Obama Lauds HUD’s New Fair Housing Rule

Obama Lauds HUD’s New Fair Housing Rule. Image courtesy of vitasamb2001 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

President Obama says the Fair Housing Act and the latest final rule issued by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will help ensure all Americans get an “equal shot in life.” Obama devoted his latest weekly address to talking about the Fair Housing Act and battling discrimination in housing.

HUD last week issued a final rule on Fair Housing that aims to “equip communities that receive HUD funding with data and tools to help them meet long-standing fair housing obligations in their use of HUD funds.” The rule aims to help local governments identify patterns of racial and ethnic discrimination. HUD will issue maps, charts, and other data showing racially or ethnically concentrated areas of poverty; the location of subsidized housing; and where wealthier people have access to greater community assets like top-notch schools and job opportunities.

“The work of the Fair Housing Act remains unfinished,” Obama said. “Just a few weeks ago, the Supreme Court ruled that policies segregating minorities in poor neighborhoods, even unintentionally, are against the law. The Court recognized what many people know to be true from their own lives: that too often, where people live determines what opportunities they have in life. … In some cities, kids living just blocks apart lead incredibly different lives. They go to different schools, play in different parks, shop in different stores, and walk down different streets. And often, the quality of those schools and the safety of those parks and streets are far from equal – which means those kids aren’t getting an equal shot in life.

“We’re using data on housing and neighborhood conditions to help cities identify the areas that need the most help,”Obama said. “We’re doing more to help communities meet their own goals.”

Watch the President’s full address below.

Source: “Obama: New Fair Housing Rule Will Help Further the American Dream,” HousingWire (July 13, 2015) and “HUD Announces Final Rule on Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing,” RISMedia (July 13, 2015)

The 10 Most Stable Housing Markets

The 10 Most Stable Housing Markets. Image courtesy of holohololand / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Housing markets where home values grow too rapidly can quickly turn sour. That’s why many home owners may prefer moderate, steady price growth.

“Housing market stability isn’t only good for financial health, it’s good for a home owner’s mental health too,” notes a new analysis by SmartAsset.

SmartAsset evaluated the price growth among U.S. cities to determine which ones have seen historically stable growth. The following are the markets that have seen consistent rises over the past 25 years, with few downturns:

1. Boulder, Colo.: Home prices have grown an average of 4 percent a year over the past 25 years.

2. Austin, Texas: The housing market here is one of the hottest in the country but unlike other boom-markets, prices fell just 3.4 percent here during the housing crisis.

3. Bismarck, N.D.: The average home owner who has purchased a home in Bismarck has never seen prices fall 5 percent or more there in the past 25 years.

4. Midland, Texas: Prices have risen by an average of 3.3 percent annually over the past 25 years.

5. Casper, Wyo.: Home prices have risen an average of 4.7 percent annually.

6. Anchorage, Alaska: The city has seen annual average growth of more than 3 percent since 1990 but it has not seen any significant price declines in that period.

7. Billings, Mont.: With a low unemployment rate, home prices have stayed steady over the last 25 years.

8. Walla Walla, Wash.: Home prices have increased nearly 30 percent since 2005 and only temporary losses were seen during the housing crisis.

9. Odessa, Texas: Home owners here only had 4 percent odds of seeing prices decline of 5 percent or greater over the past 25 years.

10. Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana: The average annual price growth here has been 2.8 market.

Source: “The Best Housing Markets for Growth and Stability,” SmartAsset (July 8, 2015)

This Isn’t Your Dad’s Retail Land Ownership

This Isn’t Your Dad’s Retail Land Ownership. Image courtesy of stockimages / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Buying real estate is perhaps the most common way for average people to build wealth, but if they’d like to try to take that another step, one of America’s oldest department chains is ripe for real estate investment.

Seritage Growth Properties, the real estate investment trust spun off from Sears, has gone public, selling shares to any interested investor. This lets Joe and Jane Public become one of the landlords of Sears and Kmart stores, in a sense.

The REIT has two goals, according to Consumer Reports’ Consumerist blog: “raise some cash to help the retailer, which is still losing money as well as losing Kardashians, and perhaps attract some investors who don’t see the value in Sears, but do see the value in the company’s real estate.”

The offering has raised $1.6 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. According to the Journal, Sears CEO Eddie Lampert expects the bankroll to help the company become a more modern retailer as it slims down its business. The company also expects to sell some of its real estate and close some stores.

Source: “Sears-Affiliated Real Estate Investment Trust Raises $1.6 Billion,” Consumerist.com (July 7, 2015)

Realtor.com® Debuts First-Time Buyer Videos

Realtor.com® Debuts First-Time Buyer Videos. Image courtesy of njaj / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

In new campaign efforts to bring millennials into the homebuying pool, realtor.com® is launching a five-part online video series that gives first-time buyers a humorous look at the stages of the purchase cycle. The “webisodes” feature Emmy-nominated actress Elizabeth Banks and are dubbed “The Home-Buying Process in Plain English with Elizabeth Banks.”

The videos will be promoted across a range of digital platforms, including Facebook, Yahoo, Hulu, HGTV, Google, and others.

“We want everyone to think of realtor.com® as the best real-time resource to help them make the most informed real estate decisions,” says Andrew Strickman, vice president of brand and creative services for Move Inc., the operators of realtor.com®. “Our knowledge that many buyers turn to the Web first for help navigating one of life’s most important decisions, and the fact that many first-time buyers prefer to consume entertainment digitally, drove the development of the content. With a partner like Elizabeth to help us, there was no question this humorous, episodic approach to the homebuying process was the way to go.”

The video series comes at a time when millennials are increasing their presence in the market. In a recent realtor.com® survey, 65 percent of millennials said they intend to purchase a home within three months, up from 54 percent in January.

In the webisodes, Banks walk viewers through the key components of buying a home. For example, in the first episode, called “Knowing When You’re Ready,” she recommends that potential buyers have a heart-to-heart talk with themselves about what they can truly afford: “Plan for the house you can afford now, not later. The most important thing for a first-time buyer is to live within your budget. Also, don’t be an idiot … But those are really the same thing.”

Other episode topics include: “Mortgage Lending 101”; “The Search”; “The Offer”; and “Closing the Sale.”

“For nearly everyone, buying a home is the biggest purchase they will ever make so there is that mixture of joy and anxiety,” Banks says. “It’s important to use humor to get people through the process.”

Watch the video:

Source: Move Inc.

What 6.5 Million Borrowers May Be Missing

What 6.5 Million Borrowers May Be Missing. Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

About 6.5 million borrowers could likely qualify for and benefit from a traditional refinancing or the HARP program, according to a new report released from the Black Knight Financial Services Inc.

About 3 million borrowers alone could save at least $200 a month via traditional refinances. About 500,000 borrowers stand to save $500 or more per month, the report shows.

“By looking at current interest rates on existing 30-year mortgages and applying broad-based underwriting criteria, we found that approximately 6.1 million borrowers make good candidates for traditional refinancing,” says Ben Graboske, senior vice president of Black Knight’s data and analytics. “An additional 450,000 meet HARP-eligibility guidelines. All told, in the aggregate we’re looking at about $1.5 billion that American home owners could be saving every month through a traditional refinance. Add in the 450,000 HARP-eligible borrowers and that figure swells to about $1.66 billion in savings every month — almost $20 billion a year.”

But refinancing is very rate-sensitive. If rates rise just half a percentage point, 2.6 million borrowers fall out of that population where refinancing would be beneficial, Graboske notes.

The Black Knight report also looked at the overall current state of home affordability. Just a 1 percent rise in interest rates would impact home affordability as much as a 13 percent jump in home prices, according to the report.

The monthly mortgage payment on a median-priced home is similar to what borrowers paid in 2000-2003. Monthly payments are down $400 from 2006 levels.

Source: “Black Knight’s May Mortgage Monitor: 6.5 Borrowers Could Save $1.66 Billion Monthly Via Refinancing,” Black Knight Financial Services (July 6, 2015)

Fewer Home Buyers Pay All-Cash

Fewer Home Buyers Pay All-Cash. Image courtesy of kittijaroon / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The share of home buyers using all-cash to pay for their real estate transactions dropped to the lowest level since November 2009, according to a new report by RealtyTrac. Nearly 25 percent of all single-family home and condo sales in May were all-cash purchases, down from 30 percent a year ago.

The percentage of cash sales is nearing a long-term average that goes back to January 2000 of 24.8 percent. Cash sales are also well-below the peak of 42.2 percent reached in February 2011.

The share of institutional investors — those who purchase at least 10 properties in a year and who often pay all-cash — is plunging.

As such, housing markets are transitioning from an “investor-driven, cash-is-king market to one more dependent on traditional buyers,” says Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.

The top five metro areas with the highest share of cash buyers (and a population of at least 200,000) are all located in Florida. They are: Naples-Marco Island (56%); Sarasaota-Bradenton (54%); Miami (53.4%); Ocala (49.9%); and Cape Coral-Fort Myers (49.7%).

Source: “All-Cash Share of U.S. Home Purchases in May Drops to Lowest Level Since November 2009,” RealtyTrac (July 1, 2015)