The Federal Reserve decided Wednesday that it would not raise rates and keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged, despite rising inflation. Mortgage rates are not directly tied to the Fed’s benchmark rate, but they do tend to be influenced by them.The Federal Open Markets Committee had raised rates for the first time in 2018 at its last meeting in March. At that time, it had increased the federal funds rate by 25 basis points.At May’s meeti
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Would-be home buyers and refinancing homeowners both receded from the mortgage market last week as mortgage rates surged to their highest averages in nearly five years. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index showed that total application volume, which includes home purchases and refinances, dropped 2.5 percent last week and are now 3.3 percent lower than a year ago.Refinance volume took most of the hit, dropping 4 percent
Bathrooms have overtaken kitchens as the most popular remodeling project, according to a newly released survey by the National Association of Home Builders."Small-scale renovations are slowly becoming just as popular as large-scale projects, as seen with bathroom remodeling becoming more common than kitchens," says 2018 NAHB Remodelers Chair Joanne Theunissen. "Home owners are finding cost-effective and [faster] upgrades can also add comfort and
wo U.S. agencies are combining their efforts to bring new levels of safety to public roadways.With buyers increasingly interested in walkable communities and self-driving cars edging their wayonto public streets, the National Safety Council is rolling out Road to Zero, designed with the U.S. Department of Transportation and over 600 industry groups. Road to Zero's goal is to eliminate traffic deaths by 2050.A recent report by the RAND Corp. la
DocuSign, the e-signature company that helped usher in the era of digital real estate closings, debuted as an initial public offering on April 27 and is off to a strong start. Shares of DocuSign ended up 37 percent higher by the end of its first day of trading on the Nasdaq. DocuSign is NAR’s official and exclusive eSignature provider under the REALTOR Benefits® Program and an NAR Strategic Investment Company.DocuSign priced its IPO at $29 a
Second Century Ventures, an investment arm of the National Association of REALTORS®, named eight startups to its 2018 REach Accelerator Class. REach is a technology accelerator program that helps launch early- to mid-stage companies into real estate, financial services, banking, home services, and insurance industries. Companies selected get access to NAR’s industry expertise and influence as they launch into the real estate space.The companie
Student housing has long been attractive to real estate investors. So where are developers adding the most inventory? Student housing developers aren’t branching out much, but instead are staying by larger universities they know can deliver.“Tier one markets continue to attract the most development and are still being targeted by the institutional capital that is pouring into the space,” Taylor Gunn, the student housing analytics lead for M
Brokers should be thinking less about competition from other brokerages and more about keeping up with their clients’ expectations of service to stay competitive, according to customer service expert and trainer Shep Hyken.“Don’t let them set your bar,” Hyken says. “Let the best of the best, regardless of industry standards, set your bar.” That means implementing new customer service initiatives that puts clients at the center of ev
The Department of Housing and Urban Development has reached a settlement in three states with housing industry participants over sexual harassment charges. HUD announced a recent initiative to combat sexual harassment in housing.The settlements were reached with housing authorities in Florida, Virginia, and California. The three settlements total about $125,000 going to victims.“Landlords are required to comply with the Fair Housing Act, th
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