Mortgage rates reversed course and soared to the highest averages in seven years, Freddie Mac reports. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.61 percent this week, which matches the highest level since May 19, 2011.“Healthy consumer spending and higher commodity prices spooked the bond markets and led to higher mortgage rates over the past week,” says Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “Not only are buyers facing higher borrow
Short-term and longer-term predictions about real estate markets along with a substantive give-and-take about the proposed association dues increase were among the lively topics at the 2018 REALTORS® Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo on Thursday.Lawrence YunResidential Outlook: Robust Economy, Restrained Sales By most measures, home sales should be breaking out because of the strong economy, but growth is minimal because too few homes are fo
Notarize, a company that allows professionals or businesses to legally notarize documents online, announced $20 million in a new round of funding, bringing the company’s total to $31 million. Notarize was part of Second Century Ventures’ 2017 REach program, a strategic investment arm of the National Association of REALTORS® that helps companies launch into the real estate, financial services, banking, home services, and insurance industri
You likely conduct a lot of business from your phone, but when using public Wi-Fi, you may be putting your and your clients’ personal information at risk.As Michael Gargiulo, CEO at VPN.com, notes at Forbes.com, public Wi-Fi is never secure. Hackers will use fake public Wi-Fi networks, along with openly posted Wi-Fi passwords, to break into devices to access that network. The data you send and receive can be intercepted, exploited, and resold.G
Nevada has the highest share of homeowners who are likely to move, according to a new report released by ATTOM Data Solutions. Homeowners in Delaware, Florida, Colorado, and Virginia rounded out the top five places where homeowners are showing the greatest likelihood of moving.ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate research firm, culled data from purchase loan applications on residential real estate transactions for its first quarter Pre-Mover Housi
A sluggish reading on housing production last month was mostly due to a decline in the construction of apartment buildings and condos. Housing production, reflecting multifamily and single-family homes, dropped 3.7 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.29 million units, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. The decrease follows an 11-year high in housing production that was set in March.“We expected some pullback this
Real estate pro Ben Caballero of Dallas has made history: He’s the first real estate agent ever to be recognized by the Guinness World Records for a mammoth number of home sales. Caballero sold 3,556 verified homes in a single year—this means essentially selling an average of more than 68 homes per week, or nearly 10 homes per day, every day of the week.Caballero was honored this week for his achievements at a REAL Trends conference in Denve
Minneapolis, Portland, and Chicago are the best cities for bicycling in 2018, according to the revamped Bike Score rankings by the Redfin company Walk Score.The Bike Score tool rates locations based on several factors on its bike-friendliness, such as access to bike loans, road connectivity, and hilliness. Bike Score ratings are available now for nearly 2,000 cities and about 20,000 neighborhoods on walkscore.com. Redfin has identified bike path
U.S. banks are reportedly relaxing their lending standards on some commercial real estate loans. This marks the first time in nearly three years that lenders have taken such a move on commercial loans, the CoStar Group reports.The Federal Reserve’s first quarter survey of senior loan officers shows that banks are easing standards and terms on commercial and industrial loans to large and middle-market firms. They have mostly left loan standards
National Association of REALTORS® members learned about HUD’s top priorities, security protocols both on and offline, and new loan options for military veterans as the 2018 REALTORS® Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo continued Wednesday.In a conversation with NAR First Vice President Vince Malta during the General Session, HUD Secretary Ben Carson said the public needs more education about what constitutes sexual harassment.HUD Seeks End
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