Housing Wire
NOVEMBER 26, 2024
Did today’s new home sales report really show an epic crash in sales? New home sales reports can be quite volatile from month to month. When I notice a significant increase or decrease compared to estimates, I often suspect that revisions will be made or that a one-time event may have influenced the figures. In this case, several factors contributed to the substantial decline in new home sales.
Appraisal Buzz
NOVEMBER 27, 2024
Pending home sales rose in October, marking the third consecutive month of increases, according to new data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI)–a forward-looking indicator of home sales based on contract signings–rose 2% to 77.4 in October. Year-over-year, pending transactions jumped 5.4%. An index of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001.
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Sacramento Appraisal Blog
NOVEMBER 26, 2024
Turkey with a side of real estate? Yes please. Or maybe not. Here are some topics to potentially bring up at the Thanksgiving table if you need a little spice. I also have two new graphs that I’m excited to share. OVER FOUR THOUSAND BLESSINGS TO COUNT This year we’ve seen 3,346 more new listings […] The post Making Thanksgiving dinner awkward with housing conversations first appeared on Sacramento Appraisal Blog.
Real Estate News
NOVEMBER 24, 2024
The agency takes no position on the settlement’s approval but says it’s not an antitrust shield — and expresses concern over buyer agent agreements.
Housing Wire
NOVEMBER 23, 2024
It has been almost two months since mortgage rates spiked again, and my initial thought was this would tank housing demand. We had a positive 18-week period with purchase applications before mortgage rates started rising in September. I figured those increases would produce the same weakness in purchase apps that we saw earlier in the year. However, surprisingly, demand has held up better than I anticipated.
Appraisal Buzz
NOVEMBER 26, 2024
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has announced that the conforming loan limit values (CLLs) for mortgages acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the GSEs) in 2025. In most of the U.S., the 2025 CLL value for one-unit properties will be $806,500, an increase of $39,950 (or 5.2%) from 2024. Click here for a list of 2025 conforming loan limits for all counties and county-equivalent areas in the U.S., and click here for a map showing the 2025 conforming loan limits across the nation.
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Real Estate News
NOVEMBER 29, 2024
As household composition shifts, builders look to the starter homes of yesteryear to deliver more practical, affordable single-family homes for today’s buyers.
Housing Wire
NOVEMBER 25, 2024
There’s nothing quite like an 11th-hour twist. On Sunday evening, less than 48 hours before the National Association of Realtors ’ (NAR) commission lawsuit settlement agreement is set to head for final approval, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed its long-awaited statement of interest in the Sitzer/Burnett suit. DOJ notes in the filing that it did not participate in the litigation or in the negotiation of the proposed settlement.
Appraisal Buzz
NOVEMBER 26, 2024
A new study from Redfin found that real estate investors purchased 2.3% fewer homes in Q3 2024 than they did a year earlier. The small size of the change is notable because it comes after four years of huge swings driven by the wild pandemic-era housing market. For instance, investor purchases surged as much as 144% year-over-year in 2021, then dropped as much as 47% last year.
Inman
NOVEMBER 25, 2024
Ahead of a final Nov. 26 approval hearing on NAR's proposed class-action settlement, DOJ lawyers narrowed in on a provision requiring written agreements between buyers and agents before tours.
Real Estate News
NOVEMBER 25, 2024
Do more than a third of consumers really prefer private listings? The answer is not so simple, says the CEO of 1000watt, which produced the report.
Housing Wire
NOVEMBER 25, 2024
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) on Monday unveiled its three-year plan for the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to improve housing opportunities in underserved areas. Key pillars of the plans include bolstering access in rural communities, looking to manufactured housing as an instrument to bolster supply, and addressing liquidity needs for first-time homebuyers.
Appraisal Buzz
NOVEMBER 25, 2024
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have published their three-year plans for improving housing opportunities in underserved markets and communities, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), regulator of the GSEs, has announced. This time around, the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) plan to expand their focus on rural communities, among other activities.
Inman
NOVEMBER 26, 2024
The National Association of Realtors settlement became the inciting incident for the most disruptive year for real estate in living memory. A judge is now expected to approve the deal Tuesday afternoon.
Real Estate News
NOVEMBER 26, 2024
A last-minute filing by the DOJ and a handful of objections failed to derail the settlements, which cap more than five years of litigation in Sitzer/Burnett.
Housing Wire
NOVEMBER 26, 2024
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has set a new baseline conforming loan limit of $806,500 for one-unit properties in 2025, authorizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase mortgages up to this amount. The new limit reflects a 5.2% increase over the current $766,550 cap for 2024, aligning with home price trends. The adjustment indicates a weaker housing market this year, driven by still-elevated mortgage rates.
Appraisal Buzz
NOVEMBER 25, 2024
What does a living income mean? Economists and policymakers can’t agree, and many government guidelines are based on outdated or incomplete measures. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is as reliable as federal minimum wage levels: not very. Creditnews Research decided to do something about it , and the result of their research is this list of America’s largest metros, ranked by minimum “living income” thresholds.
Inman
NOVEMBER 26, 2024
Mortgage giants will be allowed to back loans of up to $1.2 million in high-cost markets, providing ammo to critics who say goverment backing for mortgages adds to affordability woes.
Real Estate News
NOVEMBER 26, 2024
A new complaint, like others filed in Michigan and Pennsylvania, claims that requiring association membership as a precondition for MLS access is monopolistic.
Housing Wire
NOVEMBER 26, 2024
After a year of strong results, sales of newly built homes took a major step back last month. Data released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) shows new-home sales in October clocking in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 610,000 — a 17.3% decline compared to September and a 9.4% decline year over year.
Appraisal Buzz
NOVEMBER 25, 2024
Approximately 1.67 million mortgages secured by residential property (1–4 units) were granted in the U.S. in Q3, according to ATTOM ‘s third-quarter 2024 U.S. Residential Property Mortgage Origination Report. This resulted in modest 1.9% yearly and quarterly growth. The increase was the second consecutive quarterly rise, which hasn’t happened in almost three years.
Inman
NOVEMBER 26, 2024
Adjustment for rising home prices increases FHA ceiling in high-cost markets like New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., and raises the floor in low-cost markets to $524,225.
Real Estate News
NOVEMBER 25, 2024
Industry insiders quickly weighed in on the agency’s Sunday filing, which suggested that the settlement won’t protect NAR from future antitrust action.
Housing Wire
NOVEMBER 27, 2024
Top U.S. wholesale lender United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) has taken another aggressive move related to its product set, underscoring its strong commitment to government-backed loans. On Wednesday, the company announced the removal of all loan-level pricing adjustments (LLPAs) on government loans, albeit with some limitations. The program applies to Federal Housing Administration (FHA), U.S.
Appraisal Buzz
NOVEMBER 26, 2024
HUT HUT! While buying a home is no picnic, for some Americans, their NFL team has a lot to do with the buying process. According to recent research from Realtor.com , more than half (55%) of NFL fans say that supporting a local team makes them feel more connected to their city and neighborhood community, while roughly 1 in 5 indicate that their loyalty played an extremely significant or highly significant impact in their home shopping process.
Inman
NOVEMBER 27, 2024
Applications for purchase loans jumped 12 percent week over week and 52 percent from a year ago, according to a weekly survey of lenders by the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Real Estate News
NOVEMBER 26, 2024
With the NAR settlement on the cusp of approval, a filing from the Department of Justice cast a shadow on a core part of the deal. Now what?
Housing Wire
NOVEMBER 29, 2024
New-home construction in the U.S. has focused on single-family and multifamily inventory growth to boost supply and affordability. But StorageCafe found that in 2023, most states overlooked one key solution to the affordability crisis: more inventory of “middle housing.” That revelation comes from a company report released earlier this week.
Appraisal Buzz
NOVEMBER 26, 2024
As 2025 draws near, mortgage rates are once again in the news. Those who want to buy, or even refinance, should prepare for a turbulent journey and be prepared to move when the time is right. Zillow anticipates a more active housing market with more buyers obtaining the upper hand in 2025. “Buying a home in 2024 was surprisingly competitive given how high the affordability hurdle became,” said Skylar Olsen, Zillow Chief Economist.
Inman
NOVEMBER 26, 2024
Luz de Amor Eytalis took aim at rules that require "forced memberships" in local, state and national Realtor associations in order to access her local multiple listing service.
Real Estate News
NOVEMBER 27, 2024
Kevin Brown, who will lead NAR in 2026, says he’s seen “the transformative power of homeownership” to move people out of poverty. “That’s why I do this.
Housing Wire
NOVEMBER 26, 2024
With just hours to go before Judge Stephen R. Bough holds a final approval hearing for the National Association of Realtors ’ (NAR) commission lawsuit settlement agreement , the trade association has fired back at the statement of interest filed Sunday by the Department of Justice (DOJ). In its filing, NAR mentions that the DOJ’s statement of interest is “non-binding” and “says nothing that prevents final approval of the NAR Settlement as written.
Appraisal Buzz
NOVEMBER 26, 2024
On Tuesday, December 3, Williston Financial Group (WFG) will host its fourth and final 2024 quarterly installment of the company’s “ Quarterly Economic Outlook ” webinar, featuring WFG Chairman and Founder Patrick F. Stone , and Economist and Forbes contributor Bill Conerly, Ph.D. at Noon CT. During the webinar, Stone and Conerly will provide essential insights and analysis on the current state of the economy and its impact on the housing market, delve into the latest economic data and trends, a
Inman
NOVEMBER 26, 2024
Judge Stephen R. Bough approved antitrust deals reached with the National Association of Realtors and HomeServices of America Tuesday afternoon.
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