Spring looks like a washout for housing market

April is supposed to be one of the best months for the housing industry, when builders, lenders and real estate agents gear up for the busy spring selling season. But this year, it’s turning out to be one of the worst on record.

MSNBC

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Mortgage Rates Edge up on Fed Inflation Jitters

reddie Mac (NYSE:FRE) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey® (PMMS®) in which the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 6.21 percent with an average 0.4 point for the week ending May 17, 2007, up from last week when it averaged 6.15 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.60 percent. The 15-year FRM this week averaged 5.92 percent with an average 0.4 point, up from last week when it averaged 5.87 percent. A year ago, the 15-year FRM averaged 6.20 percent

Freddie Mac

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Redfin Gets Its 15 in 60 Minutes

Its getting tougher For NAR to argue for the 6 percent commission as an industry when home prices have risen a lot more than that and services haven’t changed that much. NAR continues to put itself in the hot seat with no end in sight. Redfin is offering a rebate of up to 2/3% of the real estate agents share of the commission.

Matrix

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Power Tools on Technology
It came from Seattle

Redfin lets buyers do their own shopping with tools to help them research and find the home they'd like to buy, then offers the services of a real estate agent to assist in making a formal offer, negotiating the deal, lining up inspections and coordinating the closing
The company is barely a year old, and already "[o]ur numbers have gone from zero percent market share to about 2 percent [in the Seattle area]," CEO Glenn Kelman told the Seattle Times.
NOTE: is real estate tech savvy or touch savvy? hmmmm

National Association of Realtors