Housing Wire

AUGUST 25, 2023

Retail lender AmeriFirst Financial Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware, just two months after it got back into the forward mortgage origination business. The Mesa, Arizona-based company listed estimated assets and liabilities as much as $100 million each, according to a filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Delaware. RCP Credit Opportunities Fund is listed as the largest unsecured creditor in the AmeriFirst Chapter 11 case — with a claim of $17.9 million, court pleading

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Sacramento Appraisal Blog

AUGUST 23, 2023

Rates have gone up, but have they sucked all the demand out of the market? Nope. Let’s talk about that today by looking at a few stats. Also, someone asked if the stock market is connected to the housing market, so l made a cool graph. I have a few thoughts on insurance in California […] The post Higher rates, insurance, & the stock market vs real estate first appeared on Sacramento Appraisal Blog | Real Estate Appraiser.

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Real Estate News

AUGUST 25, 2023

Rebuilding after the Lahaina wildfires will be challenging and costly, but not "ominous.

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George Dell

AUGUST 23, 2023

Scope of Work is required in legacy appraisal practice. Data Science (and Evidence Based Valuation) are more based on principles of good science. Editor’s Note: This is Standards, part 3.11 of George Dell’s series on How Do I Move to EBV? Links to the earlier posts are here. To sum up, the goal of traditional […] The post Scope or Hypothesis?

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Housing Wire

AUGUST 25, 2023

In a hawkish tone, Jerome Powell said that Federal Reserve (Fed) officials are prepared to raise the federal funds rate further and hold it at high levels until they are confident that inflation is moving sustainably down to the 2% target. And that’s unclear at this point. There are some sources of pressure on U.S. prices — among them is the housing market, Powell said Friday morning during an economic policy symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. “So far this year, GDP [gross domestic

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The Appraiser Coach

AUGUST 22, 2023

My inbox is my to-do list. If I talk to someone and they need something done, I tell them, “Send me an email.” If.

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Inman

AUGUST 25, 2023

The most explosive damage to the National Association of Realtors and the overall industry will result if the defendants lose one or both so-called bombshell lawsuits. Author and trainer Nancy Ross breaks down the possible repercussions.

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Housing Wire

AUGUST 25, 2023

Zillow ‘s mortgage arm launched a down payment assistance program where the company will cover 2% of the borrower’s down payment at closing, allowing buyers to pay just 1% upfront. The program is available for eligible borrowers in Arizona and will expand to additional markets, Zillow Home Loans said in a release. The 2% portion of the down payment will be paid during closing and not as a payment to the borrower. “For those who can afford higher rent payments but have been held

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Eyes on Housing

AUGUST 24, 2023

The residential remodeling market has grown rapidly in the past few years, mainly fueled by changes in housing and lifestyle decisions during the pandemic period. According to National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA), expenditures for residential home improvements soared 13% to $328 billion in 2021, from $289 billion in 2020. This marks the largest gain since 1993 (16% increase).

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Home Improvement Marketing Construction 148

Real Estate News

AUGUST 24, 2023

The company said the new program, initially launching in Phoenix, will help ease one of the biggest barriers to entry for buying a home.

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Inman

AUGUST 25, 2023

After an initial swoon, bond markets take Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's tough talk on inflation in stride, but the housing sector remains vulnerable to rate hikes.

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Housing Wire

AUGUST 25, 2023

Keller Williams is going with the carrot and the stick approach. The franchisor just announced a significant adjustment to its profit sharing program, aimed at rewarding agents who stay with the company and punishing vested agents who left for competitors. Keller Williams President Marc King last week wrote in an email that the company will cut the profit share distribution for vested “former” KW agents (agents who joined the company before April 1, 2020) who jumped ship to another brokerage fro

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Eyes on Housing

AUGUST 23, 2023

The missing middle construction sector includes development of medium-density housing, such as townhouses, duplexes and other small multifamily properties. The multifamily segment of the missing middle (apartments in 2- to 4-unit properties) has disappointed since the Great Recession. For the second quarter of 2023, there were just 3,000 2- to 4-unit housing unit construction starts.

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Real Estate News

AUGUST 23, 2023

Chris Speicher feels "numb" in the wake of devastating wildfires but is committed to helping the community rebuild — in the right way.

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Inman

AUGUST 25, 2023

UWM and Rocket Mortgage are also leveraging Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac programs tailored to borrowers earning less than 80 percent of the area median income.

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Housing Wire

AUGUST 24, 2023

Mortgage rate shot up again last week as the bond market continues to grapple with a growing economy in the run up to the next Federal Open Market Committee meeting. Investors are concerned that the central bank will continue raising the funds rate, pushing borrowing costs even higher. For many, there is worry that the Fed may overtighten on the monetary front and lead to economic damage,” said George Ratiu, chief economist at Keeping Current Matters.

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Mortgage Property Taxes Investors Buyers 370

Eyes on Housing

AUGUST 23, 2023

Low existing inventory and solid demand more than offset rising mortgage rates and elevated construction costs to boost new home sales last month. Sales of newly built, single-family homes in July increased 4.4% to a 714,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate from a downwardly revised reading in June, according to newly released data by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban.

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Real Estate News

AUGUST 23, 2023

New construction got another boost in July, with sales up 31.5% year-over-year. Rising mortgage rates may reverse that trend.

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Inman

AUGUST 24, 2023

Beloved Keller Williams Moorestown agent Rob Montalbano died in a Lake Travis boating accident on Aug. 13. His brokerage and community have rallied to raise more than $68,000 for funeral costs.

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Housing Wire

AUGUST 24, 2023

Shares of Better Home & Finance Holding , the parent of digital lender Better.com, collapsed during its debut on Nasdaq Thursday. The company went public after merging with the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Aurora Acquisition Corp. the prior day. Better’s class A common stock, listed under the ticker “BETR,” declined to $1.15 at the closing on Thursday.

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Insurance Mortgage Realtors Business 370

Eyes on Housing

AUGUST 21, 2023

An expected impact of the virus crisis is 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 housing affordability worsened, the demand for home size has trended lower. According to second quarter 2023 data.

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Real Estate News

AUGUST 24, 2023

For the fifth straight week, 30-year mortgage rates went up, hitting 7.23% — the highest level since 2001.

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Inman

AUGUST 24, 2023

Learn from this Canadian broker's professional journey and find out about her No. 1 rule for real estate investing.

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Housing Wire

AUGUST 24, 2023

Homebuyer affordability remained unchanged in July from June, according to Mortgage Bankers Association ‘s (MBA) Purchase Applications Payment Index (PAPI). The index measures how new monthly mortgage payments vary across time, relative to income, drawing from data from MBA ’s weekly applications survey. The national median payment applied for by purchase applicants was $2,162 in July, up $318 from a year prior but unchanged from June.

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Eyes on Housing

AUGUST 21, 2023

Between 2021 and 2022, the state of Georgia gained 124,827 residents. This was the fourth largest population gain in the U.S. and one of only four states to have a nominal population increase above 100,000. In percentage terms, Georgia’s population grew at 1.2% between this time. This was the state’s highest percentage increase in population since 2016.

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Real Estate News

AUGUST 22, 2023

Starting next July, former KW agents who compete against the company will see their profit share distribution reduced from 100% to 5%.

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Inman

AUGUST 24, 2023

Insurance as a hot-button issue is likely not going away anytime soon. Unfortunately, as long as Mother Nature is in control, agents, buyers and sellers need to be more proactive than ever, broker Cara Ameer writes.

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Housing Wire

AUGUST 24, 2023

Soaring mortgage rates are taking a major chunk out of homebuyers’ budgets, according to a new report from Redfin. A homebuyer on a $3,000 monthly budget, for example, could afford a $429,000 home with a 7.4% mortgage rate, using rate data from August 23. That buyer lost $71,000 in purchasing power compared to one year ago when a $500,000 home would have been accessible to them with an average rate of about 5.5%.

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Eyes on Housing

AUGUST 22, 2023

Existing home sales in July fell to the lowest level since January as limited inventory and higher mortgage rates continued to weight on homebuyers, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Low resale inventory and strong demand continued to drive up existing home prices, marking the first year-over-year price increase since January.

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Real Estate News

AUGUST 22, 2023

Researchers from Zillow, Freddie Mac, and Goldman Sachs all issued revised, rising 2023 home value and price forecasts in the past week.

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Inman

AUGUST 24, 2023

The Houston-based Christie's International Real Estate affiliate has also opened a new office in Lake Livingston and made two new hires to support the launch of the new division.

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Housing Wire

AUGUST 25, 2023

Homeownership is a hallmark of the American Dream; it’s one of the few paths to building generational wealth and achieving financial freedom. Unfortunately, for many, it can feel like a pipedream. According to a recent report from the U.S. Census , the homeownership rate has dropped to 63.1%, its lowest rate since 1970. Moreover, the outlook for individuals from minority communities is even more bleak.

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Eyes on Housing

AUGUST 24, 2023

Data from the Census Bureau’s latest Survey of Market Absorptions of New Multifamily Units (SOMA) indicates that demand for newly completed multifamily units remains solid as mortgage rates continue to climb. Only an estimated 39% of the 82,310 unfurnished apartment units completed in the first quarter of 2023 are available for rent three months past construction completion.

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Real Estate News

AUGUST 22, 2023

Rapattoni is gradually restoring service following a cyberattack that shut down the MLS service provider on Aug. 9.

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