Covering the latest in forbearance, delinquencies, employment, and loan servicing.
Category Archives: National Real Estate
This Week in Real Estate 5/10/2021
In economics, it all comes down to supply and demand. In real estate, it is about supply, demand, and equity. In 2005 we had a lack of supply, high demand, and no equity. Today, we have even lower inventory, solid demand, and tons of equity. Supply has started increasing slowly, but we are still about 77% below normal. Demand remains nearly 8% above normal.
Greater Phoenix Real Estate Update 4/30/2021
Yesterday one of my clients excitedly called to tell me she had accepted an offer on her home for $1.2M more than she paid for it about two years ago. She then said, “Now what do we do? Rent, buy, flip?” I paused, gathered my thoughts, considered the numbers, and answered, “Don’t rent. Buy.”
AZ Forbearance Update 4/28/2021
After 2 weeks of large drops, we had a small drop in total loans in forbearance. As of April 18, about 4.49% of loans were in forbearance, a slight decline from 4.50%. This is a decline of nearly 5,000 borrowers to about 2.25 million.
Greater Phoenix Real Estate Update 4/23/2021
Despite movement towards normal, sales prices continue to grow. While yes, inventory has increased, locally it remains over 77% below normal and demand has decreased, it is still over 8% above normal. This supply/demand imbalance is so severe, it will take years to correct, and is why sales prices continue increasing at an appreciation rate of nearly 22%, year over year.
AZ Forbearance Update 4/21/2021
Two weeks ago, we had a big drop in total loans in forbearance, and last week we had another large drop. We are now down to 4.50% of loans or 2.3 million homeowners in a forbearance plan. Two weeks ago, it was 4.9% of loans.
This Week in (Greater Phoenix) Real Estate 4/19/21
Our market peaked on March 14th. What does that mean? It means that demand is falling faster than supply. What does that mean? It means that we are moving towards a more balanced, healthy market. Balance and healthy are good. Demand remains slightly elevated, at about 9% above normal. Supply is rising, so we are now only below normal by 77.4%!!! That is an increase from 78% below normal. Demand needs to fall below supply in order for prices to drop. That is not happening anytime soon.
Greater Phoenix Real Estate Update 4/16/2021
Despite our fear of change, humans are quite resilient and are far more flexible than we realize. Quite often, change is good. Demand is declining and seasonality is beginning to emerge in the market. I am hearing stories about an FHA buyer who finally had a contract accepted and a seller who agreed to a few concessions. This is good news for our exhausted buyers; they need some wins too. This is how the machine is supposed to work.
Greater Phoenix Real Estate Update 4/9/2021
Now, this is a headline that says it all, “Who’s Lying About The Housing Market? The housing market is heating and cooling at the same time, depending on the data in question. Who’s telling the truth? Actually, maybe everyone…” Author, Matthew Graham explains that prices are appreciating faster than they have in 15 years, homes are selling in minutes, and bidding wars are commonplace all while demand is actually falling. Demand was THAT high and remains above normal.
AZ Forbearance Update 4/7/2021
Forbearance numbers improved again for the 5th week in a row. It is very difficult to make predictions in this current environment. Policy is changing regularly. We do know one thing that is helping all homeowners, struggling or not, it is the sky-high appreciation. Nationwide it is nearly 16% and here locally it is 19%. This gives homeowners options, whether or not they are struggling to make payments.