News / Features

Agents Control 45 Percent of Homebuyers’ Lender Choice

When it comes to recommending a lender for a home purchase transaction, a new study shows that closing time, reliability and costs are among the most significant factors for real estate agents. The Campbell Surveys and Inside Mortgage Finance

Luxury Insights – What Tools Are Necessary For Selling Luxury Homes?

The Institute of Luxury Home Marketing (ILHM) has so many tools that can help luxury agents. One valuable tool is the weekly ILHM National Luxury Market Report. I recently spoke with an ILHM member who was using this report

Real-Estate Listing Words: The Good, Bad and Hyperlocal

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but what’s a word worth? Trulia combed through millions of property listings on for-sale homes to find the words and phrases in the most expensive and least expensive listings, as well

What’s Happening to America’s Wealthy?

According to Laurie Moore-Moore, CEO of The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing, the Great Recession not only reduced the number of wealthy people, but changed attitudes and buyer behaviors. Moore-Moore notes that, “In 2008, as a result of the

Economic Growth Stronger Than Expected for First-Quarter

The Economic Growth  Pace is Above-Trend and Expected to Set a Moderate Pace for the Year Economic growth has accelerated to a pace of 3.2 percent, according to Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group. This pace is above-trend,

April Mortgage Activity At Highest Level Since 2010

The mortgage markets have been on a bumpy ride the last five years; are the latest numbers from the Mortgage Bankers Association, though, a positive sign? Mortgage applications rose 4.8 percent last week to their highest level since May

45 Percent of Homebuyers Choose Lender on Agent Recommendation

The agent/lender relationship is a darned important one, and a new survey highlights just how influential agents are in the creation of that relationship. The relationship between agent and lender is one of the more integral in real estate,

3 Ways the Obama Budget Could Affect Your Business

The 2014 Obama budget has been garnering plenty of attention from the press, but how could it affect your residential real estate business? Well, it’s that time of the year! Oh yes, the nation’s capitol has begun the early

Housing Starts Up 46.7 Percent in March

The construction industry put up some truly stratospheric numbers in March, with multifamily housing pushing starts to their highest level since 2008. Propelled by a surging multifamily housing sector, the construction industry put up its best housing numbers in

Will Rising Interest Rates Threaten Housing Affordability?

Homebuyers have been enjoying some of the highest levels of housing affordability in decades, but will rising interest rates compromise that? The housing downturn has affected quite a few players in the real estate scene, what with its falling

Is Builder Confidence Faltering?

Why is builder confidence in the Housing Market Index faltering, despite prime market conditions for new construction? A new NAHB report explains. Housing inventory is the lowest it’s been since 2005, yet the demand for quality homes (preferably new

Millennial Interest in Homeownership Surges

Millennials are widely expected to spearhead the housing recovery, and a new survey from PulteGroup has highlighted some of the demographic’s key attitudes towards housing. We’ve written quite a bit about millennials the last few months, and for good

FHFA Extends HARP Through 2015

It’s been a bumpy ride for the FHFA, figuring out its HARP program, but with refinancings now in full swing, it has decided to extend the program. In what is surely the most ironic housing development thus far in

Q1 RealtyTrac Foreclosure Report a Mixed Bag

Foreclosure filings fell 23 percent nationally in 2013’s first quarter, but the situation in many local markets offered a more nuanced portrait. Foreclosure filings nationwide declined in RealtyTrac’s latest U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, though unsurprisingly, the situation was a

20 Percent of Lenders Expect Standards to Relax

Lending standards remain a definite thorn in the side of the housing recovery, but the latest quarterly survey from FICO/PRMIA offered glimmers of hope. Earlier in the year, CoreLogic completed a study of the nation’s mortgage markets, and it

What's Going On With The Rental Market, in 3 Easy Steps

The rental markets are enjoying their greatest prosperity in years; why, then, do the latest numbers from Reis look so darn underwhelming? On first glance, the multifamily housing market in the U.S. in pretty good shape; in fact, it’s

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