Mortgage News
The latest real estate and mortgage industry news, digested. Look beyond the headlines to better understand what’s really happening.Purchase Mortgages Expected to Increase Next Year Despite Higher Interest Rates, Pessimism
There’s been a lot of negativity regarding the housing market lately, some that I feel reflects the usual seasonal slowdown more than anything else. Yes, listing prices often fall in autumn because there are typically more homes on the market ... Read More »
Allow Me to Introduce You to the 5% Mortgage Rate
For those new to the mortgage realm, the number five might feel a little foreign. You see, for the past seven years or even longer, the popular 30-year fixed mortgage has always been in the 3-4% range. Today though, mortgage ... Read More »
Redfin Launches the Owner Estimate to Give Homeowners Control
Are you sick and tired of your Redfin Estimate or Zillow Zestimate being too low? Do you feel your property is worth much, much more than they say it is? Well, I’ve got great news for you! Redfin has introduced ... Read More »
The Largest Nonbank Home Purchase Lender in the Nation Is a Wholesaler
Everyone wants to be #1 these days. I guess that’s no different than any other days, but the battle to be on top is growing more and more contentious, especially as overall home loan volume wanes. Rather surprisingly, a nonbank ... Read More »
Quicken Launches Rocket Homes to Compete with Zillow and Redfin
Following the recent trend of real estate and mortgage link-ups, Quicken has launched “Rocket Homes” to fill in the real estate gap and simultaneously compete with the likes of Zillow and Redfin. The company actually isn’t new, but is a ... Read More »
Believing It’s a Seller’s Market Makes It a Seller’s Market
There’s been a lot of talk lately about a shift from seller’s market to buyer’s market, what with home price gains beginning to moderate somewhat and mortgage interest rates on the rise. But it seems this has been more speculation ... Read More »
5 Things Home Buyers Are Doing If They Haven’t Found a Property After 3 Months
If you’re a prospective home buyer, life isn’t fun right now. The real estate market remains red hot (despite those headlines about it cooling) and quality properties are few and far between. Adding to this frustration is the notion that ... Read More »
Zillow Enters the Mortgage Originating Business
In what seemed like a pretty inevitable move, Zillow has gotten into the mortgage originating business via its acquisition of Mortgage Lenders of America, which is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2018. I say inevitable because just ... Read More »
Redfin Compete Score: How Hard Is It to Win That Home?
Redfin just launched its so-called “Compete Score,” a tool designed to help prospective home buyers determine how hard it’ll be to “win a home” in a particular city or neighborhood. Is this the beginning of the end? The late stages ... Read More »
Average Home Seller in 2017 Made Only $39,000
While all the headlines paint a really rosy picture for the real estate market where sellers are cashing in mega gains, the average takeaway isn’t all that great. A recent analysis from Zillow revealed that the typical home seller in ... Read More »
