Appraisers Getting Some Respect
Not long ago they were the punching bags of American real estate, accused of rank incompetence, wrecking home sales and failing to pick up on signs of the housing turnaround.
Mortgages And The Double Whammy
The number of mortgage applications fell to the lowest level in nearly two decades, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said recently. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 160 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one year earlier. The purchase index decreased 35 percent over the same period to its lowest level since 1995.
Berkshire Hathaway Extends Its RE Brand
Less than a year into the launch of its brokerage brand, Berkshire Hathaway seems poised to become a major force in that industry.
Housing Starts Up Sharply, Permits Highest Since 2008
U.S. housing starts jumped in April and building permits hit their highest level in nearly six years, offering hope that the troubled housing market could be stabilizing.
Gossip Report: May 19, 2014
Two Back Bay townhouses tied for the top sale of the week, selling for $5.2 million each.
MBA: U.S. Q1 Mortgage Delinquencies At Lowest Level Since Q4 2007
The delinquency rate on home mortgages in the United States fell in the first three months of the year to its lowest level in six years, a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said on Thursday.
CoreLogic: 2013 Home Prices Up 11.3 Percent In Q4
Home prices increased by 11.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013 compared with the same time a year ago, according to the CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indexes.
Chelsea Housing Authority Pleads Guilty To Rigged Housing Inspections
The former executive director of the Chelsea Housing Authority (CHA) pleaded guilty yesterday for rigging the inspection process for federally-funded housing units.
MAR: Pending Home Sales Post Best April Since January 2004
Pending home sales for single-family homes in Massachusetts were at their highest level in April since the Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR) began tracking pending home sales in January 2004, according to a report from MAR.
Coldwell Banker Receives Top Ranking In Real Trends 500 Report
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in New England, combined with the residential brokerage firms in Massachusetts owned by NRT, is ranked first in sales volume and transaction sides among Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire residential real estate companies in 2013, according to a report from Real Trends 500.
Pair Indicted For Operating Advance Fee Loan Scheme
A man who previously resided in Beverly and a Florida woman were charged in an indictment unsealed on Friday in connection with an advance fee scheme involving approximately 100 victims throughout the United States, including many in Massachusetts.
MBA: Applications For New Home Purchases Increase 5 Percent In April
Mortgage applications for new home purchases increased by 5 percent in April compared with March according to a survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
A Case For Looser Credit Scores
Are lenders’ credit-score requirements for home purchasers this spring too high – out of sync with the actual risks of default presented by today’s borrowers? The experts say yes.
New Tax Credits Boosts CDC Ambitions
The state has introduced a new tax credit program designed to help nonprofit community developers launch more ambitious projects, partly by making them more attractive to corporate donors.
Gossip Report: May 12, 2014
This week’s top sale was a Dover home that sold for $5.7 million.
NAR: All-Cash Sales Up While Distressed Sales, Investors Decline
Despite declines in distressed sales and investor activity, all-cash purchases are making up a larger share of the real estate market, according to a new report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
MBA: Majority Of U.S. Loan Applications Are For Purchase
For the first time since 2009, the majority of loan applications across the country were for purchase mortgages, with the share of refinance applications declining to 49 percent of total applications this week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
CoreLogic: U.S. Home Prices Rise 11 Percent In March
Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased 11.1 percent in March compared with the same time last year, according to a new report from real estate data and analytics provider CoreLogic.
Black Knight: Only 1 In 10 U.S. Homeowners Underwater
The rise in housing prices since the recovery began two years ago has lifted the vast majority of homeowners back into the black, with only 10 percent now underwater on their mortgage as of March 2014, according to a new report from Black Knight Financial Services.
Cash-Outs Stage A Comeback
The name itself conjures up images of ATMs: cash-outs. You may associate the term “cash-out refinancing†with the frothy and dangerous days of the real estate boom, when some owners turned their hyperinflating houses into money mills, leveraging their equities to the hilt. That didn’t end up too well for many of them.
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