After years of increasing credit scores, FICO, the fico credit score used by the majority of lenders, has done an abrupt shift. FICO Score changes in how the most widely used credit score in the U.S. is calculated will make…
First, I wanted to wish each of you and your families a Safe, Happy, Healthy, and relaxing Thanksgiving Holiday. As you sit around the table, I wanted to provide a little food for thought. A gentleman that lost his…
It is crazy, the last real estate crisis was 10 years ago and the government is still debating what to do with Fannie/Freddie, the largest securitizers of 30 year fixed mortgages. Why are we still debating the governments role in…
Recently the news has been overwhelming on the China trade war. Last week there was a trade meeting surrounded by fanfare, then there were the tweets from the president announcing more tariffs. The US markets plunged losing 2% in one…
Fitch Ratings, one of the big three rating services (the other two are Moody’s and Standard and Poors) announced big changes to their pricing models that rates mortgage securities. What is changing? Why is this change so impactful? Why will…
If you have closed any real estate loan since 2003, you have over a 25% chance you were impacted. First American, the second largest title insurance company in the United States handling over 26% of all closings, announced a data…
We keep hearing that the spring real estate season is just around the corner, yet the April housing numbers came out showing a 4.4% decline from 2018 and continuing a downward trend of declining sales for the 14th straight month. …
Federal Reserve Chairman Powell recently announced that inflation is transitory. Sound familiar? Janet Yellen, the prior fed chair, used this same term 2017 and 2018. Seems like we are in an extended “transit”. Why? Are we headed for…
GDP numbers came in great far exceeding expectations at 3.2%. President Trump tweets “we knocked it out of the park”. At the same time inflation remains low/nonexistent which has enabled mortgage rates to fall over 1%. Even with all this…
Recently zestimates have been on an upward trajectory, far outpacing typical gains in the market (the graph above shows a 50% increase in two years). Why is the zestimate suddenly increasing? Why is it increasing so rapidly? Is the zestimate…