Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Report Finds California Home Ownership Rates at Lowest Since 1940s

Source: KPBS

A draft report from California's Department of Housing and Community Development found home ownership rates in the state are at their lowest since the 1940s. The report, “California's Housing Future: Challenges and Opportunities,” also found that the state has more than its share of the country's homeless population — 22 percent of the country's homeless live in the state while the state makes up only 12 percent of the country's population. On Wednesday's Midday Edition, Los Angeles Times staff writer Liam Dillon discusses with KPBS Midday Edition Host Maureen Cavanaugh the report’s findings and recommendations.

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Using Sandbags to Protect Your Home from Flooding?

Source: The Mercury News

With major storms expected to pound much of California this weekend, homeowners should prepare and protect their homes from flooding with other storm-preparation tips. “The biggest problem we see is lack of preparation,” said Jon Hospitalier, assistant public works director for the city of Palo Alto. “Don’t call us in the middle of astorm, asking, ‘Where do I get sandbags?’”

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Staying Loyal

Staying Loyal

Housing Outlook 2017: Eight Predictions from the Experts

Source: Forbes
The 2016 housing market was an unprecedented, volatile and, for some, excruciating. At the year’s start, experts anticipated a pick-up in building activity, but builders are still not producing enough homes. Meanwhile, home prices appreciated beyond expectations and mortgage rates toyed with record lows before crossing 4 percent for the first time in two years. "If the expectation was that the market would transition smoothly from deep red hot recovery to normal--that certainly didn’t happen," said Svenja Gudell, chief economist at real estate data firm Zillow. Nevertheless, Gudell and others argue that, on balance, 2016 was a good year for housing. National prices finally crossed the previous 2006 peak, mortgage rates remained historically low, and there were some signs that millennials, a generation which some feared would never buy homes, are beginning to enter the market. Through it all, the election loomed large. In 2017, we'll see how profound the effects through these eight things housing experts expect to see this year.

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Freddie Mac: 30-year Mortgage Rate Falls

Source: HousingWire

The Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey posted its first mortgage rate decrease since the election after a nine-week rise. Sean Becketti, chief economist with Freddie Mac, said this marks the first time since 2014 that mortgage rates opened the year above 4 percent. Bankrate.com Chief Financial Analyst Greg McBride noted at the time that the week’s increase in mortgage rates was dubbed the ‘Trump Tantrum,’ the biggest one-week increase since the ‘Taper Tantrum’ in June 2013. In the two weeks after the election, the 30-year mortgage rate jumped 40 basis points, surging to 3.94 percent. Now, looking at the latest Freddie Mac report, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage sits at 4.20 percent for the week ending Jan. 5, 2017, down from last week when it averaged 4.32 percent. However, this is still significantly higher than a year ago at this time when the 30-year FRM averaged 3.97 percent. The 15-year FRM this week averaged 3.44 percent, falling from last week’s 3.55 percent. In the year-ago period, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.26 percent. The 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 3.33 percent this week, moving up from last week’s average of 3.30 percent. A year ago, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.09 percent.

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