President Donald Trump on Friday signed an extension of the National Flood Insurance Program through November 21st, marking the 13th time the program has been granted a last-minute reprieve from expiration.  The NFIO, which faces financial challenges and is billions of dollars in debt, had been set to expire September 30th until Congress rushed a … [Read more...]

The National Association of REALTORS is considering a change in the association's MLS policy aimed at creating greater cooperation between brokerages within MLSs.  The "Clear Cooperation Policy" proposal is straight forward:  Brokers who are MLS participants must share listings with other brokers if those listings are being publicly marketed.  NAR … [Read more...]

More than half of Americans polled in a recent National Association of REALTORS survey believe that now is a good time to buy a home.  Optimism fared well in the third quarter of 2019 as 63% of people said they believe that now is a good time for a home purchase, with 34% of those respondents saying they believe that strongly. CLICK HERE TO READ … [Read more...]

Credit scores are rising, which bodes well for mortgage seekers desiring the lowest rates.  The average FICO credit score, which is a widely used measure of a person's creditworthiness, stands at 706, a record high, according to newly released FICO data.  For comparison, in 2009 at the end of the Great Recession, the average FICO score was 686.  … [Read more...]

By the end of this year, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage could drop to 3.3%, which would put the most popular loan product near its lowest average since Freddie Mac began tracking such data 48 years ago. Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of REALTORS, made the prediction after seeing the latest Labor Department report  last … [Read more...]

The share of homes selling at or above list price has returned to levels comparable with the early 2000s, according to a new analysis from CoreLogic, a real estate data firm.  Annual home price growth began to slow in the third quarter of 2018.  As such, the share of home buyers able to negotiate a better price began to rise. In the second quarter … [Read more...]

Fannie Mae economists are forecasting two more quarter-point interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year, expecting that the Fed will move to cut rates in September and again in December.  That could bode well for lowering mortgage rates for the remainder of the year.  Even though the Fed's short-term interest rate does not have a direct … [Read more...]

A recent study by Move.org ranked the 75 largest U.S. cities based on affordability.  St. Louis ranked number 19 with an average monthly cost of living of $1,632.49.  The affordability list is lead by El Paso, Texas at number 1 with an average monthly cost of $1,182.96.  On the other end of the list is San Francisco with an average monthly cost of … [Read more...]

The National Association of REALTORS (NAR) is commending the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for finalizing the new Federal Housing Authority(FHA) condominium loan policies.  The Changes, many which NAR has championed for over a decade, should yield thousands of new homeownership opportunities and help alleviate affordability … [Read more...]