Frequently I am asked either what historical lending has been, or what total lending will be next year. Unlike the ebb and flows of the ocean tide, residential lending volume changes have been more akin to the wildest roller coaster ride in the world. And… Read more

The stagnant economy and massive liquidity actions from the Federal Reserve have driven interest rates to record lows. Freddie Mac, which has tracked residential mortgage loan rates since 1971, reported 30-year fixed loans this week at 3.31 percent while 15 year rates were 2.63 percent…. Read more

Earlier today I wrote about how economic demand for real estate in some small towns was increasing. I stated “Economics 101 teaches us that price changes in assets, goods and services are a function of supply and demand. The economic demand (versus demographic demand) for… Read more

Foreclosures dropped in July 2012 to 58,000 from 69,000 in July 2011 (and 62,000 in June 2012) according to CoreLogic. Half of all foreclosures were from five states: California, Florida, Michigan, Texas and Georgia. Homes tallied 1.3 million in some form of foreclosure (3.2 percent… Read more

Housing should not be viewed from a short-term perspective given transaction costs. Nor should home values be analyzed in a vacuum since you must live someplace. And since housing is truly a long-term asset, inflation comes into play. That said, take a look at what… Read more

The Mortgage Bankers Association each quarter assembles a vast array of real estate, lending and economic data and makes these invaluable time series and research available at the click of a mouse. Did you know: • Q1 2012 multi-family vacancy rate was 4.9 percent, down from… Read more

Homeowners that were in any stage of the foreclosure process in 2009 and 2010 and that were a customer of one of 27 mortgage servicers may qualify for a free foreclosure review that may in some circumstances lead to compensation.  Requests must be made no… Read more

Fannie, Freddie & MBA Forecast Changes Oct 2011 to Nov 2011 The President announced a change to the HARP program (essentially loan modifications to borrowers with loans that are currently held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that are performing but underwater).  The real key… Read more

The Mortgage Bankers Association just released their latest forecasts for the remainder of 2011 and 2012 and there is both good news and bad news.  Good news is that the MBA has raised their forecast for refinance activity lending volumes for the remainder of 2011. … Read more

The fourth quarter of 2010 saw a significant increase in commercial real estate sales to $112.5 billion up impressively from $54 billion and change in 2009 (but still a small fraction of the almost $558 billion in 2007. While I had been forecasting a $120… Read more