Protecting Customer Data requires a Team Effort

We facilitate the American Dream. From Realtor to the closing desk, we work together to safely and securely house the people and families in our community. This requires a lot of communication and paperwork between us, which is getting increasingly digital. Moreover, we’re communicating details about our clients financial information that, if placed in the […]

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Why the Housing Market Is Slumping Despite a Booming Economy

Home prices are out of reach relative to incomes and mortgage rates. The big question for the economy is how the imbalance adjusts. By: Neil Irwin A sign pointed to an open house in Waukee, Iowa, earlier this year. Housing sales have slowed in recent months. CreditCharlie Neibergall/Associated Press These should be happy times for […]

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Hungry buyers find lean inventory in real estate

Buyers circle new listings like hungry wolves, plucking choice morsels from a skeletal inventory.
“For every house that comes on the market you have four or five buyers waiting for it,” said Frank Wilson, with John L. Scott in Poulsbo. “As fast as they come on, they’re sucked right back off.”

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U.S. homeownership rate drops to lowest Since 1965

The U.S. homeownership rate fell to the lowest in more than 50 years as rising prices put buying out of reach for many renters.
The share of Americans who own their homes was 62.9% in the second quarter, the lowest since 1965, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report Thursday. It was the second straight quarterly decrease, down from 63.5% in the previous three months.

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Mortgage rates fall back and applications decline as credit increases

After drifting higher for nearly a month, mortgage rates retreated this week but remain within a tight band.
As the markets calmed, home loan rates stabilized. With several key economic reports coming up, volatility could return. An unexpected global event would also cause a jolt to rates. But it seems more likely that they will continue to hover about where they are.

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Jump in rates doesn’t deter homebuyers, as mortgage applications increase 4%

Mortgage rates moved solidly higher last week, but lenders saw no letup in loan demand.
Mortgage application volume rose 4 percent from the previous week. The Mortgage Bankers Association included an adjustment for the Martin Luther King Day holiday. Volume continues to lag last year, however, by 18 percent, mostly due to the falloff in loan refinances since rates shot up after the presidential election. 

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Housing Starts Cool Off in January

Overall housing production declined in January after an unusually robust reading in the multifamily sector in December, but economists were unfazed. “As we move forward in 2017, we can expect the multifamily sector to continue to stabilize and single-family production to move forward at a gradual but consistent pace,” says Robert Dietz, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders.

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