Housing Wire

MARCH 15, 2024

The National Association of Realtors has agreed to pay $418 million in damages to settle the commission lawsuits. The story was first reported by the New York Times. NAR’s legal counsel approved the settlement agreement early Friday morning. It has yet to be filed in court. Lawyers for the trade organization told the Times that they anticipate the settlement will be filed in the coming weeks, however it will still be subject to court approval.

Agents 540

Agents Industrial 540

Real Estate News

MARCH 15, 2024

As a part of its proposed settlement, NAR agreed to significant policy changes that will impact how all agents do business — and how buyer agents get paid.

Agents 358

Agents 358

Keeping Current Matters

MARCH 7, 2024

If you’re taking a look at your expenses as you retire, saving money where you can has a lot of appeal.

357

357

Housing Wire

MARCH 7, 2024

The White House announced that President Joe Biden will call on lawmakers in the House of Representatives and the Senate to address a series of housing issues in his State of the Union address, which will be delivered to a joint session of Congress and televised nationally on Thursday night. In the address, the president will call for a $10,000 tax credit for both first-time homebuyers and people who sell their starter homes; the construction and renovation of more than 2 million additional home

Construction 535

Construction Closing costs Renovation Title 535

Advertisement

Don’t just react to changes, plan for them, so you can approach the new year with confidence, direction, and a competitive edge for your business. Having a well-defined business plan helps you chart a clear course, navigate challenges, and set a foundation for growth. This workbook gives you the key steps to outline what matters and will ensure you’re moving ahead.

Development

Housing Wire

MARCH 2, 2024

The mortgage rate lockdown premise says that if rates rise, inventory can’t grow meaningfully. The idea is that nobody will trade their low mortgage rates to buy another home — even though this happened every week last year. Of course, I have a different view. My podcast partner, Editor in Chief Sarah Wheeler, disagrees, along with many others. You can see our debate on this topic here.

Mortgages 535

Mortgages Sales As-is Closing 535

Housing Wire

MARCH 7, 2024

Steve Harney, founder of Keeping Current Matters and a force in real estate for four decades, died suddenly on Sunday, March 4, at age 68. “As we mourn the loss of Steve, we hold tight to the incredible impact he had on agents, our industry, and the fact that his legacy will live on at Keeping Current Matters. Steve’s vision, his principles and his passion for people will always be our compass.

Brokerage 105

Brokerage Agents Industrial As-is 105

Housing Wire

MARCH 11, 2024

Last fall when people were still expecting mortgage rates to be falling this year, it was common to assume rates would be in the low 6s or 5s this year and people asked me if lower rates would bring a flood of inventory. The suspicion was that there were a bunch of sellers who were waiting to sell: Once rates fell these sellers would come rushing back to this real estate market and we’d finally see inventory grow.

Mortgages 516

Mortgages Sales Marketing As-is 516

Housing Wire

MARCH 15, 2024

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) settlement of commission lawsuits nationwide is expected to force mortgage lenders and loan officers to find new ways of approaching listing agents and borrowers, give LOs a more significant role in the home-buying process, and encourage housing professionals to pursue dual-licensing, industry experts told HousingWire.

Industrial 514

Industrial Seller concession Purchase and sale agreement Agents 514

Housing Wire

MARCH 12, 2024

The CPI report came out Tuesday, and the headline number showed a 12-month inflation of 3.2%. The running average of CPI going back to 1914 has been 3.3%. So, what should we take away from this number, seeing that market participants are still worried about 1970s inflation and some don’t want to see any rate cuts this year? Fed presidents and others have cited the fear of 1970s-style entrenched inflation as a reason they hiked rates so fast and are being careful as they consider rate cuts.

Mortgages 514

Mortgages Investor As-is Marketing 514

Housing Wire

MARCH 26, 2024

Three agents formerly affiliated with Keller Williams Realty — Jerri L. Moulder, David L. Bueker and Robert E. Hill — have taken legal action against the real estate brokerage by filing three separate class-action lawsuits, Inman first reported on Tuesday. The lawsuits contest alterations made to Keller Williams’ profit-sharing program, with one of them seeking a court order to halt further payouts until the case concludes.

Brokerage 511

Brokerage Agents Investor Marketing 511

Speaker: Abdi Ali, Sr. Lease Accounting Consultant

Join this insightful webinar with industry expert Abdi Ali, who will discuss the challenges that can arise from managing lease accounting with spreadsheets! He will share real-world examples of errors, compliance issues, and risks that may be present within your spreadsheets. Learn how these tools, while useful, can sometimes lead to inefficiencies that affect your time, resources, and peace of mind.

Industrial

Housing Wire

MARCH 25, 2024

Last week was a pretty strong week for all the housing numbers. New supply and sales numbers keep climbing — both weekly and over last year. Home prices had a slight increase this week across the board. What does this means for home prices this spring? As the data comes in each week this year, I’ve been more optimistic about home sales volume growth than for home-price growth.

Mortgages 511

Mortgages Sales Marketing As-is 511

Housing Wire

MARCH 3, 2024

First-time homebuyers made up 55% of agency purchase mortgages in 2023, according to Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) eMBS data, the highest such share in the 10 years ICE has been tracking the metric. A record 47% of government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) purchase loans in 2023 came from first-time homebuyers, a number that’s been trending gradually higher throughout the past decade.

Loans 514

Loans Debt-to-income ratio Lending Banks 514

Housing Wire

MARCH 22, 2024

The landscape for home flipping across the country was challenging in 2023 as fewer single-family homes and condominiums were flipped and investment returns on these projects declined. A total of 308,922 single-family homes and condos were flipped in 2023, down 29.3% from the 436,807 flips in 2022. This marked the largest annualized decline for the sector since 2008, according to recently released report from real estate data analytics company Attom.

Investor 511

Investor Sales Closing Marketing 511

Housing Wire

MARCH 16, 2024

It’s spring 2024 and we have a Federal Reserve meeting this week. The 10-year yield is at the same critical point as last year before the Fed went hawkish and sent mortgage rates to 8% and the 10-year yield to 5%. Could this happen again? This is the week the balls are all in the Federal Reserve ’s court. I believe it is in the Fed’s interest to keep existing home sales depressed.

Marketing 511

Marketing Mortgages As-is Sales 511

Advertisement

As the real estate market evolves, technology has become essential for success. According to NAR, only 26% of agents feel their brokerage provides the necessary tech tools and, as a result, agents seek teams and brokerages who prioritize technology investments! Whether you manage an established team or are forming a new one, this guide outlines key considerations and necessary applications to thrive.

Agents

Housing Wire

MARCH 8, 2024

Everyone was waiting to see if this week’s jobs report would send mortgage rates higher, which is what happened last month. Instead, the 10-year yield had a muted response after the headline number beat estimates, but we have negative job revisions from previous months. The Federal Reserve ’s fear of wage growth spiraling out of control hasn’t materialized for over two years now and the unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9%.

Marketing 511

Marketing Mortgages As-is Finance 511

Housing Wire

MARCH 26, 2024

Mortgage rates rose this week as the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note inched up. As of Monday, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note was about 4.25%, according to Tradeweb, up from 3.86% at the end of last year. As a result, HousingWire’s Mortgage Rates Center showed the average 30-year fixed rate for conventional loans at 7.16% on Tuesday, up from 7.07% one week earlier.

Mortgages 508

Mortgages Loans As-is Marketing 508

Housing Wire

MARCH 21, 2024

Today’s existing home sales report was a massive beat , similar to what happened last year in this month. Will this mark the high point for sales this year like it did in 2023? Unless mortgage rates go lower, that’s what we should expect, because that’s what happened last year. When mortgage rates headed lower at the end of 2022 into 2023, we had 12 weeks of positive weekly purchase application data.

Sales 508

Sales Mortgages Days on market Investor 508

Housing Wire

MARCH 6, 2024

The title insurance and settlement services industry directly generated $30 billion of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022, according to a report commissioned by the American Land Title Association that was published on Wednesday. Additionally, the report, conducted by Ernst & Young’s Quantitative Economics and Statistics (QUEST) team, found that the title industry was also directly responsible for 155,000 jobs , and $13 billion and wages and benefits for those employed in the industry

Title 508

Title Industrial Land As-is 508

Advertisement

Navigated 360° tours, like YourVRTours, advance pipelines by engaging clients further along the sales funnel. These immersive experiences provide comprehensive property insights, increasing buyer intent and readiness. By embracing navigated tours, agents can optimize property exposure, better qualify leads, and streamline the sales process. Stay ahead in the ever-evolving real estate landscape with innovative technology that elevates buyer journeys and progresses pipelines more effectively.

Sales

Housing Wire

MARCH 28, 2024

Florida is reckoning with a severe homeowners insurance crisis. The recent surge in both the frequency and intensity of hurricanes that have battered the state has prompted numerous insurers and reinsurers to exit the market , leaving Florida homeowners grappling with skyrocketing premiums and limited coverage options. According to the Insurance Information Institute , this exodus has resulted in Florida homeowners paying an average of nearly $4,000 a year in insurance , which is nearly three ti

Residential 505

Residential Design As-is Marketing 505

Housing Wire

MARCH 9, 2024

We survived jobs week and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell talking to Congress, with mortgage rates ending the week below 7%. But will mortgage rates keep heading lower? If so, what will this do to inventory levels? Let’s look at this week’s tracker data to get clues for the future. Mortgage rates and the 10-year yield The 10-year yield is the key for all my housing work, so I focus on it religiously.

Mortgages 505

Mortgages As-is Sales Closing 505

Housing Wire

MARCH 30, 2024

The best housing story in 2024 is that inventory is growing — both active inventory and new listings. With mortgage rates at the current levels, inventory is still below my expectations, but it’s still such a positive story that I had to discuss it on CNBC last week. As we head into April, let’s see where we’re at on the Inventory side as are officially into spring.

Mortgages 501

Mortgages As-is Marketing Industrial 501

Housing Wire

MARCH 7, 2024

Buoyed by a rise in home prices , U.S. homeowners with mortgages saw their home equity increase by 8.6% year over year in fourth-quarter 2023. Homeowners saw an average increase of slightly more than $24,000 compared to Q4 2022, adding up to a collective gain of $1.3 trillion, according to CoreLogic ’s newest homeowner equity report. Net homeowner equity totaled more than $16.6 billion at the end of 2023.

Equity 501

Equity Mortgages Loans As-is 501

Speaker: Sarah Santa Ana, Real Estate Coach, Move4Free Realty

Networking is one of the crucial elements in every real estate organization's success. Both agents and real estate companies need to maintain robust networking links. This is why social media is essential for any real estate professional! Social media enables you to stay in touch with your present clients, maintain connections with your past clients, and engage potential customers and investors.

Agents

Housing Wire

MARCH 4, 2024

At HousingWire , we have a debate about whether home sellers will freeze up again this year as mortgage rates stay stubbornly high. We’ve had seller growth for 18 weeks in a row. I’ve previously been confident that trend will continue. A couple months ago, when rates were in the 6s still, I suggested that we could see 15% home sales growth this year.

Mortgages 501

Mortgages Sales Marketing As-is 501

Housing Wire

MARCH 22, 2024

There is no doubt that the cooperative compensation structure changes outlined in the National Association of Realtors’ commission lawsuits settlement agreement will generate massive changes in the real estate industry, but those are not the only changes mandated by the terms of the agreement. Based on NAR’s settlement, agents working with buyers will need a signed buyer representation agreement starting in mid-July, pending final court approval of the settlement.

MLS 497

MLS Agents Design As-is 497

Housing Wire

MARCH 20, 2024

Those too young to remember the wild west of real estate believe that real estate commissions have always been evenly split between seller’s and buyer’s agents, with each receiving a portion of the sale price. This misconception obscures the reality that, historically, buyers lacked formal representation. Initially, the entire commission percentage was pocketed by the listing agent, who solely represented the seller’s interests.

Debt-to-income ratio 497

Debt-to-income ratio Agents Equity Closing costs 497

Housing Wire

MARCH 14, 2024

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is being sued in federal court over accusations that it failed to refund nearly $385 million in mortgage insurance premiums (MIP) to borrowers over a period of more than two decades. The lawsuit was previously reported by National Mortgage News and Law360. The proposed class-action lawsuit brought by Florida resident Tricia Sarmiento claims that HUD has failed to issue refunds tied to MIP payments on mortgages backed by the Federal Housi

FHA loan 497

FHA loan Mortgages Loans Development 497

Speaker: Trey Willard, Realtor/Team Leader at Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

In order to create continued success in today’s real estate market, realtors need to utilize an arsenal of technology that will increase their efficiency and presence on social media. Using technology to manage your prospects and tap into their needs through websites, social media, and other channels is critical for real estate success in 2022 and beyond.

Agents

Housing Wire

MARCH 8, 2024

Consumer sentiment toward housing inched higher for a third consecutive month as respondents feel increasingly optimistic about home selling conditions. Fannie Mae ’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index ( HPSI ), which tracks the U.S. housing market and consumer confidence to buy or sell a home, rose 2.1 points in February to 72.8. The full index is up 14.8 points from one year ago.

Mortgages 497

Mortgages Development Industrial As-is 497

Housing Wire

MARCH 27, 2024

As first-time homebuyers contemplate their housing options, the financial calculus between renting and owning is essential. Against the backdrop of elevated mortgage rates and soaring home prices , discerning the evolving financial dynamics between renter-friendly and buyer-friendly markets is also paramount. A report released Tuesday by Realtor.com highlights a significant disparity in costs between buying and renting a starter home across the country’s 50 largest metropolitan areas.

Marketing 493

Marketing As-is Mortgages Finance 493

Housing Wire

MARCH 26, 2024

Home prices maintained their upward trajectory in the opening month of the year. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index posted a 6% annual gain in January, up from a 5.6% gain in December , according to a report released Tuesday. It was the seventh consecutive month of annual price growth and the biggest increase since November 2022.

MLS 493

MLS Development Mortgages Marketing 493

Housing Wire

MARCH 15, 2024

Prospective homebuyers have more options to choose from in the housing market, which could help spur sales this spring. Mortgage demand has been on the rise for two weeks in a row. Inventory has been trending upward for the last two years despite persistently high mortgage rates, Mike Simonsen, president and founder of Altos Research , wrote on Monday.

Mortgages 493

Mortgages Marketing Sales As-is 493

Advertisement

In the rapidly changing real estate landscape, achieving profitability requires a strategic approach beyond traditional methods. Our guide, "The 4 Pillars to Brokerage Profitability," outlines four essential pillars for scaling your real estate business: a seamless lead-to-close technology ecosystem, tailored integrated solutions for teams and agents, value-added success services and community support, and consumer-centric operations throughout the full homeownership lifecycle.

Brokerage