Real Estate Rates Steady

"Long-term mortgage interest rates were mostly flat Wednesday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield dipped to 4.87 percent.

The 30-year fixed-rate average held at 5.98 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate edged up to 5.69 percent. The 1-year adjustable was also up at 5.69 percent.

The 30-year Treasury bond yield sank to 5 percent.

Rates and bonds are current as of 7:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Mortgage rate figures are according to Bankrate.com, which publishes nightly averages based on its survey of 4,000 banks in 50 states. Points on these mortgages range from zero to 3.5...." Real Estate News

NAR counters segment on Discount Agents

NAR countsers segment on Discount Agents:

"It didn't take the National Association of Realtors (NAR) long to come out swinging at CBS after the network aired a report on discount real estate brokers. The report, anchored by Leslie Stahl was aired on 60 Minutes last Sunday and can be seen in its entirety by visiting our the video link at the bottom of this article.

NAR certainly has some reasons to be aggrieved. Stahl started her segment by stating that real estate agents pulled in $60 billion in commissions last year. "They charge," she said, "a 6 percent commission on the price of every house they sell." She called the 6 percent "sacrosanct" and "sacred" and said that the rate has remained constant even as the price of houses had quadrupled over the years...."from Mortgage News Daily

realtors report drop in existing home sales

Realtors report drop in existing home sales
Existing-home sales and prices dropped in November compared to the same month last year, the National Association of Realtors
The median price of existing homes dropped for the fourth consecutive month to $218,000, down 3.1 percent compared to November 2005. The average price of existing homes, at $266,000 in November, fell 1.8 percent compared to the same month last year.
Existing-home sales in the Midwest were unchanged in November, holding at a level of 1.42 million, and were 9.6 percent lower than November 2005. The median price in the Midwest was $165,000, which is 3.5 percent below a year ago. more from NAR