For the second consecutive week, mortgage rates were on the rise. "As expected, the [Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee] announced its first rate hike of 2017 and hinted at additional increases throughout the remainder of the year," says Sean Becketti, Freddie Mac's chief economist. "Although our survey was conducted prior to the Fed's decision, the release of the February jobs report all but guaranteed a rate hike and boosted the 3
Most appraisers today are satisfied with their work, but they’re worried about the rise of automated appraisals and they’re not happy with appraisal management companies.Those are findings from NAR research, released today, to provide a picture of the state of the appraisal field and to see if more needs to be done to bring new appraisers into the profession.“The work of an appraiser is indispensable to our industry,” said NAR President W
Builder confidence in the newly built single-family market soared to a 12-year high this month, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index. The index rose six points to a 71 reading, the highest level since June 2005.Builders are showing more confidence over current sales conditions, sales expectations over the next six months, and current buyer traffic.Also, "builders are buoyed by President Trump's a
A new phishing scam can display what looks like a Google sign-in page if users click on attachments, which could end up sending account names and passwords to hackers.Here’s how the latest scam works: A scammer will send an email to your Gmail account. The email likely will appear to be coming from one of your contacts and ask you to look at an attached file, such as a PDF or Word document. It may appear to be legitimate since it seems to be co
Home renovations can help boost the resale value of a property, but they also can expose homeowners to costly repairs or even make them physically sick, if they don’t take some precautions.Help your renovating clients be on the lookout for some of these dangers that could surface in a home renovation:Flooding and electrical issues.Urge do-it-yourselfers to call 811 before they start digging. That is the service line that will inform them where
The Federal Reserve is picking up the pace, voting on Wednesday to raise its key interest rate just three months after its last rate hike. The Fed announced that short-term interest rates will increase by one-quarter of a percentage point and suggested that two similar increases likely will occur later this year. Mortgage rates aren’t directly tied to the Fed’s short-term interest rates but tend to follow them.“If you think it’s been hard
Right now, there are more Spanish speakers in the United States than in Spain, and by 2050 we’ll have the largest Spanish-speaking population in the world. To meet the needs of this growing market and the agents who serve it, the National Association of REALTORS® recently launched the Spanish-language edition of At Home With Diversity, an online certification course encompassing topics of diversity, fair housing risk reduction, and sustainable
Don’t assume your clients need a high income to avoid a mortgage. The Pennsylvania Association of REALTORS®' Welcome Home Survey for the first quarter of 2017 shows older people with lower incomes are paying in cash in higher numbers than most would assume.“While is seems counterintuitive that one in three buyers with incomes under $50,000 reported buying homes in cash, age may be driving a higher share of lower-income respondents reportin
Mortgage interest rates climbed to their highest level since 2014 last week, and consumers are rushing to lock in rates before any further increases, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday. The average on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 4.46 percent, from 4.36 percent the week prior, the MBA reports.Total mortgage application volume, including both home purchases and refinancings, increased 3.1 percent last week from the previo
Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion announced they will soon remove tax lien and civil judgment data from some consumer credit records. The reason for this change is that many liens and most judgments fail to include vital pieces of information. Beginning on July 1, the public records data the firms use must include these data points: the consumer’s name, address, and either a social security number or a date of birth. Existing reports that fail
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