News
NEWS: FEMA may have to buy millions of homes due to climate crisis
October 9, 2019 National Mortgage News As the climate crisis worsens, more Americans will be forced from their homes. Many won’t be able to afford it, and the U.S. isn’t prepared for a massive, government-subsidized migration away from flood-prone areas, according to the first comprehensive analysis of Federal Emergency Management Agency data. In the end,…
Read MoreNEWS: Redfin: People Who Bought Homes in 2012 Have Earned $203 Billion in Equity
September 27, 2019 MBA NewsLink Staff Redfin, Seattle, said people who bought a home at the bottom of the market in 2012 have earned a median $141,000, or 261%, in home equity since then. The report, based on a Redfin analysis of the home equity earned from 1.4 million homes purchased across 138 markets in…
Read MoreNEWS: Mortgage rates at 18%? That’s what we got the last time a president strong-armed the Fed
September 23, 2019 Kathleen Howley When the National Bureau of Economic Research speaks on a disputed economic issue, it’s a bit like squabbling siblings getting a ruling from a parent. NBER is widely accepted as the arbiter of economic cycles, setting the start and end dates of recessions and expansions. Now, NBER has weighed in on one…
Read MoreNEWS: Average U.S. rent climbs to $1,472 in August
September 16, 2019 Alcynna Lloyd America’s rental prices continued to grow in August, as RentCafé indicates the nation’s average rent increased $47 from the previous year. According to the company’s Apartment Market Report, the national average rent in August totaled $1,472. This is a 0.1% increase from the previous month, and also represents a 3.3% increase from the…
Read MoreNEWS: Autonomous cars on a crash course with the real estate industry
September 13, 2019 Michael Zaransky You stroll out of your house in the countryside, hop into the self-driving car you ordered and settle in with your coffee and your laptop, not worrying about the fact that it will take you an hour or more to get to work. Though it sounds futuristic, this scenario could…
Read MoreNEWS: Millennials drive mortgage refinance boom, and lenders are scrambling
August 9, 2019 Diana Olick Mortgage interest rates have been falling since May, especially sharply this month, so borrowers, especially millennials, are rushing to refinance. Applications to refinance were up a stunning 116% this week compared with a year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. That has lenders scrambling to keep up. Quicken Loans,…
Read MoreNEWS: Appraisals may soon not be required on certain home sales of $400,000 and under
August 23, 2019 Ben Lane Certain home sales of $400,000 and under may soon not need an appraisal, as federal regulators are close to approving a proposal to increase the threshold at which residential home sales require an appraisal for the first time since 1994. In November, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Office of the Comptroller…
Read MoreNEWS: Half of homebuyers with kids base purchase on school district
August 12, 2019 By Alcynna Lloyd Purchasing a home is one of the biggest decisions a person can make during their lifetime. After all, where you live determines many factors about your life, including where you work, worship or even send your children to school. As back to school season approaches, a recent report from the…
Read MoreNEWS: As Mortgage-Interest Deduction Vanishes, Housing Market Offers a Shrug
August 4, 2019 By Jim Tankersley and Ben Casselman PLAINFIELD, Ill. — The mortgage-interest deduction, a beloved tax break bound tightly to the American dream of homeownership, once seemed politically invincible. Then it nearly vanished in middle-class neighborhoods across the country, and it appears that hardly anyone noticed. In places like Plainfield, a southwestern outpost in the area…
Read MoreNEWS: Housing Market Shift May Mean Price Cuts
August 2, 2019 by Lew Sichelman The housing market is definitely changing. Maybe not everywhere, at least not yet. But in most places, sellers are slowly losing their dominance and buyers are taking control. The evidence is strong: Instances of multiple offers on the same property have fallen drastically, more buyers are holding out for…
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