Home Prices May Be Topping Out In Greater Boston
The beginning of this month may have marked a turning point in the unending river of optimism about home price appreciation in Greater Boston.
Company Offers To Insure Buyers’ Down Payments
A new product called “down payment insurance” came to market this year, meant to protect homebuyers the same way that private mortgage insurance protects lenders and the GSEs.
Training Top Talent
Nora Lynch Smith had over 15 years of real estate sales experience working for small and large firms before she bought Landmark Residential Inc. in South Natick a few years ago.
Rates Remain Flat, Applications, Refis On The Rise
Mortgage applications increased 3.1 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending November 10, 2017. This week’s results do not include an adjustment for the Veterans’ Day holiday.
Deposits Aren’t Enough, It Takes Great Credit Scores To Rent In Boston
Potential renters have to come up with more than a deposit to rent in the Boston market these days; they’ll need excellent credit as well.
Report: Technology Will Change, Improve Residential Real Estate
A report released last week by the MIT Center for Real Estate said tech-driven changes that are beginning to appear in real estate will soon be ubiquitous. It predicts homes won’t look drastically different in 30 years, but they will be operating very differently.
Boston Buyers Better Boost Savings To Buy In 2018
For future homebuyers wondering when to stop saving and get into the housing market, the math is clear: the sooner the better.
First Time Buyers’ Median Down Payment Declined In 2017
In 2017, the median down payment was 10 percent of all buyers, and fell to 5 percent from 6 percent for first-time buyers, according to NAR’s 2017 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.
Mortgage Rates Decline, Applications Remain Flat
Mortgage applications remained unchanged from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending Nov. 3.
Home Prices Continue To Rise, Many Top Markets Now Overvalued
Home prices are up strongly both year-over-year and month-over-month according to the September 2017 Home Price Index released today by CoreLogic.
Landlords Claim Exclusion From Code Conversation
Proposed changes to the Massachusetts Sanitary Code have local landlords running hot. They claim they were not consulted prior to the announcement of those changes, and that the changes are unclear and an unfair burden on rental property owners. Few people are familiar with the significance or contents of the state sanitary code, but a single violation of this code entitles tenants to withhold rent from landlords until the violation has been remedied.
Sales And Service In Waltham
Carlos Vidal immigrated to the U.S. from Peru with his mother, his older brother, and not a word of English. An avid tennis player, surfer and self-professed gym rat, he loves to travel internationally with his wife.
MBA Calls For Immediate GSE Reform
The CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association joined the chorus of government and industry leaders calling for comprehensive GSE reform in testimony before the House Financial Services Committee Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance yesterday.
NAR: Proposed Tax Reform ‘Takes Money Straight From Homeowners Pockets’
The National Association of Realtors came out strongly against the House of Representatives’ proposal to overhaul the tax code yesterday.
Springfield Landlord Fined $35K For Housing Discrimination
A Springfield landlord was found liable by a federal jury last week of discriminating against a family in violation of the Fair Housing Act and fined $35,000, according to the Department of Justice.
Five Massachusetts Cities Named Among WalletHub’s Top 20 Small Cities To Live
Five of the top 20 communities to live in nationwide are in eastern Massachusetts , according to a recent survey from WalletHub.
Mortgage Interest Rates Lurch Up To Highest Rate Since July
The average mortgage interest rate moved up 6 basis points to 3.94 percent, the highest it has been since July of this year, according to the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.
Mass. Must Ramp Up Homebuilding To Accommodate Amazon
There’s a lot of excitement around the possibility of Amazon delivering up to 50,000 jobs over 10 to 15 years to the local economy directly, and perhaps as many more indirectly, if the Internet behemoth builds its second headquarters here.
MBA Chairman To Retire In 2018
Mortgage Bankers Association President and CEO David H. Stevens yesterday announced that he plans to retire on Sept. 30, 2018.
Freddie Mac Survey Finds People Increasingly Prefer Renting
New research released today by Freddie Mac indicates that affordability and changing attitudes towards renting are playing a significant role in the growing demand for rental housing.
