SCR News Feed

BERKELEY, Calif., (June 9, 2017) – Despite steadily improving local job markets and historically low mortgage rates, the U.S. homeownership rate is stuck near a 50-year low because of a perverse mix of affordability challenges, student loan debt, tight credit conditions and housing supply shortages. That’s according to findings of a new white paper titled,… Continue Reading 5 Root Causes for U.S.’s Depressed Homeownership Rate: New Study

What can be done to ensure creditworthy households today and in the future have the opportunity to experience the personal and financial benefits of owning a home? That was the question on the minds of those in a packed room today at the Sustainable Homeownership Conference at University of California, Berkeley’s Memorial Stadium. The share… Continue Reading Leaping Over the Hurdles to Homeownership

The Dodd-Frank regulations were intended to correct many of the problems witnessed during the build-up to the subprime financial crisis. In recent quarters, market participants and politicians have debated both tweaks to and wholesale replacement of the Dodd-Frank laws. Lenders who participated in the 1st quarter Survey of Mortgage Originators shared their opinions on what… Continue Reading Lenders Give Dodd-Frank a Second Look

Technology, judgment, design, autonomy, solar power, seasonal drinks, ebay, newbies, and rules. Apple introduced its own voice-controlled personal assistant this week. How do you think it stacks up to the existing market? Replacing a cracked iPhone screen might be easier in the future. Here is everything else Apple announced at its WWDC. Are you as… Continue Reading What We’re Reading: June 5-9

In the wake of a moderate 2016, the rate of economic growth remained tepid during the first quarter of 2017, with a 1.2 percent annual increase, based on the second estimate of real gross domestic product (GDP) from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). While the second estimate was an improvement over the initial 0.7… Continue Reading Soft Consumer Spending Leads to Flat Retail Demand in Q1.2017

In the monthly REALTORS® Confidence Index Survey, the National Association of REALTORS® asks members “In the neighborhood or area where you make most of your sales, what are your expectations for residential property prices over the next year?” Among REALTORS® who responded to the April 2017 survey, the median expected home price change in the… Continue Reading REALTORS®’ in West States Expect Fastest Price Growth in the Next 12 Months

Sensors on Google’s experimental StreetView cars in Oakland are capable of producing street-by-street air-quality data. Apple’s just-announced HomePod looks like it’s positioned to compete with Sonos and other WiFi speaker makers, as well as with every other company (Amazon, Google) that makes a voice-controlled home assistant. How Siri matures is going to be a large… Continue Reading Google Maps Get Local and Dirty; Apple Joins the Home Assistant Race; More in Five for Wednesday

When Pam Patenaude’s nomination for deputy secretary at the Department of Housing and Urban Development was announced in late May, Realtors® offered swift support. “Pam’s extensive and strong background in real estate and housing will be an asset, and NAR has long enjoyed a strong relationship with Pam working on and advancing regulatory and policy… Continue Reading VIDEO: Realtor® Treasurer on Capitol Hill to Support HUD Nominee

In the wake of a soft 2016, the economic growth remained weak during the first quarter of 2017. Based on the second estimate of real gross domestic product (GDP) from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the United States economy rose at an annual rate of 1.2 percent. While the second estimate was an improvement… Continue Reading Industrial Demand Slows in Wake of Soft Consumer Spending

The more I learn about real estate, the more evident it becomes that the industry touches everything. That’s definitely the feeling I got while reading Placemakers: Emperors, Kings, Entrepreneurs: A Brief History of Real Estate Development (Figure 1 Publishing Inc., 2017), by Herb Auerbach with Ira Nadel. It’s sort of a cross between a coffee… Continue Reading A History of the World Via Real Estate