Author: Brad Beckett

Google is now a licensed mortgage broker although, for now, it won’t be directly backing any mortgages.  What it has done is get into the quote business with a new site launched this week called Google Compare.  The new site will allow buyers to shop and compare home loans & refinancing options through partnerships with local and national lenders. Right now the product is only available in California but there are plans to expand to more states. Click here to visit Google Compare.

The National Association of Realtors reported today that existing-home sales in October, while at a healthy pace, fell 3.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.36 million in October from 5.55 million in September.  In spite of the decline, sales are still 3.9% higher than one year ago. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says a sales cooldown in October was likely given the pullback in contract signings the last couple of months. “New and existing-home supply has struggled to improve so far this fall, leading to few choices for buyers and no easement of the ongoing affordability concerns still…

The New York Times recently reported that for all the talk about the millennial generation (those aged 18 to 34) being reluctant homeowners some are being drawn to real estate as an investment opportunity.   Indeed….One place to start is your local REIA. “I’m interested in real estate investment because of all the ways you can make money — from appreciation, leverage, cash flow, tax benefits,” Mr. Killian said. “I’m not looking to get rich quick. I’m just looking to have long-term income I can rely on.” Click here to read the full story, Millennials Investing in Rental Properties, NY Times,…

According to widely reported data from Zillow, median rents increased a seasonally adjusted 4.5% from one year ago.  This marks a steady deceleration from annual prices gains of 5.3%  in September and 6.2%  in August. Some takeaways: Rents appreciated 4.5% year-over-year, down from 5.3% in September 2015. Rents in large multifamily buildings rose 3.9% annually, rents of single-family homes grew 4.5%. More information: US home rental prices rise at slower pace in October, AP news 11/20/15 October Market Reports: Home Value Growth Accelerates, While Rent Growth Slows, Zillow

The creative folks over at howmuch.net recently took data from a Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) report and turned it into an insighful 3D visualization of GDP growth by metropolitan area.  The higher the cone rising out of the map, the greater the GDP growth in that area. “The BEA numbers showed that GDP grew in 282 of the 381 metropolitan areas. This growth was fueled by a number of industry groups led by professional and business services, wholesale and retail trade, finance, insurance and real estate.” Click here to read the full article on howmuch.net.

According to a new report from MarketWatch the number of real estate appraisers stands to substantially decease over the next five years, which could mean longer waits, higher fees and even lower-quality appraisals as more appraisers cross state lines to value properties. According to the Appraisal Institute: There are 78,500 real estate appraisers working in the U.S. – which is 20% less than in 2007 62% of appraisers are 51 and older, 24% are between 36-50, and 13% are 35 or younger The requirements to become certified have also increased as classes & years of apprenticeship are now required for…

The U.S. Department of Commerce reported today that while US housing starts fell to a 7-month low, a surge in building permits suggested that the housing market remains on solid ground.  In addition, October marked the seventh straight month that housing starts remained above the 1 million unit mark (the longest stretch since 2007) which still suggests a housing market recovery. Some takeaways: Single-family authorizations in October were at a rate of 711k; this is 2.4 percent (±1.5%) above the revised September figure of 694k. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of…

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) National Delinquency Survey, the percentage of loans in the foreclosure process at the end of the third quarter was 1.88 percent, down 21 basis points from the second quarter and 51 basis points lower than one year ago. This was the lowest foreclosure inventory rate seen since the third quarter of 2007.  In addition, the percentage of loans on which foreclosure actions were started during the third quarter was 0.38%, a decrease of two basis points from the previous quarter, and down six basis points from one year ago. The foreclosure starts rate…

The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that the FHA’s minimum reserve requirement  was met for the firs time since 2009.  The WSJ heralds this achievement as another sign of the housing market’s continuing recovery. “The Federal Housing Administration, which backs low-down-payment mortgages popular with first-time home buyers, said its insurance fund’s net worth at the end of September was $23.8 billion, up from a year-earlier level of $4.8 billion. Its capital reserve ratio, which by law is required to stay above 2%, rose to 2.07%, the first time it met the threshold since the start of the agency’s 2009…

From the Fiscal Times:  Number four on their list is an issue National REIA has been working to achieve: “Republican presidential hopefuls have talked often this year about overhauling the tax code by lowering rates and closing loopholes. Many of those loopholes have become the subject of an annual game in which Congress waits until the last minute — or longer — to reinstate the supposedly temporary provisions after they’ve expired. The full package of 52 tax breaks, also known as tax extenders, mostly affect business and industry, but quite a few also allow everyday Americans to reduce how much…