– 15K Fla. properties have repetitive flood losses A study recommends gov’t-funded buyouts of high-risk flood properties to mitigate against future problems – and it identified 15,000 of those in Fla. Seven things international investors should consider U.S. real estate can be lucrative for foreign investors who do a...
– Fla. housing market: Sales, median prices up in July Like the weather, the market was hot: Existing single-family home sales up 2% year-over-year, median price rose 7.1%; condo sales up 3.6%, median price rose 6.8%. FinCEN change covers all luxury cash sales in S. Fla. Paying cash for...
– July new home sales fall but higher year-to-year Sales of new U.S. homes plummeted 9.4% – the sharpest one-month drop in nearly a year – but it follows strong sales numbers in previous months. Regulators to dig deeper into luxury property deals Federal regulators (FinCEN) searching for money...
– Florida Realtors honors Matey Veissi as 2017 Realtor of the Year Matey Veissi, 2016 president, is 2017 Realtor of the Year; Connie Johnson is Associate Realtor of the Year – awards were given out yesterday at the convention. Average mortgage rates edge lower: 30-year at 3.89% The FRM...
– Home starts fall in July – but mainly multifamily Housing starts fell 4.8% as builders struggled to find workers, though the lion’s share of that drop occurred in the multifamily component that dropped 17.1%. NAR: U.S. home prices jump 6.2% in 2Q It’s the highest median quarterly price...
– Top Fed official: Bond portfolio could shrink soon The Fed will “likely announce next month” the sale of some bonds acquired during the recession – a move that would probably push mortgage rates a tad higher. Gov't shutdown could delay real estate closings Congress has work to do...
– Merger could create huge single-family-home landlord Two institutional investors – businesses that buy multiple single-family homes to rent out – could merge in a $4.3B deal that controls 82,000 U.S. homes. What to mention first in a listing? Quartz countertops Demand for easy-care but expensive quartz continues to...
– Surprising drop in owners optimistic about selling Are owners less inclined to sell? The percent who thought it’s a good time hit a record high in Fannie’s June survey – but it dropped a surprising 11% in July. Fannie, Freddie postpone new credit scoring models Buyers who hoped...
– Mortgage rates move a bit lower The average FRM hit 3.90% this week, down from last week’s 3.93%. The 15-year loan held steady at 3.18%, and the ARM changed little at 3.14%. Why the tight inventory? Blame the boomers Buyers need more for-sale homes, so Realtor.com conducted a...
– Housing crisis officially started 10 years ago this week While trouble brewed earlier, the meltdown officially began when a French bank started blocking withdrawals from U.S. mortgage-debt hedge funds. Fla. home sales, median prices up in 2Q 2107 Florida Realtors data: Single-family home sales up 3.7%, median price...
