Team Thayer Property Servicing

The future of housing in America can seem so close, yet so far away, but government officials and housing experts are already hot on the case making their evaluations of the present state of the market and predictions for the future. HUD  Secretary Julián Castro discussed the future of housing Wednesday in a  discussion forum , which highlighted issues surrounding affordable housing across America. Other speakers in the discussion included: David Adame, President and CEO, Chicanos Por La Causa; Lisa Belkin, Author and HBO Consultant, "Show Me A Hero", HBO; Mark Calabria, Director of Financial Regulation Studies, Cato Institute; Eileen Fitzgerald, President, Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future; and Chris Herbert, Managing Director, Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, among many others. In the discussion, Secretary Castro first addressed the state of the housing market today by shining some light on the headliner topic of affordability issues. HUD...

While housing counselors across the country report improved communications with servicers in the area of helping struggling borrowers avoid foreclosure, there is still more work to be done,   according to a report   released Thursday from the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling ( NFMC ) program. NFMC is a congressionally-funded effort launched in December 2007 to address the foreclosure crisis by making more housing counselors available to families at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure. In slightly less than eight years, NFMC has helped approximately 1.9 million homeowners understand their foreclosure prevention options. The funds are distributed by Washington, D.C.-based community development non-profit and grant maker  NeighborWorks America  to grantee organizations, which in turn provide the housing counseling services. The report released Thursday was NFMC's 11th report to Congress. Team Thayer Real Estate News Eugene Oregon “Servicer in...

Team Thayer Real Estate News Eugene Oregon The share has risen above previous year levels since April 2015, reflecting improvements within the labor market, riskier mortgage lending, and continuing low mortgage rates. This and a 35-month-long seller’s market for existing homes are causing home prices to increase much faster than income. “The strong spring 2015 home buying season has been paced by outsized gains for first-time buyers,” said Edward Pinto, co-director of the AEI’s International Center on Housing Risk. “Unfortunately, these gains are fueled in part by liberalized credit standards, which is creating demand pressure and driving real home prices higher. This will lead to future instability.” Team Thayer Real Estate News Eugene Oregon The Federal Housing Administration ( FHA ) had a share of first-time homebuyers in August at or above 80 percent,  Fannie Mae ’s share stood at 43.3 percent, and  Freddie Mac  had a share of about 40 percent, AEI r...

Nationwide REO inventory is approximately one-third of what it was at its peak in early 2009 at the depth of the housing crisis. What will it mean for banks when the steadily declining REO inventory falls down to its "normal" pre-crisis level in less than two years, as is expected? What type of shifts or diversification is the mortgage industry experiencing right now as REO inventory continues to spiral downward? At the REO Lab at the  2015 Five Star Conference and Expo  on Friday in Dallas, industry experts discussed how to get ahead and stay informed and equipped to take on the new REO marketplace. Team Thayer Real Estate News The first panel of the lab, "True State of REO: Market Analysis and Shadow Inventory," included Roger Beane, President and CEO of LRES Corporation; Sharon Bartlett, Director of Vendor Services at Freddie Mac; and Clay Lehman, Principal, Resolute Asset Management. Beane said the future of REO, and of housing in general, could be...

While flipping was a popular investor strategy in the years immediately after the crisis, more and more investors are seeking to buy properties and employ a rent-to-hold strategy. Has the increased popularity of the single-family rental market forever changed the way housing reacts to market swings, or is this an unsustainable trend that will eventually precipitate another housing crisis? Panels of experts discussed this and other issues such as securitization, crowdfunding, property management, and protecting investments from HOA "super-priority liens" in the Single-Family Rental Lab at the  2015 Five Star Conference and Expo  Wednesday in Dallas. While this is the 12th year for the Five Star Conference, it was the first-ever SFR Lab, speaking to the rapidly growing popularity of the SFR market in the last year to two years. When the panel of four experts debated whether the current single-family rental market is a "bubble" or is here to stay and the qu...

There is no denying that the latest recession to hit America is still fresh on the minds of those that lived through it. In fact, the wake of the downturn still resonates on more levels than one. At the very least, people have made a conscious effort not to repeat the very transgressions that put us here in the first place. Now that the recovery has finally gained traction, however, people are worried that today’s appreciation rates are eerily reminiscent of those that led to the last meltdown. Instead of fearing what the real estate industry has in store, investors should be embracing the current situation. “Real estate is Americans’ preferred investment for money that they won’t need for at least 10 years and that hasn’t changed,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate.com. “Nervous investors always look to real estate rather than shy away from it in times of volatility.” Now is actually a great time to invest. Our partners at  CT Homes  have found tha...

Graduates' college major may have a lot to do with how much home they can afford later on, according to a new analysis by realtor.com®. For example, for engineering majors, they'll likely be successful in the housing market. Out of 300 majors evaluated by realtor.com®, petroleum engineers had the highest salaries that translated into being able to afford more house. Petroleum engineers had a midcareer salary of $168,000 and grads of that major could afford to buy up to $744,000 – more than three times the national average list price. Read more :  Best Cities for Recent Grads On the other end of the spectrum, education and liberal arts majors didn't fare as well as engineering jobs. Early-childhood education had a midcareer salary of $38,000, which is barely enough to purchase a home at $168,000 (which is below the national median). Social work is also among the lowest paid careers, with a midcareer salary of $45,700. Realtor.com® used Payscale's midcareer sa...

Almost 61 per cent of those surveyed said they planned to increase their overseas holdings in the next two years. Significantly, wealthy Chinese are not motivated by chasing higher returns when they park their savings abroad. Most respondents expected a return of a maximum of 5 per cent on their investments. Instead, they are chasing safe havens, such as property and insurance schemes, cited as the top two destinations for cash. This is driving wealthy Chinese to invest their savings abroad on an unprecedented scale, making China a top exporter of wealth on top of its existing status as number one exporter of manufactured goods. The US was the preferred destination for 42 per cent of survey respondents seeking a safe place for their cash. Its robust economy, coupled with looser visa restrictions and high quality education is making it a magnet for China’s wealthy class. Next ranked were Hong Kong, Australia, Canada and the UK. Almost 77 per cent of those surveyed owned at le...

The  Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund of the  U.S. Department of Treasury announced Friday  the awarding of $202 million  in grants and loans to 195 CDFIs through the CDFI Program and the Native American CDFI Assistance (NACA) Program, capping the 20th anniversary of CDFI funding. The purpose of the CDFI Program is to invest in and build the capacity of community credit unions, banks, loan funds, and other financial institutions that serve rural and urban communities and do not have access to affordable financial products and services, according to Treasury. Since 31 CDFIs received the first CDFI Program awards ($35.5 million from the CDFI Fund) in 1996, the CDFI Fund has awarded more than $1.5 billion through 20 rounds, building a nationwide network of more than 950 CDFIs covering all states. All CDFIs are focused on empowering the communities they serve. "Today’s awards highlight how much the CDFI Program has contributed in its 20 ye...

A  commentary  published by the  Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland  found that slower economic growth has had little effect on income and wealth inequality in the United States. Daniel Carroll, an economist with the Cleveland Fed, and Eric Young, a professor at the University of Virginia, contend in their commentary titled " Zero Growth and Long Run Inequality " that "to the extent that different rates of trend growth are associated with changes in wealth inequality, lower growth tends to yield  less  inequality rather than more." Carroll and Young addressed research by Thomas Piketty which concluded that income inequality and wealth inequality increases as economic growth slows. Whereas Piketty's research made certain assumptions about the evolution of wealth distribution and the output of the economy, Carroll and Young based their commentary on a more sophisticated treatment of income and wealth distributions, such as those found in world con...