Washington, February 02, 2012 (Realtor.org) The following is a statement by National Association of Realtors® President Moe Veissi:

Moe Veissi

“We fully support Chairman Bernanke’s comments that the lack of available and affordable mortgage financing, low home values and high foreclosure inventories are inhibiting a meaningful housing market recovery. His remarks coupled with President Obama’s new housing proposal announced earlier this week, shows that the administration and Federal Reserve recognize the vital role that real estate plays in both the short- and long-term health of the nation.

“As the leading advocate for housing and homeownership issues, NAR has long said that restoring the health of the housing market is the only way to achieve an economic recovery.

“While we are beginning to see early signs of stabilization in the housing market, we continue to call on Congress and the Obama administration to come together and make housing a priority issue. We believe more can be done to address the lack of available and affordable mortgage financing to creditworthy borrowers and stem the rising inventory of foreclosed homes, which is depressing home values in communities across the country.

“Housing and homeownership issues affect all Americans, and stabilizing the housing market is critical to the nation’s economy making a meaningful recovery.”

The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

For more information, contact:

Sara Wiskerchen
(202) 383-1013
swiskerchen@realtors.org

There are few things more frustrating than losing your cellphone to water damage. The electronics are not designed for contact with water, so if your hand-held device slips from your grasp and lands in the toilet, the chances are it’s gone forever. At least that used to be the case. A California company has come up with a nano-coating it says will protect your phone from water damage. Rob Muir reports.

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Washington, February 01, 2012 (Realtor.org) The National Association of Realtors® commends President Obama for pledging to assist homeowners and the struggling housing market, because restoring the health of the housing market is critical for the nation’s economic recovery.

Moe Veissi

President Obama’s plan would help eligible, underwater homeowners who are current on their mortgage payments to refinance or modify their loan into safer, more affordable mortgages and take advantage of historically low interest rates, helping homeowners save hundreds of dollars each month and reduce default rates.

“Realtors® are eager to work with Congress and the administration to put the plan into action and help significantly reduce monthly mortgage payments by reducing the barriers to low-cost, streamlined refinancings for millions of homeowners as an alternative to defaulting on their mortgage loans, and begin stabilizing the housing market by reducing additional foreclosures,” said Veissi. “We hope that the president and Congress will work together to pass the necessary legislation. Now is the time to work together and look for new ways to help struggling homeowners and the housing market.”

The president’s plan also announced a Federal Housing Finance Administration pilot program to transition Real Estate Owned (REO) properties into rental housing. NAR urges the FHFA to proceed cautiously with the REO-to-rental program since housing markets are complex and varied. NAR believes an overly aggressive REO-to-rental program that is not privately administered by local entities and does not involve substantial participation of local market experts, especially licensed real estate professionals, could be disruptive and counterproductive to communities already suffering from high foreclosure inventories and lower housing values.

The National Association of Realtors® “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

For more information, contact:

Sara Wiskerchen
(202) 383-1013
swiskerchen@realtors.org

C.A.R.’s Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young takes a look at the December housing data.

FORA.tv presents the Web’s “largest collection of conference and event videos”. In the following video American economist, social theorist, political philosopher and author Thomas Sowell discusses what lead to the housing boom. His book “The Housing Boom and Bust” is available from Amazon.com.

Celebrities Magnify the Qualities That Define the CENTURY 21 Agent: SMARTER. BOLDER. FASTER(sm)

PARSIPPANY, NJ (Marketwire) – Jan 30, 2012 – Century 21 Real Estate LLC, the franchisor of the world’s largest real estate sales organization, today released three teasers from its upcoming Super Bowl television commercial starring an impressive array of celebrity talent as they participate in the home-buying and selling process. With a rallying cry of ‘SMARTER. BOLDER. FASTER.(SM),’ the ad matches a typical and unflappable CENTURY 21® Agent in clever scenarios with well-known celebrity icons Donald Trump, professional Football Hall of Famer and NFL analyst Deion Sanders, and world-renowned short-track speedskater Apolo Ohno.

All three individuals are featured in a 30-second spot that will air on NBC during the third quarter of Super Bowl XLVI, which will take place on February 5, 2012.

“Our agents are the very heart of our business, so it was important for us to create an ad that celebrates their capabilities,” said Bev Thorne, chief marketing officer, Century 21 Real Estate LLC. “The Super Bowl is the last great campfire for the American family. For most consumers, it’s centered in the home and the home is the center of the services we’re in business to support.”

Leading up to the game, CENTURY 21 will host its teasers, behind-the-scenes footage and the final Super Bowl commercial on its website, century21.com/superbowl, as well as on a customized Facebook application and upgraded YouTube brand channel. In addition to the third quarter advertisement, CENTURY 21 Real Estate is a broadcast sponsor of the 3:30 – 4:00 p.m. block of the pre-game show on NBC and will have more than a dozen other pregame commercial spots.

“The timing couldn’t be better for CENTURY 21 Real Estate to advertise in the Super Bowl, and I’m happy to be a part of it,” said Trump. “The truth is many Americans believe in the value of homeownership and for people who are in the position to buy, this is a great opportunity to either enter the market or move up into a better home.”

The CENTURY 21 spots were created by Red Tettemer + Partners, an independent creative agency based in Philadelphia.

“CENTURY 21 is an iconic American brand and we’re thrilled to help showcase the company on the world’s largest advertising stage,” said Steve Red, president, chief creative officer, Red Tettemer + Partners.

The CENTURY 21® brand has achieved 95 percent name recognition, maintaining its leadership position in brand awareness for the 11th consecutive year according to a study conducted by Millward Brown, a leading global market research organization.

About Century 21 Real Estate LLC

Century 21 Real Estate LLC (CENTURY21.com) is the franchisor of the world’s largest residential real estate sales organization, providing comprehensive training and marketing support for the CENTURY 21 System. The System is comprised of approximately 7,600 independently owned and operated franchised broker offices in 71 countries and territories worldwide. Century 21 Real Estate LLC is a subsidiary of Realogy Corporation, a global provider of real estate and relocation services.

©2011 Century 21 Real Estate LLC, A Realogy Company. CENTURY 21® Is A Registered Trademark Owned By Century 21 Real Estate LLC. An Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Each CENTURY 21 Office is Independently Owned and Operated

Video Teasers:

University of Illinois economist Dr. Geoffrey Hewings talks about decreasing mobility trends that are affecting the housing market.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Jan. 27, 2012 (PRNewswire) The December Mortgage Monitor report released by Lender Processing Services (NYSE: LPS) shows mortgage originations continued their decline from 2011′s September peak, down 10.1 percent from the month before. At the same time, those loans originated over the last two years have proven to be some of the best quality originations on record. Likely a result of tighter lending requirements, 2010-11 vintage originations showed 90-day default rates below those of all other years, going back to 2005. December origination data also shows that recent prepayment activity — a key indicator of mortgage refinances — has remained strong, with 2008-09 originations, high credit score borrowers and government-backed loans having benefited the most from recent, historically low interest rates.

Looking at judicial vs. non-judicial foreclosure states, LPS found that half of all loans in foreclosure in judicial states have not made a payment in more than two years. Foreclosure sale rates in non-judicial states stood at approximately four times that of judicial foreclosure states in December. Still, on average, pipeline ratios (the time it would take to clear through the inventory of loans either seriously delinquent or in foreclosure at the current rate of foreclosure sales) have declined significantly from earlier this year.
The December mortgage performance data also showed that foreclosure starts continued to decline, remaining at multi-year lows as of the end of 2011; down 3.7 percent for the month, and nearly 40 percent for the year.

As reported in LPS’ First Look release, other key results from LPS’ latest Mortgage Monitor report include:

*Non-current totals combine foreclosures and delinquencies as a percent of active loans in that state.

Notes:

(1) Totals are extrapolated based on LPS Applied Analytics’ loan-level database of mortgage assets.
(2) All whole numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand.

About the Mortgage Monitor

LPS manages the nation’s leading repository of loan-level residential mortgage data and performance information on nearly 40 million loans across the spectrum of credit products. The company’s research experts carefully analyze this data to produce a summary supplemented by dozens of charts and graphs that reflect trend and point-in-time observations for LPS’ monthly Mortgage Monitor Report. To review the full report, visit www.lpsvcs.com.

About Lender Processing Services

Lender Processing Services, Inc. (NYSE: LPS) is a leading provider of integrated technology, services and mortgage performance data and analytics to the mortgage and real estate industries. LPS offers solutions that span the mortgage continuum, including lead generation, origination, servicing, workflow automation, portfolio retention and default, augmented by the company’s award-winning customer support and professional services. Approximately 50 percent of all U.S. mortgages by dollar volume are serviced using LPS’ loan servicing platform, MSP. LPS also offers proprietary mortgage and real estate data and analytics for the mortgage and capital markets industries. For more information about LPS, visit www.lpsvcs.com.

Super Bowl XLVI is almost here so lets look at the top five most expensive Super Bowl homes. Learn who the big NFL spenders are as we countdown the former Super Bowl players with the most expensive house on the market.

Washington, January 25, 2012 (Realtor.org) After reaching a 19-month high, pending home sales eased in December but stayed above year-ago levels, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, declined 3.5 percent to 96.6 in December from 100.1 in November but is 5.6 percent above December 2010 when it was 91.5. The data reflects contracts but not closings.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the trend line remains positive. “Even with a modest decline, the preceding two months of contract activity are the highest in the past four years outside of the homebuyer tax credit period,” he said. “Contract failures remain an issue, reported by one-third of Realtors® over the past few months, but home buyers are not giving up.”

Yun said some buyers successfully complete the sale after a contract delay, while others stay in the market after a contract failure and make another offer. “Housing affordability conditions are too good to pass up,” he said. “Our hope is lending conditions will gradually improve with sustained increases in closed existing-home sales.”

The PHSI in the Northeast declined 3.1 percent to 74.7 in December and is 0.8 percent below a year ago. In the Midwest the index rose 4.0 percent to 95.3 and is 13.3 percent higher than December 2010. Pending home sales in the South slipped 2.6 percent to an index of 101.1 in December but are 4.9 percent above a year ago. In the West the index fell 11.0 percent in December to 107.9 but is 3.7 percent higher than December 2010.

The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

# # #

*The Pending Home Sales Index is a leading indicator for the housing sector, based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing.

The index is based on a large national sample, typically representing about 20 percent of transactions for existing-home sales. In developing the model for the index, it was demonstrated that the level of monthly sales-contract activity parallels the level of closed existing-home sales in the following two months.

An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001, which was the first year to be examined as well as the first of five consecutive record years for existing-home sales; it coincides with a level that is historically healthy.

NOTE: Existing-home sales for January will be reported February 22 and the next Pending Home Sales Index will be released February 27; release times are 10:00 a.m. EST.

For more information, contact:

Walter Molony
(202) 383-1177
wmolony@realtors.org

Source: Voltier Digital and Plastick Media

Source: BuzzFeed