By KIMBERLEY HAAS
Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill this week that would restrict tax breaks for corporate investors that purchase large quantities of homes.
If passed, the Stop Predatory Investing Act would prohibit investors who acquire 50 or more single-family homes for rental purposes from deducting interest or depreciation on those properties.
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), chair of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, says investors funded by Wall Street buy up homes that could have been sold to first-time homebuyers. He claims they rent them out at higher rates, neglect repairs, and then threaten families with eviction.
“Our bill will help prevent corporate landlords from driving up local housing prices and put power back in the…
Salt Lake City was a pandemic hot spot but as the housing market evens out across the nation, one senior loan officer who works in the metropolitan area says buyers are seeing some relief.
According to data from Redfin, home prices in Salt Lake City were down 8.5% in March compared to last year, selling for a median price of $540,000.
The city was ranked fifth on a recent Realtor.com list of the 10 U.S. cities where home sales were down the most, in part because fewer out-of-state buyers are relocating to the “Silicon Slopes.” In November 2021, there were 1,506 sales, compared to 708 in November of 2022.
Cory Ure works at SecurityNational Mortgage Company in Salt Lake City.…
Investors’ lender Kiavi has named Alex Urmersbach as Chief Financial Officer, the company announced.
In this position, Urmersbach will head the company’s finance, accounting, capital markets, and business operations divisions.
“I couldn’t be more excited to join Kiavi, especially as the company continues to demonstrate impressive growth and differentiation in this challenging macroeconomic environment,” he said.
“I look forward to working with the Kiavi team to build on its already strong foundation, and am deeply committed to the organization’s mission of providing real estate investors with the capital they need to scale their businesses and revitalize aged homes across the country.”
Kiavi is a private lender focusing on residential real estate investors, with more than $13 billion in funded loans.…
Investors are backing away from the home purchase market as price appreciation continues to cool.
Investor home purchases declined 45.8% YOY in Q4 2022, according to a new Redfin analysis of 40 U.S. metros. This is a record drop, besting 2008’s 45.1% dip during the subprime mortgage crisis.
Quarter-over-quarter, investment purchases fell 27%, the largest decline excluding the beginning of the pandemic.
Pandemic boomtowns in particular saw massive dips, with investor purchases in Las Vegas and Phoenix dropping by more than 60%.
High borrowing costs and declining home values have “made real estate investing less attractive,” Redfin said.
Home prices have risen less than 1% YOY, down significantly from 15% growth last year. Investors who bought homes at a premium…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS Two Kentucky real estate professionals who allegedly conspired to rig bids for farmland and timber rights each face up to 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Barry Dyer and Mackie Shelton allegedly rigged the bids for hundreds of acres of farmland and a tract of timber rights during an auction in April of 2018. The auction took place in Allen County, Kentucky. The bidding reached a point where the only participants were Dyer, Shelton, and two men who had leased the farm together to grow tobacco, according to an article by Bill Estep at the Lexington Herald Leader. Officials at the U.S. Department of Justice claim Dyer and Shelton demanded $40,000 from these competing…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS Leaders at an online marketplace that connects property investors to homeowners selling as-is say their platform gives both parties more certainty during the process. People who have houses that are vacant, damaged from natural disasters, or have structural issues can be sold on the Sundae marketplace, but any number of potential sellers may benefit from the company’s services, according to Shaun Greer. Greer is the Senior Vice President of Revenue at Sundae. He recently sat down for an interview with The Mortgage Note. Greer said they have about 22,000 investors who are interested in purchasing “homes that need love.” “What Sundae does is partners with the homeowner and says, ‘Hey, we are going to get you the…
Luxury home sales tanked by 28.1% YOY in the three months ending August 31, the biggest drop since 2012, according to new Redfin data. The decline overtook even the 23.2% drop that happened at the beginning of the pandemic, when home sales slowed to a crawl in every area. Non-luxury home sales also fell by the largest margin on record, but in a far less dramatic drop of 19.5%, a change of 0.5%. The same stressors that are beating down the non-luxury market are impacting high-end buyers: low inventory, rising rates, and economic uncertainty. “High-end-house hunters are getting sticker shock when they see the impact of rising mortgage rates on paper. For a luxury buyer, a higher interest rate can…
Mortgage rates remained basically the same over the last week, averaging 3.11%, Freddie Mac reported Thursday. Freddie’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS) found that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.11%, up only a smidge from last week’s 3.10%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 2.71% “Mortgage rates continue to remain stable notwithstanding volatility in the financial markets,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s Chief Economist. “The consistency of rates in the face of changes in the economy is primarily due to the evolution of the pandemic, which lingers and continues to pose uncertainty. This low mortgage rate environment offers favorable conditions for refinancing.” The emerging Omicron variant of Covid-19 has dampened hopes of normalcy returning, and…
SFRhub.com has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Altisource, with the goal of creating an online marketplace for SFR and BFR properties. The collaboration is intended to give SFRhub.com, a real estate investment platform specializing in single-family residential (SFR) and Build-For-Rent (BFR) investment portfolios, a “one-stop” platform for investors to buy and sell homes. Altisource, a data and residential real estate services provider, will supply information and services to the platform. “SFRhub.com’s collaboration with Altisource will provide SFR/BFR investors with the first-to-market, ‘one-stop’ solution to expertly buy and sell homes in one of CRE’s most fast-paced and hottest asset investment segments,” said Jeff Cline, executive director and principal of SFRhub.com. “We believe this multi-platform collaboration is truly one of the…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS Mat Ishbia is helping to privately fund a new contract for the Michigan State University football coach, who was the punchline of many jokes on social media last weekend after his team lost to Ohio State in a blowout game. The Detroit News confirmed from a source close to negotiations last week that coach Mel Tucker and officials at Michigan State University were closing in on a new 10-year, $95 million contract that would make him one of the highest-paid coaches in college football. That agreement was made possible by financial commitments from Ishbia and Shift Digital CEO Steve St. Andre. After the embarrassing 56-7 loss to the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday, Sports Illustrated reported some Michigan…
