A Division of the American Library Association

Best Business Web Sites: Real Estate

Sponsored by the BRASS Education Committee

Real Estate

Maintained by
Linda Hauck
Villanova University
linda.hauck@villanova.edu

Companies

FannieMae
http://www.fanniemae.com/index.jhtml

A government sponsored enterprise charged by Congress, FannieMae is a secondary mortgage lender. Offers industry news, pricing on mortgage backed securities and debt instruments as well at market for FannieMae owned homes.

FreddieMac
http://www.freddiemac.com/

Congressionally chartered Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation charged with increasing the availability of funds to mortgage lenders through mortgage purchases, guarantees and securitization. Offers consumer guidance on investing in a home and facilitates loan originations and workouts.

Government

Federal Housing Finance Board
http://www.fhfb.gov/

Regulates the Federal Home Loan Banks. Conducts interest rate surveys. Provides information on the Federal Home Loan Banks.

Federal Institutions Examination Council
http://www.ffiec.gov/default.htm

Offers data and reports on Community Reinvestment Act, Private Mortgage Insurance Companies disclosure and aggregate reports and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.

GinnieMae
http://www.ginniemae.gov/

Government agency that guarantees mortgages to facilitate their sale in secondary mortgage markets. Provides resources for prospective homeowners, issues of GinneaMae mortgage backed securities and investors in REMICs and Multiclass securities.

Housing and Urban Development
http://www.hud.gov/

Cabinet level agency charged with promoting homeownership, community development and combating housing discrimination. Offers consumer information of buying, selling and financing homes. Source for research and data in reports, periodicals and spreadsheets on rental and ownership housing markets, policy, homelessness, construction techniques, taxes and assisted housing to name a few.

U.S. Bureau of the Census: Economic Census: Construction
http://www.census.gov/econ/census02/guide/INDRPT23.HTM

Data on single dwelling, multi-family, industrial and commercial building, civil engineering construction and the specialty building trades such as masonry, glazing, siding, electrical and plumbing contractors.

U.S. Bureau of the Census: Housing Topics
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing.html

Access to the American Housing Survey, Decennial Census of Housing, Housing Vacancy Survey and Residential Finance Survey.

International

The Global Real Estate Project
http://burns.dcb.du.edu/main_new.asp

Compiled by the Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management at the University of Denver, this site offers a synopsis of the legal, regulatory and business practices impacting leasing, selling, financing and acquiring residential, industrial, retail and commercial property in over 80 countries. Pricing and vacancy trends are also provided as are links to general country profiles and business etiquette sources.

United Nations Environment Housing and Land Management Division
http://w3.unece.org/stat/HumanSettlements.asp

Access time series on housing and building and pricing statistics for European countries.

News

National Real Estate Investor
http://nreionline.com/

Search and brows industry news with archive.

Real Estate Listing Services

Cyberhomes
http://www.cyberhomes.com/

Residential real estate locator offering neighborhood mapping and pricing data.

RealtyTrac
http://www.realtytrac.com/

An online real estate market that facilitates discovering, buying and selling residential MLS listed properties, for sale by owner, auction foreclosure and bank foreclosure properties.

Zillow
http://www.zillow.com

Residential real estate portal supporting listing homes for sale, searching, estimating values and finance shopping.

Trade & Professional Associations

Mortgage Bankers Association
http://www.mbaa.org/

Industry and association news with outstanding data offerings on mortgage originations and defaults as well as forecasts.

National Association of Home Builders
http://www.nahb.org/page.aspx/generic/sectionID=150

Economic and housing data on sales, remodeling and materials as well as industry news releases and reports.

National Association of Realtors
http://www.realtor.org/

This association web site offers a robust range of content from field guides for doing business to breaking industry news and executive summaries of market research available for purchase.

National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts
http://www.reit.org

Provides industry, sector and company current and historical performance statistics. Also provides industry news and materials promoting investment in REITS for institutional and individual investors.