Sat.Aug 15, 2020 - Fri.Aug 21, 2020

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New interest from city dwellers raising home prices in rural areas

Housing Wire

The pandemic is pushing homeowners out of the big cities and into rural and suburban areas , pushing up home prices in previously sleepy towns. In July, less densely populated areas showed more buyer interest than urban areas, Redfin said. Before the pandemic, 9% of homebuyers said they were searching for a home in rural areas. Now, 19% say they are looking at rural options.

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With All That PPP And Without All That Travel, The Appraisal Foundation Doesn't Need A Grant From ASC This Year

Miller Samuel

This post previously appeared in the August 14, 2020 edition of Housing Notes. I've been writing these weekly summaries on housing topics for more than five years. To subscribe for free, you can sign up here. Then you can look forward to each issue every Friday at 2pm New York Time. The TAF decline in credibility keeps on coming. After the recent letter debacle where the Appraisal Foundation (TAF) opined falsely that Title XI did not permit the Appraisal Subcommittee (ASC) to provide oversight o

Appraisal 221
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7 Key Considerations for Using a Restricted Appraisal Report

McKissock

In any real estate appraisal assignment, you must use one of the two written report options outlined in USPAP: Appraisal Report or Restricted Appraisal Report. A diligent appraiser can utilize the Restricted Appraisal Report option when it makes good sense for the assignment and client. Before you take on a Restricted Appraisal Report, here are some important things to consider. 1.

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Benefits of Appraising Luxury Homes

Appraisal Hub

Do you own a luxury property in Toronto? Getting it appraised is one of the important things you need to do on a regular basis. A professional appraisal can give you an unbiased opinion of your home’s value, which can be especially useful if you are planning to sell it soon, if you want to refinance your mortgage, or simply want to update your statement of assets.

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Are existing home sales showing a housing bubble?

Housing Wire

Today, existing home sales blew out estimates , coming in at 5,860,000. With new home sales, pending home sales, housing starts, housing permits, and purchase applications already in v-shape recovery mode, this last metric completes the v-shaped recovery across the board for housing. Let’s just say this is the final nail in the coffin for the housing bear troll camps that were so sure that this time, housing would finally crash.

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Top Tips for Eco-Friendly House / Green Homes

D Fritz Appraisals

Translating into energy savings, increased property value and a reduced carbon footprint, green homes are more sought-after than ever. Now a mainstream concept, eco-friendly homes provide incredible energy savings and contribute to lowered living costs and a positive impact on the environment. Home buyers now look for smart features and eco-friendly options meant to reduce their carbon footprint, such as the new Tesla solar roof , smart thermostats, energy smart appliances and tankless hot water

More Trending

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Real Estate Technology Helping New York and New Jersey Consumers Find Opportunity During COVID-19 Crisis

REX Real Estate

REX, the real estate technology company connecting residential real estate buyers and sellers and offering the lowest transaction costs in the industry, released two new reports Wednesday analyzing housing market trends in New York and New Jersey.

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Mid-August rent payments tick up to near-normal levels

Housing Wire

The National Multifamily Housing Council ‘s Rent Payment Tracker reports that 86.9% of renting households had paid rent as of Aug. 13, a significant increase from Aug. 6, when just 79.3% had made rent payments. Year over year, this is just 2% less than rent payments collected Aug. 13, 2019. RealPage said that although the gradual increase in collections over the course of the month is normal, reduced unemployment benefits still leave renters unsure about where their next payment will come

Inventory 544
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How to Calculate an Interest Reserve for a Construction Loan

Property Metrics

There’s no doubt about it, construction lending is tough. From changing interest rates, long lead times, and freak weather events, there are a myriad of risks that can derail a project. However, from a lender’s perspective, there’s one risk that is top of mind when making a construction loan – the borrower’s ability to make their loan payments during the construction term.

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Pros and Cons of Complex Property Appraisal: Insights from a Florida Appraiser

McKissock

In my previous blog post , I observed that specializing in complex property appraisal can be very profitable for the residential appraiser—in Florida and all across the U.S. Here, I’ll talk about the advantages and disadvantages of “complex” and “challenging” assignments and how to find this type of work. In addition, I’ll present several examples to help you identify complex assignments.

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Why you should include your home office in your listing

REX Real Estate

With the recent COVID-19 pandemic, having a home office went from being a nice-to-have…

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Mortgage applications fall 3.3% as interest rates rise

Housing Wire

Mortgage applications fell 3.3% last week after interest rates rose to their highest level in two weeks , according to a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The refinance index also fell 5% from the previous week, however, it was 38% higher than the same week a year ago – marking its thirteenth-straight week of year-over-year gains. The refinance share of mortgage activity also fell to 64.6% of total applications from 65.6% the week prior when it hit its highest level since May.

Mortgage 542
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The ‘Urban To Suburban’ Narrative Is Really ‘Manhattan To Suburban’

Miller Samuel

This post previously appeared in the August 14, 2020 edition of Housing Notes. I've been writing these weekly summaries on housing topics for more than five years. To subscribe for free, you can sign up here. Then you can look forward to each issue every Friday at 2pm New York Time. The New York Times created a terrific graphic on our Elliman New Signed Contract Report by illustrating the performance of Manhattan and Brooklyn versus Westchester County.

Contracts 300
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Breaking Up with Difficult Real Estate Clients

McKissock

As a real estate agent, you spend a great deal of time soliciting to build your roster. The goal is generally to garner clients that will give you repeat business—and good word of mouth. As such, the thought of ending a client relationship may seem unfathomable. However, success—for both you and your clients—depends on a solid working relationship. Sometimes breaking up with difficult real estate clients is the best thing you can do for both parties.

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5 Tips to Help You Increase the Likelihood of Getting Your Asking Price

REX Real Estate

If you’ve got plans to put your house on the market, it goes without…

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CFPB proposes a new category of qualified mortgages: Seasoned QM

Housing Wire

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is proposing a new category of qualified mortgages called Seasoned QM, which would require loans to meet certain performance requirements over a 36-month seasoning period. The CFPB said they hope this new category will “encourage innovation and help ensure access to responsible, affordable mortgage credit.”. In order to qualify as a Seasoned QM, loans would have to be first-lien, fixed rate transactions that comply with general restrictions on product fea

Mortgage 513
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Zillow launches consumer-generated builder review feature

Housing Wire

Buyer-generated content, including consumer reviews of builders, is now available on Zillow and will be viewable on builder profiles, community pages and paid new construction listings. Builder Ratings and Reviews was launched Wednesday and surveys new homeowners at move-in asking them to rate their overall experience, quality of their home, builder responsiveness, the confidence they have in their builder and whether or not they would recommend that builder to other homebuyers.

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Here are 2020’s hottest housing markets according to ZIP code

Housing Wire

Compared to last year , the housing market this year has seen some big changes. Notably, people are moving inland from the large cities as the pandemic has created a coastal exodus , prompting apartment dwellers to seek more space and big yards. Realtor.com released its hottest ZIP codes of 2020 report on Tuesday, which revealed that more towns in the Northeast made the list than last year.

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Late-term mortgage delinquencies rise on forbearances

Housing Wire

The number of seriously delinquent mortgages, meaning payments overdue by 90 days or more, soared to a 10-year high during July in a tally that counts forbearances. There were 2.25 million home loans that were seriously delinquent last month as borrowers took advantage of a provision of the CARES Act that allows people impacted by COVID-19 to suspend payments for up to a year, according to a Black Knight report on Friday.

Mortgage 545
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TransUnion: Consumer credit delinquencies level off in July

Housing Wire

For the first time since March, the total percentage of accounts in “financial hardship” for auto, credit card, mortgage and personal loans fell across the board in July, according to a consumer credit snapshot by TransUnion. In particular, the percentage of accounts with mortgage loans in financial hardship declined from 6.79% in June to 6.15% in the month of July.

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Fed purchases of agency MBS total $892 billion

Housing Wire

Five months after restarting a bond-buying program last used in the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve has purchased about $892 billion of agency mortgage-backed securities, according to a Fed blog post on Thursday. The asset-buying has helped to drive mortgage financing costs to the lowest level ever recorded, with the average U.S. 30-year fixed rate hitting new lows eight times so far in 2020, according to weekly data from Freddie Mac.

Investors 450
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Multifamily confidence increased in second quarter, but vacancies also rose

Housing Wire

A new report from the National Association of Home Builders shows confidence in the market for new multifamily housing increased in the second quarter but still remains weak. The Multifamily Production Index rose 10 points to 37, which is still below the break even point of 50, indicating that more builders and developers viewed conditions as weaker than stronger, NAHB said.

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DataTrace launches market insight platform for title companies

Housing Wire

DataTrace Information Services announced on Thursday its launch of MarketView – a platform that will provide title companies with accurate market insights including existing market share. Title companies will have the ability to search market data nationwide by state, county, city and ZIP code as well as timeframe and transaction type, the release said.

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[PULSE] Why a credit reporting moratorium during COVID-19 will harm consumers

Housing Wire

Seeking to alleviate financial hardships on consumers, two bills; H.R. 6370 and S.3508, ‘‘Disaster Protection for Workers’ Credit Act of 2020’,’ have been introduced in Congress that amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act by placing a moratorium on reporting any “adverse information” regarding a consumer’s credit history during the COVID-19 crisis. While well-intended, these legislative proposals, if enacted, would severely reduce the availability of credit to consumers in general.

Contracts 433
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Startup profile: LauraMac

Housing Wire

Taken from the August issue of HousingWire Magazine, LauraMac is looking to increase the technology available to mortgage loans after the closing table. Launched just this year, LauraMac provides a suite of configurable products to enable collaboration that will transform the way due diligence is performed in the mortgage industry. The rest of this content is for HW+ members.

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A coastal exodus? These Century 21 San Francisco agents don’t think so

Housing Wire

Although many in the real estate industry say that San Franciscans are relocating to places more inland , some Century 21 agents in the San Francisco and Bay Area beg to differ. Suburban ZIP codes might be more popular these days, as city dwellers forced to work from home during the pandemic want more space in a home. According to Hanna Ibrahim, who specializes in the San Jose and Silicon Valley market, the MLS said the average listing price in San Francisco is $1.68 million, and the average sal

Agents 464
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Seattle’s eviction moratorium extended for the third time

Housing Wire

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan extended the city’s eviction moratorium for the third time on Friday, giving residential and commercial renters a reprieve on payments through December. Seattle’s first moratorium was passed in March, originally set to last through May 15. Then it was extended through June 4, then again through August 1. In July, Washington Gov.

Landlords 424
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Knock expands its Home Swap solution in Texas

Housing Wire

Real estate startup Knock has announced the expansion of its Home Swap solution into San Antonio and Austin, Texas. Home Swap, a proclaimed reimagined version of the company’s Home Trade-In solution, was first launched in July in Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth and Phoenix, and expanded to Denver earlier this month. In San Antonio Knock is partnering with Keller Williams Heritage and Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Don Johnson Realtors, and in Austin Knock is partnering with Berkshire Hathaway

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[PULSE] Having an inside track on company culture can lead to successful diversity and inclusion efforts

Housing Wire

Recently, an article in the Wall Street Journal outlined the challenges many companies face in hiring and retaining chief diversity officers. For the highly-regulated housing industry, identifying highly-qualified people to fill those roles is critical to an organization’s long-term growth and success. At Veterans United Home Loans , we’ve found a solution that avoids these pitfalls while strengthening the efficiency and effectiveness of such a position: hiring from within.

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Luxury home prices gain steam, but still lag behind gains of less expensive homes

Housing Wire

High-end luxury home prices are staying strong after the rollercoaster ride the housing market has been on this year. The median sale price for luxury homes in the U.S. rose 1.2% year over year, to $825,000 in the three months ending July 31, according to Redfin. In the spring, when the pandemic set in, luxury home prices declined 1.7% as the U.S. dealt with COVID-19.

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In a super-low rate environment, how can lenders get purchase loans done without putting refis on the back burner?

Housing Wire

Last week, the MBA reported that refinance activity rose to its highest level since May, now accounting for 65.7% of total applications – and everyone involved in the mortgage process is working hard to make sure those transactions go through. But as companies continue to compete on low rates, lenders are trying to balance maintaining a strong purchase presence with meeting client expectations in the refi market.

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There’s a problem with the data measuring delinquency and forbearance

Housing Wire

According to the U.S Census Bureau’s latest Household Pulse Survey , close to 21% of both Black and Hispanic homeowners missed or deferred the previous month’s mortgage payment compared to 10% of white homeowners. However, Jung Hyun Choi, research associate at the Urban Institute, said the census data doesn’t tell the whole story. Because the survey only asks whether a person missed or deferred mortgage payments, there is no way to choose both options – making it exceedingly difficult for resear

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EasyKnock snares an additional $5 million in Series B funding round

Housing Wire

Residential sale-leaseback company EasyKnock has announced a new contributor to its Series B funding round. Viola FinTech has added $5 million to this round of funding, bringing the Series B total to $25 million. EasyKnock’s CEO Jarred Kessler told HousingWire that this funding round means the company can work harder, despite the pandemic. “This round of funding enables us to double down our efforts to support homeowners during a turbulent climate,” Kessler said.

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Property foreclosure website RealtyTrac prepares for growth with rehire of Rick Sharga

Housing Wire

ATTOM Data Solutions’ RealtyTrac , a foreclosure listings and search portal, added industry veteran Rick Sharga back into its ranks earlier this month in a move that foreshadows what the company sees for its future. Sharga will oversee RealtyTrac’s marketing and public relations initiatives and implement new marketing strategies to increase brand awareness.