A report from Market Watch. “It’s a tough time for the real-estate industry, which faces a significant test in the form of higher mortgage rates, Dave Liniger, the real-estate tycoon, founder and chairman of Denver-based real-estate giant Re/Max, told MarketWatch. Over the past few years, the same mortgage rate that was averaging around 3% to 4% went as low as 2% during the coronavirus pandemic, when the Federal Reserve cut interest rates. ‘That’s an unreal market — it’s never happened in the history of our country,’ Liniger said. ‘And so what you have is an entire generation of homebuyers who ..read more

A report from NBC Montana. “Nationwide, 2023 saw the lowest number of homes sold in the past 30 years. ‘We have to stop the bleeding before an improvement can take place,’ Lawrence Yun, an economist with the National Association of Realtors told the crowd at the Gallatin Association of Realtors. ‘There’s a steady change in consumer sentiment. (It’s) slightly better now than before. But let’s not get too excited, it’s simply coming out of the grave.’ According to the report, a household earning Gallatin County’s average median income of $83,520 could comfortably cover only 39% of a payment on a ..read more

A report from Barron‘s. “Places where prices have run up the most relative to historic norms are most vulnerable to setbacks, industry experts say. Florida, and Miami in particular, are cases in point. Frustration hangs over the housing market in the Miami area, says Riley Smith, an agent based in the city and president of the Riley Smith Group. Prices for new construction and land are strong, but the city’s condo market is seeing weakness, he says. Buyers, frustrated by high mortgage rates, ‘are really pumping the brakes,’ says Smith. ‘We’re seeing more deals fall apart because both sides fee ..read more

A weekend topic starting with Go Banking Rates. “A housing bubble can cause property prices to soar to unrealistic levels, leading to an eventual crash that can have detrimental effects on homeowners and the economy. Seth Jacobs, an experienced mortgage broker and founder of Maine USDA Home Loan, said, ‘When housing prices rise at an unusually fast pace over a short period, it could indicate a housing bubble.’ While homes are appreciating assets, their prices won’t go up forever. So, if you start to see home prices plateau after skyrocketing, watch out. And if this price growth has significant ..read more

It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “Total home sales fell more than 4% in March, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. Lawrence Yun, the association’s chief economist, said in the report rising job numbers suggest there are more aspiring home buyers in the market now than when compared to pre-Covid highs, but total unsold inventory at the end of March (1.11 million homes) was up 4.7% from the month before and 14.4% from one year ago. ‘Home sales are essentially stuck,’ Yun told reporters.” “US foreclosure filings in the first quarter climbed 22% from a year ago, and ..read more

A report from ABC 7 in California. “A former HGTV star and house flipper from Los Gatos has been sentenced to four years in Santa Clara County Jail. On Tuesday, Charles ‘Todd’ Hill, star of the show ‘Flip It to Win It,’ was ordered to pay close to $10 million for real estate and financial fraud. Prosecutor Oanh Tran said Hill’s scams including a Ponzi scheme impacted 18 homes in the Silicon Valley. ‘I think this is a major real estate fraud case – there are 11 victims here who are still dealing with the fallout,’ Tran said. Tran said Hill falsified balance sheets and fraudulently obtained loan ..read more

A report from the New York Post. “Homeownership has been a monetary nightmare for this woman, and now she’s warning others. Internet creator Samantha Barker was in good financial standing before she bought her first house, but purchasing property ‘has ruined me financially,’ she shared in a viral video posted to her TikTok earlier this month. Since buying the house, in addition to paying her mortgage, she’s also had to spend $25,000 on new HVAC, $15,000 to get her foundation repaired ‘just so that I could use one of my bedrooms,’ and she’s had to take out a $10,000 personal loan to fix her por ..read more

A report from Bangor Daily News. “In several surprising areas of Maine, the housing market appears to be slightly cooling after years of soaring sale prices. A huge, pandemic-era wave of in-migration has since settled, and high interest rates — expected to top 7 percent in the coming weeks — mean homeowners are hesitant to enter the market, realtors say. Despite it being a suburb of Maine’s largest city, South Portland has actually seen a 54 percent decrease in average home values this year, according to Zillow. Waterville has seen a 58 percent drop in home values in the last year, and the ave ..read more

A report from Newsweek. “A condominium in downtown San Francisco, an area that’s been rocked by several problems in the past few years, was sold last week for about half of its purchase price in 2019, as shown on Zillow. The property, a two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo on 1075 Market St, a five-minute driving distance from Union Square and a three-minute driving distance from the troubled neighborhood of Tenderloin, was listed for sale on Zillow on January 18 for $695,000. After spending months on the market, it was sold on April 8 for $675,000—about half of the price commanded by the condo in ..read more

A report from the Pueblo Chieftain in Colorado. “New residential real estate figures released this week indicate Pueblo’s market is not showing signs of significant improvement during the first three months of the year. The median sales price fell 4.7% in March and is down 1.3% year to date at $311,000, as sellers continue to offer price reductions to help get their properties sold, said Dave Anderson, spokersperson for the Pueblo Association of Realtors. ‘We sit at three months’ supply of homes to sell with few buyers as higher interest rates continue to be a holdup for many potential buyers ..read more