Sen. Kamala Harris Proposes $100 Billion Reverse Redlining Housing Program
Democratic presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris proposed a $100 billion program for “homebuyers who rent or live in historically red-lined communities.”Read more
3 Ways To Stop The Next Real Estate Crash & Save The Fed A Trillion Dollars
Did you know that for the same amount of money the Federal Reserve spent on buying mortgage-backed securities from Wall Street banks they could have bought ALL U.S. homes foreclosed on from 2006-2013? For the same cost the Fed could have stopped house prices from crashing and stopped the recession from becoming the worst since the Great Depression.Read more
Zillow Zestimate Accuracy Calculator – 2019
In June 2019, Zillow made a major update to how they calculate Zestimates for houses listed for sale. In addition, they now report the accuracy of the Zestimates for houses “Listed for Sale” separately from houses “Not Listed For Sale.” Check out this post for more details. Here’s a post from 2018 with a discussion…Read more
New Zillow Zestimate Accuracy – 2019
Zillow just updated its Zestimates of house values and using new technology improved the accuracy of its estimates for houses that are listed for sale.Read more
California House Prices Fall (Inflation-Adjusted)
Inflation-adjusted house prices fell in four West Coast metros and Chicago from April 2018 to April 2019.Read more
History Of American Real Estate Bubbles
From land speculation in New York state after the Revolutionary War, to a huge bubble in Chicago in the 1830s, to our 21st century bubble, the United States has always been a nation of real estate speculators…Read more
Real House Prices DOWN In These 5 Cities Over The Last 12 Months
The stock market bounced back from its December lows but house price increases continued to shrink and real, inflation-adjusted prices actually fell (slightly) over the last 12 months in five of the 20 major metro areas covered by Case-Shiller data. That’s what I found when I applied the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) to the S&P…Read more
New Study Of Old Real Estate Bubbles (1582-1810) Finds Two Surprising Similarities With Modern Bubbles
Amsterdam had three large real estate bubbles from 1582 to 1810. The real estate market was entirely different 200-400 years ago but those Amsterdam bubbles shared at least two similarities with modern real estate bubbles.Read more
50 Years of Failure – U.S. Affordable Housing Programs and the Black Home Ownership Rate
(Parts of earlier versions of this piece appeared on Forbes.com here and here.) You may have seen stories in April about the Fair Housing Act being signed 51 years ago on April 11, 1968. The Act outlawed housing discrimination based on race, color, religion, and national origin. As a real estate numbers geek, I was…Read more
Real San Diego Home Prices Fall
Of 20 major metropolitan areas, 16 saw smaller house price increases in the last 12 months than during the previous 12.Read more
The Debt Shift Theory Of The Global Financial Crisis And The Great Real Estate Bubble
Bank lending is a key to economic growth but what happens to the economy when there’s a shift in the kind of loans that banks make and a shift in debt?Read more
Links – Mar. 10, 2019
USA Metro Denver home prices drop in February for first time in 7 years Oregon governor signs statewide rent control law Toll Brothers Orders Plunge as California Buyers Vanish People are buying less at Home Depot: Is this another sign the housing market is cooling down? JPMorgan Chase investor slide explains mortgage-business slump Contrary to…Read more
U.S. Home Price Appreciation Continues to Slow
Home price appreciation continued to be strong in December but not nearly as strong as last spring. The big question is whether this is a healthy reset of home price appreciation to lower, more sustainable levels, or whether home price appreciation will continue to shrink. U.S. home prices were up 4.7% in December (compared to…Read more
Links – Feb. 22, 2019
USA Calabria talks GSE reform, 30-year mortgages at Senate hearing – Scotsman Guide For First Time in 5 Years, Buyers Have More Selection to Start the Year (January 2019 Market Report) – Zillow Research Experts say home equity is key to solving the country’s looming retirement crisis | 2019-02-18 | HousingWire The 10 Most Common…Read more
Links – Feb. 16, 2019
USA A Denver attorney and the Lehman mortgage mess that contributed to the Great Recession Housing Finance At A Glance: A Monthly Chartbook, January 2019 | Full Report | Urban Institute Federal Tax Deductions for Homeowners Change in 2019 Mapped: ZIP-by-ZIP data as Orange County home sales plummet 26% – Orange County Register Historic Mortgage Rates: From 1981 to 2019 and Their Impact – TheStreet Fannie-Freddie Watchdog Gets More Cautious on Firms’ Release Home values see largest single-month decline since 2012 | 2019-02-04 | HousingWire CoreLogic: Home prices inch forward in December | 2019-02-05 | HousingWire Why 2019 Promises to Be Better for Buyers | Realtor Magazine Homebuying Patterns: Affordability,…Read more
Links – February 8, 2019
USA Help Me Understand Mortgage Servicing | Urban Institute It’s time for a Fannie-Freddie fix – Washington Post How ‘unaffordable’ is Southern California housing? – Orange County Register Bain Capital Execs: iBuyers Are Foes Of Brokers And Homebuyers – Inman Seven questions for Janet Yellen on financial stability – Brookings Slower Economic Growth Expected in 2019, but a Patient Fed Could Put Housing on Firmer Footing | Fannie Mae National Housing Survey | Fannie Mae ‘Tides Are Shifting’: Is A Homebuyer’s Market On The Horizon? Forbes If San Francisco is so great, why is everyone I love leaving? – Curbed SF OECD Economic Survey of the United States: Key Research Findings | READ online Where the Inventory…Read more
West Coast Home Price Appreciation Returns To Earth
The wild West Coast home price appreciation party seems to be winding down. After the incredibly strong home price gains over the last six years in San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles and San Diego, home prices were up “only” 3% to 6% over the last 12 months.Read more
Links – February 1, 2019
USA Q4 2018 Home Seller Gains by Market | ATTOM Data Solutions Help Me Understand Mortgage Servicing | Urban Institute Falling home sales could signal US recession – Business Insider 10 points to keep in mind about housing affordability in California – Los Angeles Times Home sales dive 14% in Lake Forest, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Juan Capistrano – Orange County Register The Slowdown in U.S. Existing Home Sales Is Gaining Speed | Fortune Home ownership ‘increasingly out of reach’ for typical buyers, brokerage says – Orange County Register Zillow: Lackluster existing home sales result of political headwinds | 2019-01-28 | HousingWire Home price growth skids to a…Read more
Links – January 25, 2019
USA CME Price declines since Sept 5 | HomePriceFutures.com Amid Steady U.S. Growth in 2018, Some Markets Flagged While Others Flew (December 2018 Market Report) – Zillow Research Denver fifth most popular moving destination in U.S. Home Ownership Investment | Richr | MLS Listings Homebuilders face profit risks despite a good housing market: Zelman Home Value Appreciation Slowed in Most Major Markets – Jan 24, 2019 The Science and Art of Paying Off Your Mortgage Early Ray Dalio sees ‘significant risk’ of possible US recession in 2020 Are Builder Premiums Really Worth What They Charge? • Birmingham Appraisal Blog Can Stock Market Volatility Help Home Buyers? Bloomberg TV 1-17-19: The…Read more
Home Sales Fall 10% Unexpectedly
The big real estate news story yesterday was that U.S. home sales were unexpectedly down 10% in December versus the previous December.Read more