Home Prices Heat Up

Data released today shows annual home price gains were stagnant in June but continue heating up in the short term, with month-over-month prices rising. Year-over-year, prices remained unchanged after slipping 0.4% the prior month, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price NSA Index. Prices were up 0.9% month-over-month before seasonal adjustment and 0.7% after. This is the fifth consecutive month of increases. Home prices are now at all-time highs in half the cities analyzed, and the National Composite sits just 0.2% below its all-time high from last year. Craig J. Lazzara, managing director at S&P DJI, noted that regional differences remain “striking.” The West Coast hubs that saw a huge migration during the pandemic performed the worst (-5.9%).…

Rocket Pro TPO Competes For Loans Under $200K

By KIMBERLEY HAAS Leaders at Rocket Pro TPO are extending their promotion on 30-year conventional purchase loans at or under $200,000 as they gear up to be more competitive in that market this year. During an IGNITE: Live! webinar on Monday, Executive Vice President Mike Fawaz announced that they are continuing their 37.5 BPS credit on these loans. Fawaz said they want to make sure that they listen to their broker partners and their feedback. “This is something we have been extending every single month since December. And the feedback continues to be incredible and positive and broker partners want it,” Fawaz said. Fawaz explained the philosophy behind the promotion. “When you think about it, we are very competitive when…

Automated Valuation Model Offers Property Data For Industry Professionals

By KIMBERLEY HAAS A new automated valuation model that recently hit the market uses a national property database, geospatial comparable data, and artificial intelligence to help users evaluate properties. Altisource, founded in 2009, is a provider of services and technology for the mortgage and real estate marketplaces. Their NestRange AVM helps with valuations for originations and defaults. The original AVM model was built as an in-house tool, according to Chief Strategy Officer and CTO Israel Meir. “Early last year, we felt that we were at a pretty good place to package this up and offer it as a commercial system in addition to continuing to use it internally,” Meir said in a recent interview with The Mortgage Note. NestRange was…

Gallus Insights Aims To Help Lenders Make Data-Driven Decisions

By KIMBERLEY HAAS The CEO of an advanced analytics company says the latest version of their platform includes a new reporting tool that can help lenders and servicers navigate the current market. Augie Del Rio is the co-founder of Gallus Insights, headquartered in Chicago. They have satellite offices in Dallas and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Del Rio and Bernardo Loitegui started the company in 2021. Leaders at the company recently released information about the upgraded version of their cloud-based platform. It includes a Home Mortgage Disclosure Act reporting tool and comes on the heels of $1 million in pre-seed funding. Users can pull insights on the total market, specific geographies, products, and peer lenders. Data about borrowers, loans, and employees can…

Hitting The Market During The Holidays? What Sellers And Buyers Need To Know

By KIMBERLEY HAAS The housing market traditionally cools during the holiday season as people focus on family and friends but industry leaders say it is a good time for potential sellers and buyers to weigh their options. After mortgage rates recently surged above 7%, real estate activity and consumer sentiment took a nosedive. Home delistings hit a record high in November as sellers and buyers pulled out of the market, according to journalists Lily Katz and Ben Walzer at Redfin. Markets where home prices skyrocketed during the pandemic are now cooling the fastest. In Sacramento, Calif., an average of 3.6% of active listings were delisted per week during the 12 weeks ending on November 27, up 1.6 percentage points from one year earlier.…

With The Holidays Here, Industry Leaders Share What They Are Grateful For

By KIMBERLEY HAAS Industry leaders are sharing their thoughts as 2022 winds down and they are expressing gratitude despite challenges in the current market. Bill Banfield, EVP of Capital Markets at Rocket Mortgage in Detroit, Michigan, said he appreciates the mental stimulation of navigating a tough market because people are forced to get creative in finding solutions for customers. “Your company, your teams, you get to try to figure out how you can help people or how you can improve your company. It’s actually a much more fascinating time than when you’re in a super boom and all you can do is talk about rates and payments,” Banfield said. Banfield had just sat down with The Mortgage Note to talk…

Motto Mortgage Affiliated Opens In Chicago Metro

A new Motto Mortgage Affiliated office has opened in Libertyville, Illinois, the company announced. Motto Mortgage Affiliated is located outside of Chicago and serves all markets in that metropolitan area. The brokerage was established by Michael and Amy Kite. They bring nearly two decades of real estate experience to the business. “Motto Mortgage Affiliated offers an advantageous alternative to the traditional mortgage bankers currently operating in Chicagoland,” said Michael Kite.  “We provide the scope, scale, and support of a large retail lender while offering the flexibility, autonomy, and exceptional service of a local mortgage broker that knows how to navigate the intricacies of the home buying process in your market.” Desmond Lawe, an industry veteran with ten years of experience,…

Look At The Numbers: Adjacent Cities Grew During Pandemic

By CHUCK GREEN There are those who downright groove to the tune of a lifestyle embedded squarely in the middle of the action. You know, the big city, the vibe of being at the nexus of it all. Downright intoxicating. Conversely, others are swayed by the tranquility of a smaller city or town, finding it as relaxing as, oh, say, a running tab on hot totties. Oh, yeah. Pure nirvana. Now, for those who prefer to be where life can be chill but also gyrate to the beat of maintaining relatively close proximity to where it can be a regular buzzsaw of activity as well, the concept of adjacent cities just might speak their language. Adjacent towns or cities share…

Office Space Vacancies Monitored Closely As Numbers Begin To Fall

By CHUCK GREEN Office vacancy rates are being monitored closely as the commercial space industry continues to grapple with COVID’s effects on the workplace. In Los Angeles, office activity stagnated in the first quarter of 2022. One-fifth of total inventory remained vacant and rents remained unchanged, according to Greg Cornfield at Commercial Observer. Other major metro areas, including New York City, Boston, San Francisco, Washington DC, and Chicago, also continue to experience double-digit vacancy rates. Stemming from remote work due to the variant, San Francisco and DC reportedly kicked off the year with vacancies approaching 20%. In major U.S. markets vacancies of around 60% were recently shown by Kastle Systems, which measures occupancy by looking at foot traffic into offices.…

Will The Housing Market Boom Or Bust In 2022?

By KIMBERLEY HAAS As the spring selling season begins, people in the mortgage and real estate industries are speculating on whether 2022 will be a year of growth or the start of the end for a red-hot market that has favored sellers and forced up the price of housing in many parts of the country. Numbers from the start of the year look promising for growth. On Tuesday, S&P Dow Jones Indices released the latest results for the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices. A 19.2% annual gain was reported in January, up from 18.9% in December. The 10-City Composite annual increase was 17.5%, up from 17.1% in December. The 20-City Composite posted a 19.1% year-over-year gain, up from 18.6% in the previous…