By SCOTT KIMBLER The 40-year mortgage is popular again but financial experts warn they come with a lot of risks and potentially no payoffs. Needham Bank, with 14 locations in Massachusetts, promotes 40-year mortgages. “Owning a home has never been so easy,” is the term they use on their website. Before the crash of 2008, 40-year mortgages were a popular option. Today, the expenses of getting into a home are driving buyers to consider signing up for loans they won’t pay off until after they are 65 years old. Roy Black is an Economics Professor at the Emory University Goizueta School of Business and has been examining real estate finance for decades. It is his opinion that negotiating a 40-year…
Home prices have risen 42% since the beginning of the pandemic and have gained 9% in value since the first of the year, with equity reaching another all-time high, according to Black Knight’s latest Mortgage Monitor Report. Black Knight reported that the annual rate of appreciation dropped slightly to 19.9% in April, down from an upwardly revised 20.4% for March. Despite this, rising prices and interest rates have brought about the worst affordability since July 2006. “While a downward shift from 20.4% to 19.9% annual growth is hardly cause for concern, it’s also likely we’ve not yet seen the full impact of recent rate increases. Rather, April’s decline is more likely a sign of deceleration caused by the modest rate…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS The president of a reverse mortgage company is claiming that Elon Musk’s message to Tesla employees unfairly bashes the benefits of remote work and that since going fully remote in 2020 his company has been voted by its employees as a top place to work. Musk is demanding that Tesla office workers return to in-person work or leave the company. “Anyone who wishes to do remote work must be in the office for a minimum (and I mean *minimum*) of 40 hours per week or depart Tesla. This is less than we ask of factory workers,” Musk wrote in leaked emails. Although Tesla is an automotive and clean energy company, news of Musk’s demands sparked a new…
Inventory increased for the first time since June 2019, with active listings up 8% YOY, according to Realtor.com’s May housing data. An inventory increase is a good sign for the market, which is facing pressure as rising rates and soaring home prices are causing potential buyers to back off. The national median listing price in May was $447,000, up 17.6% YOY and 35.4% from May 2020. Purchase loan applications are down 14% YOY, reaching their lowest level since December 2018. However, active listings were still down 48.5% from May 2020, meaning inventory is still half of what it once was. And while active listings grew, the total inventory of unsold homes, including pending listings, fell by 3.9% thanks to a…
Mortgage rates stayed relatively flat last week, falling just slightly to an average of 5.09%, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. Freddie’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) found that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 5.09%, down from last week’s 5.10%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.99%. “Mortgage rates continued to inch downward this week but are still significantly higher than last year, affecting affordability and purchase demand,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “Heading into the summer, the potential homebuyer pool has shrunk, supply is on the rise and the housing market is normalizing. This is welcome news following unprecedented market tightness over the last couple of years.” Mortgage purchase applications are down 14% YOY…
United Wholesale Mortgage has ended one of its ongoing legal battles by paying $2.7 million to settle a lawsuit claiming the company unfairly treated its employees, including forcing them to work overtime without pay. In a letter to employees, UWM executive vice president Allen Beydoun claimed the company did nothing wrong and workers should not expect the culture inside the nation’s largest wholesale mortgage lender to change. “While we are extremely confident that our account executives were and are fairly and accurately compensated for the work and time dedicated to their business, UWM chose to stop spending additional time and money with attorneys,” Beydoun wrote. According to a report in the Detroit Free Press, the arbitrator made no ruling on…
Zombie foreclosures rose 3% from Q1 to Q2 2022, the first increase in a year, as overall foreclosure activity jumped 13%, ATTOM reported. Zombie properties– homes that sit vacant– account for 1.3 million properties in the U.S. That is one in every 76 homes. Among pre-foreclosure properties, 7,569 sit vacant in Q2, meaning that the number of zombie-foreclosure properties rose quarterly by 2.8%. Foreclosures are up 12.7% from Q1 2022 and 15.9% YOY, with 259,166 properties in the process of foreclosure in Q2 2022. This is the third consecutive quarter of increases since the national foreclosure moratorium was lifted in July 2021. “The incidence of zombie-foreclosures tends to be higher in cases where the foreclosure process has dragged on for…
Mortgage loan application volume dropped another 2.3%, the fourth decrease in five weeks and the lowest level since December 2018, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly survey shows. The adjusted Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, fell by 2.3%. The adjusted purchase index fell 1%, while the unadjusted purchase index fell by 2% and was 14% lower YOY. The refinance index fell 5% and was down 75% YOY. Refinances made up 31.5% of total applications. ARM activity fell to 8.7% of total applications. “With the 30-year fixed rate at 5.33%, the refinance market continues to shrink, led by larger decreases last week for FHA and VA refinance applications. The refinance index was 75% below last year’s…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS Three female leaders at Amrock are encouraging other women to ignore the noise and believe in themselves as they climb the corporate ladder. Amrock, headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, is a leading national provider of title insurance, property valuations, and settlement services. They are a part of Rocket Companies. Nicole Beattie, Chief Executive Officer of Amrock, has been with Rocket for nearly 18 years and began her career in mortgage banking at Rocket Mortgage – which was Quicken Loans – before transitioning to origination operations leadership. Since then, Beattie has held numerous roles, leading teams in underwriting, closing, and servicing. But that doesn’t mean she hasn’t doubted herself on the way up the ladder. Beattie reported during a recent…
Home price appreciation continues to soar, with both the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices and the Federal Finance Housing Agency’s House Price Index posting significant gains. The Case-Shiller Indices had the highest YOY price gains in its 35-year history. The National Index showed a 20.6% YOY increase in March. The 10-City Composite index rose 19.5%, while the 20-City Composite was up 21.1% YOY. Month-over-month, the seasonally adjusted National Index rose 2.1%, the 10-City rose 2.2%, and the 20-City rose 2.4%. All 20 cities saw price gains both before and after adjustment. Tampa (+34.8%), Phoenix (+32.4%), and Miami (+32%) led the surge. Seventeen of the 20 cities had higher price increases YOY in March 2022 than in February 2022. “The strength of…
