The Commerce Department reported GDP surged to 3.5%, well above most median economic estimates (full article). Is this the beginning of an era of increased economic prosperity? Will GDP continue to increase? Why is GDP increasing while housing stocks have…
For anyone watching the markets, it has been quite the ride. I’m feeling a bit seasick from all the motion taking place in the markets! Stocks plummet then come roaring back all within the same day. What is going on? …
Mortgage rates for a 30-year mortgage bottomed our around 3.4% in July of July of 2016. Rates recently broke through the 5% mark and the 10-year treasury just hit a 7-year high. At the same time Well’s Fargo announced it…
It has been 10 years since Lehman Brothers collapsed and the mortgage market tanked with Fannie and Freddie taken over by the US government. Have we learned any lessons from the last collapse? Is the mortgage market substantially safer than…
"Blockchain and cryptocurrency really has the ability to change every aspect of real estate, from titles, to lending, to the brokerage itself," said Jim Merrion, a Boulder real estate agent with Coldwell Banker. (Daily Camera). Is this true? Is…
Zillow has made two big announcements recently: 1) Zillow is expanding its “cash offers” programs to 4 cities 2) Zillow acquired mortgage lenders of America. On the surface, most people shrugged off the announcements as neither appear monumental. Why are…
President Donald Trump said he expected Jerome Powell to be a cheap-money Fed chairman and lamented to wealthy Republican donors at a Hamptons fundraiser on Friday that his nominee instead had raised interest rates, according to people present. This is…
Less relocation impacts real estate investments. About 3.5 million workers relocated for a new job last year, a 10% drop from 3.8 million in 2015. The current relocation rate of 10 percent is 72 percent lower than in the…
The Commerce Department reported GDP surged to 4.1% this past quarter from 2% the prior quarter (full article). Is this the beginning of an era of increased economic prosperity or a house of cards ready to crumble? Should you buy…
Residential housing starts fell 12.3%, multifamily fell 19.8%, and permits (a proxy for future builds) fell 2.2%. Furthermore a recent builder survey found that sales were “sluggish” in June (Marketwatch). What does all this mean for real estate values? Is…