Category: Real Estate News
Market Update with Mark Sprague
By Mark Sprague, State Director of Information Capital The Federal Reserve Bank’s policy-making committee (FOMC) raised rates this week (at the November 1-2 meeting) by .75% and kept a hawkish tone given the continued stream of inflationary data coming in since the September meeting. Inflation has slowed, but not much, and it may take a while to bring […]
Read More of Market Update with Mark Sprague >>How the Federal Reserve Impacts Mortgage Rates
Compiled by Mark Sprague, State Director of Information Capital The other day was the Federal Reserve meeting; their decision was another 75-basis point / ¾ point rate hike. Mortgage rates have surged to 14-year highs, deterring buyers, sellers, and builders, who have begun shifting to renting (homes, apartments, etc.) in anticipation of rates slowing or falling. However, […]
Read More of How the Federal Reserve Impacts Mortgage Rates >>The Long-Awaited Slowdown In the Pace of Economic Activity Nationally is Here, or Is It?
By Mark Sprague, State Director of Information Capital Jobs nationally and locally continue to be created at a robust pace. (Job openings are twice the number of people out of work nationally and locally.) Consumers are spending. Businesses are investing. The housing market has slowed largely because of a lack of supply rather than a drop in demand. […]
Read More of The Long-Awaited Slowdown In the Pace of Economic Activity Nationally is Here, or Is It? >>Tax Time in Texas – Homestead Exemption Q&A with Roland Love
By Roland Love, Vice President, Business Alliances & Field Operations Our recent note regarding the legislative change generally allowing a person to claim a homestead exemption anytime during the year – with some limitations – elicited a number of great follow-up questions. So we thought it would be good to share those with others. First, […]
Read More of Tax Time in Texas – Homestead Exemption Q&A with Roland Love >>2022 and Beyond! A Market Update from Mark Sprague
By Mark Sprague, State Director of Information Capital As many of you look to 2022 and beyond, we all know it’s really anybody’s guess as to what the future holds. However, many of you who know me know that I am in the business of forecasting and analysis and hopefully in the business of anticipating what comes next. […]
Read More of 2022 and Beyond! A Market Update from Mark Sprague >>New PID Notice Requirements Q&A
By Kaema Roberson, VP – Director of Education If you haven’t already heard, beginning September 1, 2021, sellers will be required to provide notice to buyers when selling property located in a public improvement district (PID). Let’s do a bit of Q&A to provide the answers you’re looking for? Q: What exactly is a PID? […]
Read More of New PID Notice Requirements Q&A >>Mark Sprague’s Update to Lumber Futures
I keep getting these questions: “What are builders doing on purchasing lumber at these high prices?” “Any recommendations on when this will go down and how long?” and “Will prices continue to support the increase of build cost?” The quick answer is that costs will continue to go up through 2023, with a plateauing of […]
Read More of Mark Sprague’s Update to Lumber Futures >>Market Matters (DFW Metro Area)
By Mark Sprague, State Director of Information Capital Here’s an update on some recent questions I’ve been considering, with input and feedback from much wiser analysts/economists whose seminars I have been able to sit in on the last few weeks. What impact has COVID 19 had on the nation’s economy? We have never had […]
Read More of Market Matters (DFW Metro Area) >>Title Insurance Rates to Decrease in September
Yes, you read that correctly. Every few years, the Texas Department of Insurance (the state agency that regulates title insurance) looks at title industry data to see how we are doing, and to see if a rate increase or decrease is warranted. The statistical data is provided to TDI by title insurance agents and underwriters. Currently, […]
Read More of Title Insurance Rates to Decrease in September >>It’s a Weird, Weird World of Real Estate Out There
Texas real estate can be pretty weird. In the rest of the country, for example, the idea of paying a seller a small fee in exchange for giving the potential buyers a window of time in which they can just change their fickle minds and walk away scot-free (the “option period”) sounds insane. Personally, I […]
Read More of It’s a Weird, Weird World of Real Estate Out There >>Beware! Wire Fraud is at an All Time High.
You’ve done it! You took a Buyer from shopping for a house, to a contract on a house, to the closing table and you couldn’t be more ecstatic for them. Then… in total shock you find out your Buyers have wired thousands of dollars to a thief! You discover the “I could never be a victim to wire fraud, it’d never happen to me” […]
Read More of Beware! Wire Fraud is at an All Time High. >>