If you want something sobering, almost mesmerizing, here’s a short drone video of the flood damage in Libya (at the 15 second mark you can see how it tore through the city). Fortunately not so sobering are some stats out of the United States. The U.S. homeownership rate in 2022 was even higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic at 65.8 percent compared to 64.6 percent in 2019. That rebound was driven largely by those aged 44 and younger. And who says Millennials aren't buying homes? Homeownership continued to climb from the foreclosure crisis (2004) and Great Recession (2008), when rates dipped as low as 63.4 percent in 2016. Homeownership rates recovered approximately half of the 5.6 percent decrease from 2004 to 2016. In Hawai’i the homeownership rate is 59 percent, I bring up the Aloha State because American Savings Bank, First Hawaiian Bank, and Central Pacific Bank joined Hawaiʻi Community Lending, a Hawaiʻi-based nonprofit community development fi
McDonald’s taking 9 years to eliminate its self-serve soda pop machines. (Couldn’t they take 5 hours and just move the machines behind the counter?) In other non-mortgage news, arguably more interesting to talk about than the continued decline in mortgage applications and IMBs concerned about CRA requirements (STRATMOR’s current blog is titled, “Knowing CRA Developments is Critical”), remember when it was Ford, GM, and Chrysler? The third largest automaker in the world is VinFast, a Vietnamese electric vehicle manufacturer that was founded in 2017 and listed on the Nasdaq this month with a market cap of $191 billion! This is behind only Tesla ($760 billion) and Toyota ($270 billion), and well ahead of Chinese car maker BYD ($90 billion) and Volkswagen ($70 billion). VinFast, which entered the electric vehicle market last year, is planning to build a factory in North Carolina. Oh, and Ford is at $49 billion, GM $46 billion. Yes, rankings of all industr
Yesterday I listened to the CFPB’s Rohit Chopra discuss home loans. Today I head from Nashville to Chicago, both known all over the world. Here, the United States has everything: mountains, forests, plains, rivers, swamps, tropical jungles, glaciers, beaches… I could go on. But apparently there is a certain attraction for some in Italy, Mexico, Costa Rica, Portugal for U.S. citizens, and those are the top countries for Americans buying real estate abroad. Back in the U.S. of A, the subject of a lack of inventory continues to be discussed from coast to coast. What if the “big companies” sold their holdings? Well, Invitation Homes is the largest single owner of single-family rental homes in the United States, managing more than 80,000 homes. But why should they, or any other corporate homeowner? Speaking of big numbers, among unmarried people ages 18 and over who have never been married, widowed or divorced, regardless of their sexual orientation, the odds of
Now that we have passed the unofficial end of summer, am I allowed or not allowed to wear white on Zoom calls before 2023’s Memorial Day? Maybe darker-hued clothing better suits the current mortgage landscape. Labor Day became an official holiday in 1894 and was quickly followed by the subjective rule that if you didn't have the money to take fall and winter vacations you should refrain from wearing white, but no one in 2022 should feel the need to follow it. Culture is always changing and understanding that will help mortgage companies with retention. It is a different time than when many of us entered the industry. Heck, the 96-year old queen of England stars in TikToks now. Investors are “socially conscious” in allocating capital, even down to how they support affordable housing and provide access to credit for underserved individuals. Mortgage companies are hoping that changes from Washington D.C., including the plan to forgive loan debt, could help con
Nature “always bats last.” Terrible flooding in Pakistan, flooding in Mississippi impacting its drinking water supplies. Severe temperatures in China, a hot summer in the Western U.S. Fortunately, this year’s hurricane season in the U.S has been tepid, so far, and fires in the West have been limited. Certainly, storms can impact borrowers and lenders, as can documentation problems or appraisal delays. What percent of your clients don’t close on time? In retail news, if you're a Chase customer buying a new home or an investment property, you may be eligible for the Chase Closing Guarantee. “We promise an on-time closing in as soon as three weeks or you'll get $5,000.” As summer winds down, in many second home areas like Florida, concerns in places include investment property and 2nd home price adjustments. Of course, it is not in Freddie or Fannie’s charter to help 2nd home or investment property financing as the focus is