By CHUCK GREEN
As the traditional spring homebuying season begins, a lack of inventory, high interest rates, and economic uncertainty due to banking troubles have dominated the news. So what can people expect?
Rick Sharga, president and CEO of CJ Patrick Company in California, told The Mortgage Note that it’s “unlikely to be a banner period for home sales. Extremely low inventory of homes for sale coupled with poor affordability are likely to keep sales activity fairly weak, even though seasonal trends usually see sales and prices increase during the spring and summer months.”
Although the second quarter is typically the peak season for home sales, that has been disrupted in recent years, noted Sharga.
“This seasonal trend didn’t happen…
Industry leaders are rallying around a federal bill that would permit the nationwide use of remote online notarization.
The Securing and Enabling Commerce Using Remote and Electronic Notarization Act, H.R. 1509, establishes national standards for remote and electronic notarizations. The legislation requires the creation and retention of video and audio recordings, as well as the use of communication technologies such as video chats during remote notarizations. It passed the House on Feb. 27.
Leaders at the Mortgage Bankers Association support remote online notarization on the state and national level. They say the bill’s requirements are consistent with industry standards.
“The bill’s minimum standards for RON are consistent with both the MBA-ALTA model state RON bill and the Mortgage Industry Standards…
By PATRICK LAVERY
“Let’s go to the mall!” wasn’t just a catchphrase popularized by alter-ego Robin Sparkles on the sitcom “How I Met Your Mother.” In the 1980s and 1990s, shoppers flocked to malls to satisfy their needs for a variety of goods, and adolescents went there just to hang out, patronize the food court, and be social.
But sometime in the two decades between the turn of the millennium and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the megamall as an American institution gave way to the likes of Walmart, eBay, and Amazon. It’s gotten to the point where thumbing through slideshows of abandoned malls has become almost as perverse a pleasure as seeing what’s happened to former Olympic venues.…
By PATRICK LAVERY
Speculation about what actions leaders at the Federal Reserve will take at their meeting starting Tuesday has been building for weeks, and opinions over the right course of action are varied.
Should they stay the course, steadily raising interest rates to try to continue to curb inflation? Should they be more aggressive? Or should they pull back, letting the United States slide into a recession?
These questions have been swirling for months but the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and New York-based Signature Bank changed the dynamics of the conversations seemingly overnight.
Nadia Evangelou, senior economist and director of real estate research for the National Association of Realtors, said prior to the bank collapses, she could…
By CHUCK GREEN
More people in business, including those in lending, are returning to in-person work after the pandemic.
According to a survey released by Resume Builder last fall, 90% of companies will require employees to return to the office in 2023.
Disney laid down the law at the start of the year, making it mandatory for corporate employees to show up at the office – starting March 1 – four days a week. Starbucks corporate employees were told to report to work in person at least three days a week by the end of January.
Based on data from employers in 10 major U.S. cities, badge-swipe tallies collected by security firm Kastle Systems indicated office occupancy reached 50.4% for…
Pending home sales rose for the first time since May, breaking a six-month streak of declines, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The Pending Home Sales Index increased by 2.5% between November and December. Year-over-year it dropped by 33.8%, an improvement over November’s 37%.
All four regions saw pending sales fall YOY, but the South and West saw gains month-over-month.
“This recent low point in home sales activity is likely over,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Mortgage rates are the dominant factor driving home sales, and recent declines in rates are clearly helping to stabilize the market.”
Mortgage rates fell again last week to 6.13%, drawing some buyers back to the market.
Purchase loan applications increased again as…
By CHUCK GREEN Next time you run into someone in the local Starbucks who happens to have their home on the market, be a sport and plop an extra scone into their bag, huh? A little butter and jam, too? After all, sellers probably aren’t riding the wave of a sugar high induced by whatever they will pocket in their real estate transactions as experts say the price of an average home in the United States is decreasing. The cities expected to be the most heavily hit include: San Francisco: -10.36% Seattle: -9.55% San Diego: -7.24% Los Angeles: -5.61% Denver: -5.60% Dallas: -4.34% Portland: -4.25% Las Vegas: -3.69% What is contributing to the drop in housing prices? B. George Ratiu,…
By CHUCK GREEN and KIMBERLEY HAAS The U.S. Supreme Court will be hearing two cases challenging the legality of President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan on Feb. 28 and The Mortgage Note is asking the question, why not mortgage debt relief when that is a bigger burden to average Americans? Mortgage balances rose by $282 billion in the third quarter of 2022 and were at $11.67 trillion by the end of September. According to a press release issued by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, student loan balances slightly declined to $1.57 trillion. Total household debt reached $16.51 trillion in Q3. That includes mortgages, credit cards, auto loans, and student loans. Sarah Paulson, a certified financial planner at Valkyrie Financial…
Existing-home sales dropped for the tenth straight month in November, down 7.7% from October and 35.4% YOY, according to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors. Sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million from 4.43 million the month prior. All four major regions saw declines. “In essence, the residential real estate market was frozen in November, resembling the sales activity seen during the COVID-19 economic lockdowns in 2020,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “The principal factor was the rapid increase in mortgage rates, which hurt housing affordability and reduced incentives for homeowners to list their homes. Plus, available housing inventory remains near historic lows.” Inventory of unsold homes fell 6.6% from October to…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS With the Federal Reserve raising interest rates seven times this year – and with more rate hikes on the way in 2023 – people are wondering if their policies to cool inflation are unfairly punishing those in the housing market. The Fed’s policy-setting committee raised its benchmark rate a half-point to 4.5% this week. The goal is to reach 2% inflation by controlling monetary policy. The chair of the Federal Reserve opened his press conference on Wednesday saying that he would like to underscore for the American people that they understand the hardship that high inflation is causing. Jerome Powell said the U.S. economy has slowed significantly from last year’s rapid pace. “Recent indicators point to modest…
