Residential Real Estate
January Sees a Notable Drop in Housing Starts
January saw a notable drop in housing starts across the country—dropping 14.8% from December—to a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.33 million units, a 0.7% decrease below the rate in January 2023, as indicated by a new data report from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The 1.33 million starts figure represents the amount of… […]
Consumer Sentiment Continues to Warm in February
Consumers’ feelings continue to thaw toward the economy this winter, according to the latest data from the University of Michigan. Consumer sentiment grew an astounding 0.8% in February, following a 13.1% leap in January and a sharp increase in December. “The fact that sentiment lost no ground this month suggests that consumers continue to feel… […]
Fair Housing Month Toolkit
Download social media graphics, web graphics, and an email header and use them on your channels to show support for Homeownership Month. www.nar.realtor – Fair Housing
PropStream Among Attendees at Upcoming MLS Workshop
PropStream, a leading lead generation platform, has announced the company will be attending CoreLogic’s Clareity24 Workshop for MLS executives upcoming in Scottsdale, Arizona, from February 26-28, 2024. Related: Propstream Announces New Mortgage Feature PropStream’s CEO, Brian Tepfer and Monica Pena, Head of Industry Relations, will be in attendance to discuss PropStream’s role in streamlining lead… […]
Taking a Closer Look at Attorney Contingencies Vs. Agent Commissions
The recent antitrust lawsuit inadvertently highlighted something interesting during the trial. The plaintiffs’ attorney successfully argued that the whole real estate industry engaged in collusion and price-fixing. As real estate professionals, we know that isn’t true, right? Here’s the interesting part: Those attorneys who will be paid on contingency literally make their money in exactly… […]
Consumer Sentiment at Highest Levels in Years
The latest Fannie Mae Home Purchase Sentiment Index® (HPSI) shows an increase of 3.5 points in January to 70.7, its highest level since March 2022. Overall, the full index is up 9.1 points year over year. The index and its assessment are based on the following components: Do respondents think now is a good time… […]
California Regional MLS Now Offers Home Repair Estimate Tool TheQwikFix
California Regional MLS (CRMLS) now offers TheQwikFix, a service that allows agents to upload property reports and then receive detailed and competitively priced repair quotes from local, licensed contractors who are available to complete the job before or shortly after closing. To combat the time sunk into sourcing and booking multiple contractors to provide estimates… […]
Instant Reaction: Mortgage Rates, February 1, 2024
Mortgage interest rates ticked down slightly this week to 6.63% from 6.69% the previous week, down considerably from October 2023. www.nar.realtor – Research
Consumer Sentiment Continues to Gain Momentum
The latest Survey of Consumers from the University of Michigan finds that consumer sentiment in January remains relatively rosy, suggesting optimism about the economy as the new year gets underway. The Index of Consumer Sentiment, calculated by surveying consumers, currently sits at 79, a substantial increase both month-over-month (69.7 in December 2023) and year-over-year (64.9… […]