contains your legal name, current and recent addresses and place of employment, Social Security number, date of birth, driver's license number, telephone numbers and other identifying information.
Incorrect information could skew your chances of landing credit, determine how much you pay for credit and limit where you get credit and other financial services and employment.
Bankrate also found that, among those it surveyed, 29 percent check their credit report only once a year. Consumer advocates say in this day of lost and stolen personal data, credit report errors and the like, more frequent checking is strongly advised -- and it's free.
You can get a free credit report three times a year -- one from each of the three major credit reporting agencies. One of the newest FACTA provisions allows you to go online to AnnualCreditReport.com, the ONLY federally sanctioned service, and obtain a free credit report from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
If you obtain the free report from one company, say in January, another report from another company in May, and another from the remaining company in September, you've set up your own free monitoring system to keep tabs on what's doing on your credit report.
Don't be fooled by other websites with similar names. AnnualCreditReport.com is the ONLY federally approved website to get your free credit reports. Others will give you a free report, but only after you buy their services.
Under FACTA provisions, you can also get your credit report by calling, (877) 322-8228 or by writing Annual Credit Report Request Service, PO Box 105283, Atlanta, GA 30348-5283. Call first to determine what information you'll need to send.
Once you've obtained your credit report make sure it's yours.
Most credit reports have some anomaly, large or small.
Check your identifying and credit information for errors, outdated material, derogatory information (liens, judgments, bankruptcy, slow pays, etc.), especially such remarks remaining after the allowed seven to 10 years.
Look for accounts you didn't open, opened and never used, zero-balance accounts, duplicate entries, missing accounts in good standing, or other questionable information.
If you have open credit accounts that you don't use, close them by sending a letter to the creditor requesting as much. The letter should tell the creditor to notify all credit bureaus that you've closed the account. The letter should also ask for confirmation that the account has been closed and the credit bureaus notified.
Credit reports typically come with forms consumers can use to address issues of concern directly with the credit reporting agency. If you find an error, complete the form or write a letter providing the same information the form requests. Include copies of any documentation that back up your story.
Make and copy before sending off the original. Also send a copy to the offending creditor where applicable.
Once you resolve the dispute, ask the creditor to send a letter to the credit bureau with the correct information and a letter to you confirming that action has been taken.
One in three consumers have no idea what's on their credit report and that could cost them money and hurt their chances at landing a mortgage, insurance or a job.
This summer, a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) statement prepared for the U.S. House of Representatives' House Committee on Financial Services, said when the feds upgraded the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) with Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) provisions, the effort included 30 rules, guidelines, compliance forms, notices, educational campaigns, studies, and reports.
Indicating that credit reporting accuracy issues remain a thorn in regulators' side, the statement included remarks about actions against companies that allegedly furnished inaccurate information to credit reporting agencies.
"The Commission is troubled that, despite its efforts, consumers continue to report errors in their credit reports that have made it difficult, or more expensive, to obtain credit, insurance, or employment," the statement said.
That federal regulators are still wringing their hands over credit report inaccuracies is enough to make most consumers run out and get their credit report -- but too many still don't get the free documents.
A recent Bankrate report "One-third Of Nation Flying Blind With Credit" found that 32 percent of Americans surveyed never check their credit reports and have no idea if information is incorrect, missing or otherwise a potential problem.
Your credit report is your fiscal fitness report on your credit habits. It names your credit accounts, identifies them by type and tracks balances, credit limits, available credit, open-or-closed status and payments, all to reveal how well or how poorly you pay each account.
The information is also factored heavily into your credit score, a statistical analysis or numerical value placed on your credit behavior. Your credit score is commonly used to nay or yea your requests for credit.
The report also documents your applications for credit as well as notices of liens, judgments and other "derogatory" remarks, remarks from the consumer, credit freezes, identity theft actions, dispute notices and other information.
It also contains your legal name, current and recent addresses and place of employment, Social Security number, date of birth, driver's license number, telephone numbers and other identifying information.
Incorrect information could skew your chances of landing credit, determine how much you pay for credit and limit where you get credit and other financial services and employment.
Bankrate also found that, among those it surveyed, 29 percent check their credit report only once a year. Consumer advocates say in this day of lost and stolen personal data, credit report errors and the like, more frequent checking is strongly advised -- and it's free.
You can get a free credit report three times a year -- one from each of the three major credit reporting agencies. One of the newest FACTA provisions allows you to go online to AnnualCreditReport.com, the ONLY federally sanctioned service, and obtain a free credit report from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
If you obtain the free report from one company, say in January, another report from another company in May, and another from the remaining company in September, you've set up your own free monitoring system to keep tabs on what's doing on your credit report.
Don't be fooled by other websites with similar names. AnnualCreditReport.com is the ONLY federally approved website to get your free credit reports. Others will give you a free report, but only after you buy their services.
Under FACTA provisions, you can also get your credit report by calling, (877) 322-8228 or by writing Annual Credit Report Request Service, PO Box 105283, Atlanta, GA 30348-5283. Call first to determine what information you'll need to send.
Once you've obtained your credit report make sure it's yours.
Most credit reports have some anomaly, large or small.
Check your identifying and credit information for errors, outdated material, derogatory information (liens, judgments, bankruptcy, slow pays, etc.), especially such remarks remaining after the allowed seven to 10 years.
Look for accounts you didn't open, opened and never used, zero-balance accounts, duplicate entries, missing accounts in good standing, or other questionable information.
If you have open credit accounts that you don't use, close them by sending a letter to the creditor requesting as much. The letter should tell the creditor to notify all credit bureaus that you've closed the account. The letter should also ask for confirmation that the account has been closed and the credit bureaus notified.
Credit reports typically come with forms consumers can use to address issues of concern directly with the credit reporting agency. If you find an error, complete the form or write a letter providing the same information the form requests. Include copies of any documentation that back up your story.
Make and copy before sending off the original. Also send a copy to the offending creditor where applicable.
Once you resolve the dispute, ask the creditor to send a letter to the credit bureau with the correct information and a letter to you confirming that action has been taken.
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