Foreclosures | Mortgages | Financing
Home lending retreated last year. Non-banks lost quarterly market share to financial institutions as a surge in quarterly wholesale lending drove up banks’ share.
During the final-three months of last year, mortgage originations at financial institutions and non-bank lenders came to an estimated $494 billion.
Business at U.S. home lenders retreated compared to the third quarter, when single-family loan production worked out to an estimated $506 billion.
From:: Financing
NAR PULSE—A bonus for your members and savings for their clients—it’s a win-win! The Liberty Mutual Auto Insurance Referral Program™ allows REALTORS® to extend to their clients the same auto insurance savings and benefits that they have through NAR’s REALTOR Benefits® Program. Plus, for every client they refer to Liberty Mutual who completes an auto quote, they might be eligible to receive up to $40. Learn more.
Professional Broker Websites Now Free to REALTORS®
Placester® and NAR have come together through the REALTOR Benefits® Program to offer beautiful, mobile-ready real estate websites FREE to all REALTORS®. Sites for brokers include all the benefits of basic agent websites, plus agent index and bio pages, natural language listing search and map search functionality, customizable IDX pages and more. Learn more.
An Everyday Way of Thinking
The Grosse Pointe Board of REALTORS® (Mich.) describes how integrating fair housing into their everyday way of thinking helped them become a leading advocate in their community. Read their story, share your own and join NAR’s commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Fair Housing Act at www.FairHousing.realtor. Join the commemoration today.
For the latest real estate news and trends, bookmark RISMedia.com.
The post REALTORS® Can Extend Their Liberty Mutual Benefits to Their Clients appeared first on RISMedia.
From:: Real Estate News
Cryptocurrency is making headlines again—this time, in real estate. A pilot program in South Burlington, Vt.—initiated by global blockchain real estate marketplace Propy Inc.—marks the first U.S. deed recorded using only blockchain technology, according to multiple sources. In this case, Ethereum was used to transact and record contracts and documents instead of using the city’s recording system.
“The announcement of a pilot project to utilize blockchain technology in real estate transactions is emblematic of Vermont’s long history of innovating business, insurance and financial technology,” said Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development Secretary Michael Schirling in a statement. “We are fortunate to have a cutting-edge statutory framework that enables the use of blockchain technology, and we will continue to work with the legislature to ensure Vermont remains at the forefront of these innovations.”
The pilot program was announced in January in partnership with the City Clerk’s Office of South Burlington. City representatives say Vermont’s legislation lends flexibility to blockchain use in real estate transactions.
“The Propy pilot will showcase the savings of blockchain distributed technology, furthering Vermont’s and the City of South Burlington’s goal to achieve more cost-effective government,” said Natalia Karayaneva, CEO of Propy, in a statement. “In parallel to making land record management systems significantly more efficient, Propy’s additional safeguards ensure additional data integrity.”
If these blockchain pilot programs prove successful, brokerages may be more willing to transact using cryptocurrency. RE/MAX Action First in Tampa predicts that the technology is set to disrupt the industry and is prepared to embrace the use of cryptocurrency in real estate, stating transactions could be settled in minutes instead of multiple days or weeks. The brokerage is one of the first in Tampa Bay to accept and use cryptocurrency in real estate transactions.
“The most mysterious thing about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is why they aren’t used more,” said Kenny Hayslett, president of RE/MAX Action First in Tampa, in a statement. “It is simply digital money—a medium of exchange that uses cryptography to safely and securely transfer assets.”
In Sweden, the mapping and land registration authority is moving forward with blockchain technology, using cryptocurrencies to conduct property sales. It expects to complete the first transaction in the next few months, according to the Wall Street Journal. The practice becoming more commonplace overseas may signal to widespread use in U.S. real estate transactions in the near future; however, with volatility and security still at the forefront as major challenges, blockchain needs to make strides to bridge the gap and assuage consumers’ fraud-based fears. Related startups
are now emerging. The latest, according to Forbes—Messari—is based out of New York and vows to increase financial disclosures for cryptocurrencies. It is still in the early stages of seed funding before its product launch, but may be the solution to creating a public database for cryptocurrency data, helping investors to determine whether a blockchain-based transaction is safe or vulnerable.
Hayslett believes that these blockchain-based transactions could help eliminate fees, and, therefore, any unnecessary delays, but understands that security is the predominant concern; however, RE/MAX Action …read more
From:: Real Estate News
Cryptocurrency is making headlines again—this time, in real estate. A pilot program in South Burlington, Vt.—initiated by global blockchain real estate marketplace Propy Inc.—marks the first U.S. deed recorded using only blockchain technology, according to multiple sources. In this case, Ethereum was used to transact and record contracts and documents instead of using the city’s recording system.
“The announcement of a pilot project to utilize blockchain technology in real estate transactions is emblematic of Vermont’s long history of innovating business, insurance and financial technology,” said Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development Secretary Michael Schirling in a statement. “We are fortunate to have a cutting-edge statutory framework that enables the use of blockchain technology, and we will continue to work with the legislature to ensure Vermont remains at the forefront of these innovations.”
The pilot program was announced in January in partnership with the City Clerk’s Office of South Burlington. City representatives say Vermont’s legislation lends flexibility to blockchain use in real estate transactions.
“The Propy pilot will showcase the savings of blockchain distributed technology, furthering Vermont’s and the City of South Burlington’s goal to achieve more cost-effective government,” said Natalia Karayaneva, CEO of Propy, in a statement. “In parallel to making land record management systems significantly more efficient, Propy’s additional safeguards ensure additional data integrity.”
If these blockchain pilot programs prove successful, brokerages may be more willing to transact using cryptocurrency. RE/MAX Action First in Tampa predicts that the technology is set to disrupt the industry and is prepared to embrace the use of cryptocurrency in real estate, stating transactions could be settled in minutes instead of multiple days or weeks. The brokerage is one of the first in Tampa Bay to accept and use cryptocurrency in real estate transactions.
“The most mysterious thing about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is why they aren’t used more,” said Kenny Hayslett, president of RE/MAX Action First in Tampa, in a statement. “It is simply digital money—a medium of exchange that uses cryptography to safely and securely transfer assets.”
In Sweden, the mapping and land registration authority is moving forward with blockchain technology, using cryptocurrencies to conduct property sales. It expects to complete the first transaction in the next few months, according to the Wall Street Journal. The practice becoming more commonplace overseas may signal to widespread use in U.S. real estate transactions in the near future; however, with volatility and security still at the forefront as major challenges, blockchain needs to make strides to bridge the gap and assuage consumers’ fraud-based fears. Related startups
are now emerging. The latest, according to Forbes—Messari—is based out of New York and vows to increase financial disclosures for cryptocurrencies. It is still in the early stages of seed funding before its product launch, but may be the solution to creating a public database for cryptocurrency data, helping investors to determine whether a blockchain-based transaction is safe or vulnerable.
Hayslett believes that these blockchain-based transactions could help eliminate fees, and, therefore, any unnecessary delays, but understands that security is the predominant concern; however, RE/MAX Action …read more
From:: Finance and Economy
The White House reportedly is looking at imposing up to $60 billion in tariffs in Chinese goods, according to Reuters. The tariffs would be targeted at technology, telecommunications and other products. President Trump has stepped up efforts to reduce the large U.S. trade deficit by targeting what he calls unfair practices of other countries. The administration recently announced broad tariffs on imported steel.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
From:: Stock Market News
The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended lower on Tuesday, driven partly by sharp declines in shares of Boeing Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The pair of Dow components contributed about 70 points to the blue-chip’s decline. Boeing shares ended off $5.52, or 1.6%, while Goldman’s stock closed down $4.85 or 1.8%. A $1 move in any one of the Dow’s 30 components equates to a 6.89-point swing in the price-weighted Dow. Tuesday’s slump in the Dow comes as technology shares, marked by the Nasdaq Composite Index halted a 7-session win streak, with the S&P 500 tech sector fund, the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF , down 1.3%, helping to lead losses for the broad-market S&P 500 index [: SPX]. The S&P 500 finished off 0.6% at 2,765, the Nasdaq booked a 1% drop, while the Dow was off closed off 171 points, or 0.7%, to 25,007. The stock market wrestled with uncertainty in President Donald Trump’s White House, with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson ousted by Trump, who nominated Mike Pompeo, the current director of the Central Intelligence Agency, as his replacement, while a reading of inflation was in line with expectations, calming some worries about rising prices.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
From:: Stock Market News
U.S. stocks closed lower on Tuesday, with equities dropping in a broad decline as political uncertainty returned to the forefront of Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 172 points, or 0.7%, to 25,007. The S&P 500 fell 18 points, or 0.6%, to 2,765. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 1%, or 77 points, to 7,511. The day’s losses were widespread, with eight of the 11 primary S&P 500 sectors ending lower on the day. Technology shares fell 1.2% as the top-declining industry group of the day, and that pressured the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which snapped a seven-day streak of gains. Among the biggest decliners in the sector, shares of Microsoft Corp. were down 2.4% while Alphabet Inc. , the parent of Google, fell 2.2%. Facebook Inc. fell 1.6%. The stock market was wrestling with uncertainty in President Donald Trump’s White House, with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson ousted by Trump, who nominated Mike Pompeo, the current director of the Central Intelligence Agency, as his replacement.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
From:: Stock Market News
The Dow Jones Industrial Average saw losses accelerate Tuesday afternoon, driven by sharp declines in shares of Boeing Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. The pair of Dow components were contributing about 80 points to the blue-chip’s decline, with less than a half-hour left of regular trade. Boeing shares were off $6.30, or 1.8%, while Goldman’s stock was down $5.30, or 2%. A $1 move in any one of the Dow’s 30 components translates to a 6.89-point swing in the price-weighted Dow. Tuesday’s slump in the Dow comes as technology shares, marked by the Nasdaq Composite Index , looked set to halt a 7-session win streak, with the S&P 500 tech sector fund, the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF , down 1.4%, helping to lead losses for the broad-market S&P 500 index [: SPX]. The S&P 500 was down 0.8% at 2,759, the Nasdaq was on pace for a 1.2% drop, while the Dow was off 226 points, or 0.9%, to 24,954. The stock market was wrestling with uncertainty in President Donald Trump’s White House, with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson being replaced by Mike Pompeo, the current director of the Central Intelligence Agency against the backdrop of an inflation reading that came in line with expectations, quelling some concerns about out-of-control inflation.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
From:: Stock Market News
The Dow Jones Transportation Average rallied 0.7% in afternoon trade, to buck the weakness in the broader market, as gains in airline stocks provided a boost. Of the Dow transports’ 20 components, 17 gained ground, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped 109 points, or 0.4%, with 23 of 30 components losing ground. Among the Dow transports’ biggest gainers, shares of Alaska Air Group Inc. ran up 4.3% to a 7-week high after reporting February operating data, FedEx Corp. climbed 1.5%, United Continental Holdings Inc. rallied 1.4%, J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. tacked on 1.3% and JetBlue Airways Corp. advanced 1.2%.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
From:: Stock Market News
Oil prices fell Tuesday, pressured by expectations for further gains in U.S. crude supply and production, with the Energy Information Administration set to provide updated figures on Wednesday. Prices had gained earlier in the session as President Donald Trump’s ouster of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was seen as a move that would jeopardize the Iran nuclear agreement. April West Texas Intermediate crude fell 65 cents, or 1.1%, to settle at $60.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Market Pulse Stories are Rapid-fire, short news bursts on stocks and markets as they move. Visit MarketWatch.com for more information on this news.
From:: Stock Market News