Real estate news

• Midwest community bank merger: First Financial buying MainSource for $1 billion

  26-07-2017 23:15
  In a deal that will create one of largest community banks in the Midwest, First Financial Bancorp, the parent company of First Financial Bank, and MainSource Financial Group, the parent company of MainSource Bank, announced that they plan to merge.Based on First Financial’s closing price of $28.10 on July 25, 2017, the transaction is valued at approximately $1 billion.
  
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• [Video] Where are older Millennials leaving downtown for?

  26-07-2017 22:26
  The trendiness and appeal of downtown may still be there for some, but as young adults start to grow older, this is starting to change. So where are they going? Older Millennials are moving to urban-like developments in the suburbs dubbed “surbans.” Check out the video included for a quick list of the top reasons older Millennials leave the city.
  
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• [Video] Where are older Millennials going when they leave downtown?

  26-07-2017 22:26
  The trendiness and appeal of downtown may still be there for some, but as young adults start to grow older, this is starting to change. So where are they going? Older Millennials are moving to urban-like developments in the suburbs dubbed “surbans.” Check out the video included for a quick list of the top reasons older Millennials leave the city.
  
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• Here's how much CoreLogic is paying to acquire Mercury Network

  26-07-2017 22:26
  Last month, CoreLogic continued its massive expansion into the valuations business by announcing that it was acquiring Mercury Network, a purchase valuation technology and appraisal management platform provider, from Serent Capital. What wasn’t known at the time is just how much CoreLogic is paying for Mercury Network, but CoreLogic revealed the details of the acquisition in the company’s second quarter earnings report.
  
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• Renter Household Explosion Fueled From All Sides

  26-07-2017 21:43
  More households in America are headed by renters now than at any other time in the last 50 years, with owner household formation toppled by renter household formation in the past 10, according to a recent analysis of Census Bureau data by the Pew Research Center. Owner households dialed back from 76.1 million in 2006 to 75 million in 2016, while renter households expanded from 34.6 million to 43.3 million.
  Pew researchers attribute the recent growth in renter households to not only groups that c
  
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• Study: Buying Is Still Better Than Renting in Most States

  26-07-2017 21:42
  Affordability challenges are weighing on the housing market, as many homebuyers and sellers contend with either being unable to compete or to find a new home within reach.
  Buying a home, however, is still better than renting one in most states—35, to be exact, according to a recent study by GOBankingRates.Analysts for GOBankingRates factored in recent median monthly home price and rent data by state, as well as mortgage rates—gathered by Zillow—to determine levels of affordabil
  
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• New-Home Sales Improve Slightly in June

  26-07-2017 21:42
  New-home sales improved in June, with sales of new, single-family homes eking up 0.8 percent to 610,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The average new-home sales price was $379,500, while the median was $310,800. New-home listing inventory was 272,000—5.4 months supply.
  “Although we saw modest gains this month, new-home sales have risen nearly 11 percent since the start of 2017,” said Granger MacDonald, chairman o
  
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• The highly contested state of the appraisal market and where it’s headed

  26-07-2017 20:00
  Back in March, HousingWire gathered three industry experts to answers readers’ questions on the appraisal market. But as it turned out, one hour wasn’t nearly enough time to properly dig into the state of the highly debated appraisal market. In order to weigh in on the questions left unanswered on the first webinar, HousingWire hosted a follow-up appraisal webinar. Here’s what the three experts revealed on the state of the appraisal market.
  
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• Fed elects to hold off on interest rate hike

  26-07-2017 19:50
  As expected, the Federal Reserve elected to hold off on any increases to the federal funds rate at their July meeting on Wednesday. While most analysts agree the final rate hike for 2017 will come in December, some argue that this year has already seen the last of its federal fund rate increases.
  
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• Homebuilder D.R. Horton starts building more homes after strong third quarter

  26-07-2017 19:00
  Homebuilder D.R. Horton posted steady growth in the fiscal 2017 third quarter, as the market waits for an increase in housing inventory.According to the homebuilder’s earnings report, it’s well positioned for the fourth quarter and to help bring more housing inventory to the market. This is welcomed news for home shoppers given the continual shortage of homes available on the market.
  
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• Safeguard Properties promotes two to tech management team

  26-07-2017 18:50
  Safeguard Properties, a mortgage field servicer, has promoted Steve Machovina and Jason Heckman to assistant vice president of technology infrastructure and cloud services and assistant vice president of mobile and analytics, respectively.
  
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• Who's the next Fed chair? Trump lists Cohn as possibility, but says Yellen could stay

  26-07-2017 17:51
  Janet Yellen’s term as Federal Reserve chair is set to expire in January 2018, and she’s said on multiple occasions that she intends to fulfill her term. But is it possible that Yellen’s time as Fed chair could extend beyond that? In a new interview, President Donald Trump said that keeping Yellen as Fed chair is certainly a possibility, but added that Gary Cohn is also a possibility to lead the Fed.
  
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• New home sales continue upward course in June

  26-07-2017 17:34
  New home sales increased in June, continuing the upward trend which began in May. Home prices finally decreased during June as total housing supply and the month’s supply at the current sales rate both decreased.
  
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• Executive Conversation: Craig Crabtree on the importance of the right workflow

  26-07-2017 16:50
  Equifax is the first designated provider to meet all Day 1 Certainty requirements through its full suite of eligible verifications, including instant income and employment verifications from The Work Number. In addition, we have a manual verification solution so if the borrower’s employment data isn’t available on The Work Number, we have a team that will call on the employer to complete the verification on behalf of the lender.
  
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• Whalen: Future of Fannie, Freddie not the real issue with GSE reform

  26-07-2017 16:33
  A new blog from analyst Christopher Whalen explains that the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is irrelevant when it comes to GSE reform. He explains what Congress needs to focus policy-making on, and what the secondary market would look like without the two mortgage giants.
  
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• How Real Estate Investing Is Spurring Millennial Home Ownership - Forbes

  26-07-2017 13:55
  Forbes
  How Real Estate Investing Is Spurring Millennial Home Ownership
  Forbes
  Millennials are the largest group of home buyers for the fourth consecutive year, according to the National Association of Realtors 2017 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report. Nearly 40% of home buyers were under 36 years old. So what's ...
  
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• Another answer to the appraiser shortage? Eliminate 4-year degree requirement

  26-07-2017 07:00
  New education and training requirements proposed by the Appraisal Institute’s Appraisal Quality Board task force would ease the education burden to enter the field. Instead of requiring four-year college degrees, trainees could instead pass a college-level equivalency program equivalent to 21 semester hours of coursework (basically, an associate’s degree). In addition, candidates will be able to complete their training online, via a Capstone-type training program.
  
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• House revokes new CFPB arbitration rule

  26-07-2017 00:05
  The U.S. House of Representatives passed a “resolution of disapproval” to revoke a controversial new rule by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that bans companies from using mandatory arbitration clauses. Under the Congressional Review Act, Congress may overturn a broad range of regulatory rules issued by federal agencies. But as Republicans worked together to block the rule, Democrats were just as quick to defend it, along with the CFPB.
  
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• Walkable Areas Are Getting More Competition

  26-07-2017 00:00
  Seniors are placing a higher value on living in walkable urban centers. That has made developers question some presumptions they held about...
  
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• Tiny House Regret Is Growing

  26-07-2017 00:00
  A new survey suggests that people may not be happy living in 400 square feet or less. 
  
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• Rent vs. Own? The Best Option in Each State

  26-07-2017 00:00
  Home prices have been on the rise nationally. Is it still smarter to buy than rent? 
  
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• Mortgage Apps Aren’t Budging, Even for Low Rates

  26-07-2017 00:00
  Mortgage rates dropped to the lowest averages in a month last week. But home buyers didn’t take the bait. 
  
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• How Owners Are Responding to Housing Shortage

  26-07-2017 00:00
  With inventory tight, owners are sprucing up what they do own, and digging deeply into their resources to do so.
  
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