LoanDepot, the nation’s second largest non-bank consumer lender, announced a new program to connect preapproved home buyers with real estate agents in their local market. The lender’s mello Home program is now adding real estate agents onto its platform to make the connections.Mello first launched in March 2017 to try to streamline the loan process by blending digital and local relationships when applying for a mortgage, says Anthony Hseih, f
A significant uptick in seriously delinquent mortgages is brewing in areas that were struck by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma in the fall of 2017, Black Knight reports. Coastal areas within Florida and Texas that faced the wrath of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma are seeing a dramatic increase in 90-day-plus delinquencies.An estimated 40,200 loans that are 90 or more days delinquent are being blamed on Hurricane Harvey, which struck the Gulf Coast of
Millennials have been stereotyped as a generation that lacks savings or money management skills. But the data isn’t backing that up.Sixteen percent of millennials ages 23 to 37 have $100,000 or more in savings, which is double the number of young people who had that much stowed away in 2015, a newly released survey from Bank of America shows. Nearly half—or 47 percent—have $15,000 saved, up from 33 percent in 2015.Millennials came of age
Existing-home sales in 2017 surged to the best year for sales in 11 years, the National Association of REALTORS® reported Wednesday.Total existing-home sales—which include completed transactions for single-family homes, townhomes, condos, and co-ops—rose 1.1 percent in 2017 to a 5.51 million sales pace. The sales pace surpassed 2016’s 5.45 million, which had been the highest pace since 2006.However, the end-of-the-year sales numbers were o
Mortgage rates are moving higher, and that has some home shoppers rushing to locking in rates before they edge up even more.Mortgage applications for refinancings and home purchases increased 4.5 percent last week compared to the previous week on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday. Loan applications are now 6.1 percent higher than the same week a year ago.Broken out, applications to purchase a home su
More companies are hoping to capture an internet domain name beyond the standard .com, and some are willing to pay premium prices for a domain that ties into their industry.Donuts Inc., a domain name provider, announced what is believed to be one of the largest sales to date for a premium domain name in real estate–related industries with the acquisition of “home.loans” for $500,000. Donuts holds a giant portfolio of top-level domains on th
The housing market and economy are starting the year with a fairly strong start, but several challenges persist in 2018. Freddie Mac economists point out some of the biggest risks to the economy and housing markets: declining affordability, obstacles to millennial homeownership, and the possibility of another recession.Home sales, housing construction, and housing prices are expected to move modestly higher in 2018 compared to 2017, Freddie Mac n
The cryptocurrency is generating more buzz in real estate. Bitcoin can have a fluctuating value, but that isn’t stopping some sellers from wanting to accept the currency for their home sale.In one recent example, a seller of a condo in Miami says he is only willing to entertain bitcoin offers. Several other listings are also showing willingness to accept the digital currency as a payment option.Fortune recently sought to find out how many bit
Business as usual set to resume later today so long as House grants approvalUpdate: Later this afternoon, the House followed the Senate in passing the bill to fund the government through Feb. 8, officially ending the shutdown.This afternoon Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to overwhelmingly vote (81-18) in favor of a short-term spending bill to fund the government through Feb. 8. Assuming approval from the House later today, a step the
The number of foreclosures may be dropping, but a huge backlog is building due to longer processing times. The average time to foreclose jumped to more than 1,000 days nationwide in the fourth quarter of 2017. That marks a 14 percent increase from the previous quarter and a 28 percent increase from a year ago. It also is the longest number of days to process a foreclosure since ATTOM Data Solutions, a real estate data firm, began tracking foreclo
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