Thu, Apr 30 2015, 10:43 AM
I
travel around a fair amount, spending time with lenders, Realtors, and
TSA personnel. A major concern among the first two groups is whether or
...
Wed, Apr 29 2015, 10:39 AM
First
off, let me apologize for having the incorrect site in yesterday's
commentary regarding the funny history of the term "escrow" - this is th...
Wed, Apr 29 2015, 10:16 AM
Momentum appears to be building toward a
healthy spring market according to data released today on March pending home sales. The National Associat...
Mon, Apr 27 2015, 10:59 AM
Although a press release last week about a Gallup
survey showed Americans view real estate as a better long term investment
than stocks, gold, s...
Mon, Apr 27 2015, 9:07 AM
Many LOs are watching rent prices . Increasing
rent is a two-edged sword, of course, simultaneously moving households
to stop renting and buy a p...
Fri, Apr 24 2015, 9:55 AM
Filling key positions in our industry is not
an easy task sometimes, but as one banking vet I know likes to say,
"give me someone with a little bi...
Thu, Apr 23 2015, 10:17 AM
Home prices nationally are now within 3 percent of the peak
they reached in March 2007. The Federal
Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) released its pu...
Thu, Apr 23 2015, 9:58 AM
The U.S. Census Bureau reported that nearly 10 percent of U.S.
residents are not happy with their current housing, neighborhood, local
safety or p...
Thu, Apr 23 2015, 2:25 PM
New home sales settled down a bit in March after a dramatic
surge in the Northeast in February that drove national sales figures up nearly
8 perce...
Wed, Apr 22 2015, 11:40 AM
The spring housing market blasted in across the county last
month and existing home sales jumped 6.1 percent from the February level to the
highes...
Wed, Apr 22 2015, 10:59 AM
Earth Day is celebrated on April 22 nd and this year marks the 45 th
anniversary. Leave it to the Census Bureau
(known as "The Bureau with a ca...
Mon, Apr 20 2015, 9:31 AM
There is a lot going on in terms of upcoming events. In no particular order...
Due to the high demand, Genworth has grown its live RESPA-TILA we...
Wed, Apr 15 2015, 12:43 PM
The index measuring building confidence in the market for
new single family homes stopped its three month slide in April, jumping four
points from...
Fri, Apr 10 2015, 10:36 AM
In its Economic and Housing Outlook
for April Freddie Mac's economists point out that the spring homebuying season has
become familiar territory. ...
Fri, Apr 10 2015, 10:26 AM
Sales of new homes appeared to have surged in March. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association
(MBA) mortgage applications for new home purchase...
Tue, Mar 31 2015, 3:03 PM
Nationwide said on Tuesday that the overall housing market
is healthier than at any time since 2001 , the earliest point for which data is
availabl...
Mon, Mar 30 2015, 10:59 AM
Contract signings in the Midwest and South in February drove
pending home sales to their highest level in nearly two years. The National Association...
Mon, Mar 30 2015, 9:38 AM
In
like a lion, out like a lamb? Usually folks say that about March's
weather, not the economy. But economic data so far in the first quarter
ha...
Thu, Mar 26 2015, 12:13 PM
While a study released on Thursday by
RealtyTrac shows a huge discrepancy between the growth in home prices and
increasing wages, it appears that ho...
Wed, Mar 25 2015, 10:02 AM
Don't
think the gap between the haves and have-nots is widening? USA Today
reports the world's richest 1% of people control over 50% of total
gl...
Tue, Mar 24 2015, 11:13 AM
New home sales rose on a seasonally adjusted annual basis in
February, partially because of a near tripling of sales in the Northeast . Nationall...
Tue, Mar 24 2015, 11:11 AM
Thank you to Carol Kimball who sent along this site of " inexplicably terrible real estate photos ." My guess is that every underwriter has seen their...
Mon, Mar 23 2015, 11:51 AM
Short supplies of existing home inventory continued to hold
back sales in February the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) said today, but
con...
Mon, Mar 23 2015, 11:02 AM
Today
I head off to Austin, Texas for four days of MBA STRATMOR Peer Group
Program meetings - a great opportunity to sit in a room with the MBA,
...
Mon, Mar 16 2015, 11:00 AM
Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single family homes has declined
to its lowest level in nine months. The
National Association of ...
Thu, Mar 12 2015, 10:48 AM
Applications for mortgages to purchase newly constructed
homes jumped significantly in February the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said
toda...
Thu, Mar 12 2015, 3:16 PM
Freddie Mac's economists restated their February forecast in
their Economic and Housing Outlook just
released for March, that 2015 could be the b...
Mon, Mar 9 2015, 1:09 PM
The share of all cash sales continue to fall in December along
with the volume of distressed property sales. CoreLogic said on Monday that
35.5 per...
Mon, Mar 2 2015, 9:59 AM
National MI recently added a Homebuyer Education
course to its offerings. This online course will help first-time
homebuyers navigate the home ...
Fri, Feb 27 2015, 11:27 AM
Even though sales of existing homes dropped by 4.9 percent
in January buyers were apparently out shopping and seriously so. The National Association...
Fri, Feb 27 2015, 11:06 AM
Zillow published an article
indicating that low-income renters have moved away from living in
rural, dense communities and into more affluent su...
Thu, Feb 26 2015, 12:43 PM
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) saw its share of
the mortgage market soar to 72 percent of all mortgages issued in 2008 as other
lenders pu...
Thu, Feb 26 2015, 12:13 PM
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) said today that
home prices in the fourth quarter of 2014 were up 1.4 percent compared to the
previous...
Thu, Feb 26 2015, 12:10 PM
Here
in North Dakota, at -9 degrees this morning, appraising properties is a
walk in the park, right? What about for appraisers in the Lake Erie ...
Wed, Feb 25 2015, 10:49 AM
Sales of newly constructed single-family homes dipped only slightly
in January from December levels. The U.S.
Census Bureau and Department of Hou...
Wed, Feb 25 2015, 9:27 AM
Although
the focus of this 6-day a week commentary is residential, it is good to
have an awareness of commercial lending - especially as it compet...
Tue, Feb 24 2015, 11:24 AM
Despite increases in 2014 that
were twice that of inflation, house prices are "faltering." The S&P/Case-Shiller composite city indices
for Decemb...
Mon, Feb 23 2015, 10:57 AM
Existing home sales in January were disappointing
to start the New Year, declining to their lowest rate in nine months. The sales, which include com...
Mon, Feb 23 2015, 10:34 AM
Young adults are stacking up, but not shacking up -
according to a recent Zillow analysis .
Most young adults are living with their parents or l...
Thu, Feb 19 2015, 4:05 PM
Housing affordability grew slightly in the fourth quarter of
2014 according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo
Housing ...
Thu, Feb 19 2015, 4:02 PM
Freddie Mac's economists have revised many of their earlier
estimates for the 2015 U.S. economy. In
terms of overall economic growth the revisions ...
Thu, Feb 12 2015, 10:56 AM
While all-cash sales continue to decline as a percentage of
all home sales, in several states they still account for more than half of all
residen...
Thu, Feb 12 2015, 10:44 AM
Applications for mortgages to purchase newly construction
homes increased by 29 percent in January.
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said t...
Mon, Feb 2 2015, 10:18 AM
The economy is filled with surprises , and people warning us about them
- and us not listening. Every time we fill up our gas tanks we are
remi...
Mon, Feb 2 2015, 3:09 PM
Rising home prices have been a boon to many homeowners but may
not bode as well for those who are facing foreclosure. Black Knight Financial Service...
Fri, Jan 30 2015, 10:48 AM
The
U.S. Census Bureau has published some facts featuring the metro areas
represented by the two teams playing in Super Bowl XLIX (the New England...
Fri, Jan 30 2015, 3:26 PM
The topic of income inequality is, as they
say, trending, and this has moved CoreLogic to look at the nature of incomes and
homeowners. In a rece...
Thu, Jan 29 2015, 10:54 AM
The rate at which contracts were signed to purchase homes was down slightly
in December the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) said today. Ev...
Thu, Jan 29 2015, 10:45 AM
"Rob, I just heard of a major lender offering an internal incentive for originating FHA streamline refinances .
The bonus is 100 bps on top of thei...
Tue, Jan 27 2015, 11:19 AM
As has been the case for some months the latest report from
S&P/Case Shiller shows a continued slowing of home price increases. November results for...
