While we await the release of the changes in the official conforming loan limits later today (many lenders and MI companies went to $750k in October, the CLL will probably increase around 6 percent for 2024 to around $770,000, and to $1,155,000 for high cost areas), both vendors and lenders continue with changes, instituting workweek reductions, furloughs, pay cuts, and layoffs due to overcapacity… Much different than a couple years ago when those same companies couldn’t hire people fast enough. Things rarely stay the same forever, whether it is in mortgage banking, shipping, or population. For example, there’s this: “Amazon Takes the Delivery Throne From UPS and FedEx.” Is Texas losing population? No, but here’s yet another example of a sensationalist headline that would make you think so: “People are leaving Texas over rising costs, partisan politics, and a sense of disenchantment.” Paging down a bit shows, “Over 494,000
Fun with numbers! 1: the number of Chinese surveillance balloons over Montana. (That we know of.) Did you know that the last day of 2023 is 123123? (You heard it here first!) While we’re on random numbers, Atlanta has almost 25 thousand surveillance cameras, grabbing the honors as the most heavily surveilled city in the U.S. with 50 CCTV cameras for every 1,000 inhabitants. (“The research also suggests that there is little correlation between higher camera figures and lower crime indexes.”) Shifting to mortgage-related numbers, given the Fed news this week, overnight interest rates aren’t the same as 30-year mortgage rates, of course, but moves in interest rates impact a potential borrower’s ability to buy a home in a given price range. Here’s a handy-dandy chart for LOs to help borrowers to see how rates impact affordability. With generic rates in the 6’s for home loans, LOs are keenly interested in how that compares to, say, student lo
“When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.” In late 2022 vendors and lenders had a taste of the first part of 2023, and it isn’t exactly sweet. No one owns a crystal ball, and if they did, do you really think they’d spend their time telling you about the future rather than sitting on a beach relaxing while their money did the work? In the midst of a dreary winter, who, in places like Michigan, Illinois, or North Dakota, aren’t thinking about the beach? Here’s a site to compete with Expedia that focuses only on enjoyable beach vacations. (We are reminded to continue to enjoy life, since death is in the headlines, most “before their time”: dozens from the storms in California and Alabama, Lisa Marie Presley, Jeff Beck, Charles White…) Continuing with the beach theme, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is poised to ask Florida lawmakers to ban China from buying farmland and residences in Florida. "We do
Why are you even at work today? Just so you can read, “It’s not a recession unless it’s from the Recession Region of France, otherwise it’s just Sparkling Misery.” Or to learn that, on this date in 1888 in France, Vincent van Gogh sliced off his left ear as a love-drury. (More lookbacks below.) Been to the store lately? A dozen large eggs, and there aren’t a lot of substitutes for eggs in baking, in the American Midwest is now going for around $5 at wholesale, up from $1.60 at the same time last year, due to the worst-ever bird flu ripping through the poultry population of the United States. So far 57.5 million birds have died as a result of outbreaks, most of which are egg-laying hens. (The flu is expected to continue for the rest of the winter.) In other trends more germane to real estate, the increase in work from home means that some developers of downtown commercial real estate are kicking off transitions of office towers into apartments &