Top 5 REALTOR® Updates | Week of September 21st

Check out these five real estate updates to help you stay in-the-know with the latest happenings in our industry.

1. Better to Buy Than Rent, Index Shows (Denver showing signs of dipping slightly deeper into renter territory due to flat income growth)

Owning a home is expected to produce greater wealth, on average, than renting, shows a national index produced by Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University.  The Beracha, Hardin & Johnson Buy vs. Rent Index reveals whether current market conditions favor buying or renting a home in terms of wealth creation over a fixed holding period relative to historical market conditions or alternative investment opportunities. It examines the housing market within 23 of the largest cities in the U.S.  Read More...

2. CFPB Introduces New Tools for Buyers at NAR

With the arrival of new rules and forms that will rewrite the closing process just a few weeks away, senior officials from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) joined National Association of REALTORS®’ 2015 First Vice President-Elect to unveil online tools designed to help consumers and agents navigate the Know Before You Owe initiative.  The Truth in Lending Act – Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act Integrated Disclosure rule, or TRID, is expected to have sweeping changes on the real estate industry by merging the HUD-1 Settlement Statement, the Good Faith Estimate, and the Truth-in-Lending disclosure form into two new closing forms: a Loan Estimate and a Closing Disclosure.  Read More...

3. Fed Votes to Hold Off on Rate Hike, For Now

The Federal Reserve voted Thursday to keep interest rates unchanged, amid concerns over the global economy and financial market volatility. But Fed officials hinted that a modest policy tightening could occur later this year.  The Fed's benchmark short-term rate has stayed near zero since December 2008, which has also helped to keep mortgage rates low ever since. Economists have been largely predicting for months that the Fed would likely raise rates in September, the first time in almost nine years.  Read More... 

4. Demographics to Blame for Low Inventories?

Homes for-sale shortages continue to plague many housing markets. For 37 months, a seller's market has reigned, which is usually defined when there are less than a six months' supply of homes listed for sale. With fewer homes available for sale, buyers are finding steep competition in some markets that have pushed up home prices.  The low inventories have been blamed on many culprits such as owners feeling stuck in their homes because they're underwater, the still-high volume of homes in the foreclosure process that are being held off the market, the lack of new-home construction, etc. Read More...

5. 1 in 5 Buyers Make Offer Without Seeing Home

Twenty-one percent of more than 2,100 home buyers recently surveyed by real estate brokerage Redfin say they made an offer on a house without seeing it in person.  Millennials were the age group to be most likely to make an offer without seeing the house in person first at 30 percent. What's more, 53 percent of buyers who paid more than $750,000 for their home made offers without seeing the house first.  Read More...