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Just done reviewing the 2015 National Association of Realtors’ Profile of Home Buying Activity of International Clients. There are definitely a few interesting statistics in there. For example, while the number of units sold international slightly declined, the average purchase price was up — and at $499,600, if you’re a real estate agent who wants…

Just done reviewing the 2015 National Association of Realtors’ Profile of Home Buying Activity of International Clients. There are definitely a few interesting statistics in there. For example, while the number of units sold international slightly declined, the average purchase price was up — and at $499,600, if you’re a real estate agent who wants…

Property taxes aren’t the purview of the Feds; however, the FHA opposed plans to make solar power tax deductible because tax assessments take precedence over mortgages in the event of a default, there was general opposition to so called PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) programs from Fannie and Freddie in light of the 2007 recession.…

Property taxes aren’t the purview of the Feds; however, the FHA opposed plans to make solar power tax deductible because tax assessments take precedence over mortgages in the event of a default, there was general opposition to so called PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) programs from Fannie and Freddie in light of the 2007 recession.…

Bill Greiner makes a fairly convincing argument in Forbes that the housing market will be driving real GDP growth upwards of 3% over the next 18 months. He distinguishes between existing home sales and new home sales, and gives an explanation of key factors: employment, confidence, affordability, alternatives, and tax impact. Additionally, he looks at…

Bill Greiner makes a fairly convincing argument in Forbes that the housing market will be driving real GDP growth upwards of 3% over the next 18 months. He distinguishes between existing home sales and new home sales, and gives an explanation of key factors: employment, confidence, affordability, alternatives, and tax impact. Additionally, he looks at…

The mortgage industry has been moving towards e-closings for quite a while now (as this blog has covered before), and there are great hopes that this will streamline and simplify the process. However, before we get all the way there, things may take a step backwards. New federal disclosure rules, though designed to simplify financial…

As this blog reported a few days ago, mortgage application rates were relatively flat in total, but underlying that data were some big swings that didn’t show up in the average. These changes are particularly surprising given the rate of home building starts and U.S. consumer confidence. The current thinking from the Mortgage Bankers Association…

Jeffrey Dorfman, a contributor to Forbes magazine, published an opinion piece yesterday afternoon title, “The Sneaky Path We Took To A Socialist Mortgage Market”. His essential premise is that when the Fannie and Freddie bailout occurred under the Bush administration, it was viewed as a first step towards fully privatizing the market; however, under the…

Despite their reputation as a generation of renters, the truth of the matter is that many Millennials are buying homes. And they’re not just buying, they’re buying smarter than a lot of people did in the past. To be sure, they seem to be taking longer than previous generations to buy their first home, but…