| Agents: Compete with real estate rebates and Agent takes commission hit to close short sales |
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Over the last few years, requests to lower real estate agents' commissions have died down due to the tough marketplace.As some markets are starting to improve, the call from some consumers -- especially buyers -- for agents to lower their commission rate has returned. What's a full-service agent to do?I recently had dinner with agents from a full-service brokerage who were experiencing a challenge with an online real estate company that rebates buyer commissions. The agents were upset that this online brokerage was using the multiple listing service Internet Data Exchange (IDX) feed and then posting one of their agent's pictures on the listing that belonged to the full-service firm. The online company has a robust platform, and younger buyers are drawn to the rich variety of data. The agents said that if they can get in front of the buyers they could easily show them the benefits of working with a full-service broker. [Read the full article] Mortgage rates were largely unchanged this week, according to a survey by Freddie Mac taken before investor reaction to the latest attempt by European leaders to address the region's debt crisis. Stocks soared today on hopes that the plan, which bolsters a European bailout fund, will avert a financial crisis.Most mortgages are funded by investor purchases of mortgage-backed securities, which are seen as a safe haven during times of economic uncertainty. When bonds fall out of favor with investors, their yields rise, driving up interest rates on mortgages.For the week ending Oct. 27, rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 4.1 percent with an average 0.8 point, essentially unchanged from 4.11 percent last week, Freddie Mac said in releasing the results of its latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey.This time a year ago, rates on 30-year mortgages averaged 4.23 percent before climbing to a 2011 high of 5.05 percent in February. [Read the full article] A monthly index that tracks pending sales of U.S. resale homes rose in September compared to a year ago, while falling on a month-to-month basis, the National Association of Realtors reported today.Also today, NAR released its latest forecast report for 2011 and 2012, revising up an earlier prediction for U.S. real gross domestic product growth in the wake of third-quarter GDP data released today.Third-quarter data showed a 2.5 percent rise in GDP, compared with 1.3 percent in the second quarter. NAR expects U.S. GDP growth of 1.8 percent for the full year in 2011, with 2.3 percent GDP growth in 2012. A previous NAR forecast, released last month, anticipated U.S. GDP growth of 1 percent this year and 1.3 percent in 2012. Actual U.S. GDP rose 3 percent in 2010 and declined 3.5 percent in 2009.NAR's Pending Home Sales Index, which measures real estate sales contracts signed but not yet closed, increased 6.4 percent year over year, to 84.5, in September. [Read the full article] 
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