Team Thayer Property Servicing

When distressed properties account for a large share of all residential home sales, it tends to pull down the prices of non-distressed homes, since foreclosed and REO properties typically sell at a discount to non-distressed homes. Yet even though the distressed sales share remains high, home prices are not slowing. According to CoreLogic’s latest  Home Price Index , prices appreciated at 6.8 percent year-over-year in October. A  recent report from Zillow  indicated that a lack of affordability in the housing market in urban areas may drive would-be homebuyers out to the suburbs. Since why is the high volume of distressed properties selling at discounted prices pulling down the prices of non-distressed homes, as is usually the case? “The number and share of distressed sales have fallen between September 2014 and September 2015,” CoreLogic Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said. “The distressed sales share in the most recent month was 9.7 percent, compared with 12.1 ...

Banks need to take steps now to avoid emerging credit risk in today’s financial system in order to prevent another financial meltdown, according to Comptroller of the Currency  Thomas Curry  in a public address on Monday . In a speech at the RMA Annual Risk Management Conference in Boston, Curry stated that the topic of credit risk was muted as recently as 2012 because banks were still in a post-crisis state of recovery and were being extremely cautious with lending—some believe too cautious. Three years ago, however, the need to discuss credit risk was minimal because loan demand was soft, consumer confidence was down, and businesses were reluctant to make loans to only the most creditworthy borrowers. In the last 18 months, however, banks have generally become profitable as economic conditions have improved, unemployment is down, and loan demand has increased, leading Curry to ask: “Where do we go from here? What will it take to ensure that banks remain solvent, stab...

Sustainable homeownership is the “gateway to the middle class” for many Americans and is the primary source of wealth creation for many, which is why increasing the homeownership rate is so critical to a healthy economy, according to a panel at a housing forum in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday. In the “Achieving the American Dream” housing forum, hosted by  First American Financial Corporation , three members of Congress addressed the audience while a panel of experts discussed primarily how to increase the homeownership rate among Latinos and African Americans. Panelist Gary Acosta, Co-Founder and CEO, National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Agents, declared to the agreement of the panel that the gateway to the middle class in America is sustainable homeownership—and that lenders do not need to lower the bar, but instead need to open the credit window. “What that essentially means is we’re not trying to qualify people who probably shouldn’t qualify for a mortgage,” ...

First-time buyers comprised 56.9 percent of primary owner-occupied home purchase mortgages with a government guarantee in August 2015, up from the 54.5 percent share last August, the  American Enterprise Institute (AEI)  reported in their  First-Time Buyer Mortgage Share Index (FBMSI) . 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 Eugene ...

Fannie Mae has introduced HomeReady™ mortgage, our enhanced affordable lending product. HomeReady is designed for creditworthy, low- to moderate-income borrowers, with expanded eligibility for financing homes in designated low-income, minority, and disaster-impacted communities. HomeReady will be available later this year, with details to be released in late September. Key HomeReady features include: Accessible and sustainable financing  up to 97% LTV for a home purchase with no first-time buyer requirement. Flexible sources of funds can be used  for the down payment and closing costs with no minimum contribution required from the borrower's own funds for 1-unit properties. Underwriting flexibilities  include an  innovative new feature that supports extended family households  by considering income from a non-borrower household member as a compensating factor in Desktop Underwriter® to allow for a debt-to-income ratio above 45% up to 50%. Required homeo...

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...

Approximately three-quarters of a million single-family residential homes  regained equity in the second quarter of 2015 , bringing the nationwide total of mortgaged residential properties with equity up to 45.9 million (91 percent), according to data released by  CoreLogic  on Tuesday. The number of homes regaining equity totaled about 759,000 for Q2, which translated to a year-over-year increase in borrower equity of about $691 million for the quarter, according to CoreLogic. About 8.7 percent of all residential homes with a mortgage, or about 4.4 million properties, were in negative equity in Q2 2015– both declines from 10.9 percent and 5.4 million from the same quarter a year earlier. "For much of the country, the negative equity epidemic is lifting. The biggest reason for this improvement has been the relentless rise in home prices over the past three years which reflects increasing money flows into housing and a lack of housing stock in many markets," said A...

TEAM THAYER REAL ESTATE NEWS Statistically speaking, housing is on a roll. Year-to-date home sales are up 6.3 percent and prices in May were 7.9 percent higher than a year earlier. The trends are expected to stay positive and are likely to boost business dollar volume by as much as 15 percent in 2015. These statistics don't even include new-home construction, which is growing at a strong clip as well. But this rosy picture does raise concerns about affordability. After all, wages are rising by only 2 percent annually and renters are getting squeezed, having to endure 4 percent rate hikes while home prices accelerate more quickly. In addition, mortgage rates have notched their highest level of the year, reaching about 4 percent in June, and should continue to rise well into next year. Some armchair analysts have suggested that we’re entering a new housing market bubble. But hard facts suggest otherwise. Underlying conditions today are fundamentally different from ...

The United States housing market is the foundation of our fragile economy, as made evident by the current recession and real estate bubble. Its downward trend in recent years has crippled our economy while placing millions of Americans in financial purgatory. It appears, however, that the worst may be behind us. Pending home sales continue to improve, suggesting that the housing market is slowly returning to normal. Can we attribute this to the benefits of investors? With the housing market primed to remove us from our economic instability, facilitation of this sector should be of utmost importance. The role of residential developers and real estate investors has never been more important. Despite several grossly exaggerated misconceptions, the benefits of investors will play an integral piece in returning the housing market to pre-recession standards. Investors have a measurable and immediate impact on the social good of a geographic region . A symbiotic relationship exists b...