By KIMBERLEY HAAS
Craving some sunshine? You are not alone as the migration to the Sun Belt continues past the pandemic.
Data from U-Haul and North American Van Lines shows that the Carolinas, Florida, and Texas were among the top inbound states for migration last year. That trend is expected to continue.
And as the state of North Carolina sees an influx of new residents, the coastal city of Wilmington has been attracting accolades. It was listed as the second best place to live in North Carolina by Forbes Advisor last fall, coming in after Raleigh, the state’s capital.
In January, the median listing home price in Wilmington was $435,700, trending up 18.1% year-over-year. The median home sold price was…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
Interest in minimalism has increased in recent years, and people who want to embrace that lifestyle could fall in love with one of the cities listed in a recent analysis.
Minimalism is commonly defined as intentionally living with fewer possessions, focusing instead on what is essential.
For the analysis by RentCafe, cities with populations of over 200,000 residents were ranked based on a series of metrics including public transportation, commute time, number of people walking and biking to work, the prevalence of work-from-home opportunities, size of homes, climate and environmental factors, population density, access to parks and beaches, electricity bills, and self-storage availability.
Google searches related to minimalism were also taken into account. There were an average…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
Programs that support ownership of multifamily properties are estimated to make up almost 30% of homebuyer assistance offerings and that may present unique opportunities in markets strapped for inventory.
According to the Down Payment Resource’s Homeownership Program Index, 33 new programs supporting multifamily homebuyers and builders were added in Q4 2022.
Multifamily programs now make up 29.3% of all available assistance offerings, a 5.5% increase over Q3 2022, according to the index.
Sean Moss, executive vice president of product and operations at Down Payment Resource, told The Mortgage Note that even first-time homebuyers can qualify for down payment assistance and become both an owner and a landlord at the same time.
Moss said the buyer receiving the…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
Officials at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are warning shoppers about pay-to-play mortgage comparison shopping platforms.
CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said in a statement on Tuesday that given current mortgage interest rates, it is important for homebuyers to shop and compare loan offers.
“We are working to ensure that online platforms are not manipulating their search results in order to coerce kickbacks from lenders,” Chopra said.
Rates for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hovered just above 6% last week.
In a press release, CFPB officials said that American consumers looking for the best deal on mortgages often turn to comparison-shopping platforms and mobile apps.
“Many of the websites and applications claim to offer ranked lists of providers suitable…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
The executive vice president of Rocket Pro TPO told brokers across the country on Monday that they are willing to indemnify those who choose to fight United Wholesale Mortgage’s anti-competition ultimatum.
During a live-streamed Ignite Live event, Mike Fawaz said he believes the ultimatum was one of the worst things to happen to independent mortgage brokers in 50 years.
“The ultimatum uses lawyers and contracts to limit choice – both for the broker and for the clients the broker services,” Fawaz said. “There’s no other way to put it – the ultimatum is immoral, reduces broker incomes, and increases the rates the clients of brokers will pay.”
Fawaz said that they stand behind brokers who want to…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
After officials at the Federal Reserve raised rates by 25 basis points, Chair Jerome Powell said that the fight against inflation isn’t over and he does not see them cutting rates this year.
During a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Powell said the disinflationary process has started in some sectors of the economy but they remain cautious.
“Certainty is just not appropriate here. Inflation, it’s just hard to forecast inflation. It may come down faster. It may take longer to come down, and yet, our job is to deliver inflation back to target and we will do that, but I think we’re going to be cautious about declaring victory and sending signals that we think that the…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
Leaders at ActiveComply say their new digital service helps companies in highly regulated industries stay compliant while employing remote workers.
Banks, mortgage lenders, credit unions, and investment banking firms have to follow strict agency guidelines, as well as state and federal laws. Remote Office Inspection allows compliance teams at those institutions to document their efforts when employees are working outside of the office.
Rob Nunziata, co-founder and CEO of ActiveComply, uses the example of FHA home loan files, which must be protected under rules established by officials at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Nunziata said the most important thing to regulators is that consumer data is protected.
“We had a conversation with HUD early…
The Mortgage Note’s Editor Kimberley Haas has been interviewing some of the leaders in the country over the past year. This podcast highlights the successes and innovations taking place in the mortgage industry. If you would like to participate in future episodes, please email us at [email protected]. Read Articles Featuring The Guests: Meet The Woman Behind “Wall Street South” You Can Get A Mortgage At Walmart Learn About Financing Manufactured Homes With Rocket’s EVP Of Capital Markets Guild Leaders Hope To Help Hispanic Homebuyers Through New Partnership The Future Landscape Of Cities: Live-Work-Play, Science Centers, Medical Offices Follow Us On Twitter:
The Biden-Harris administration announced new actions to protect renters this week and leaders at the U.S. Department of…
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…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS A new proposed rule meeting President Joe Biden’s call to fully enforce the Fair Housing Act was announced by officials at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on Thursday. “Affirmatively furthering fair housing means more than merely steering clear of housing discrimination violations,” Demetria McCain, principal deputy assistant secretary for fair housing and equal opportunity, said in a statement. “Today, HUD is taking new, bold action to eliminate the historic patterns of segregation that continue to harm American families. This action will help make the purpose of the Fair Housing Act reality by making it easier for local communities to identify inequities and make concrete commitments to address them.” According to a press release, the rule…
