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New G-Rate program allows sellers to permanently buy down their buyer’s mortgage rate

Housing Wire

Guaranteed Rate has introduced a new feature that allows sellers working with a G-Rate loan officer to pay a fee that locks in a permanently discounted mortgage rate for a buyer. But with RateReduce Sell, sellers will be able secure a lower rate by buying down points permanently.

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Mortgage demand picks up as seller concessions rise

Housing Wire

Loan officers saw an increase in mortgage demand during the first week of 2023 as mortgage rates ticked down. And to close deals, sellers are increasingly coming to the table with concessions and rate buydowns. . According to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), mortgage applications rose 1.2%

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Sellers may earn more by listing later in the year: Zillow

Housing Wire

Home sellers looking to maximize their sale price may want to avoid the start of the busy spring buying season and list their properties closer to the midpoint of the year, according to a Zillow analysis released Thursday. Zillow posits that this shift is driven by higher mortgage rates in the post-pandemic era.

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The mortgage rate lock-in didn’t start in 2022

Housing Wire

This is an excerpt of a HousingWire Research report titled: What Everyone Needs to Know about Mortgage Rate Lock-in, by Altos President Mike Simonsen. housing market saw dramatic changes in affordability as mortgage rates skyrocketed 500 basis points. That’s a swing of 17% fewer sellers in just a matter of days.

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Housing inventory defied all predictions in 2023

Housing Wire

Going into 2023, people thought housing inventory would skyrocket, home prices would crash, and we would see the housing market of 2008 all over again. Looking back on 2023, the inventory story was a big surprise even as mortgage rates headed toward 8%, as the data below will show. Weekly inventory change (Dec.

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Freddie Mac: Seller/servicers must keep up with cybersecurity threats

Housing Wire

Government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) Freddie Mac this week released an industry letter encouraging seller/servicers to take the accelerating pace of cybersecurity threats seriously, and to ensure that processes and tools are maintained to limit exposure to potential security risks. “A These included incidents of social engineering (e.g.,

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The awesome power of high mortgage rates

Housing Wire

Housing professionals already know that high mortgage rates are bad for business. But with mortgage rates ascending past 7% according to HousingWire’s Mortgage Rates Center , those hopes have so far been dashed in 2024. Bad for sellers Prospective home sellers may not notice incremental changes in mortgage rates.

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