Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 17, 2022

Potential homebuyers seeking Freddie Mac -backed mortgages will no longer have to hunt for paper pay stubs to verify their income. Freddie Mac announced on Wednesday that it will roll out an automated process that allows mortgage lenders to assess a prospective homebuyer’s direct deposit income. Freddie Mac claims this would reduce the paper documentation burden on borrowers, speed loan closing and simplify the lending process.

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Appraisal Buzz

FEBRUARY 28, 2022

“We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short term and underestimate the effect in the long term.” This is the little-known Law of Amara that describes how we perceive the impact of new technology on our lives. Before we discuss the impact of technology on the future of appraisal data, it’s good to get a historical perspective. Forty years ago, appraisers were storing property data on Property Cards.

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Appraisal Inspection Technology Training 482

Sacramento Appraisal Blog

FEBRUARY 22, 2022

The market is going to crash. This time it’s going to be even worse. Have you been seeing more doom and gloom housing headlines? I sure have. This week I’ve had quite a few articles emailed to me. What do you think of this one? What do stats actually show? What do I say to […].

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Real Estate Marketing Housing Market Appraisal 476

Cleveland Appraisal Blog

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

Hello everyone! Home businesses are becoming more common these days. This week, I welcome back guest blogger June Duncan, who wrote this article for the Cleveland Appraisal Blog. I hope you enjoy her great tips on moving and starting a home business! Part of running a home business successfully depends on having a home that works well for your lifestyle and your business.

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Business Appraisal Real Estate Legal 243

Speaker: Timothy Allsopp

Payment challenges often lead to delayed projects, financial bottlenecks, and strained relationships. With construction projects becoming more complex, outdated processes are no longer sustainable. By refining financial workflow, companies can improve cash flow, reduce error, and foster trust between stakeholders. Discover practical strategies for redesigning payment systems to overcome workflow challenges while creating a smoother, more reliable process for contractors and subcontractors alike.

Construction

Eyes on Housing

FEBRUARY 22, 2022

An expected impact of the virus crisis is a need for more residential space, as people use homes for more purposes including work. Recent data confirms this impact on the market continues to occur. According to fourth quarter 2021 data from the Census Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design and NAHB analysis, median single-family square floor area increased.

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Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

Stocks fell Thursday as Russian troops launched a full-scale attack in Ukraine, and at least in the short-term, the turmoil could lower mortgage rates in the U.S. During large-scale disruptions, investors often flee to safer options, such as U.S. Treasury notes, bonds and mortgage-backed securities. All things being equal, that dynamic tends to put downward pressure on mortgage rates.

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Mortgage Insurance Investors Housing Market 493

Appraisal Buzz

FEBRUARY 7, 2022

It appears the FHFA is making good on their promise. Fannie Mae announced on January 19, 2022 that they will be accepting desktop appraisals for eligible loan transactions. The team at Fannie Mae were the first to announce requirements lockstep with their Regulator that desktop appraisals will become a normal part of the appraisal product landscape.

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Sacramento Appraisal Blog

FEBRUARY 1, 2022

Do you smell that? It’s price growth. The market is rising, which is normal for January. But this year it feels extra aggressive. Let’s talk about it. Scroll quickly or digest slowly. UPCOMING PUBLIC SPEAKING GIGS: 2/9/2022 Yolo Associaton of Realtors market update (details) 2/18/2022 WCR El Dorado County market update (details) 2/25/2022 Placer Association […].

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Cleveland Appraisal Blog

FEBRUARY 11, 2022

Several years ago, before the pandemic, I signed up for the Cleveland Half Marathon. Well, the pandemic struck the spring of the marathon. I was given the option to postpone my run for a couple of years. So, I did. When I signed up several years ago, I had some work to do to get back into running shape. Sadly, since that time, I consumed too many peanut M&M’s whilst binging movies for an extended period, which has not helped my running.

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Appraisal Market Value Clients Design 221

Advertiser: Trellis

Trellis is a state trial court research and analytics platform that provides Real Estate Professionals (Buyers, Foreclosure, Loan Modification, etc.) with LEADS on Pre-Foreclosures, Lis Pendes, Distressed Assets and more — to help uncover **new** opportunities and grow their business. The process is quick and easy — and all in real time. Trellis will supply you with a link to the relevant dockets, a Leads sheet and access to its UI where applicable.

Real Estate

Eyes on Housing

FEBRUARY 15, 2022

The prices of goods used in residential construction ex-energy climbed 3.6% in January (not seasonally adjusted), according to the latest Producer Price Index (PPI) report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The index was led higher by a 25.4% jump in softwood lumber prices and 9.0% price increases for indoor and outdoor paint. Building materials prices increased 20.3%, year-over-year, and have.

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Construction 202

The Appraiser Coach

FEBRUARY 22, 2022

What makes a contract a contract? Is it the legal prose, the professional typesetting, or the date across the top? I’m no lawyer, but my mentor once told me that. Read More.

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Contracts Legal Inspection Advertising 195

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 18, 2022

The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales for January came in as a big beat at 6.5 million. This is well above my peak sales ranges for 2022, as the sales trend forecast was between 5.74 million and 6.16 million. So, we have started the year off on a stronger-than-expected note. I believe there might have been some spillover demand from December into January as the December number came in lighter than expected.

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Inventory Housing Market Buyers Investors 483

Appraisal Buzz

FEBRUARY 25, 2022

The number of newly listed homes for sale during the four weeks ending February 20 was down just 2% year over year, according to a new report from Redfin. That’s the smallest decline since mid-November. More new listings were met with hearty demand. Pending sales rose 1%, the first increase since mid-January. The market again set new record highs for home sale prices, asking prices, buyers’ mortgage payments and the share of homes selling.

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New Listings Buyers Appraisal Mortgage 370

Sacramento Appraisal Blog

FEBRUARY 15, 2022

There are lots of big questions in life. Are you playing Wordle? Did you like the Super Bowl halftime show? And what are rising mortgage rates going to do to the housing market? Let’s talk about this. Okay, really quick. Yes, I play Wordle almost every day. And yes, I liked the halftime show. What […].

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Mortgage Housing Market Marketing Appraisal 355

George Dell

FEBRUARY 16, 2022

Some form of Universal Valuation Standards (UVS)© appears to be one way to resolve the multiple issues we see today. Our most recent series focused on the obsolescence of the traditional appraisal process. The primary cause of the obsolescence is the shift from subjective onesey-threesy methods of picking comps – to immediate electronic download of […].

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Appraisal Process Valuation Appraisal 195

Eyes on Housing

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

Most analyses of lumber price trends and levels fail to account for inflation because the price data for softwood lumber used in framing applications is generally quoted using the Random Lengths Framing Lumber Composite Price or lumber futures prices–neither of which is inflation-adjusted.

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The Appraiser Coach

FEBRUARY 15, 2022

Every Sunday evening at 8 pm I get a notification on my phone that says “Don’t forget your big 3!” What are the big 3? The big 3 are weekly. Read More.

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Advertising Inspection Business Government 195

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

Amid higher rates, lower volumes, and fiercer competition , Santander Bank decided it will stop originating residential mortgages and home equity loans in the United States. On Wednesday, the bank announced that it will consider applications for residential mortgage or home equity line of credit (HELOC) on the portal EZApply only until Feb. 11. The Spanish bank said it will continue to service current loans and honor pending borrowers’ applications.

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Mortgage Business Finance 468

Appraisal Buzz

FEBRUARY 23, 2022

This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below: Password: The post Protected: Mark Verrett Named Chief Executive Officer of Accurity Consolidated appeared first on Appraisal Buzz.

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Appraisal 74

Sacramento Appraisal Blog

FEBRUARY 8, 2022

How do we choose comps in such a lopsided market? I had a great question about this recently, so I wanted to share some thoughts. Anything to add? I’d love to hear your take in the comments. QUESTION: With so many listings receiving offers above list, and people having to pay the shortfall between the […].

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Marketing Market Value Appraisal 345

George Dell

FEBRUARY 9, 2022

Appraisers have standards. AVMs have no standards. Other valuation types are “waivered” or exempt. Appraisers have licenses. AVMs have no licenses. Other valuation types are “waivered” or exempt. Appraiser’s foot the bill for much of the valuation world – reviewers, evaluators, programmers, checklist checkers, and unlicensed “valuation analysts.

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Valuation Appraisal 195

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

Zillow has been pilloried for diving headfirst into iBuying only to announce the money-losing enterprise’s demise in November. Meanwhile, Opendoor , the OG of an iBuying company with a national presence and patina of technological prowess, was upheld as doing things right. “If you read our SPAC filings,” Opendoor co-founder Keith Rabois, who is no longer part of company leadership, tweeted in November , “We explained how our algorithms actually work vs.

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Investors Real Estate Inventory Finance 459

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 17, 2022

The average 30-year-fixed rate mortgage climbed to 3.92% for the week ending Feb. 17, up 23 basis points from the previous week. It’s the highest level since May 2019, according to the latest Freddie Mac PMMS Mortgage Survey. A year ago, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.81%. The PMMS report is focused on conventional, conforming, fully amortizing home purchase loans for borrowers who put 20% down and have excellent credit.

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Mortgage 448

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 22, 2022

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city price index posted a 18.6% year-over-year gain in December, up marginally from 18.3% the previous month. The index increased 1.5% from November 2021. The national home price index showed similar helium, with an 18.8% growth rate between December 2021 and December 2020, basically in line with price growth in November.

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Inventory Finance Buyers Mortgage 443

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 18, 2022

Homebuyers flocked to what little inventory existed in January, with existing-home sales rising 6.7% from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.5 million. January sales fell 2.3% from a year earlier, though the median existing-home price rose 15.4% annually to $350,000, according to the Friday report from the National Association of Realtors.

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Supply Chain Inventory Buyers Contracts 435

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 10, 2022

The average 30-year-fixed rate mortgage climbed to 3.69% for the week ending Feb. 3, up eight basis points from the previous week. It’s the highest level since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest Freddie Mac PMMS Mortgage Survey. Before the uptick, the rates remained flat at 3.55% for three weeks, reflecting the impact of the Omicron variant in the economy.

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Mortgage Marketing 435

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 1, 2022

Home prices across the nation climbed 18.5% year-over-year in December, according to a monthly report published by CoreLogic. On a month-over-month basis, home price gains rose by 1.3% in December 2021 compared to November. Consumer desire for homeownership paired with a low supply of for-sale homes were the main contributors to a red-hot housing market in 2021.

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Supply Chain Inventory Mortgage Housing Market 435

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

This article is part of our HousingWire 2022 forecast series. After the series wraps, join us on February 8 for the HW+ Virtual 2022 Forecast Event. Bringing together some of the top economists and researchers in housing, the event will provide an in-depth look at the predictions for this year, along with a roundtable discussion on how these insights apply to your business.

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Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 28, 2022

On Friday, the National Association of Realtors released its pending home sales data showing a third month of declines. Even though the recent existing-home sales data has been outperforming my expectations , the pending home sales data to me looks more in line with my expectations for 2022. From NAR : “Pending home sales slumped in January, continuing what is now a three-month drop in transactions, the National Association of Realtors reported.

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Inventory Housing Market Realtors Marketing 429

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 17, 2022

On Thursday, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that housing permits came in at an excellent print at 1,899,000 , surprising me. Then I took a look at housing completions at 1,246,000, and it reminded me of the sad state of the housing market. We have the demand — we just don’t have the supply. Global pandemics have always created short-term shortages due to a lack of production capacity.

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Construction Housing Market Inventory Marketing 429

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 2, 2022

Mortgage applications increased 12% from the previous week due to a surprising uptick in demand for “refis” as borrowers try to secure a lower rate , according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) survey for the week ending Jan. 28. The seasonally adjusted Refinance Index rose 18.4% in the same period. Meanwhile, the Purchase Index increased 4%.

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Mortgage Contracts Inventory Investors 428

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 4, 2022

After two months of disappointing job growth, the U.S. jobs report released Friday shows that 467,000 non-farm payroll jobs were added in January. Despite this increase, the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.0% in January from 3.9% in December. The unemployment rate remains higher than the 3.5% unemployment rate recorded in February 2020, just prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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