Jean Holman

Mortgage News

• Here’s a Way Zillow Can Help Agents…

  There’s a lot we cover today from Zillow to rates to the economy. So tune in and see if anything stands out to you. Also, if you’re an LO and you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed, click the banner below for a great cheat sheet from Carl White that’s going to help a whole bunch!

  The post Here’s a Way Zillow Can Help Agents… appeared first on National Real Estate Post.

• Foreign Buyers are Pumping the Brakes on Home Purchases

  Foreign buyers cut back their investment in U.S. residential properties over the 12 months that ended in March. It was the second year-over-year decline. The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) annual survey among its members about their transactions with international clients found foreign buyers purchased $74 billion in existing U.S. homes from April 2019 through March 2020, a 5 percent decline from the same period a year earlier. The number of properties purchased dropped 16 percent to 154,000. Foreign buyers who were U.S. residents, either as recent immigrants or holding the appropriate visas, purchased $41 billion in residential real estate, down 8 percent from the prior period. Foreign buyers living abroad spent $33 billion, a 1 percent decrease. Those two types of international buyers were responsible for 4 percent of the nation's total existing home sales of $1.7 trillion during that period.

   

• Another Wave of Forbearances is Probably On The Way

  There was a significant decline in the number of active COVID-19 related forbearance plans over the past week, but that decrease did not necessarily mean homeowners were emerging from financial difficulties. Black Knight said its weekly survey found 101,000 fewer loans in forbearance, leaving just over 4 million or 7.5 percent of servicer portfolios in active plans, the smallest share since late April. Those loans represent $852 billion in unpaid principal. The company says that one reason behind the reduced number was the expiration of initial plans. It estimated that about a half million were set to expire at the end of July. An initial wave of 2.5 million expirations hit at the end of June. More than two-thirds of the plans that remain in forbearance have had their plans expanded, most for another 90 days. This will mean another wave of expirations involving about 2.2 million plans will arrive in September and October.