Housing Wire

DECEMBER 17, 2020

The average U.S. mortgage rate for a 30-year fixed loan fell four basis point this week to 2.67% – the lowest rate in the Freddie Mac ’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey’s near 50-year history. This week’s mortgage rate broke the previous record set on Dec. 3 and is the first time the survey has witnessed it fall below 2.7%. “The housing market continues to surge higher and support an otherwise stagnant economy that has lost momentum in the last couple of months,” said Sam Khater, Fred

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Keeping Current Matters

DECEMBER 18, 2020

Some Highlights. Experts project an optimistic year for the 2021 housing market. With mortgage rates forecasted to remain low, high buyer demand is expected to fuel more home sales and continue to increase home prices. Reach out to a local real estate professional today to determine how to make your best move in the new year. The post 2021 Housing Forecast [INFOGRAPHIC] appeared first on Keeping Current Matters.

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Eye on Housing

DECEMBER 16, 2020

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest Weekly Application Survey shows that, for the week ending December 11, 2020, mortgage application activity decreased by 1.1% from the prior week on a seasonally adjusted basis, as indicated by its Market Composite Index. One of its two constituent indexes, the Purchasing Index, increased by 1.8% from the previous week while the other, the.

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Realtor.com

DECEMBER 17, 2020

brizmaker/Getty Images The coronavirus pandemic has brought about a new appreciation of backyards and other outdoor spaces. With many of us spending hours and hours at home, we’re all looking for places to relax other than the living room sofa and kitchen. If you have a yard with ample space for you and your family, consider yourself blessed. But in 2021, outdoor space owners might want to consider taking it up a notch with one of the most sought-after features: an outdoor kitchen.

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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

DECEMBER 17, 2020

2020 has been a remarkably strong year for the housing market. Sales volume has remained elevated compared to last year since about mid-June, home values are growing more quickly than they have in 15 years and homes are typically selling a full three weeks faster than a year ago. Incredibly, next year’s housing market outlook is poised to be much stronger.

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Keeping Current Matters

DECEMBER 15, 2020

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are behind us, yet finding the perfect holiday gifts for friends and family is certainly still top of mind for many right now. This year, there’s another type of buyer that’s very active this holiday season – the homebuyer. Each month, ShowingTime releases their Showing Index which tracks the average number of appointments received on active U.S. house listings.

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Realtor.com

DECEMBER 15, 2020

Sisoje/Getty Images; Julie Migliacci; erhui1979/Getty Images; photoman/Getty Images In some ways, buying a home got a lot easier in 2020, and in a lot of ways, it didn’t. Welcome to the mixed-up, unpredictable, unprecedented pandemic world we’ve all been living through. It’s truly been a year like no other. But no matter which way the pendulum was swinging, realtor.com was here to help you make the best of it.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 14, 2020

What a crazy year we have all been through. Last year, I visited Japan, London, Puerto Rico, Oregon and Las Vegas twice. This year I had fewer visits than that to my local barber and I was ecstatic to be there. This was the year we relearned to appreciate small things. Adventure and excitement were out, and safety was in. On the economic front, COVID-19 was the mother of all exogenous shocks.

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Keeping Current Matters

DECEMBER 16, 2020

This year will be remembered for many reasons, and optimism is one thing that’s been in short supply since the spring. We’re experiencing a global pandemic, social unrest, an economic downturn, and natural disasters, just to name a few. The challenges brought on by the health crisis have also forced many homeowners to reevaluate their space and what they need in a home going into 2021.

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Maximum Exposure Real Estate

DECEMBER 14, 2020

The Highest Credit Scores Explained Do you know what is a good credit score? How about the highest credit score possible? Over the years working as a real estate agent lots of people have asked me what is the best credit score you can get. Having a good credit score is really important when you […]. The post What is a Good Credit Score: Getting The Highest Credit Scores appeared first on Massachusetts Real Estate Exposure.

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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

Realtor.com

DECEMBER 16, 2020

Creatas/Getty Images Buying a fixer-upper and transforming it into the home of your dreams is hardly a new concept. Few people—especially first-time home buyers —can afford to buy a house with all the bells and whistles, so it’s common for people to opt for some version of a fixer-upper and make plans to renovate it in the future. We can also give a nod to HGTV’s Chip and Joanna Gaines for making fixer-uppers cool in the last handful of years.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 17, 2020

The coronavirus is raging. Eleven million workers are unemployed. And at the end of this month — absent immediate and urgent action by Congress and the administration — millions of American families will be put into eviction and foreclosure proceedings that will take them from their homes at the worst possible moment. Since the coronavirus began spreading, home has been the first line of defense.

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Keeping Current Matters

DECEMBER 17, 2020

In a year that was financially devastating for many Americans, some good news for most homeowners is the dramatic gain in home equity over the last twelve months. Last week, CoreLogic released its 2020 3rd Quarter Homeowner Equity Insights report, which reveals four major findings: S. homeowners with mortgages have seen their equity increase by a total of $1 trillion since the third quarter of 2019.

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Brownstoner

DECEMBER 18, 2020

Developers of a proposed four-story residential building in Vinegar Hill have pulled their rezoning application after city planners denied the builders’ plans to shrink its size to appease concerned neighbors — meaning the property at 265 Front St. will remain a parking lot for trucks, rather than offer new homes.… Read More > The post City Planning Rejects Developer’s Plan for Low-Scale Vinegar Hill Housing appeared first on Brownstoner.

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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

Realtor.com

DECEMBER 17, 2020

LPETTET/Getty Images Now that the first COVID-19 vaccines are being delivered across the U.S., it seems like the end of this surreal stay-6-feet-apart, shelter-in-place existence is— finally! —in sight. And yet, some of the adaptations we’ve made this year are likely to stick around. First-run movies streamed to your TV? Sure. Gourmet meals available for delivery?

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 17, 2020

Single-family housing starts continued their seven-month climb in November, coming in at the highest level since 2007, according to the Census Bureau. Housing starts rose 1.2% in November compared to October and are up 12.8% year over year to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.58 million starts. Single-family housing starts rose 0.4% from October and 27.1% compared to last year.

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Keeping Current Matters

DECEMBER 14, 2020

If you’re currently feeling the stress of affording your mortgage payment, or if you know someone who is, there’s still time to get help. For homeowners experiencing financial hardship this year, the CARES Act provides mortgage payment deferral options, creating much-needed relief in these challenging times. It’s important, however, to understand how forbearance works.

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Realty Biz

DECEMBER 14, 2020

Because of the coronavirus taking over the world by its feet, it has become evident that maintaining the distance is a must. Taking the safety precautions of staying 2 feet away from others and making sure that there is no public gathering is a new and fresh innovation for many businesses. Robot’s hand types on keyboard. 3D illustration. THE NEED FOR VIRTUAL ASSESSMENT.

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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.

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Realtor.com

DECEMBER 16, 2020

Interior Obsession/Houzz We’re finally closing the book on 2020, and many of us have never felt more desperate for a fresh start and a new beginning. And since it’s not like we’re leaving the house anytime soon, it makes perfect sense that the first place to start anew would be at home. (Plus, decorating and home renovation projects are a pretty good distraction from ever-present existential dread, if we do say so ourselves.).

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 16, 2020

The Federal Reserve left its overnight lending rate unchanged on Wednesday, and said it expects to keep interest rates low until labor market conditions and inflation hit the Federal Open Market Committee ‘s standards of maximum employment and inflation moderately exceeding 2% for some time. “Our guidance is outcome-based and is tied to progress toward reaching our employment and inflation goals.

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RIS Media

DECEMBER 18, 2020

The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) recently held its second annual Real Estate Forecast Summit, featuring several economists, including NAR Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of Research Lawrence Yun. NAR President Charlie Oppler opened up the event, stating, “If you had told me that last year in 2019, we would finish the way we did and that in 2020, the housing markets would finish ahead of where we were, I would have been surprised.

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Realty Biz

DECEMBER 15, 2020

Wealthier Americans are upsizing their homes even though the economy struggles amid a never-ending COVID-19 pandemic. A report in Bloomberg last week revealed that demand for multi-million dollar homes is soaring, with prices rising faster than other segments of the real estate market. Applications for mortgages larger than $766,000 were up 59% year over year in September, the largest uptick among all price segments, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported.

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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

Realtor.com

DECEMBER 17, 2020

Sergey Ryumin/Getty Images; realtor.com There are few things we love more than a great home transformation, and 2020 did not let us down. In two of our most beloved series—” Lessons From Listing Photos ” and “ What the Flip? “—we took a look inside properties that were once worse for wear but now have a whole new life. Each story featured some seriously jaw-dropping before and after photos as well as insight from design and real estate experts about the smart cosmetic and

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 18, 2020

The economic hardships wrought by the coronavirus pandemic will be long-term, and millions of renters and homeowners alike could take a serious hit in the upcoming months, affordable housing experts said on a recent webinar hosted by Freddie Mac. Despite economists’ more optimistic housing predictions for the year ahead, one panelist felt that the worst may still be yet to come.

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Eye on Housing

DECEMBER 18, 2020

For the third quarter of 2020, NAHB’s Home Building Geography Index (HBGI) found construction gains for traditional second home markets. High-concentration second home counties were defined based on the proportion of the local housing stock that are non-rental properties and not classified as their taxpayer principal residences. Counties with relatively high concentrations1 of such residences were designated as “second home.

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Point2Homes

DECEMBER 15, 2020

Image: phive / Shutterstock.com. At this point, we’re all more than ready to celebrate the end of the year. But in keeping with 2020’s theme, this New Year’s will be slightly different from normal. Instead of parties and galas and get-togethers, we’ll be spending New Year’s Eve at home. But if we’ve learned anything this year, it’s that humans are resilient and will find ways to make the best of a bad situation.

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Agents

Realtor.com

DECEMBER 14, 2020

nopparit/iStock The COVID-19 pandemic has really taken the shine out of big-city life. With the usual gathering places shuttered and little space to maintain physical distance from others, many folks are revising the perceived value of urban living and hightailing it to the suburbs—where they can have room for a real home office and a yard. But at the same time, the inventory of homes available to buy is at an all-time low.

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Housing Wire

DECEMBER 15, 2020

New home purchases in November 2020 increased 34.7% from a year ago, but new home applications decreased from October, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association builder application survey. New home applications decreased 16% from October, said Joel Kan, MBA associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting. “November new home sales activity, both mortgage applications and home sales, ran at a pace considerably ahead of 2019, showing the ongoing strong growth in housing demand and

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The American Genius for Real Estate

DECEMBER 14, 2020

(REAL ESTATE TECH NEWS) In a world where data is king, Cloudflare's web analytics value user privacy, staking them as pioneers against other analytic tools. The post How Cloudflare’s web analytics could give Google’s tools a run for their money appeared first on The American Genius Real Estate.

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Eye on Housing

DECEMBER 14, 2020

The U.S. Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction’s (SOC) estimate of the number of bedrooms in new single-family homes has shown a declining trend for homes with 4 bedrooms or more since 2015 and a rising trend for homes with 3 bedrooms. The most recent SOC data show the number of bedrooms of new homes whose construction began in 2019 (new. Read More › The post Share of New Homes Started With 3 Bedrooms Increases in 2019 first appeared on Eye On Housing.

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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