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November 2023 Existing-Home Sales Rise After Five Months of Declines

NAR released a summary of existing-home sales data showing that housing market activity increased by 0.8% from October 2023. www.nar.realtor – Research

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Team Tactics: 5 Things to Do After a Deal Falls Through

A sale on your team fell through. Maybe the buyer reneged on their offer, maybe the seller changed their mind. Whatever the case, your team now has the fallout to manage. A setback like this can sting, especially if it was a weeks-long process that now feels for naught. However, any business experience—even a failure—is… […]

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REALTORS®: Share Exclusive Offers With Your Clients Before, During and After the Move

Buying or selling a home can be a challenging, stress-filled and often emotional experience, especially in today’s complex real estate market. As a REALTOR®, you’re resolved to help your clients make the process go as smoothly as possible from start to finish. Luckily, REALTOR Benefits® is there for you—and your clients—with exclusive savings on key… […]

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Meta Implements New Housing Ads Platform After DOJ Fair Housing Settlement

Meta unveiled its new housing ad platform to address algorithmic discrimination (referred to as a “Variance Reduction System” or “VRS”). All housing advertisements on Facebook will now go through the VRS, which will be expanded later this year to include credit and employment ads. www.nar.realtor – Fair Housing

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Forbearances Tumble; Mortgage Profits Break 2008’s Record; Locking/Floating After Jobs Report

The number of loans in forbearance declined sharply over the course of the past week. Black Knight said the number of homeowners exiting their plans jumped to the highest level in four weeks due to end-of-May expirations. There were also noticeable declines in the number of borrowers returning to the program as well as new […]

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Rates Remain Resilient After Inflation Scare

The 70’s and 80’s brought unforgettable economic lessons about inflation. Since then, certain market participants have been watching inflation like hawks , even when they didn’t need to. After the start of the pandemic, the massive amount of fiscal stimulus (covid relief bill) and monetary accommodation from the Fed (bond buying and rate cuts) had […]

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Pending Home Sales Rise Less Than Expected as Inventory Remains Ultra Tight; Rates Recover After Bumpy Start; Digital Lending Speeds Things Up

While the degree to which is happened was somewhat disappointing, pending home sales did snap out of a two-month slump in March . The National Association of Realtors’® (NAR’s) Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) rose 1.9 percent to 111.3 in March and is now up 23.3 percent compared to March 2020. However, NAR points out […]

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Mortgage Rates Surge After Powell Comments

Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch Mortgage rates jumped quickly today after Q&A session with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. What did he say to cause such drama? Actually, it’s more about what he didn’t say. For some reason, market participants were expecting (or at least hoping) that Powell would say something to address the recent […]

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MBS RECAP: Snowball Selling in Bonds After Mid-Week Rally Fizzles

Posted To: MBS Commentary Snowball Selling in Bonds After Mid-Week Rally Fizzles We were looking for a friendly correction in bonds this week and it arrived on Tuesday and Wednesday. Those sorts of corrections run the risk of being 2-day affairs and that is unfortunately shaping up to be the case this time around (a […]

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Nice Bounce Back For Mortgage Rates After Rocky Start This Week

Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch Earlier in the month, mortgage rates rose somewhat abruptly as lenders got in a defensive position ahead of the election. They’d learned in 2016 just how volatile the bond market (the key ingredient in the rate movement equation) could be after an election and it made sense to minimize exposure […]

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