Black Knight introduced a new app to speed up applications for home equity lines of credit, the company announced.
The app, Validate, allows borrowers to include photos of their property as part of their application. The photos are then analyzed with AI to calculate the home’s condition in real-time, speeding up the approval process.
Borrowers complete a questionnaire to verify public record data and list any necessary repairs after submitting photos, Black Knight said.
Photos are time-stamped and GPS verified to ensure current property condition and location are accurate. The address is then scored based on comparable properties to create a condition-adjusted valuation model.
Lenders receive the property value and available equity immediately via API or PDF, saving time and…
Millions of Americans who bought new homes during the pandemic have enjoyed them and the benefits of historically low interest rates. But for those who missed out, the homebuying process has become a drag.
A new survey from Clever Real Estate found more than half of Americans who recently bought a home feel that they overpaid for their home and have struggled financially since.
One thousand Americans who purchased a home in 2022 or 2023 were surveyed on April 12 and 13, 2023. Respondents answered up to 21 questions regarding their recent home purchase, previous home sales, and views on buying and selling homes.
Almost half of respondents exceeded their budget and 58% believe they overpaid. Considering that, it’s no…
Officials at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have issued a reminder about zombie mortgages, saying threatening homeowners regarding uncollected time-barred debts violates the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
The guidance warns that it is illegal for debt collectors to threaten foreclosure on silent second mortgages with statutes of limitations that have expired.
“Some debt collectors, who sat silent for a decade, are now pursuing homeowners on zombie mortgages inflated with interest and fees,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. “We are making clear that threatening to sue to collect on expired zombie mortgage debt is illegal.”
The CFPB points to “piggyback” mortgages in particular, also known as 80/20 loans. Homebuyers would be given a first lien loan for 80% of the…
Zoomers are approaching homeownership from a different perspective than past generations, focusing more on their pets than their romantic partners.
A recent Zillow survey found that Gen Z adults consider a fenced backyard more essential than a double sink in the primary bathroom, a home office for their partner, or a kids’ playroom.
When asked whether it was more important to have a pet-friendly home or a kid-friendly home, features, 10% more Zoomers chose the former. At the same time, almost a full quarter of Gen Z pet owners would move if their home wasn’t working for their pets. Only 12% said the same about their partners’ preferences.
“Young adults may be delaying parenthood, but they’re not putting off pet…
Property taxes are on the rise, another source of financial stress for Americans.
According to new data released by ATTOM Data, total property taxes on single-family homes across the United States increased by 4% in 2022, totaling $340 billion.
This marks a significant increase from the previous year, with the average property tax bill for a single-family home rising to $3,719.
Property taxes were highest in the Northeast, with New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut topping the list. The lowest were seen in the South, with Alabama, West Virginia, and Arkansas having the least expensive property taxes.
Increasing taxes are an effect of soaring home prices, which have increased by 19% over the past year.
Though homeowners have benefitted from…
Homeowners are in for more financial stress in 2023 as insurance rates are set to rise.
Experts at Insurify, a virtual insurance company, predict that home insurance rates will rise 9% in 2023, from $1,636 to $1,784. That’s on top of last year’s 7% jump.
Repairs are more expensive thanks to increased material costs. Just as auto rates are impacted by inflation, home insurance rates follow market trends for materials and labor.
“The same inflationary pressures that are driving up your grocery bill are now driving up your homeowner insurance rates,” Colleen Finn, managing director of home product management at Plymouth Rock, a Boston-based insurer, said.
“It is costing more and taking longer to repair your home, increasing the average…
New listings continue to trend down as rate lock-in and affordability concerns keep homeowners stuck in their current living situation.
HouseCanary’s latest Market Pulse report found that net new listings fell by double digits for the tenth straight month in February.
The report, which analyzed twenty-two metrics pulled from listing information between February 2022 and February 2023, found that 157,967 net new listings went up last month, down 43.6% YOY.
Properties that went under contract also fell, totaling only 247,294, a 17% decrease YOY.
New listings drove net volume down, falling 31.7%, combined with a 72.6% rise in removals.
Median days on the market were up 48.3% YOY to 43 days. However, days on the market fell month-over-month by nearly…
Real house prices jumped 10.5% in September and logged a 60.6% YOY increase, according to First American’s Real House Price Index. As a result, consumer buying power, or how much a person can buy based on changes in income and interest rates, fell by 8.9% month-over-month and 29.3% YOY. The significant dip in affordability measured here results from skyrocketing home prices and rapidly increasing mortgage rates. “Even though household income increased 3.1% since September 2021 and boosted consumer house-buying power, it was not enough to offset the affordability loss from higher mortgage rates and fast-rising nominal prices,” said Mark Fleming, chief economist at First American. Florida, Georgia, Arkansas, South Carolina, and Alabama saw the largest annual increases in real house…
First Home Mortgage is launching a rate discount program for first-time homebuyers, the company announced in a press release. The program, First Home Advantage, gives eligible first-time homeowners access to lower interest rates. “We are excited to provide such a timely program,” said First Home Mortgage founder and CEO David Waters. “The First Home Advantage program levels the playing field for those who may have been overlooked in the past due to credit score issues.” Eligibility is based on annual income and geography, with different income limits in different areas. Borrowers in high-cost regions could be eligible with incomes as high as $168,600 a year. First Home says it created the program because more than 40% of loans it originated…
Prepayment activity dropped to a nearly 22-year low in September as interest rates rose to nearly 7%. According to Black Knight’s September 2022 First Look. prepayment activity slid by 14.9% to a single-month mortality rate of 0.57% in September, besting January 2019’s record of 0.59%. It’s the lowest level since November 2000. Inflation is a factor in low prepayment activity, says Jacob Channel, LendingTree’s senior economic analyst. “Since the start of the year, inflation has increased significantly and as a result, many households likely have less cash that they can allocate toward non-necessities like putting extra money toward their mortgage payment,” he told MarketWatch. Black Knight also reported that the national delinquency rate fell 0.2% from August to 2.78%. This…
