Housing Wire
AUGUST 21, 2024
Climate change has supercharged wildfires in high-risk areas across the country, and the impacts on housing could be catastrophic. A new report from CoreLogic found that 2.6 million homes across 14 western states are at risk from wildfires. California is by far the state with the most homes in danger at 1,258,748, followed by Colorado (321,294) and Texas (244,617).
Appraisal Buzz
AUGUST 21, 2024
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) monthly Loan Monitoring Survey , the total number of loans now in forbearance increased from 0.23% to 0.27% as of July 31, 2024. The MBA estimates that 135,000 homeowners are currently in forbearance plans, as the nation’s mortgage servicers have provided forbearance to approximately 8.2 million borrowers since March 2020.
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Housing Wire
AUGUST 21, 2024
While there have not been any “ horror stories ” in the first few days since business practice changes mandated by the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) commission lawsuit settlement agreement were implemented, that doesn’t mean it has been completely smooth sailing for real estate professionals. For Linda O’Koniewski , the broker-owner of Leading Edge Real Estate , one of the largest hiccups so far was when one of her agents brought a buyer offer that included concessions to a sel
Appraisal Buzz
AUGUST 21, 2024
According to the Fannie Mae Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) Group’s August 2024 commentary , total home sales are predicted to be lower than previously predicted through the end of 2024 and then not significantly increase until later in 2025, even with the recent decline in mortgage rates. In reaction to the more favorable rate environment, purchase mortgage applications have hardly changed, according to the ESR Group, and high-frequency indicators of house purchase demand, such as mortgag
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Housing Wire
AUGUST 21, 2024
Mortgage rates have moved lower in recent months, but Fannie Mae economists said Wednesday that this won’t be enough to increase the number of homes sold in the foreseeable future. Fannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) Group downgraded its forecasts for 2024 and 2025 home sales based on a number of reliable metrics that have “barely budged in response to the more favorable rate environment.“ These include purchase mortgage application levels, home tour requests and online views of l
Property Appraisal Zone brings together the best content for appraisal professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Housing Wire
AUGUST 21, 2024
Plaintiffs’ attorneys in the Gibson copycat commission lawsuit are seeking $36.8 million, or one-third of the $110.6 million total settlement in the case, according to documents filed on Tuesday. This amount is only for the Gibson suit, which was combined with the Umpa suit in April, as the settlements for this suit are separate from the ones negotiated with the Sitzer/Burnett and Moehrl plaintiffs.
Appraisal Buzz
AUGUST 21, 2024
In this episode, we welcome Julie Giesbrecht, Senior Policy Analyst at the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Julie discusses her career journey to her current role at FHFA, and provides insights into the recent policy changes regarding Reconsideration of Value (ROV). Julie highlights the benefits of these policies for appraisers and lenders, and details new communication requirements about the ROV process.
Housing Wire
AUGUST 21, 2024
We all know there are some significant changes happening in the real estate industry. It’s more important now than ever that your vendor and affiliate relationships become a cohesive extension of you. Whether you have a team or not, you should think of vendors and affiliates as an extension of your team. If you consider your vendors and affiliates part of your team, do they know that?
Real Estate News
AUGUST 21, 2024
In a court filing, lawyers called the nearly $37 million request “reasonable” and “appropriate” based on the risk and hours involved.
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Housing Wire
AUGUST 21, 2024
Doing the right thing is easy in theory, but often the hardest in practice. Our family established Baird & Warner more than a century ago with a mission to serve buyers and sellers with transparency and integrity, and we’ve endured many changes in our industry during this time. Sometimes, our choices haven’t been the most popular, but it’s always been in our DNA to do what’s right.
Real Estate News
AUGUST 21, 2024
“We have to protect our brokers and agents” from the risks of violating the NAR deal to settle commissions lawsuits, said Merri Jo Cowen, CEO of Stellar MLS.
Housing Wire
AUGUST 21, 2024
In conjunction with National Senior Citizens Day on Wednesday, the New York Department of State ’s Division of Consumer Protection is circulating a series of tips that aim to help older adults avoid financial scams and exploitation. One way that bad actors may try to take advantage of older Americans is through reverse mortgages. “Not all reverse mortgages are scams, but scammers can pose as lenders to pressure you into signing contracts,” the division advises in its bulletin.
Appraisal Buzz
AUGUST 21, 2024
PERSON OF THE WEEK: As the mortgage lending industry rushes to leverage advanced AI, there are tenets that should be kept in mind to ensure a long-term sustainable roadmap for success. AI can help lenders grow revenue, gain operating efficiencies, and ensure regulatory compliance – but the technology and tools are accelerating at a dramatic pace. To learn more about how AI is transforming mortgage lending, MortgageOrb recently interviewed Sundeep Mathur, vice president fintech business, TAVANT.
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Housing Wire
AUGUST 21, 2024
David Heilman, principal for HomeGrown Financial in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina , didn’t feel like he had to shake up his approach to working with seniors when he became involved in the reverse mortgage industry. Having experience in the health care field prior to entering the mortgage business, it mainly meant reorienting himself from serving the physical health needs of older Americans to now serving their financial health needs.
Appraisal Buzz
AUGUST 21, 2024
This piece was co-authored by Sridhar Loganathan , and originally appeared in the August 2024 edition of MortgagePoint magazine, online now. After years of record low default and foreclosure volume, any significant new default servicing volume could be called “a spike.” But with a number of COVID-era assistance programs coming to an end, and the continued presence of challenging consumer financial pressures, it appears default servicers will soon be managing increased demand.
Housing Wire
AUGUST 21, 2024
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has settled a case with Florida-based Fay Servicing over illegal conduct in foreclosures. The deal includes a $2 million fine and potential limitations to the CEO’s compensation. A company spokesperson wrote to HousingWire that “Fay continues to strongly disagree with the CFPB’s claims in this matter, but we made a business decision to settle.” “While we disagree with the CFPB’s positions, we are pleased to put this matter behind
Appraisal Buzz
AUGUST 21, 2024
Incenter Lending-in-a-Box President Ralph Armenta Ralph Armenta has joined Incenter Lender Services as President, Lending-in-a-Box. Incenter is a family of companies that collaborate on solutions to improve the financial and operational performance of both lenders and depositories. In his new role, Armenta will be responsible for accelerating a variety of personal/non-mortgage and mortgage loan products into the market that generate accretive revenues and liquidity for lenders, depositories, ind
George Dell
AUGUST 21, 2024
Is appraisal accuracy measured by contract price? A new Guest Post from John Fariss, MNAA, a member of the Community of Asset Analysts. In recent discussions surrounding the accuracy of home appraisals, a critical flaw has emerged in the prevailing narrative: the assumption that the contract price is the correct value of a property. This misconception […] The post Is Contract Price Market Value?
Appraisal Buzz
AUGUST 21, 2024
Home prices increased 0.3% nationally in July compared with June and were up 5.3% compared with July 2023, according to First American’s home price index. Home prices are now 55% higher compared to pre-pandemic levels (February 2020), First American says. However, the rate of appreciation has been slowing since about the start of this year. “July marked the seventh consecutive month of slowing annualized house price appreciation,” says Mark Fleming, chief economist for First American, in a state
Inman
AUGUST 21, 2024
Doug Miller of Consumer Advocates in American Real Estate, the initiator behind the first bombshell antitrust lawsuit, sounds alarm against Realtor talking points that "continue steering.
Appraisal Buzz
AUGUST 21, 2024
Mortgage application volume plummeted 10.1% during the week ended August 16, despite mortgage rates dipping slightly lower, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey. During the week, the average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage decreased to 6.50%, down from 6.54% the previous week. The dip was primarily due to a drop in applications for refinances, which surged 35% the previous week as rates tumbled.
Inman
AUGUST 21, 2024
Affordability challenges will limit growth in home sales to 0.5 percent this year — to just 4.78 million — before surging to 5.19 million in 2025, according to the latest housing forecast from Fannie Mae economists.
Eyes on Housing
AUGUST 21, 2024
An expected impact of the virus crisis was a need for more residential space, as people use homes for more purposes including work. Home size correspondingly increased in 2021 as interest rates reached historic lows. However, as interest rates increased in 2022 and 2023, and housing affordability worsened, the demand for home size has trended.
Inman
AUGUST 21, 2024
The numbers suggest that the labor market cooled off much faster than was previously thought and is not in as strong a position as believed. The Federal Reserve now also has a case to make a bigger cut in interest rates than initially anticipated come September.
Eyes on Housing
AUGUST 21, 2024
Nonfarm payroll employment increased in 28 states in July compared to the previous month, while 22 states saw a decrease. The District of Columbia reported no change. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nationwide total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 114,000 in July, following a gain of 179,000 jobs in June. On a month-over-month.
Inman
AUGUST 21, 2024
What jitters, hiccups and horror stories did you encounter (if any) as buyer agreements and MLS-based commission offers changed?
Appraiserblogs
AUGUST 21, 2024
The censorship, scapegoating and sidelining of appraisers has done real damage to borrowers and the purchasers of bonds… Attacks on free speech are on the rise in the English-speaking world. A bill introduced in Canada to thwart online “anarchy and lawlessness” would create a Canadian Ministry of Truth empowered to punish authors Ottawa politicians find problematic.
Inman
AUGUST 21, 2024
Title tech provider expects $85 million merger with Dallas, Texas-based title insurance underwriter Title Resources Group to close later this year.
BiggerPockets
AUGUST 21, 2024
The rental market has been on a downward trajectory for a while, but now a third of landlords are offering concessions.
Inman
AUGUST 21, 2024
The CEO of Douglas Elliman was elected a director of the company alongside David K. Chene and Patrick J. Bartels during an annual stockholders meeting on Wednesday, much to the dismay of some disgruntled stockholders.
BiggerPockets
AUGUST 21, 2024
Making a $300,000 profit from ONE rental?! Imagine how quickly you could reach financial freedom by raking in this amount of profit and reinvesting it into your real estate portfolio.
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