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Nat'l Real Estate Post:
ARM's (adjustable rate mortgages) are beginning to catch up with FRM's (fixed rate mortgages) again. This is not a bad thing. Check out the link, http://thenationalrealestatepost.com/arms-preferred-over-fixed-with-consumers/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheNationalRealEstatePost+%28The+National+Real+Estate+Post%29
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From the Bureau of Economic Analysis:
(DPI) decreased $3.8 billion, or less than 0.1 percent, in December according to the Bureau of Economic
Analysis. Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $44.1 billion, or 0.4 percent. In November, personal income increased $29.8 billion, or 0.2 percent, DPI increased $14.4 billion, or 0.1 percent, and PCE increased $74.8 billion, or 0.6 percent, based on revised estimates. Real disposable personal income decreased 0.2 percent in December, in contrast to an increase of 0.1 percent in November. Real PCE increased 0.2 percent in December, compared with an increase of
0.6 percent in November.--------------------------------------------
Shared by Xalima Miriel, Sortehla Spain, a city from the middle ages.
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With Bloomberg breaking news Tuesday night that American Homes 4 Rent, the nation’s second-largest single-family landlord, has tapped Goldman Sachs (GS) to arrange a bond backed by house rental payments, it looks like REO-to-rental as an asset class is here to stay a while. -- Trey Garrison in HousingWire
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The Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes reveal the Federal Reserve is taking its taper of asset purchases a bit further, reducing monthly acquisitions of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities by $10 billion total.
Starting in February, it will scale back agency MBS purchases by another $5 billion, acquiring the assets at a pace of $30 billion per month rather than $35 billion. -- Brena Swanson in HousingWire
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Shared by Guy Kawasaki, Ancient ghost city of Ani
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2014/01/the-ancient-ghost-city-of-ani/100668/
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Nat'l Real Estate Post:
Master Bedroom? Safe Neighborhood? Bachelor Pad? Are you offended? Probably not, but at the drop of a hat someone else could be and if your real estate advertisement offends someone, it could mean a lawsuit. There’s certain phrases that are obviously offensive, but more and more real estate agents and builders are starting to shy away from virtually “anything” that can be perceived as offensive.
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CFPB director on the defensive:
Rep. Stevan Pearce, R-N.M., said the CFPB's rules on a "qualified mortgage" and restrictions on high-cost loans would largely exclude manufactured housing—and then accused Cordray of purposely trying to oppress lower-income families.
"Fifty percent of the homes in New Mexico are trailer houses. And now then, because of that [rule], almost all of our lenders are out of that market," Pearce said. "You're going to choke down the rural small areas, the areas that don't fit your definition of what's really right for people to live in. It is a war on the poor that is being conducted by you and this administration. It is one where the low-income suffer the most, they don't have other options." -- Rachael Witkowski in HousingWire.----------------------------
Shared by Uros Kralj, shot by Emanuele Serraino, Trajan's Market, Rome Italy
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The conventional thinking is that the flow of REO into the market is slowing and prices are too high to generate the kind of returns institutional investors expect.
But institutional investors are “changing their business model,” according to Auction.com executive vice president Rick Sharga.
They are buying single-family properties between $85,000 to $150,000, Sharga said. And they are also starting to offer financing to smaller investors that buy and rent those single-family homes.
“What you are seeing is that a lot of slack that you would expect to see with the big guys moving away is being taken up by individual investors,” Sharga said Tuesday at a National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals conference in Washington.
Auction.com sold 40,000 properties in 2013 via its online auction platform. The Irvine, Calif., company is also offering bridge loans of $500,000 to $1 million to small investors that buy distressed properties. -- Brian Collins in Origination News
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Nat'l Real Estate Post:
If you’re not aware, the Tax Exemption that saved people on huge tax consequences due to a short sale or foreclosure is gone. This could definitely put a slow down on the real estate market. The lack of this exemption could be the very thing that stops someone from going through with that short sale. These taxes can be devastating to people.
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U.S. housing is now the most unaffordable that it ever has been, says Anthony Sanders, distinguished professor of real estate finance at George Mason University.
“Real median household income (has been declining) since peaking in 1999 and is now $5,000 lower or 9% lower,” Sanders says. “Average U.S. house prices are, on the other hand, 68.4% higher today than in December 1999.”
The bottom line: the outsized and growing number of single-family rentals may be a serious indicator of an unhealthy housing market, but the impact it’s having on rental rates in general is nil, and at least part of the price appreciation the market has seen is as much a rebound effect as it is the impact of investor dollars pouring in and snatching up bargains. -- Trey Garrison in HousingWire
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Shared by Karol Nienartowicz, Sniezka, Karkonosze Mountians, Poland
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I thought this was interesting from the Census Bureau
Goods and Services
The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of
Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce,announced today that total December exports of
$191.3 billion
and imports of
$230.0 billion resulted in a goods and services
deficit of
$38.7 billion, up from $34.6 billion in November,
revised. December exports were $3.5 billion less thanNovember exports of $194.8 billion. December imports were
$0.6 billion more than November imports of $229.4 billion.
Selected Not Seasonally Adjusted Goods Details
The December figures show surpluses, in billions of
dollars, with Hong Kong $3.3 ($2.9 for November), Australia$1.6 ($1.2), Brazil $1.5 ($1.1), and Singapore $1.2 ($1.2).
Deficits were recorded, in billions of dollars, with China $24.5
($26.9), European Union $11.3 ($10.1), Japan $6.0 ($5.8),
Germany $5.9 ($5.9), Mexico $4.2 ($4.1), OPEC $4.0 ($4.8),
Canada $3.4 ($1.5), Saudi Arabia $2.8 ($2.9), Ireland $1.8
($1.8), Venezuela $1.6 ($1.5), India $1.5 ($1.0), and Korea
$0.8 ($1.2).----------------------------------
Shared by Gia Huy Au Duong, Paris
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According to the Fannie Mae National Housing Survey, approximately 40% to 50% of eligible mortgage borrowers said they have not refinanced the mortgage, despite the opportunity for potentially significant savings.
Therefore, at this point, whether or not a borrower refinances could be up to the lenders, and how well they communicate information to their clients. -- Jacob Gaffney in HousingWire
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Commercial and multifamily mortgage originations are expected to grow to $300 billion in 2014, rising 7% from 2013 volumes and will continue to rise to $333 billion in 2016, as HousingWire posted Monday. -- Brena Swanson in HousingWire
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Shared by Kyoung Woo Park
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Nat'l Real Estate Post:
Now we’ve all heard about this issue. In fact at least 70 million people had their credit card information stolen, and the truth is the number is looking like it’s going to me much more. Yikes! That’s a lot of people! In fact, it’s 1 in 5 people. So take a look around guys, someone you’re looking at has some A-Hole buying a flat screen TV on their dime and isn’t going to make the payments for it.
That means there’s a bunch of people that are going to have issues getting home loans for problems that they didn’t create. Look, it’s just a fact man, so deal with it. When you start seeing this stuff pop up, don’t say we didn’t tell you.
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With 105,000, foreclosure starts ended 2013 at the lowest level since April 2007. -- Evan Nemeroff in Origination News
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Shared by Dieter Birr
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In the last month mortgage interest rates have dropped to between 4.125% and 4.375%
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How community banks will reign in 2014
Despite some small lenders choosing to shut the door on originating mortgages, community banks could have just the right kind of leverage to succeed in 2014’s lending environment.
“Community banks, I think, are best prepared and best equipped. They are uniquely positioned, and their market is well defined,” Christina Boyle, vice president and interim head of the Single-Family Sales and Relationship Management organization with Freddie Mac said. “They are not trying to be positioned in everything.” -- Brena Swanson in HousingWire
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Twisted staircase, shared by Sergey Alimov
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Yet, even (Robert) Shiller acknowledges the advantages of homeownership over and above renting under the US legal system. More importantly, he also notes that the concept of homeownership began in the early twentieth century as a means of encouraging families to save.
So, in the 21st century, perhaps we can revisit our heritage, realizing that the acquisition of a home can be a far more personal and important decision to an individual than merely serving as an investment vehicle.
While the value of one’s home is an important barometer of the welfare of that individual and their family, the purchase of a primary residence should not be undertaken with an eye towards investment as its paramount purpose. It is only when we, as a country, end the comparison of real estate values and other investment vehicles, that the real estate sector of our economy can begin to heal. (Robert Schiller won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2013.) -- Behzad Gohari in Origination News
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Tunneling beneath London, shared by Guy Kawasaki
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