HUD announces $24.8 million ‘sweat equity’ grants

HUD announces $24.8 million ‘sweat equity’ grants: "WASHINGTON -- Feb. 27, 2006 -- More than 1,500 families could soon own a home as a result of $24.8 million in grants announced by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) through its Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP). The money will go to four national and regional organizations.

'This funding not only helps families to purchase their first home, but taps into their own sweat equity to make them feel more invested in their new neighborhood,' says Assistant Secretary Pamela Patenaude. 'With a little investment and elbow grease, great things can happen and our SHOP program is proof of that.'

Nonprofit organizations awarded SHOP grants include:

� ACORN Housing Corporation, $572,000
� Community Frameworks, $4,500,000
� Housing Assistance Council, $9,000,000
� Habitat for Humanity International, $10,773,000"

NAR launches leading index for commercial real estate

NAR launches leading index for commercial real estate: "WASHINGTON -- Feb. 23, 2006 -- The National Association of Realtors� (NAR) launched a new leading indicator for the commercial real estate market yesterday -- called the Commercial Leading Indicator for Brokerage Activity -- and it indicates that an increase in commercial brokerage activity can be expected over the next six to nine months.

David Lereah, NAR�s chief economist, says the new index shows the broad recovery in commercial real estate markets will continue. �In fact, the index increased in nine of the last 10 quarters -- this trend implies that commercial activity of net absorption and the completion of new buildings will remain solid through the third quarter of this year.�"

A New Home Site on the Block

A New Home Site on the Block

A New Home Site on the Block
Former Expedia founder Richard Barton's Zillow.com aims to hook users with automated real estate appraisals. Will its ad model work?


Researching real estate on the Web? If so, you're probably looking for the answer to one of two questions: What is my home worth, and which houses are for sale in the neighborhood where I want to live? To get an online estimate of a home's value, you often have to hand over your name and phone number so a service like HouseValues.com (SOLD ) can send a local agent your way. That will begin to change with the unveiling of Zillow.com, the long-awaited online real estate startup led by Expedia (EXPE ) founder Richard N. Barton.

Zillow's main product will be an automated home-appraisal service, supported by advertising and based on a vast storehouse of data (2 terabytes, for anyone keeping score) that covers public records of home sales across the country. Even in its beta-testing phase, which opens to the public Feb. 8, the site has enough data to provide appraisals -- or "Zestimates" -- for 40 million U.S. homes. That's almost half the nation's single-family units.

EXTENDED RANGE FORECAST OF ATLANTIC SEASONAL HURRICANE ACTIVITY AND U.S. LANDFALL STRIKE PROBABILITY FOR 2006

EXTENDED RANGE FORECAST OF ATLANTIC SEASONAL HURRICANE ACTIVITY AND U.S. LANDFALL STRIKE PROBABILITY FOR 2006: "Most Southeast coastal residents probably do not know how fortunate they had been in the prior 38-year period (1966-2003) leading up to 2004-2005 when there were only 17 major hurricanes (0.45/year) that crossed the U.S. coastline. In the prior 40-year period of 1926-1965, there were 36 major hurricanes (0.90/year or twice as many) that made U.S. landfall. It is understandable that coastal residents were not prepared for the great upsurge in landfalling major hurricanes in 2004-2005.

We should interpret the last two years of unusual large numbers of U.S. landfalling hurricanes as natural but very low probability years. During 1966-2003, the U.S. hurricane landfall numbers were substantially below the long-term average. In the last two seasons, they have been much above the long-term average. Although the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons have had an unusually high number of major landfall events, the overall Atlantic basin hurricane activity has not been much more active than five of the recent hurricane seasons since 1995 (i.e., 1995-1996, 1998-1999, 2003). What has made the 2004-2005 seasons so unusually destructive is the higher percent of major hurricanes which moved over the U.S. coastline. These landfall events were not primarily a function of the overall Atlantic basin net major hurricane numbers, but rather of the favorable broad-scale Atlantic upper-air steering currents which were present the last two seasons. It was these favorable Atlantic steering currents which caused so many of the major hurricanes which formed to come ashore.

It is rare to have two consecutive years with such a strong simultaneous combination of high amounts of major hurricane activity together with especially favorable steering flow cu"

MBA forecasts strong economic growth for 2006

MBA forecasts strong economic growth for 2006: "WASHINGTON, DC -- Feb, 6, 2006 -- The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is projecting continued strong economic growth of 3.5 percent for 2006, with moderate, below-trend growth of 3.3 percent in 2007, according to its recent three-year economic forecast update. Total residential mortgage production in 2006 will be $2.24 trillion, the fifth-biggest year on record, but a 19.5 percent decline relative to 2005.

'We expect economic growth to remain solid in 2006, but we will begin to see below-trend growth for 2007,' said Doug Duncan, MBA chief economist and senior vice president for research and business development. 'Housing will decline modestly from the fifth consecutive record year in 2005, but will remain robust historically. Home price appreciation rates will moderate compared to recent years.'"