July, 2021

article thumbnail

The homebuyer journey is changing – So should you

Housing Wire

The 2021 RealTrends Gathering of Eagles real estate conference captured our attention when the role and future of the real estate transaction process for a homebuyer were lively debated. Big players such as Zillow, Redfin, Compass… etc. claim dominance. We examine the need for complete vendor-provided software solutions vs. building in-house. We watch as consolidation transpires all-around.

Brokerage 545
article thumbnail

Has the housing market peaked this year?

Sacramento Appraisal Blog

Are prices finally starting to slow? Can it really be happening? Has the housing market likely peaked for the year? The answer is YES. Here are two quick things on my mind. These trends are for the Sacramento region, but I suspect many markets across the country are starting to show similar stats (or will […].

Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

Even Today, No Algorithm Can Fully Replace Appraisers

Appraisal Buzz

In hindsight, I didn’t choose the easiest profession. Over the last 40 years at my job, I have come to the realization that there aren’t that many people who do what I do. In fact, I only know of four professions where people earn their living by stating their opinions: doctors, judges, economists, and professional real estate appraisers. I’ll let you guess which one I am.

Appraisal 397
article thumbnail

Is Appraisal Systemically Biased?

George Dell

Appraisal standards and regulations are mostly designed to discourage personal bias. But what about traditional appraisal practice? To understand this question, we must separate personal bias from analytic bias. Personal bias can be open, declared prejudice – or it may grow from basic human instinct – towards those who look like us. This basic tribal […].

Appraisal 370
article thumbnail

Dear Appraisers, Why do You Care about Your Competition’s Fees

The Appraiser Coach

As appraisers we often wear at least two different hats. You have heard me talk about the business owner cap versus the technician cap. While we often play both roles, Read More.

Appraisal 370
article thumbnail

MORE AMORIN INFLUENCE (MAI): The AI National Nominating Committee Design Is Being Attacked By FOJs

Miller Samuel

To all members of the Appraisal Institute: Before I start, I wanted to share what the Appraisal Institute's MAI designation is referred to by many of its members. I learned these two from an MAI instructor years ago (pre-merger) who told our class (as if to motivate us?) that MAI stands for: MORE ANNUAL INCOME. MADE AS INSTRUCTED. And now. MORE AMORIN INFLUENCE.

Design 370

More Trending

article thumbnail

The housing market is slowing (but not slow)

Sacramento Appraisal Blog

The housing market is slowing and today I want to share seven quick ways I’m seeing that. But here’s the thing. This market is still driving at warp speed. In short, the market is slowing, but it’s not slow. Podcast with Golden 1 Credit Union: If you need some background noise, here’s a podcast I […].

article thumbnail

CFPB/FHFA Poll Examines Pre-Pandemic Borrow Experience

Appraisal Buzz

Officials say the data provides a baseline for mortgage market trends and consumer sentiment about the origination process prior to COVID-19. The post CFPB/FHFA Poll Examines Pre-Pandemic Borrow Experience appeared first on theMReport.com. The post CFPB/FHFA Poll Examines Pre-Pandemic Borrow Experience appeared first on Appraisal Buzz.

Appraisal 370
article thumbnail

4 Home Repairs You Need to Hand Over to a Professional

Cleveland Appraisal Blog

I hope you all are doing great this week! My family and I are in the midst of a first floor renovation, whilst caring for my wife as she continues to recover from her broken ankle, as I mentioned in my last post. So, I am grateful to have guest blogger, Seth Murphy, who wrote this article for the Cleveland Appraisal Blog. Going through a major renovation helps me to appreciate some of the great points made here. .

article thumbnail

How to Stop Wasting Time on Spam Calls

The Appraiser Coach

Your phone rings, it’s a local number and you answer right away. Afterall, it could be an appraisal order from a new customer, a potential homeowner, a local bank, or. Read More.

Appraisal 326
article thumbnail

Desire for Homeownership Continues to Increase

Eyes on Housing

Seventeen percent of American adults are considering the purchase of a home within a year, according to NAHB’s Housing Trends Report for the second quarter of 2021. The share (now seasonally-adjusted) has increased for five consecutive quarters, after hitting a series low of 10% in the first quarter of 2020. The upward trend is clear evidence of Americans’ growing desire.

218
218
article thumbnail

Home sales are beginning to stall as buyers hit their limit

Housing Wire

Home sales fell 1.2% from May to June, the largest drop at this time of year on record since at least 2012, according to a new Redfin study released this week. The national median home-sale price hit a record high of $386,888, up 25% year over year, but a slight decline from the record of 26% in May. The number of homes for sale fell 28% year over year from 2020, and the typical home sold in just 14 days — a record low and, down from 39 days in June 2020.

Buyers 545
article thumbnail

Does it need a closet to be a bedroom?

Sacramento Appraisal Blog

Do you need a closet to be considered a bedroom? That’s a big question and the answer is simple. Actually, it’s not. Here are some things to consider. NOTE: This post does not address the requirements to be a bedroom. Here is a post I wrote about the four requirements to be a bedroom (over […].

Appraisal 463
article thumbnail

The Week Ahead: Will Record Home Price Gains Continue?

Appraisal Buzz

Supply concerns continue to overshadow low rates, as a new CoreLogic report will examine the path home prices took to close out Q2. The post The Week Ahead: Will Record Home Price Gains Continue? appeared first on theMReport.com. The post The Week Ahead: Will Record Home Price Gains Continue? appeared first on Appraisal Buzz.

Appraisal 370
article thumbnail

5 Contingencies You Should Never Remove When Buying a House

Realtor

Getty Images Buyers, we know it’s hard out there for you right now. In our current seller’s market, the national inventory of active listings is down 43.1% year over year, according to the Realtor.com June 2021 Housing Market Trends Report. And a scarcer selection means people are paying more, too, with listings up 12.7% in price. All of this demand means buyers are going to ever-greater lengths to make their offer stand out.

article thumbnail

Why Didn’t You Use This Comparable?

George Dell

Reviewers ask why a certain sale was not used as a comparable. Why don’t they know I already used the best comps, just like I was taught? Don’t they know I used what was competitive, similar, and “able to be compared” – Just like The Appraisal of Real Estate 15th ed. says: A good comparable […]. The post Why Didn’t You Use This Comparable? appeared first on George Dell, SRA, MAI, ASA, CRE.

article thumbnail

Why Builder Lumber Prices Remain Higher than Headlines Suggest

Eyes on Housing

Lumber futures prices have decreased by 52 percent (on a front-month basis) over the past seven weeks as mill prices have fallen 48 percent over the same period.[1] In contrast, prices paid by builders since late May have declined by a fraction of that impact. The disconnect—which has always existed—is inherent to the lumber supply chain and choices that must.

article thumbnail

For housing, look at bonds over MBS or federal debt

Housing Wire

This is the first time I am writing about mortgage backed securities (MBS) because I hardly ever consider this aspect of the housing ecosystem in my work. But since now even Federal Reserve members are discussing the pros and cons of MBS, this is a good time to give you my take. The 10-year yield has been in a downtrend since 1981, and so have mortgage rates, so the MBS market hasn’t eve been a focus of mine.

article thumbnail

How Delta variant may impact housing market

Housing Wire

The following Q&A comes from the HW+ exclusive Slack channel, where HousingWire’s Lead Analyst Logan Mohtashami answered questions on what to make of the latest housing data, his forecast for the rest of this year, and whether or not the housing market is returning to normal. He also addresses how he foresees the Delta variant impacting the housing market.

article thumbnail

Are we back to a normal housing market?

Housing Wire

In the last few months in my articles for HousingWire, I have written that monthly supply has been rising and that this increasing supply was the most critical metric for the housing market, specifically the new home sales market. According to the recent Census report, the three-month average is now at 5.53 months , which puts inventory right back into the range we had in the previous expansion.

article thumbnail

Mortgage applications jump 16%

Housing Wire

After several consecutive weeks of drops, mortgage applications jumped 16% for the week ending July 9, 2021, according to the latest report from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The prior week ‘s report showed a 1.8% drop in applications to the lowest level since January 2020. The sudden increase in applications was driven “heavily” by increased refinancing as mortgage rates dipped again, said Joel Kan, MBA associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting. “

Mortgage 521
article thumbnail

Existing home sales show strength of demographics

Housing Wire

The National Association of Realtors reported existing home sales for the month of June were under their estimates slightly. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.86 million achieved in June was a bit better than my expectations, ending four months of declines. If existing home sales were getting noticeably weaker, we would expect the sales trend to be around 5.3 million, which would be back to 2019 levels.

Realtors 516
article thumbnail

Fannie Mae: Sellers still thriving as home prices stay high

Housing Wire

Sellers, rejoice. Roughly 77% of respondents to Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI), a composite index designed to track the housing market and consumer confidence to sell or buy a home, said now is a good time to sell. That’s up from 67% the prior month. To boot, a reported 64% of survey respondents said it’s a bad time to buy a home, up from 56% last month.

Sellers 516
article thumbnail

Could online mortgage lenders reduce discrimination against Black homebuyers?

Housing Wire

The housing market is red hot. The Federal Housing Finance Agency house-price index rose 12% last year due to low inventories and high demand. Redfin , the popular real estate website, reports that nearly 40% of homes in the past month have sold above asking price. And the National Association of Realtors reported that, for the first time in a generation, housing prices rose in each of the 181 metro areas it tracks at the end of last year.

Mortgage 514
article thumbnail

The housing market is losing steam

Housing Wire

Mortgage applications for new home purchases in June decreased 3% from May and 23.8% year over year, suggesting a slowdown in the housing market, according to a recent report from the Mortgage Bankers Association. New single-family home sales were reported at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 704,000 units in June, a decrease of 5% from May’s pace of 741,000.

article thumbnail

Redfin: Bidding wars drop slightly in June

Housing Wire

Competition between would-be homebuyers is still high, but an increase in homes hitting the market in June brought some relief from bidding wars. Per a recent Redfin study , 65% of home offers written by company agents in June faced competition, down from a rate of 72.1% in May and a peak of 74.1% in April. That’s still higher than the 56.8% bidding-war rate Redfin saw in June 2020, when the housing market was starting to rebound from a temporary standstill triggered by pandemic shutdowns,

Inventory 511
article thumbnail

Mortgage rates dip back down to 2.98%

Housing Wire

The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell four basis points from the week prior to 2.98%, according to data released Thursday by Freddie Mac ‘s PMMS. Within the past almost three months, mortgage rates have only peaked above 3% one time. “Economic growth remains steady and is bolstering more segments of the economy,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist.

Mortgage 511
article thumbnail

Housing inventory slowly coming back as frenzy fades

Housing Wire

After four consecutive months of declines, existing home sales increased in June, jumping 1.4% from May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.86 million, according to the National Association of Realtors. You can thank a rise in housing inventory for the gains. Sales climbed 22.9% year over year, up from 4.77 million in June 2020 as housing inventory has slowly improved in recent months.

Inventory 508
article thumbnail

5 steps to choosing a home that will appreciate

Housing Wire

In 2020, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller price index reported the highest annual housing growth since 2013. Due to low inventory, sellers are able to put their homes up at a higher rate. And with today’s low interest rates, buyers have been rushing to purchase what’s available. The problem is, rushing to buy property might force you to settle for a house that won’t reward you financially.

article thumbnail

Pending home sales crush hopes of forbearance crash bros

Housing Wire

The most recent pending home sales report that soundly beat estimates after a downtrend in the previous months caused some serious head-scratching. Pending home sales were up a healthy 8% from April and just over 13% compared to the same month last year. Of course, last year’s comps should be discounted due to COVID-19. From the National Association of Realtors : “Pending home sales rose 8% in May from the prior month and 13.1% from one year ago.

Realtors 505
article thumbnail

Black Americans still face massive housing barriers

Housing Wire

Black Americans continue to face greater financial and generational barriers to homeownership than white Americans, with a recent study finding that only 45.1% of Black Americans bought or own their home as of the first quarter of 2021 — against 73.8% of white Americans. Per Redfin , 23% of white homeowners made no financial sacrifices to buy their first home, versus 14% of Black homeowners.

article thumbnail

Digital closings have spiked 228% since 2019

Housing Wire

The number of title and settlement companies offering digital closings has increased 228% since 2019, as more of the industry moves online in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Per a survey of 300 title professionals conducted by the American Land Title Association , only 14% of professionals offered digital closings prior to the health crisis. Now, in 2021, 46% offer digital closings, according to Diane Tomb, ALTA chief executive officer.

article thumbnail

Fannie & Freddie forbearances drop to 1.81%

Housing Wire

Another week, another drop in forbearance volume. Servicers’ forbearance portfolio volume fell two basis points to 3.48% from 3.50% last week, according to a survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Approximately 1.74 million homeowners are in forbearance plans, the MBA reported. The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance also decreased two basis points to 1.81%, and Ginnie Mae loans decreased one basis point to 4.35%.

Finance 493
article thumbnail

Biden administration prioritizes cybersecurity as fraud risks grow

Housing Wire

As the Biden administration recently spotlighted , cybersecurity remains a high-level concern for the privacy and security of Americans. In fact, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has experienced a record number of reported complaints as of late, jumping from 5 million logged complaints as of March 12, 2020, to 6 million as of May 15, 2021.

Tools 493