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Flawed appraisals are derailing real estate sales and depressing values across the United States, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday as it reported that existing home prices declined 17 percent in May from a year earlier. "It's pointing to thousands of delayed or canceled transactions," Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the Chicago-based Realtors group, said in an interview. "We've had a massive inundation from members saying this is a big problem." Appraisal rules that went into effect on May 1 require lenders that sell loans to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac to set up a firewall between appraisers and...

You Tube's Local Pstor is back at it. His newest clip had me laughing out loud at the song choice... Thanks to Morningstar madness we will soon see Todd and his new, young wife on a platform near you. ...

The housing crunch and Internet are shrinking the ranks of agents. __ Huerta and Youngmin Bae bought their Burbank home without ever meeting their real estate agent. Instead, they scoured listings for their favorite neighborhoods, haggled over prices and even wrote their offer using Marco's cellphone. There was no housewarming plant on the porch when they moved in, but the couple aren't complaining: They received a $10,000 check as a "rebate" from their agent's 3% commission. "It's a great incentive," said Marco Huerta, 32. "This is what capitalism's all about." Experiences like these are leading some to wonder whether Realtors...

David Stevens, the administration's pick for an assistant secretary for the Department of Housing and Urban Development failed to pass muster and his confirmation delayed as it was disclosed that the real estate brokerage he operates as chief is facing several class action lawsuits. The charges against Long & Foster, a Virginia real estate brokerage, allege that their agents steered homebuyers to affiliated mortgage and title companies, which then shared their profits with the real estate brokerage. We often advise our readers to contact a Realtor as their best source of information. Regularly we Realtors are asked for referrals to...

The Obama administration's proposal to cut the mortgage-interest tax deduction for higher-income homeowners is getting bad reviews from the real estate industry. Hundreds of dollars in tax breaks that help stimulate housing sales are at stake, and that's not good for an already-depressed market, advocates say. "Any reduction in the amount homeowners can deduct will only slow down a housing market already suffering," said Howard (Hoddy) Hanna III, CEO of Howard Hanna Holdings Inc. The housing slide was one of the first factors that helped trigger the nation's economic crisis, Hanna and other industry representatives noted. The index of pending...

February 26, 2009 - President Obama released his budget proposal this morning. A small section of the sweeping budget plan has the potential to become a major impediment to a recovery in real estate markets across the nation. NAR is 100% opposed to the provision that modifies the Mortgage Interest Deduction and is prepared to use its formidable array of resources against its enactment. As currently drafted, the plan changes the Mortgage Interest Deduction by reducing the amount of mortgage deductibility on families earning over $250,000. This proposed change in the Mortgage Interest Deduction will result in further erosion of...

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- President Barack Obama's plan to scale back the popular mortgage-interest deduction, a sacred cow of the U.S. housing market, drew a scathing response from two powerful lobby groups. The National Association of Home Builders and the National Association of Realtors issued statements condemning the proposal in withering terms Thursday, after it was unveiled earlier in the day as part of the White House's fiscal 2010 budget blueprint. NAR President Charles McMillan also sent a letter to Obama to criticize the idea. "There is never a good time to propose something that undermines the basic foundation of homeownership,...

“Sarah Palin’s churches are actively involved in a resurgent movement that was declared heretical by the Assemblies of God in 1949. This is the same ‘Spiritual Warfare’ movement that was featured in the award winning movie, “Jesus Camp,” which showed young children being trained to do battle for the Lord. At least three of four of Palin’s churches are involved with major organizations and leaders of this movement, which is referred to as The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit or the New Apostolic Reformation. The movement is training a young “Joel’s Army” to take dominion over the United States...

RICK JOYNER, THE APOSTLE PAUL AND THE ANTICHRIST This article is by ‘AriseMyLove’: and used by permission. In March 2007 I heard someone at my church Bible group innocently read out loud one of Rick Joyner’s messages from the Elijah List. http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:mzLW88CKXgYJ:www.elijahlist.com/words/display_word/5039+Elijah+list+Rick+Joyner Unfortunately for the person reading aloud, I became apoplectic at what I heard Joyner say. I flipped out in the class. I already was on the alert to anyone talking about prophecy or false prophecy because of things the Lord had recently spoken to me. I had previously loved Joyner. I had even personally ordered The Final Quest...

WASHINGTON - After falling for six straight months, sales of existing homes posted an unexpected increase in February although the the median home price tumbled by the largest amount on record, a real estate trade group reported Monday. The National Association of Realtors said that sales of existing homes rose by 2.9 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.03 million units. It was the biggest increase in a year and caught economists by surprise. They had been expecting a small decline. Part of the sales improvement may have reflected more aggressive price cutting. The median home...

The National Association of Realtors testified today in Congress that the Veterans Home Loan Guaranty Program should continue to be a valuable asset in helping the nation's veterans achieve the dream of homeownership in a way that is safe, fair and affordable. "The VA Home Loan Guarantee Program is designed to provide favorable loan terms for veterans who are unable to qualify for a conventional loan," said Tony Agurs, a member of the NAR Board of Directors and Realtor from California who is a 21-year U.S. Marine Corps veteran. "The VA program offers unique and important benefits for helping our...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Housing price drops, driven by soaring foreclosure rates, accelerated during the three months ended September 30, according to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The median single-family house price in the United States fell to $220,800, which was down 2 percent from a year ago. Condo prices showed some resiliency: At $226,900, they rose 2 percent compared with 12 months ago. "The biggest decline in sales appears to be concentrated in areas that had significant levels of speculative investment, including Nevada, Florida and Arizona," Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, said in a...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Sales of existing homes in the U.S. are forecast to decline to a five-year low in 2007, a trade group for real estate agents said Tuesday - and the outlook for 2008 is worsening. The ninth-straight downwardly revised monthly forecast from the National Association of Realtors calls for U.S. existing home sales to fall 12.7 percent this year to 5.66 million, down from 6.48 million last year. Last month, the association predicted a 10.8 percent drop from a year ago. This year's sales would be the lowest since 2002, when sales hit 5.63 million. The realtors group...

The eighth straight downwardly revised forecast from the National Association of Realtors calls for U.S. existing home sales to be 10.8 percent below last year...New home sales are projected to fall to 805,000 this year down 23 percent from 1.05 million last year. If that forecast is accurate, it would be the worst year since 1997...

WASHINGTON - Plummeting stock prices. Mortgage lenders filing for bankruptcy or shutting down. Layoffs at homebuilders and banks. Soaring foreclosures and loan defaults. Damage from the nation's slumping housing market is evident throughout the economy and permeates financial markets. Add real estate agents to the growing list of victims, although they know few tears will be shed for them. The National Association of Realtors expects membership rolls to decline this year for the first time in a decade. The group ended 2006 with nearly 1.4 million members — almost double the roughly 716,000 it had in 1997 — but expects...

Real estate rebate ban advances Bill would block repeal sought by Justice Dept. By Richard Locker Contact May 15, 2007 NASHVILLE -- The Tennessee legislature approved a bill Monday banning brokers from giving rebates, gifts or prizes in a real estate transaction despite a strong, rare warning from federal antitrust lawyers that it is anticompetitive and will "cause serious harm to home buyers and sellers." The bill is sought by the Tennessee Association of Realtors. If signed into law by Gov. Phil Bredesen, it will block the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division's efforts to force the state's Real Estate...

NEW YORK Real estate advertisers are expected to cut their spending in newspapers, according to a new report from Classified Intelligence. The study found that 51% of real estate agents surveyed said they were advertising on free classified sites and that many plan to trim newspaper advertising because it’s “no longer necessary.” “The trend is clear: Real estate advertisers are looking to reduce their spending in print, and move to other media, including online and direct marketing techniques,” Peter Zollman, founding principal of Classified Intelligence, said in a statement. “While this has been a banner year for real estate advertising...

With new home slaes down 10.5 percent in February, and with home prices declining for the fourth month in a row, it's high time for a sober look at the consequences of a major housing correction. The Federal Reserve, Wall Street economists, and other observers of the U.S. economy are closely watching the housing market because it has been a key driver of economic growth over the past several years. Roughly a quarter of the jobs created since the 2001 recession have been in construction, real estate, and mortgage finance. Even more important, consumers have withdrawn $2.5 trillion in equity...

A Lakewood senator peeved that a real estate organization endorsed her Republican opponent in her last election demanded the group pay her $1,400 in "reparations." Sen. Deanna Hanna, a Democrat, said Thursday that she did nothing wrong, but the leader of the Senate Republicans called it "extortion." Hanna said the Jefferson County Realtors Association in 2004 announced it would not endorse any candidate in the Senate race, but the state group then contributed at least $1,400 to her opponent. "The point is I got screwed in the process and I was upset I was treated so shabbily," Hanna said. "They...

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) held its annual conference last week in San Francisco, where David Lereah, the chief economist for NAR, delivered his assessment of the current housing market and predictions for next year. As has been reported, 2005 will set records for home sales across the country, a trend that the Nashville market has enjoyed. Lereah has consistently asserted that there is no real estate bubble. He has preferred the term “balloon,” and has said that, at some point, the air would slowly escape the balloon. Today, most real estate practitioners agree that the air is leaving...