Where FHA Loans Are the Most Popular

Where FHA Loans Are the Most Popular

In 2016, 15.5 percent of home purchases were completed using Federal Housing Administration loans, according to ATTOM Data Solutions. For many borrowers, the FHA requires a down payment of just 3.5 percent of the purchase price of a home.

The following are the eight metros with populations of more than 200,000 that had the largest percentage of purchases using FHA-insured loans in 2016.

1. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas

• FHA sales: 35%

2. Ogden-Clearfield, Utah

• FHA sales: 34.2%

3. Merced, Calif.

• FHA sales: 32.6%

4. Visalia-Porterville, Calif.

• FHA sales: 31.9%

5. Salt Lake City, Utah

• FHA sales: 29.6%

6. Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas

• FHA sales: 29.2%

7. Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, Ind.

• FHA sales: 27.9%

8. Amarillo, Texas

• FHA sales: 27.9%

Source: “10 Hottest Markets for FHA Mortgages,” National Mortgage News (2017)

Existing-Home Sales Reach Decade High

Existing-Home Sales Reach Decade High

Existing-home sales in January reached their fastest pace in nearly a decade, with all major regions except the Midwest posting gains last month, the National Association of REALTORS® reports.

Sales By Region

Here’s how existing-home sales fared across the country in January:

• Northeast: Rose 5.3 percent to an annual rate of 800,000, 6.7 percent above a year ago. Median price: $253,800, which is 2.5 percent above a year ago.
• Midwest: Dropped 1.5 percent to an annual rate of 1.29 million, 0.8 percent below a year ago. Median price: $174,900, up 6.5 percent from a year ago.
• South: Increased 3.6 percent to an annual rate of 2.31 million, 3.1 percent above a year ago. Median price: $201,400, up 9.2 percent from a year ago.
• West: Rose 6.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.29 million, 8.4 percent above a year ago. Median price: $332,300, up 6.8 percent from a year ago.

Source: National Association of REALTORS®

Total existing-home sales—completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condos, and co-ops—rose 3.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.69 million in January. That’s 3.8 percent higher than a year ago and marks the strongest month since February 2007, according to NAR.

“Much of the country saw robust sales activity last month as strong hiring and improved consumer confidence at the end of last year appear to have sparked considerable interest in buying a home,” says NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. “Market challenges remain, but the housing market is off to a prosperous start as home buyers staved off inventory levels that are far from adequate and deteriorating affordability conditions.”

5 Stats to Gauge the Market in January

1. Home prices: The median existing-home price for all housing types in January was $228,900—a 7.1 percent increase from a year ago.
2. Inventories: Total housing inventories at the end of the month increased 2.4 percent to 1.69 million existing homes available for sale. That is still 7.1 percent lower than a year ago (with a 1.82 million supply). Unsold inventory is at a 3.6-month supply at the current sales pace.
3. Distressed sales: Foreclosures and short sales made up 7 percent of all sales last month, down from 9 percent a year ago. In January, 5 percent of sales were foreclosures and 2 percent were short sales. Foreclosures sold at an average discount of 14 percent below market value, while short sales were discounted 10 percent.
4. All-cash sales: All-cash transactions comprised 23 percent of transactions in January, down from 26 percent a year ago. Individual investors make up the bulk of all-cash sales. They purchased 15 percent of homes in January, down from 17 percent a year ago.
5. Days on the market: Thirty-eight percent of homes sold in January were on the market for less than a month. On average, sold properties spent 50 days on the market, down from 64 days a year ago. Short sales lingered on the market the longest, at a median of 108 days, while foreclosures sold in 51 days. Non-distressed homes spent a median of 49 days on the market.

“Competition is likely to heat up even more heading into the spring for house hunters looking for homes in the lower- and mid-market price range,” Yun says. The REALTORS® Affordability Distribution Curve and Score, a new measurement of homebuying activity created by NAR and realtor.com®, revealed that the combination of higher mortgage rates and home prices made active listings less affordable for households in more than half of all states last month.

Source: National Association of REALTORS®

Blogging – The Top Way to Nab More Search Traffic

Blogging – The Top Way to Nab More Search Traffic

The best way to get more search traffic to your website: Blogging. That said, it takes a lot of blogging to see results.

HubSpot, an inbound marketing and sales software company, reviewed the blogging frequency and website traffic of 13,500-plus of its customers. They found that you don’t tend to see any significant boost to traffic if you publish just four times a month. Instead, companies had to publish 5-10 blog posts a month to see noticeable results. Further, the biggest traffic patterns were evident from companies that published more than 11 posts a month.

Most companies don’t typically publish that much. Indeed, about 54 percent of businesses with blogs say they publish once a week or less, according to the 2016 Orbit Media blogging study. After all, it takes time to create and publish blog content. The Orbit survey shows that it takes, on average, two-and-a-half hours to write the average blog post, which is about 800 words in length. As such, small-business owners would need to add 5 hours to their day for two blog posts per week or 7.5 hours for three posts.

But for those who invest in a more robust blogging schedule, they stand to benefit, if they do it smartly. They’ll also need to take some effort into converting that extra traffic with effective lead generation too, Forbes.com notes in its report. Also, you shouldn’t just offer up weak content to boost your posting frequency.

“You’ve got to be delivering value to your audience or they won’t bother to read your blog,” columnist Brian Sutter with Forbes.com notes in the article.

To increase frequency of blog posting, Forbes.com recommends some other ideas besides just writing new content. For example, you could republish or refresh older still-pertinent posts (update it when needed) or look for a way to convert every post you publish into at least one other format (such as into a short video, quiz, or infographic).

Also, study experts note, don’t just focus on one traffic-building tactic. Blogging can be a traffic generator but page search engine optimization, link building, and mobile-friendly sites are also important strategies to implement too.

Source: “The Easiest Way to Get More Search Traffic,” Forbes.com (Feb. 17, 2017)

Mortgage Rates: Is It a ‘Year Full of Surprises’?

Mortgage Rates: Is It a ‘Year Full of Surprises’?

Mortgage rates fell slightly for the second consecutive week, taking a path that many economists haven’t expected.

“For the last 46 years, the 30-year mortgage rate has been almost perfectly correlated with the yield on the 10-year Treasury, but not this year,” says Sean Becketti, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. “From Dec. 29, 2016, through today, the 30-year mortgage rate fell 17 basis points to this week’s reading of 4.15 percent. In contrast, the 10-year Treasury yield began and ended the same period at 2.49 percent. While we expect mortgage rates to fall into line with Treasury yields shortly, this just may be a year full of surprises.”

Freddie Mac reported the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending Feb. 16:

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.15 percent, with an average 0.5 point, dropping from last week’s 4.17 percent average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 3.65 percent.
• 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.35 percent, with an average 0.5 point, falling from last week’s 3.39 percent average. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 2.95 percent.
• 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 3.18 percent, with an average 0.4 point, falling from last week’s 3.21 percent average. A year ago, 5-year ARMs averaged 2.85 percent.

Source: Freddie Mac

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Modified Loans Re-defaulting at Faster Rates

Modified Loans Re-defaulting at Faster Rates

Loans that have been modified since 2014 are re-defaulting at faster rates than those that were modified in prior years, according to a new report.

Seventy-five percent of the loans that re-defaulted did so within the first two years after receiving a loan modification, according to analysis of Fannie Mae loan data.

“Relative to prior years, recent trends indicate more modifications made to borrowers that have prior failed loan modifications, lower payment reductions, and lower credit scores,” says Samuel So, Fitch Ratings director.

Fitch analyzed about 700,000 loans, with cumulative unpaid principal balances of $135 billion, that had been permanently modified between 2010 and 2015.

Fitch’s study found that loans modified more recently had lower average FICO scores and a higher number of prior modifications, which appeared to be related to higher re-default risk.

In 2009, the average FICO score was 655 and only 1 percent of loans had multiple modifications. By 2015, the average FICO score was 592, and 34 percent of the loans had multiple modifications, the Fitch Ratings study showed.

Source: “Recently Modified Loans Redefault at a Faster Pace,” National Mortgage News (Feb. 9, 2017)