June, 2023

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Why higher rates aren’t crashing home prices

Housing Wire

Home prices aren’t crashing, despite what the housing bubble boys are saying. In fact, home prices have firmed up higher recently. The housing bubble boys are a crew that from 2012 to 2019 screamed housing crash every year. They went all in during COVID-19 in 2020, doubled down in 2021 as the forbearance crash bros but really bet the farm on a massive home-price crash in 2023 after the most significant home sales crash ever in 2022.

Mortgage 546
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David Doctorow steps down as CEO of Realtor.com parent Move, Inc.

Inman

Doctorow oversaw the company as its revenues and site traffic rose to record highs, the company said. But as with the rest of the industry, Move has shown signs of a slowdown.

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Single-Family Building Focused around Baby Boomers: Multifamily is Millennial Focused

Eyes on Housing

NAHB analysis of county level permit data and demographic data indicates that single-family home building in the first quarter of 2023 is occurring mostly in counties where baby boomers make up a majority of the population. The Census Bureau provides county level population age estimates in 5 years intervals. For example: 0-4, 5-9, 10-14 through 85+.

Marketing 189
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Traveling the World Thanks to One $6,500/Month Rental Property

BiggerPockets

A house hack that covers all living expenses and allows you to travel the world!? Many people dream of making passive income from real estate, but only some take action.

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NAR Applauds White House Task Force for Changes to Address Appraisal Bias

National Association of Realtors

The White House's Property Appraisal and Valuation Equity (PAVE) Task Force has announced significant regulatory actions and changes to address appraisal bias and the home appraisal process.

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Michelle Wesson Named Lamacchia Realty’s Employee of the Month – May 2023

Lamacchia Realty

Behind the incredible REALTORS® of Lamacchia Realty is a team of over 75 staff members that work tirelessly to support, propel, and operate the independently owned brokerage. Each and every staff member plays an integral role in the continued success of the quickly growing company. Lamacchia Realty views its staff members in the highest regard, fostering the values the full-service, value-based brokerage prides itself on.

Realty 69

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NAR CEO Bob Goldberg plans to retire at the end of 2024

Inman

Bob Goldberg's contract will expire Dec. 31, and the executive plans to retire after three decades at NAR and four decades in real estate, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Realtors 163
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Bank Failures Having Some Effect on Builders

Eyes on Housing

The failure of several banks in 2023 and the ensuing stress in U.S. financial markets has had an effect that some builders and developers are beginning to notice, according to two recent NAHB surveys. In one of the surveys, roughly three-in-five builders and developers reported that loans for land acquisition, land development and speculative single-family construction have become more difficult.

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You Could Save Thousands by Moving to Miami, But It Isn’t All Rosy—Here’s What You Should Know

BiggerPockets

Miami has become the new Austin, and movers in the country's most notoriously expensive markets are taking notice. While the tax-free city seems financially sound on paper, what's the catch?

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When is the Bank of Canada likely to start cutting rates?

Mortgagebroker News

There's little immediate prospect of a cut – but could an economic downturn change that?

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Slowing single-family rental price growth is approaching pre-pandemic levels

Housing Wire

The U.S. single-family rental market is still strong, but the pace of rent increases has cooled significantly over the past year. The market is looking more like 2019 than the price spikes witnessed during the pandemic. U.S. single-family rent increases in May registered a 3.7% gain, compared to the 14.2% growth observed in the same month in 2022, according to Corelogic ’s Single-Family Rent Index (SFRI).

Tenants 537
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The savagely unhealthy housing market is back

Housing Wire

The days on market are back to a teenager level in the existing home sales market, which means I can officially say we are back to a savagely unhealthy housing market! Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in. What do I mean by savagely unhealthy? One of the critical data lines I track is the days on market, and when that breaks under 30 days it’s a dangerous sign, but when we get into the teenager level or lower, it’s a red alert.

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Housing Market Tracker: Inventory disappoints again

Housing Wire

After seeing disappointing inventory growth two weeks ago , which I chalked up to the Memorial Day holiday, I was hoping for a big push in active listings last week, but that didn’t happen. And, the recent uptick in mortgage rates to almost 7% slowed purchase application data again. Here’s a quick rundown of the last week: Active inventory grew 6,722 weekly.

Inventory 517
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New home sales defy recession calls

Housing Wire

New home sales are up 20% year over year, and existing home sales are down 20% year over year; this is something we don’t see very often. One group has the advantage here while the other doesn’t: The new home sales market is minuscule versus the existing one, and the builders sell their homes like a commodity. Last year a theme of mine was that new home sales are historically low, and the builders know how to move products when needed.

Mortgage 508
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Is the housing recession over?

Housing Wire

Housing starts are surging today and the builder’s confidence data is now in expansion territory. Does this mean the housing recession is over? As I have said many times over the last few months, the builders are efficient sellers and they’re taking advantage of an existing home sales market that is suffering from low inventory and higher mortgage rates.

Mortgage 492
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Has the Fed won its battle against inflation? 

Housing Wire

Inflation was running over 9% last year and the headline inflation growth rate has cooled off a lot recently. Does this mean the Federal Reserve will pivot soon to prevent a recession? I don’t believe they will, but the growth rate of headline inflation falling is good enough for them to pause rate hikes tomorrow. The core aspect of inflation is taking time to head lower, and this is the part of the inflation picture that the Fed cares most about.

Mortgage 496
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Is the sinking housing market finally at the bottom?

Housing Wire

It’s been a brutal 15-month period for the housing market since the Federal Reserve began escalating its benchmark interest rate in March 2022 to combat rising inflation. Since then, the Fed has bumped rates 10 times, effectively putting the brakes on what had been a hot housing market. As the June 13-14 meeting of the central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) approaches, the housing industry remains prepared for yet another jolt of rate shock.

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Housing Market Tracker: Purchase apps surprise

Housing Wire

Mortgage rates were near 7% last week but purchase applications were still able to pull out an 8% week-to-week gain. That was surprisingly strong, but as I have always stressed, context is critical. Purchase apps were coming off a four-week losing streak and even though those were mild week-to-week declines, it was still four weeks of weakness. The recent growth broke that streak, but demand is still low.

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Homebuilders are all smiles right now

Housing Wire

For the first time in nearly a year, homebuilder confidence moved into positive territory thanks to strong consumer demand , limited competition from the existing home sales market , and an improving supply chain. The National Home Builders Association ‘s June survey marks the sixth straight month that builder confidence has increased and is the first time that sentiment levels have surpassed the midpoint of 50 (out of 100) since July 2022.

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Jobs data shows the truth about the labor market

Housing Wire

We’ve had some odd job reports over the years, but the key is to always follow the trend. That’s especially important with Friday’s data , which showed 339,000 jobs were created in May even while the unemployment rate increased. As someone who wrote that we should get job openings toward 10 million in this expansion, I am always mindful of my other labor talking point.

Marketing 444
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Housing Market Tracker: Holiday impacts inventory

Housing Wire

Last week we saw a noticeable slowdown in housing inventory growth that I hope has more to do with a holiday week than a trend. Mortgage rates fell last week after the debt ceiling issues were resolved, but the damage from higher rates took its toll on purchase application data again. Here’s a quick rundown of the last week: Active inventory grew 3,180 weekly , and new listing data fell week to week and is still trending at an all-time low in 2023.

Inventory 441
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Zillow shuts down Closing Services

Housing Wire

Zillow Group ’s attempt to streamline the home buying experience by offering all facets of the transaction process on one platform has hit a road bump. The real estate listing giant announced on Monday that it is sunsetting its title and escrow provider, Zillow Closing Services. “Integrating the real estate transaction to make buying and selling simpler for customers remains our core strategy and we believe offering title and escrow is a critical component,” a Zillow spokesperson wrote in an ema

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Crowdfunding platform Peer Street files for bankruptcy

Housing Wire

California-based real estate investing platform Peer Street, Inc. and 14 affiliated debtors filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in a court in Delaware on Monday, citing a challenging mortgage market and struggles to raise capital with venture capital funds. “Through its bankruptcy filing, PeerStreet will seek to sell substantially all of its assets, including, but not limited to, its mortgage loan assets and technology platform, in a series of transacti

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Median income earners can only afford 25% of current listings

Housing Wire

It is no secret that housing inventory is low. As of June 2, there were 433,104 single family homes on the market nationwide, according to data from Altos Research. And while this situation is certainly far from ideal, according to a report published Thursday by the National Association of Realtors and Realtor.com , even with the existing level of homes available for sale, the housing affordability and inventory shortage issues wouldn’t be so severe if there were enough homes for buyers at all i

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Residential real estate activity picks up despite low inventory

Housing Wire

All 12 Federal Reserve districts have seen issues with a lack of housing inventory , which is largely due to existing homeowners holding back on listing their homes after previously locking in low mortgage rates. Demand from the buyer side has remained steady or increased, however, and new home builders have responded to inventory shortages by increasing speculative inventory production, according to the Federal Reserve Beige Book, released Wednesday.

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loanDepot sues Movement for poaching LOs

Housing Wire

loanDepot is accusing its competitor Movement Mortgage of damaging its business by hiring over 25 employees in three months and “effectively crippling” “now-depleted” branches. The poaching lawsuit, filed on June 22 at a federal district court in Delaware, states that South Carolina-based Movement recruited and hired its employees in late 2021 and early 2022 to take trade secrets and confidential information.

Mortgage 417
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Guild launches 1% down payment advantage program

Housing Wire

Add Guild Mortgage to the list of lenders offering down payment assistance programs in order to court more buyers at a time when mortgage rates remain elevated. The California-based lender rolled out a 1% down payment advantage program this week that allows customers to buy a home with a minimum down payment of 1% of the purchase price. Guild will also cover 1% of the borrower’s interest rate for the first year with a lender-paid temporary buydown.

Mortgage 420
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Nearly 90% of recent mortgages originations were purchase loans

Housing Wire

The housing market, which is facing challenges with mortgage rates , affordability, prices and inventory, hasn’t been this purchase-dominant in decades, according to Black Knight ’s originations market monitor report. Today, nearly nine out of every 10 mortgages originated is a purchase loan, the report notes. Last month, purchase locks accounted for 88% of the market mix, marking a record high.

Mortgage 421
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Fannie Mae warns Northern CA mortgage lenders of child support income scheme

Housing Wire

Fannie Mae has issued a mortgage fraud alert for lenders in northern California, warning of heightened instances of misrepresented child support income in “numerous loans” that have been originated in the region over the past few months. The GSE highlighted four hallmarks of such a scheme. These include, “commonality of real estate agents involved in selling the subject properties; bank statements and canceled checks [which] are created to support falsified child support income; borrowers hav[in

Mortgage 407
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Marketing Leaders take the stage at HW Annual Oct. 10-12

Housing Wire

What does marketing look like in 2023 and beyond? It’s a question we’ve started to ask our Marketing Leaders each year as the changing landscape requires top leaders to be agile in their strategies. In just this year, the top social media platforms are constantly releasing updates, ChaptGPT seems to be open on everyone’s desktop and a lot of us are looking at a lead pipeline that needs filling.

Marketing 401
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Housing Market Tracker: Inventory gets summer lift

Housing Wire

Summer is here, and housing inventory is finally growing! The spring housing inventory was like a zombie rising from the grave, very slow, but the summer is showing some promise and let’s hope it continues. Purchase apps had a small week-to-week gain. Mortgage rates were again in a small range, hanging near 7%. Here’s a quick rundown of the last week: Active inventory grew 8,886 weekly.

Inventory 410
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Most mortgages in forbearance in March 2021 are either current now or closed: CFPB

Housing Wire

Most borrowers who had a mortgage forbearance in March 2021, including disproportionately impacted borrowers of color, were either current or closed as of March 2023. This is according to data released this week by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Office of Research. In the immediate aftermath of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic’s onset, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed in March 2020 allowed millions of U.S. mortgage borrowers to enter public

Mortgage 396
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Angel Oak Mortgage REIT issues $285M non-QM securitization

Housing Wire

Angel Oak Mortgage REIT has issued a $284.5 million non-QM securitization, which the company said marks an “inflection point” in its business. The company said it intends to use the capital to purchase more newly originated, high-coupon loans while continuing to manage liquidity. The securitization will also reduce Angel Oak’s whole loan warehouse debt by 45.6% from the first quarter of 2023, bringing the total reduction in the REIT’s whole loan warehouse debt since the end of Q3 202

Mortgage 397
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How AI implementation could impact the mortgage industry

Housing Wire

Most mortgage professionals have either started to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) or are at least aware of how it can be adopted to make the loan origination process more efficient. While it will take time to fully implement AI in the mortgage industry, the most practical use of AI in the mortgage process is document and data point recognition — or finding data and figuring out what the data is, according to a new Stratmor report on the potentials and limitations of AI. “Once data is i

Mortgage 393