Homester.com Web News Archive

Starving Real Estate Brokers (Newsweek) - Real-estate agents are an optimistic bunch, but it's hard to put a positive spin on the nation's deepening housing bust. In the past year, the average U.S. home has lost 16 percent of its value, and the number of homes changing hands has dropped by one third since the market peak in 2005. Since most agents make money only when houses actually sell (most earn no salary), that's leading to a sense ...

Real Estate Live (Washington Post) - Welcome to Real Estate Live, an online discussion of the Washington area housing market with Post Real Estate editor Maryann Haggerty.

Real estate brokers settle kickback suits (Los Angeles Times) - A California class action and a federal claim allege that the firms took money from a hazard-report firm. Hundreds of thousands of Californians could be eligible for $100 payments under the proposed settlement of a class-action lawsuit against some of the nation's largest residential real estate brokerages. The lawsuit accused the real estate brokers of taking kickbacks from a firm that ...

Here and Now: Real Estate (KJZZ Tempe) - Home prices have fallen by more than a quarter in the past year. Here and Now looked at what's going on in real estate and how much farther prices will drop. Guests also discussed the massive housing bill signed into law by President Bush will help.

Real estate brokers settle Calif. kickbacks suit (San Francisco Chronicle) - Hundreds of thousands of Californians would be eligible for a refund on their property hazard report fee under a class-action settlement awaiting final approval by a federal judge in Los Angeles. The lawsuit accuses some of the nation's largest real estate...

Upstate not immune to real estate woes, foreclosures (Anderson Independent-Mail) - RealtyTrac, a national real estate Web site, reported the number of foreclosures nationwide increased 121 percent from the second quarter of 2007 to the second quarter of this year.

DED, RERA to support services for real estate sector (Khaleej Times) - DUBAI - The Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED) and Dubai's Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) recently signed a partnership agreement to enhance the quality of support services offered to real estate investors and customers.

Real-estate initiatives OK'd for ballot (The Arizona Republic) - Two real-estate-related initiatives will be on the ballot in November after being certified on Friday by the secretary of state despite estimates that showed one fell below the number of signatures required.

Real Estate: Tips for the Intrepid (BusinessWeek Online via Yahoo! News) - Is it safe to venture back into the property market? Some real estate pros are switching into full bargain-hunting mode even as home prices continue to fall nationwide. But if you're tempted to join them in bottom-feeding, look out. Not only is there a chance home prices will fall more and not recover for years, but even seasoned professionals are struggling as they try to work out deals.

Pizarro: For annual party, real estate moguls keep it low-key (San Jose Mercury News) - You know the real estate economy's bad when Mark Ritchie and Barry Swenson don't even feel like dressing up.