In the mythology of the American Dream, it’s the privacy of our sanctuaries that defines, comforts and nourishes us. Homes, we are told again and again, embody our innermost desires. But lately I’ve been feeling how other sorts of spaces — public, free and accessible to all — are emerging to show us what home really means. Perhaps home isn’t where we feather our nest with fancy things but the place that feeds the soul of a community.

 (01-14) 04:00 PST Washington — So, is it finally a farewell to ARMs, the once-ubiquitous adjustable-rate mortgages?

You might think so, with fixed-rate loans priced just slightly above one-year Treasury-indexed adjustables. After all, why bother with an ARM at 5.8 percent — the average contract rate at the end of December, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America — when you could get a 15-year fixed-rate loan at 5.9 percent or 30-year fixed-rate money at 6.2 percent, all with roughly the same origination fees?

 Cher is re-inventing herself again — this time as the flipper of a Palm Springs house she renovated and has listed at nearly $2.5 million.

“I’ve been coming to Palm Springs since I was a kid,” said Cher, 60. Her mother has lived in the area for 15 years.

“I’ve always loved the indoor-outdoor lifestyle you find there,” she said. “We designed this home to capture that feeling, and I’m very happy with the way it came out.”

The house, in the historic Las Palmas area of Palm Springs, was acquired in 2004 for $650,000, according to public records.

RISMEDIA, Jan. 10, 2007-They make it sound easy, but Hawaii Brokers Steve Hogin and Rosie Poree-Hogin say being fair and upfront with agents-and giving everyone a say in important decisions about the company-are the reasons why agents come to their company and “stay forever.” But there is much more than the beautiful Hawaiian weather keeping their loyal team dedicated to the task. Here, some informative Q&As with top brokers around the country on recruiting, training and motivating agents, and much more.

Private-label, subprime mortgage originators will have a more difficult time selling Wall Street investors risky loans in 2007, experts say, even as they face tougher underwriting and disclosure standards from regulators.

But don’t expect “exotic” loans to become extinct as the mortgage lending industry copes with slackening demand for all types of loans through layoffs, consolidation and modernization.

The Mortgage Bankers Association projects home loan originations will fall 11 percent this year, to $2.21 trillion, followed by an additional 7.4 percent decline to $2.05 trillion in 2008. By comparison, lenders funded $3.03 trillion in mortgage loans in 2005, the second-highest year on record, and an estimated $2.48 trillion in 2006.

Builders will cut construction to offset inventory surplus

After bottoming out in the fourth quarter of 2006, existing-home sales are forecast to gradually rise through 2007 and into 2008, while new-home sales should turnaround by summer, bringing modest price increases, according to the latest forecast by the National Association of Realtors.

David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, said annual totals for existing-home sales will be fairly comparable between 2006 and 2007. “We have to keep in mind that we were still in boom conditions during the first quarter of 2006 with a high sales volume and double-digit price appreciation,” he said. “We are starting 2007 from a relatively low point, so even with a gradual improvement in sales it’ll be pretty much of a wash in terms of annual totals. The good news is that the steady improvement in sales will support price appreciation moving forward.”