The depth and duration of the pandemic is unknown. While some economies overseas are already recovering, the contours of the recovery vary by country, which makes forecasts of economic activity much more uncertain than usual. We assume that most of the economic damage from the virus is contained to the first half of the year.Read more
Existing home sale plunged 17.8% in April to an annual rate of 4.33 million, roughly matching expectations for an annual rate of 4.325 million. The decline last month follows a sharp drop of 8.5% in March and an annual rate of 5.27 million. Sales are trending much lower because of pandemic restrictions and are nowRead more
The Federal Reserve’s efforts to stabilize the agency MBS market have been critically important. In its absence, mortgages would have been much more costly, perhaps unavailable altogether. However, given the scale of the intervention, it caused some unavoidable dislocation. On March 12 and 13, a Thursday and Friday, the mortgage-treasury spread widened to approximately 160Read more
It’s important to not lose perspective as we navigate these uncertain times together. Clearly, many of us feel unease as to what the future holds when it comes to our future economic outlook. Instead of feeling like we cannot control what happens to us during these uncertain times, it is crucial that we remember whatRead more
Existing home sale fell 1.3% in January to an annual rate of 5.46 million, after an upwardly revised gain of 3.9% in December to an annualized pace of 5.53 million. Despite the small decline, existing home sales continue to trend higher; they were up a strong 9.6% in January from January one year ago. Regionally,Read more
Tax Season Filing Tips As the filing deadline approaches, take time to focus on your taxes. Before doing anything, make up income tax projections at least for this year and next. Once you have the numbers, you can see how any actions you take will affect your tax bill….READ MORE » Larger Vocabulary a PredictorRead more
Are you up to speed on NEW Real Estate related laws in California for the year 2020? Numerous California laws take effect this year. Learn more about SB-18, SB-243, AB 206, AB 892, AB 212, AB 91, and AB 872 as well as information regarded VA Loan Limits and more. For the most current updatesRead more
Need a refresher on the dozens of the acronyms revolving around Real Estate related topics? Check out Ticor Title’s 2020 Title and Escrow Acronym’s cheat-sheet and step up your knowledge. Download a copy here:
When getting ready to buy a home, you’ll hear a lot of terms that you probably haven’t heard before. For example: FRM, PMI, amortization… you get the gist. Luckily, we’ve put together a list of 10 homebuying terms to know. There’s additional lingo that’s good to know and can be equally overwhelming to digest. We’reRead more
What’s in store for the U.S. housing market in 2020? With low interest rates, modest inflation and a solid labor market, there are many reasons to be optimistic about housing in the coming year. In 2019, a sustained drop in mortgage rates and a strong labor market helped the U.S. housing market to rebound inRead more