The younger crowd may be skittish about moving into the housing market due to sparse financial resources and lack of credit. But it’s a different story for Americans age 55 and over. Those who can are jumping into homebuying — selling their existing houses to move into new ones aimed at their age group. Many
What do FICO Changes Mean for Consumers?
There are changes coming to FICO, a broadly used credit score, that may mean higher credit scores for many consumers. Banks, credit card issuers, auto lenders and other businesses use those scores to decide whether to lend to consumers and how much interest to charge them. A higher score could get you better terms on
Metro Atlanta housing market surges in Q3
IN THE RIGHT LOCATIONS WITH THE RIGHT PRODUCT AND PRICING THE SALES PACE CONTINUES TO RISE. MUSIC TO OUR EARS. Atlanta’s new home starts spiked 76 percent annually and closings jumped 37 percent in the third quarter. Metro Atlanta’s housing market performed quite nicely in the third quarter, according to national housing information and consulting
Atlanta has nation’s most affordable housing
Personal incomes aren’t growing quick enough nationally to keep up with rising home prices, but Atlanta is the nation’s most affordable housing market, a new report from Interest.com says. Personal incomes aren’t growing quick enough nationally to keep up with rising home prices, but Atlanta is the nation’s most affordable housing market, a new report
Mortgage lenders are starting to accept lower credit scores and smaller down payments.
Last month, the average FICO score for a closed home loan was 732, down from 750 a year ago, shows data from mortgage tracker Ellie Mae. The average down payment was 19%, vs. 22% a year ago. What’s more, almost one-third of closed loans had FICO scores under 700, vs. 17% a year ago. The
LEVERAGED PORTFOLIO’S ARE BACK IN VOGUE. INVESTOR DEMAND SLOWS DOWN
AS THE BANKS CONTINUE TO OFFER MORE AND MORE LENDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR BUILDERS, THE INVESTORS WHO HAVE BEEN IN THE HOUSING MARKET GAME ARE BEGINNING TO LOOSE INTEREST. THE LOW TEENS RETURNS VS MID TO HIGH 20% RETURNS HAS INVESTORS SEEKING OUT ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES. LEVERAGED PORTFOLIO’S ARE BACK IN VOGUE. The proportion of
WILL PRICE APPRECIATION REMAIN STRONG
Will home price appreciation remain strong in the face of modest job growth and the recent uptick in mortgage rates? Price appreciation is largely driven by the degree to which demand exceeds supply. While the best short-term measure of the housing demand/supply balance is months of supply of homes on the market, the best long-term
SINGLE FAMILY BUILT FOR RENT MARKET SHARE RISES
At the start of 2013, single-family starts built-for-rent were up on a year-over-year basis, with the market share rising to a new high. Despite some recent ups and downs, the share of single-family homes built for rental purposes continues to rise. But by and large, the construction market for these homes remains a niche market, even
REAL ESTATE MARKET SPEEDS UP – FASTEST REAL ESTATE MARKETS ACROSS THE COUNTRY
Very good snap shot of National market including Atlanta Stats Low Supply and High Demand are Largely Responsible, but Technology is also Creating a “New Normal” for the Expected Pace of Home Buying and Selling Ask a friend who’s trying to buy a home what the real estate market is like, and she will surely
Case-Shiller Indices Show Strongest Gain Since 2006
Home prices posted their strongest yearly gain in almost seven years in March, with both the 10- and 20-city indices seeing double-digit gains, according to the Case-Shiller Home Price Indices released Tuesday. The national index, reported quarterly, was up 10.2 percent. From February to March, prices increased in 15 of the 20 cities surveyed, falling
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