Housing Wire
DECEMBER 17, 2024
The American dream is synonymous with two ideas. One is the idea that anyone in this country can find a path to economic success regardless of their circumstances at birth. The second idea is the symbolic encapsulation of the first idea: homeownership. Owning a home is the signifier of economic success, but over the last few years, that milestone has gotten farther out of reach for first-time homebuyers.
Appraisal Buzz
DECEMBER 18, 2024
The U.S. Senate has announced the passage of the bipartisan Homebuyers Privacy Protection Act (S. 3502) , a measure that will ban trigger leads except in limited circumstances. When a consumer applies for a mortgage, credit bureaus are notified that the consumer is interested in financing, which is referred to as a trigger lead. That information is then sold by the credit bureaus to data brokers (including other lenders) without the consumers knowledge or approval.
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Real Estate News
DECEMBER 19, 2024
The option lets brokers access the MLS outside the traditional three-tier membership system. NAR says it is maintaining standards for the Realtor brand.
Inman
DECEMBER 19, 2024
Existing-home sales rose 6.1 percent annually in November while three out of four U.S. regions saw increases from 2023, according to new data released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors.
Housing Wire
DECEMBER 19, 2024
Its late December so all the 2025 mortgage rate forecasts have been published. Unfortunately, all of them are already wrong. Most housing market analysts expect mortgage rates to spend the year with a 6 handle. The most optimistic predictions assume 2025 will see mostly low 6s for the 30-year fixed rate mortgage. And yet with pesky inflation data not falling as quickly or as far as expected, Fed chair Jerome Powell suddenly changed his language in the Fed meeting on Dec. 19.
Appraisal Buzz
DECEMBER 16, 2024
According to a new study from Redfin , older Americans are more likely than younger Americans to buy homes in places with significant climate risk. More than one-third (36.9%) of home purchases made by people 65 years of age and older last year were in counties with an elevated risk of extreme heat, compared with less than one-third (32.3%) of home purchases made by people under the age of 35.
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Inman
DECEMBER 19, 2024
Find out how this young, first-generation Filipino-American entrepreneur worked her way up from receptionist to broker-owner.
Housing Wire
DECEMBER 18, 2024
They say housing leads the economy in and out of a recession. Currently, housing starts are back at the levels seen during the COVID-19 recession in 2020. Interestingly, employment for residential construction workers typically one of the first areas to experience declines before a recession has not yet seen its usual downturn. Several factors have been keeping labor steady, such as working through a backlog of orders and long turnaround times to complete projects.
Appraisal Buzz
DECEMBER 19, 2024
The National Association of Realtors reports that existing-home sales increased in November. Three major U.S. regions saw growth in sales, but the West saw no change. All four regions saw an increase in sales year over year. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of existing-home sales, which includes completed transactions of single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and cooperatives, increased 4.8% from October to 4.15 million in November.
Real Estate News
DECEMBER 14, 2024
Cities and states across the U.S. are making it easier to build ADUs. Leaders hope those reforms will lead to more supply and improve affordability.
Inman
DECEMBER 19, 2024
NAR sent the cease-and-desist letter to Phoenix Realtors over its MLS Choice option, which gives brokers access to state-compliant forms and legal aid but may also violate its three-way agreement.
Housing Wire
DECEMBER 19, 2024
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) on Thursday announced that it initiated 43,459 foreclosure prevention actions in the third quarter of 2024, bringing the total number of homeowners helped to more than 7 million since the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) entered conservatorship in 2008. But the number of foreclosure starts spiked by 27% to 22,025 during the quarter.
Appraisal Buzz
DECEMBER 20, 2024
The post Coal for Christmas appeared first on Appraisal Buzz.
Real Estate News
DECEMBER 19, 2024
Existing home sales rebounded in November, pushing annual sales past the 4 million mark. A big jump in mortgage rates may quash momentum, however.
Sacramento Appraisal Blog
DECEMBER 16, 2024
What’s January going to be like in 2025? What can we expect ahead for the housing market? Today, I have three quick points, and while these visuals are specific to my area, some of the language use can be used in many different markets. This is my last blog post of 2024. Thanks for being […] The post Three things to expect in the housing market in January first appeared on Sacramento Appraisal Blog.
Housing Wire
DECEMBER 17, 2024
Mortgage applications for new-home purchases increased 7.2% year over year in November, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association ‘s (MBA) builder application survey that was released Tuesday. Applications decreased by 12% from October 2024. Applications to purchase newly built homes have seen annual increases since February 2023, as prospective homebuyers continue to favor new homes , given affordability challenges and constrained existing inventory , Joel Kan , the MBAs vic
Appraisal Buzz
DECEMBER 18, 2024
Manchester, NH, Zillow s most favored city for 2024, was a hit with an influx of homebuyers this year. For the second consecutive year, Zillows ranking of the most popular markets was dominated by Northeastern cities. While only one West Coast market, which led the way in 2021, made it into the top 10, the Midwest also performed well. Most of the most popular cities this year were exurbs, which are quaint little settlements outside of the suburbs but yet accessible by car from a large city.
Real Estate News
DECEMBER 14, 2024
For CoStar and Move, the battle for dominance escalated from civil competition to full-scale attacks. Zillow and other players, meanwhile, stayed out of it.
Inman
DECEMBER 18, 2024
Requests for purchase loans picked up last week during a short-lived drop in rates, MBA survey shows, helped by "gradually improving inventory conditions and a more positive outlook on the economy and job market.
Housing Wire
DECEMBER 18, 2024
CreditXpert , a leading mortgage technology company, announced on Wednesday the launch date for its new credit optimization platform. The company will replace its What-if Simulator and Wayfinder tools with the new platform on Dec. 31. CreditXpert seeks to take a different approach when addressing homebuyer credit profiles. Instead of focusing on credit repair, the company takes it a step further with credit optimization, which benefits more applicants on a shorter timeline with improved predicta
Appraisal Buzz
DECEMBER 19, 2024
The Five Star Institutes Legal League has announced the launch of its latest White Paper, Non-Uniform Foreclosures. Legal League is a professional association of financial services law firms spread out across the U.S. The Legal League is uniquely positioned to drive progress in the mortgage servicing industry. Legal League members provide a clear view of the legal landscape and the expertise to navigate it, committed to supporting its membership through education, communication, relationship dev
Real Estate News
DECEMBER 17, 2024
One measure in the monthly index stood out, however, as builders responded with more optimism about where the market is headed in 2025.
Inman
DECEMBER 18, 2024
In an era of increased industry consolidation, independence still matters, Steve Baird, president and CEO of Baird & Warner Real Estate, writes.
Housing Wire
DECEMBER 19, 2024
The COVID-19 pandemic turned previously sleepy cities into boomtowns.Expanded or permanent work-from-home policies gave people more flexibility in where to live, and those in uber-expensive markets like San Francisco and Manhattan took advantage by moving to areas where they could get more space for less money. This created incredibly competitive housing markets in smaller cities that pushed sales and prices sky high.
Appraisal Buzz
DECEMBER 17, 2024
The average U.S. household spends $25,512 annually on essential household billsan annual bill spend of roughly $2,126 per month, over one-third (34%) of the U.S. household median income ($74,755). This news, from a report by doxo , shows that many states rank well above or below the national average. Its no surprise that the most expensive states to live in are Hawaii, California, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, nor that West Virginia, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Kentucky lead the list of most aff
Real Estate News
DECEMBER 18, 2024
Outdated rules have allowed solicitors to bombard borrowers with unwanted calls or texts. While lenders arent to blame, consumers may hold them responsible.
Inman
DECEMBER 17, 2024
Ahead of his appearance at Inman Connect New York in January, eXp Realty CEO Leo Pareja told Inman that change is inevitable and that his "North Star" is improving the experience of his agents.
Housing Wire
DECEMBER 18, 2024
The fallout from Fed day got out of hand very quickly. The market reacted badly to the FOMC statement and remarks by Federal Reserve Chairman Powell during the Q&A presser, sending the 10-year yield and mortgage rates higher. Also, the Dow was down over 1,000 points today. So what gives? Market players were already talking about how the Fed would dial back rate cuts in 2025, but Powell didnt sound sure of himself in that press event and left an opening to create tighter financial conditions.
Appraisal Buzz
DECEMBER 17, 2024
The most recent Commercial Delinquency Report from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) shows that commercial mortgage delinquencies rose in the third quarter of 2024. The share of the balance of delinquent commercial mortgages increased for every major capital source during the third quarter of 2024, said Jamie Woodwell, MBAs Head of Commercial Real Estate Research.
Real Estate News
DECEMBER 18, 2024
The Real Estate Board of New York told a federal court that rules limiting how agents are paid will make it harder for renters to find apartments.
Inman
DECEMBER 18, 2024
EXp Realty is closing the year with another recruiting win. Denver-based broker Kris Caldwell and his $200 million mega team, The Apollo Group, announced their move to the cloud-based brokerage on Tuesday after six years with Compass.
Housing Wire
DECEMBER 20, 2024
A new bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives proposes to relieve Federal Housing Administration (FHA) borrowers of mortgage insurance premiums (MIPs) once they reach a certain level of home equity , aligning FHA policies with those of conventional loans. Introduced by Reps. Gregory W. Meeks (D-N.Y.) and Pete Sessions (R-Texas) on Thursday, the bipartisan bill allows borrowers to stop paying mortgage insurance once their loan-to-value (LTV) ratio reaches 78%, rather than paying it f
Appraisal Buzz
DECEMBER 20, 2024
Drawing on insights from 115 community land trusts (CLTs), Preserving Affordable Homeownership: Municipal Partnerships with Community Land Trusts , a new 2024 Policy Focus Report released by The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy , explores how CLTs are partnering with public officials to help address the housing affordability crisis. In this model, individuals buy homes on land leased from a local CLT and agree to limit the resale price.
Real Estate News
DECEMBER 16, 2024
Hanna Holdings, eXp and Weichert are among the brokerages yet to resolve litigation in the buyer agent commissions lawsuit.
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