Auto Added by WPeMatico
Three years after the ability to repay (ATR) rule was implemented, the risky mortgage products that became common during the last boom and helped fuel the unsustainable run-up in prices are rare. That is one of the key takeaways from the 12th Survey of Mortgage Originators (SMO) which covers lenders’ insights on trends and policy… Continue Reading Lesson Learned: Few Risky Mortgage Products in the Market
The following is NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun’s reaction to this morning’s U.S. Commerce Department’s October report on residential construction: “Housing starts soaring past the 1.3 million mark for the first time since 2007 is big and welcoming news. The choke point of the housing market growth potential has been the lack of supply. The… Continue Reading Instant Reaction: October Housing Starts
CHICAGO (November 16, 2016) –The National Association of Realtors®’ venture capital fund Second Century Ventures has become a strategic investor in Trust Stamp, an identity authentication company that leverages artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies. Trust Stamp, a startup founded in 2015 by Gareth Genner and Andrew Gowasack, is one of eight companies that entered SCV’s vertical… Continue Reading Second Century Ventures Invests in Trust Stamp and Keeping Realtors® Safe
NOTE: 4 of this week’s 5 items are about Google and Google products. Sorry if it seems unbalanced, but they’ve been busy, and putting out things that deserve attention. Amazon’s Echo has been a hit since its introduction, and it’s taken more than a year for a challenger to enter the voice-controlled smart home assistant… Continue Reading Google’s Home Steps Into the Ring Against Amazon’s Echo; Microsoft App Takes on Color Blindness; More
NAR Research released this morning its final outlook for the commercial real estate sector in 2016. Despite global and domestic headwinds and the likelihood of higher interest rates in the near future, the forecast for office, retail, industrial and multi-family space can best be described as “mostly sunny.” The U.S. economy showed promising growth in… Continue Reading Recap: Fourth Quarter Commercial Forecast
Brandon Doyle By Brandon Doyle Many real estate agents and business owners manage a Facebook page as a way to connect with old, new, and potential clients. Though your page may have a significant number of fans, what you might not realize is that your social media posts may only be reaching 12 percent of… Continue Reading 5 Ways to Make Your Social Media Posts Shareable
Commercial sales transactions span the price spectrum, but tend to be measured and reported based on size. Commercial real estate (CRE) deals at the higher end—$2.5 million and above—comprise a large share of investment sales. Smaller commercial transactions tend to be obscured given their size. However, these smaller properties provide the types of commercial space… Continue Reading Investment Sales in Small Cap Markets Accelerate in Third Quarter of 2016
WASHINGTON (November 15, 2016) — The Federal Housing Administration’s just released actuarial report shows that the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund is on a steady financial trajectory, a finding the National Association of Realtors® believes is an opportunity to make FHA’s low-down-payment mortgage option available to an even broader swath of borrowers. “FHA’s actuarial report shows that… Continue Reading Just-Released FHA Report Shows Fresh Opportunity to Make Homeownership More Affordable
Bond Yields and Mortgage Rates are Moving Up This week has been an eventful one for bond markets. Just before the election, ten-year yields began to increase from the 1.8 percent yield they had held somewhat consistently in the second half of October. As of yesterday’s close, ten-year yields are now over 2.2 percent. Mortgage… Continue Reading How Recent Mortgage Rate Increases Affect Housing Affordability
Existing-home sales rose 3.2 percent in September from one month prior while new home sales increased 3.1 percent. These headline figures are seasonally adjusted figures and are reported in the news. However, for everyday practitioners, simple raw counts of home sales are often more meaningful than the seasonally adjusted figures. The raw count determines income… Continue Reading Raw Count of Home Sales (September 2016)