Housing Wire

OCTOBER 31, 2023

A Kansas City jury has found the National Association of Realtors , HomeServices of America and Keller Williams guilty of colluding to inflate or maintain high commission rates through NAR’s Clear Cooperation Rule, in the Sitzer/Burnett buyer broker commission lawsuit. The defendants have been ordered to pay damages of $1.78 billion. The jury reached its verdict after a little over two weeks of testimony from the plaintiffs and defendants.

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Sacramento Appraisal Blog

OCTOBER 26, 2023

You will either love it or hate it. This owner transformed a tract home built in 2002 into something with serious Midtown modern vibes. When I saw this house, I knew I wanted to write about it, and I think there are some great conversation nuggets. How do we value something when it has really […] The post Making a modern home from a tract home first appeared on Sacramento Appraisal Blog.

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Real Estate News

OCTOBER 31, 2023

After less than three hours of deliberation, the jury ruled for the plaintiffs in the landmark Sitzer/Burnett trial, awarding nearly $1.8 billion.

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Housing Wire

OCTOBER 18, 2023

One in five Americans now shares their homes with adult children, parents or grandparents. In the face of soaring housing costs nationwide, multigenerational living has gained traction as a path to make living expenses more manageable and to maintain closer family bonds. While many multigenerational families are living together under one roof, potentially leading to feelings of overcrowding, accessory dwelling units (ADUs) have emerged as a practical solution for affordable housing that allows f

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Housing Wire

OCTOBER 12, 2023

A coalition of trade associations — including the Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA), National Association of Realtors (NAR), and Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) — on Thursday called on the Biden administration to reduce the historically large spread between the 30-year mortgage rates and 10-year Treasuries. The trade groups noted that the spread sits at over 300 basis points (bps) compared to the historic norm of about 150 bps.

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Mortgage Realtors Finance Lending 542

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 21, 2023

The haunted house ride with the bond market and mortgage rates continued this week, but one housing data line hasn’t been spooked. New listing data appears unafraid of the mortgage rate ghost story over the last few months. Unlike last year, when new listings data had a noticeable move lower once mortgage rates reached 6%, 8% mortgage rates haven’t had any noticeable impact on the latest new listings data.

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Housing Wire

OCTOBER 9, 2023

Elevated mortgage rates continue to dampen already-pessimistic consumer housing sentiment and create affordability woes for both homebuyers and sellers. That feeling is underscored in Fannie Mae ’s latest Home Price Sentiment Index (HPSI), which decreased by 2.4 points in September to 64.5. The index tracks the housing market and consumer confidence to sell or buy a home.

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Mortgage Housing Market Sellers Marketing 518

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 28, 2023

If I had told you on Dec. 31, 2022, that mortgage rates would hit 8% in 2023, you would reasonably assume housing inventory would sky rocket higher, home prices would fall noticeably, and the number of price cuts would be higher year over year. Instead, the opposite has happened: home prices nationally hit an all-time high, inventory is still down year over year and the percentage of price cuts is 4% below last year’s level.

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Housing Wire

OCTOBER 31, 2023

We may be nearing the bottom in home sales even if mortgage rates don’t decline. As a result, there may be a light at the end of the tunnel in this crazy market cycle. At least, that’s what the data seems to suggest as inventory grows and new listings decline at a less aggressive rate than last year. To get the weekly picture of the housing market, watch the video above.

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Housing Wire

OCTOBER 27, 2023

To many, homebuying is a daunting, often confusing process. Admittedly, the myriad of documents requiring signatures can be overwhelming, especially for first-time homebuyers. Thankfully, there are a number of online resources that can help homebuyers navigate the process. The American Land Title Association, alongside our real estate industry partners, are committed to making transactions easier for everyone through consumer education efforts.

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Insurance Real Estate Buyers Real Estate Agent 511

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 20, 2023

The last two years of soaring mortgage rates and rising home prices have brought the fastest erosion in housing market affordability in modern history, and it’s hurt first-time homebuyers the most. A homebuyer must earn $114,627 to afford the median-priced U.S. home, up 15% ($15,285) from a year ago and up more than 50% since the start of the pandemic in early 2022.

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Housing Wire

OCTOBER 6, 2023

In a surprising twist, the National Association of Realtors has announced a change in how interprets its Participation Rule, which requires listing brokers to provide buyer brokers an offer of compensation in order to list on the multiple listing service (MLS). While previously NAR has stated that the offer of compensation could be as little as a penny or a dollar, in a reversal of this stance, NAR is now saying that listing brokers can offer nothing and still comply with the rule, as first repo

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Brokerage Agents Buyers Clients 511

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 16, 2023

The trough for the mortgage origination market is nearing an end point and 2024 is shaping up to be a better year for the industry, economists of the the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said at the 2023 Annual Convention & Expo in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The MBA doesn’t expect the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates further this year as real rates – which are inflation-adjusted– are 2%.

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Mortgage Marketing Inventory Technology 508

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 7, 2023

Mortgage rates were scarier than Freddy Krueger last week, rising to a 23-year high as some of the labor data surprised to the upside. Unfortunately, those higher mortgage rates didn’t spur inventory growth this week, so we didn’t even get the benefit we would usually see when rates rise. And higher mortgage rates pushed purchase application data down 6% week to week.

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Inventory New Listings Mortgage Marketing 508

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 25, 2023

While existing homebuyers have been battling high mortgage rates for months — which are now at 8% — the builders are wooing buyers with lower rates and incentives. Today, the new home sales data beat expectations and surprised people. However, sales have been rising slowly for some time. Using a low bar of sales from last year, the builder’s incentives have created more sales growth and their significant advantage is that they’re offering lower rates to move homes.

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Mortgage Inventory Construction Development 504

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 19, 2023

The savagely unhealthy housing market continues to unfold as we approach Halloween. Sales are still falling, home prices keep rising, and inventory is still negative year over year. The core problem? Too many people chasing too few goods — and days on the market are still under 30 days. On top of all that, mortgage rates are now at 8%. It’s like we invited Freddy Krueger, Jason and Michael Meyers to come for a haunted housing market party.

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Housing Market Marketing Inventory Buyers 505

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 11, 2023

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Sandra Thompson said Wednesday that the agency is working to provide more clarity on its framework and use alternatives amid a spike in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ‘s loan buybacks. The GSEs’ loan buybacks have been one of the top complaints among mortgage lenders in a near 8% mortgage rate environment.

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Housing Wire

OCTOBER 3, 2023

Mortgage rates and bond yields kept rising Tuesday as the job openings unexpectedly increased more than anticipated. But is that job openings data legit today? And will job openings continue higher, pushing mortgage rates even higher in the future? I believe today’s job openings data needs some context, but it didn’t matter to bond traders as bond yields shot up after the report.

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Mortgage Marketing Business Housing Market 505

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 16, 2023

Freddie Mac is rolling out a free tool for lenders, DPA One, that matches borrowers with down payment assistance programs across the country. DPA One streamlines the available state programs into a single source that lenders can use to find and compare programs for their borrowers. “Time and again, research reveals that the down payment is the single largest hurdle first-time homebuyers need to overcome to attain homeownership,” said Sonu Mittal, senior vice president of acquisitions at Freddie

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Housing Wire

OCTOBER 6, 2023

Like Anywhere Real Estate Friday morning, the terms of RE/MAX’s $55 million settlement with plaintiffs in two bombshell buyer commission lawsuits have been made public. Similar to Anywhere’s deal, the RE/MAX agreement stipulates that the firm make significant changes to what it requires of its agents and franchisees. Final court approval of the settlement is expected in early 2024.

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Housing Wire

OCTOBER 4, 2023

Mortgage applications ground to a halt for the week ending Sept. 29, falling 6% from the week prior as mortgage rates jumped to a 23-year high of 7.53%, according to new weekly data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Mortgage application activity is now at its lowest level since 1996, the MBA reported. Purchase mortgage application volume, in particular, slowed considerably for the week ending Sept. 29, down 22% from a year ago, according to unadjusted data.

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Mortgage Contracts Marketing 501

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 31, 2023

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — After 11 days of testimony , the eight-person jury here took just a little over two hours to decide its verdict in the Sitzer/Burnett commission lawsuit trial. It found the National Association of Realtors , HomeServices of America and Keller Williams guilty of collusion to maintain high commission rates. Despite the guilty verdict, other than having to pay nearly $1.8 billion in damages, many questions still remain about what this means for the real estate industry, a

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Housing Wire

OCTOBER 31, 2023

Following July’s mini rally , home prices posted a 2.6% annual gain in August, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index. Month-over-month, the U.S. National Index posted a seasonally adjusted increase of 0.9%, while the 10-City and 20-City Composites posted a 1% increase each. The August level was the highest recorded since the index began in 1987.

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Inventory Housing Market Contracts Realtors 497

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 19, 2023

In late August, when mortgage rates were well over 7% and beginning their climb toward 8%, Jeff Anderson had a client do what few other homeowners are willing to do: She gave up her 4% mortgage rate. You’re probably thinking, “Uh, why on earth would she do that?” The client wanted to pay off $30,000 in consumer debt, handle home improvement projects and help her daughter start college, said Anderson, a longtime mortgage advisor in Southern California.

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Mortgage Clients Lending Home Improvement 497

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 13, 2023

It’s a weird time to be a real estate agent , and I see it all around me here in the Denver metro. Brokers who rode the proverbial wave of real estate during the pandemic and have now had to reroute or pivot to figure out how to navigate a market that was once boasting the lowest rates in decades are disoriented. For those of us who have spent most of our careers in real estate, we know what it’s like to be part of a feast or famine industry.

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Real Estate Agent Real Estate Agents Marketing 497

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 30, 2023

loanDepot has rolled out a new down payment assistance program for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan borrowers that enables them to put zero money down upfront. In loanDepot’s program, dubbed AccessZERO, the down payment assistance is structured as a 10-year fully amortized repayable second mortgage. Borrowers must have a minimum credit score of 600 to qualify for the down payment assistance, which can be as much as 5% of the home purchase price or appraised value, whichever is less.

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Housing Wire

OCTOBER 19, 2023

Rates on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage eclipsed 8% this week as the Treasury yield surpassed 4.9% for the first time since 2007, according to one index. Per Mortgage News Daily , mortgage rates touched 8.03% on Wednesday, up from 7.69% the previous week. HousingWire’s Mortgage Rates Center showed Optimal Blue ’s average 30-year fixed rate for conventional loans at 7.78% on Wednesday, compared to 7.52% the previous week.

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Housing Wire

OCTOBER 13, 2023

Two top-20 mortgage lenders in the United States may combine forces amid the most challenging market in decades. CrossCountry Mortgage is in talks to acquire Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. , nine industry sources told HousingWire. The talks remain ongoing and are not believed to be in the late stages, sources said. If the deal is completed, it will catapult CrossCountry to becoming the fourth-largest mortgage lender in the country, behind United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), Pennymac Financial a

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Housing Wire

OCTOBER 19, 2023

Soaring interest rates and a higher-for-longer policy will take its toll on the economy, according to Fannie Mae ’s Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) group. “The cause of the recent run-up in long-term rates is multifactorial and likely includes some expectation of more resilient economic growth coupled with a higher-for-longer monetary policy stance from the Federal Reserve ,” the ESR group said in its latest economic commentary.

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Mortgage Inventory Finance Marketing 492

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 6, 2023

With 30-year fixed mortgage rates climbing to a 23-year high, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) called on the Federal Reserve to bring some certainty to financial markets. “It is time, and very important for the Fed to make clear two statements — the Fed is at the end of its rate hikes; the Fed will not consider selling its mortgage-backed securities (MBS) holdings until and unless the housing finance market has stabilized and mortgage-to-Treasury spreads have normalized,” MBA president and

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Housing Wire

OCTOBER 6, 2023

Mortgage lenders are betting on down-payment assistance programs, buy-down options and renovation products to provide brokers opportunities to win in a market with mortgage rates nearing 8%, a lack of inventory and high home prices. Meanwhile, in addition to diversifying their portfolios, brokerage firm owners are keeping their cost structure under control to be profitable in a shrinking market.

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Mortgage Real Estate Agent Renovations Finance 493

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 11, 2023

CEDAR CREEK, Texas — Real estate investment trust Rithm Capital Corp.’s $720 million acquisition of Computershare Mortgage Services Inc. allows the company to improve its fee-based income as the deal includes the purchase of Specialized Loan Servicing LLC (SLS). “The SLS platform for us is very much the focus as to how we think about fee-based income and third-party business,” Baron Silverstein, president at NewRez , a subsidiary of Rithm, said on Wednesday afternoon during the HousingWire

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Housing Wire

OCTOBER 27, 2023

As the trial of Burnett v. the National Association of Realtors (NAR), et al kicked off this week in a Kansas City, Missouri, federal courtroom, there is a lot at stake for consumers and business competition. Class action attorneys allege real estate commission rates are too high and buyer brokers are being paid too much due to NAR rules. In reality, consumers are better off and business competition thrives very much because of NAR’s rules and how well local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) broker

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Real Estate Agent Real Estate Realtors Buyers 488

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 24, 2023

Everyone knows that potential homebuyers are waiting for better affordability. But if demand for homes at current prices is down then why haven’t home prices fallen to meet the lower demand? The short answer is that while homebuyer demand is indeed low, new supply remains very low, too. For home prices to adjust significantly, we need an imbalance of supply versus demand, and this market is surprisingly balanced.

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