Crash, Flatline, or Grow? – Experts Weigh in on the 2024 Real Estate Market
Newsletter - November 2023 This year delivered some shocking developments most homeowners, investors, and buyers were not expecting to deal with. Mainly the massive increase in interest rates, which are at a 20-plus year high of 8%, sent the housing market into a standstill. Due to the concurrent record-breaking inflation…
Read MoreReal Estate Industry Freezes as Mortgage Rates Skyrocket to 7.3%
Newsletter - October 2023 Prospective homebuyers are facing more hurdles to jump through as the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbed to 7.3% this month. Freddie Mac reported the increase from 7.19% to 7.31%, which is the highest average long-term interest rate in 23 years. In 2022, the average rate…
Read MoreAmericans Default on Credit Cards and Car Loans amid Inflation and Record Consumer Debts
Newsletter - September 2023 Credit card balances and interest rates are soaring as Americans continue to grapple with inflation. Credit card debt has exceeded $1 trillion for the first time according to the New York Federal Reserve, and there are also more credit card accounts open now than in 2019.…
Read MoreAmericans Draw on Home Equity Lines of Credit as Personal Savings Empty
Newsletter - August 2023 Americans' personal savings have fallen to lower levels than before the pandemic began Barchart reported in a July tweet. The financial data company reported losses of 5.5 trillion since April of 2020. The significant drop likely correlates to inflation and overspending after the pandemic. While families were…
Read MoreHow Artificial Intelligence and New Tech is Impacting the Mortgage Industry
Newsletter - June 2023 Visiting the local bank to acquire a mortgage might be a thing of the past. With the massive rise in digital mortgage lenders and artificial intelligence (AI), Americans might be skipping the trip to brick and mortar establishments these days. Are AI and digital lending providers…
Read MoreNew Policies Make Home Buying More Accessible for Some, Raises Fees for Others
Newsletter - May 2023 Back in May of 2022, President Biden announced a series of initiatives to ease the burden of housing costs for Americans both renting and buying. One aspect of the Housing Supply Action Plan was to "deploy new financing mechanisms to build and preserve more housing where…
Read MoreWhat Recent Bank Failures Mean for Fluctuating Mortgage Rates
Newsletter - April 2023 Predictions for this year's mortgage rates and real estate trends shifted this week after the second-largest and third-largest bank failures in history occurred. Investors quickly withdrew their funds from banks across the country causing changes in the Fed's plans to reduce inflation. The Federal Reserve had…
Read MoreRising Household Debt Leads Homeowners to Tap into Home Equity
Newsletter - March 2023 As inflation continues to affect the country, many Americans are turning to credit cards and home equity lines of credit (HELOC) in order to find relief from the rising costs of basic needs, like groceries and gas. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York,…
Read MoreMillennials priced out of housing market (or maxing their budgets)
Newsletter - February 2023 Millennials and other first-time home buyers have been hit particularly hard by one of the most expensive housing markets in U.S. history. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, high demand driven by low inventory and even lower interest rates sent home prices skyrocketing. Many millennials lost bidding…
Read MoreUpside-down mortgages on the rise as market corrects
Newsletter - January 2023 U.S. home prices increased by 10.1% annually in October compared to 11.4% in September. That's the lowest year-over-year increase since early 2021, and the trend is expected to continue. One in 12 U.S. homes purchased in 2022 now have upside-down mortgages, according to Black Knight's October…
Read MoreRefinance activity ends year on a low note
Newsletter - December 2022 There were no surprises when real estate data agency ATTOM released its Q3 Residential Property Mortgage Origination Report last month. Mortgage originations were down 47% from Q3 of last year-the sixth quarterly decrease in a row and the steepest annual drop since 2001. Mortgage rates that…
Read MoreFrom Housing Recession to Recession-Recession?
Newsletter - September 2022 After two quarters of economic contraction, economists are divided as to whether the U.S. is headed for a recession. But the housing industry is already there, some experts say. "Tighter monetary policy from the Federal Reserve and persistently elevated construction costs have brought on a housing…
Read MoreExperts Say We’re on the Verge of a Housing Market “Meltdown”
Newsletter - August 2022 If the state of the housing market — and economy in general — has you feeling a bit queasy, you’re not alone. We’re facing a “perfect storm” for a 2008-type housing crisis, said Jose Torres, a senior economist for Interactive Brokers. “At this point, housing is…
Read MoreAre a Housing Crash and Recession Imminent?
Newsletter - July 2022 After two years of a red-hot housing market fueled by low inventory and even lower interest rates, things seem to finally be cooling down. As the 30-year fixed rate hovers near 6%, "fewer people are getting mortgages, homes are sitting on the market for longer, and…
Read MoreWhat is Document Retrieval & How Does it Work?
What exactly is document retrieval? We're here to break it down for you. Have you ever needed important vital records for a family member, such as a marriage record or death certificate? What about requesting a deed or title search for a new home you're looking to buy? If so,…
Read MoreSupreme Court Ends Federal Eviction Moratorium
Newsletter - September 2021 It's finally over. The federal eviction moratorium - initially set to expire more than a year ago - was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court last month after a challenge from a coalition of landlords and real estate groups. The ban, which was passed as…
Read MoreWhat is a Title Report?
A title report is a documented review of real estate property that gives a clear picture of the current status of said property. It includes the history of the property over a specified period of time, depending on the intended use of the report. This report can be used for…
Read MoreWhat is a Title Search?
There are so many different types of real estate documents, we understand it can be challenging to keep them all straight! Our experienced document retrieval and title search team is here to break down what a title search is and how they work. What is a Title Search? A property…
Read MoreWhat is Certified Document Retrieval?
There are many different types of document retrieval, but what is certified document retrieval? Our document retrieval experts are here to teach you what certified document retrieval is and how the process works. In the mortgage industry, document retrieval is the activity of locating any missing documents that may be…
Read MoreForeclosure Ban Ends With Millions Still Behind on Mortgage Payments
Newsletter - August 2021 The federal eviction and foreclosure bans officially expired July 31, but protections are still in place to prevent people from losing their homes - or at least delay it for a bit longer. At the end of July, the Biden administration announced new loan modification and…
Read MoreWhat the New FICO Score Means for Borrowers — and Lenders
Newsletter - February 2020 An estimated 110 million Americans will soon see a change in their credit score, and for about 40 million of them, the news won’t be good. Fair Isaac Corp., the company behind FICO scores, announced a new credit-scoring model that will be released this summer. The new…
Read More