News Updates

D.R. Horton, Inc. Acquires the Homebuilding Operations of Truland Homes

D.R. Horton, Inc. (NYSE:DHI), America’s Builder, announced the acquisition of Truland Homes, the largest private homebuilder along the Gulf Coast. The homebuilding assets of Truland Homes (“Truland”) acquired include approximately 263 lots, 155 homes in inventory and 55 homes in sales order backlog. D.R. Horton also acquired 156 lots and control of approximately 400 lots through option contracts from Truland affiliates and 201 lots and control of approximately 260 lots through option contracts from third parties. During calendar 2022, Truland closed 512 homes ($244 million in revenue) with an average home size of approximately 2,340 square feet and an average sales price of $477,000. D.R. Horton expects to pay approximately $100 million in cash for the purchase, and the Company plans to combine the Truland operations with its current D.R. Horton platforms in Baldwin County, Alabama and Northwest Florida. Donald R. Horton, Chairman of the Board, said, “We are excited for the Truland team to join the D.R. Horton family. Their quality building operations and strong presence across the Gulf Coast make Truland a great addition to D.R. Horton’s already strong local market operations.” Nathan Cox, Founder of Truland Homes, said, “Leading Truland Homes over the last 13 years has been the most rewarding experience of my professional career. The amazing team members that took us from our first home to over a billion dollars in total sales are the ones that deserve all the credit. No matter what, they always came through. In conjunction with growing Truland Homes over the last decade plus, D.R. Horton has afforded us the honor and privilege of becoming the largest lot supplier within their Gulf Coast region. We look forward to continuing as a key lot development partner for D.R. Horton.” About D.R. Horton, Inc. D.R. Horton, Inc., America’s Builder, has been the largest homebuilder by volume in the United States since 2002. Founded in 1978 in Fort Worth, Texas, D.R. Horton has operations in 110 markets in 33 states across the United States and closed 83,119 homes in its homebuilding and single-family rental operations during the twelve-month period ended March 31, 2023. The Company is engaged in the construction and sale of high-quality homes through its diverse product portfolio with sales prices generally ranging from $200,000 to over $1,000,000. Through its mortgage, title and insurance subsidiaries, D.R. Horton provides mortgage financing, title services and insurance agency services for its homebuyers. The Company also constructs and sells both single-family and multi-family rental properties and is the majority-owner of Forestar Group Inc., a national residential lot development company.

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CoreLogic: US Mortgage Performance Continues Strong Run in April

Despite small annual upticks in certain states and metro areas, overall mortgage delinquencies remain near an all-time low CoreLogic®, a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider, released its monthly Loan Performance Insights Report for April 2023. For the month of April, 2.8% of all mortgages in the U.S. were in some stage of delinquency (30 days or more past due, including those in foreclosure), representing a 0.1 percentage point decrease compared with 2.9% in April 2022 and a 0.2 percentage point increase compared with 2.6% in March 2023. To gain a complete view of the mortgage market and loan performance health, CoreLogic examines all stages of delinquency. In April 2023, the U.S. delinquency and transition rates and their year-over-year changes, were as follows: Although almost a dozen states and more than 150 metro areas posted year-over-year increases in overall mortgage delinquency rates in April, U.S. loan performance remains resilient, with delinquencies and foreclosures continuing to hover near record lows. The national overall delinquency rate increased slightly from March to April, but this is a typical seasonal pattern, as tax bills can stretch homeowners’ budgets in the short term and result in late mortgage payments for some borrowers. “Mortgage performance remained strong in April, with overall delinquencies at minimal levels and serious delinquencies at a 23-year low,” said Molly Boesel, principal economist for CoreLogic. “However, there is concern that mortgages originated in a rising-interest-rate environment may have higher instances of delinquencies, as borrowers become stretched financially. While early delinquencies for 2022 mortgage originations are about the same rate as those in other rising interest-rate environments, loans with low down payments are exhibiting comparably higher-than-usual early delinquencies.” State and Metro Takeaways: The next CoreLogic Loan Performance Insights Report will be released on July 27, 2023, featuring data for May 2023. For ongoing housing trends and data, visit the CoreLogic Intelligence Blog: www.corelogic.com/intelligence. About CoreLogic CoreLogic is a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider. The company’s combined data from public, contributory and proprietary sources includes over 4.5 billion records spanning more than 50 years, providing detailed coverage of property, mortgages and other encumbrances, consumer credit, tenancy, location, hazard risk and related performance information. The markets CoreLogic serves include real estate and mortgage finance, insurance, capital markets, and the public sector. CoreLogic delivers value to clients through unique data, analytics, workflow technology, advisory and managed services. Clients rely on CoreLogic to help identify and manage growth opportunities, improve performance and mitigate risk. Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., CoreLogic operates in North America, Western Europe and Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit www.corelogic.com.

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HOME AFFORDABILITY WORSENS ACROSS U.S. DURING SECOND QUARTER OF 2023 AS HOME PRICES TICK UPWARDS

Major Home-Ownership Expenses Consume One-Third of Average Wage;Historic Affordability Hits Low Point Since 2007;Affordability Declines as Median Home Price Spikes 10 Percent ATTOM, a leading curator of land, property, and real estate data, released its second-quarter 2023 U.S. Home Affordability Report showing that median-priced single-family homes and condos are less affordable in the second quarter of 2023 compared to historical averages in 98 percent of counties around the nation with enough data to analyze, continuing a pattern dating back to early 2022. The report shows that affordability has worsened across the nation this quarter amid a renewed jump in home prices that has pushed the typical portion of average wages nationwide required for major home-ownership expenses up to 33 percent. The latest portion is considered unaffordable by common lending standards, which call for a 28 percent debt-to-income ratio. It also marks the highest level since 2007 and remains well above the 25 percent figure from early in 2022, when a spike in home-mortgage rates had just begun to raise ownership costs. The worsening picture facing home buyers reflects the second shift in the U.S. housing market in the past year, coming as the median single-family home price has shot up to a new record following three quarters of declines. Those declines strongly suggested an end to a decade-long boom period lasting from 2012 into the middle of 2022. Nationwide, the median single-family home value has risen 10 percent from the first to the second quarter of 2023, to $350,000 – one of the biggest quarterly increases in the past decade. The second-quarter median sits 2 percent above the previous peak hit a year earlier before the market stalled and prices dropped. This Spring’s price increases have helped to push the typical cost of major ownership expenses up far faster than wages, resulting in declining home affordability. “The U.S. housing market has done an about-face following a downturn that threatened to usher in an extended period of flat or falling prices. With that has come another blow to how much house the average worker around the country can afford,” said Rob Barber, CEO for ATTOM. “Whether this is just a temporary blip amid this year’s peak buying season or a sign of another extended price surge is anyone’s guess. But any predictions of a market demise were certainly premature – and house hunters are feeling the pinch.” The ongoing drop-off in affordability comes as multiple forces create an uncertain scenario that could push the U.S. housing market in decidedly different directions. Home values have jumped at a time when mortgage rates have settled down below 7 percent after more than doubling last year, and the U.S. consumer-price inflation rate has dropped by more than half, to around 4 percent. The stock market has also shown gains recently. All that has put more buying power into the pockets of house hunters, pushing prices up and affordability down. But that could easily change if a recent uptick in mortgage rates continue, the stock market cools down again or the economy falls into a recession, as some economists predict. The third quarter of 2023 will be a key barometer, given that the long market boom came to a halt during the same period last year. This report determined affordability for average wage earners by calculating the amount of income needed to meet major monthly home ownership expenses — including mortgage payments, property taxes and insurance — on a median-priced single-family home, assuming a 20 percent down payment and a 28 percent maximum “front-end” debt-to-income ratio. That required income was then compared to annualized average weekly wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Compared to historical levels, median home prices in 565 of the 574 counties analyzed in the second quarter of 2023 are less affordable than in the past. That is up from 550 of the same group of counties in the first quarter of 2023 and from 553 in the second quarter of 2022. It is more than double the number that was less affordable historically, two years ago before average home mortgages rates began to go up. Meanwhile, major home-ownership expenses on typical homes are considered unaffordable to average local wage earners during the second quarter of 2023 in 420, or about three-quarters, of the 574 counties in the report, based on the 28 percent guideline. Counties with the largest populations that are unaffordable in the second quarter are Los Angeles County, CA; Maricopa County (Phoenix), AZ; San Diego County, CA; Orange County, CA (outside Los Angeles) and Kings County (Brooklyn), NY. The most populous of the 154 counties where major expenses on median-priced homes remain affordable for average local workers in the second quarter of 2023 are Cook County (Chicago), IL; Harris County (Houston), TX; Wayne County (Detroit), MI; Philadelphia County, PA, and Cuyahoga County (Cleveland), OH. View Q2 2023 U.S. Home Affordability Heat Map  Home prices surge nationwide, up in more than 90 percent of local marketsAfter dropping or staying about the same for three straight quarters, the national median home price has increased to $350,000 in the second quarter of 2023 – a new record. The 10.2 percent gain, from $317,496 in the first quarter of 2023, represents the largest quarterly improvement since the second quarter of 2015. The latest figure is also up 2.5 percent from the prior record of $314,500 hit in the second quarter of last year. At the local level, median home prices in the second quarter of 2023 are up from the early months of this year in 524, or 91 percent, of the 574 counties included in the report. They have risen at least 5 percent in close to two-thirds of the markets analyzed and have hit peaks in almost 40 percent of them. Data was analyzed for counties with a population of at least 100,000 and at least 50 single-family home and condo sales in the second quarter of 2023 and with sufficient data to analyze. Among the 47 counties in the report with a population of at least 1 million, the biggest year-over-year increases in median sales prices during the second quarter of 2023 are in St. Louis

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Backflip Demonstrates National Growth with Launch in 41 U.S. Markets

The real estate fintech platform has expanded nationwide, acquired Austin-based Refinably, appointed its first Chief Product Officer, and has grown 3X year-over-year  Backflip, an all-in-one real estate and fintech platform for fix-and-flip investors, announced its nationwide expansion to 41 new U.S. markets. First-time and experienced residential real estate investors from Alaska to Hawaii can now leverage Backflip’s data, technology, and capital to make better real estate investment decisions and quickly fund the rejuvenation of America’s 65 million aging homes. Alongside expanding nationwide, Backflip has experienced notable business, product, and team growth, and completed its first acquisition as a seed-stage startup. Backflip is on a mission to solve America’s housing shortage and affordability challenges. By providing everything a real estate investor needs to successfully purchase and restore a home, Backflip is helping to swiftly increase the number of modern, affordable homes available nationwide, and authentically revitalize neighborhoods to their fullest potential. “We have experienced tremendous growth since launching in Texas in 2021. We’re thrilled to expand our real estate technology and financial services nearly nationwide so every real estate entrepreneur has access to what they need to up-level their business operations and contribute to a healthier housing market,” said Josh Ernst, founder and CEO of Backflip. Backflip has grown 3X year-over-year, against a real estate market backdrop that has declined by 50% as a result of FED interest rate hikes in 2022. Membership continues to grow by more than 15% month-over-month. As of May 2023, its members are analyzing over $2B worth of single-family residential investments per month using the Backflip app. This momentum has enabled the company to spearhead an ambitious product roadmap that includes launching a computer vision and machine learning feature for members to instantly analyze a property by holding up their phone camera; innovative capital products like Buy Now Pay Later, flexible mezzanine products and capitalized interest structures; as well as the launch of new and unique features like ‘My Leads’ to more-easily assess properties, which will be available to members later this year. Top talent is supporting business and product growth: Leslie Jordan has joined Backflip as its first Chief Product Officer (CPO). As a former CPO at Realtor.com, Leslie brings over 20 years of product leadership and industry-specific subject-matter expertise to Backflip. In her new role, Leslie is responsible for the product, engineering, and design teams’ strategy and execution, and will contribute across all of Backflip’s user experience teams. “Backflip is filling a major void in the real estate technology market. Today, commercial real estate investors have a library of technology and tools at their disposal to be able to work efficiently. Whether it’s a side hustle or a full time gig, residential real estate entrepreneurs deserve access to a technology platform that enables them to scale their real estate business to new heights. I’m delighted to join this incredible team and help propel Backflip’s best-in-class real estate and capital products in an area that has huge market potential,” said Leslie Jordan. Additionally, Backflip acquired Refinably, an Austin-based startup that empowered companies and their employees to work more efficiently across tools and eliminate workflow issues. “In a time during mass layoffs in tech, we have been fortunate to increase our headcount by 300% over the past year with exceptionally talented and culturally-aligned hires. The addition of Leslie, and the Refinably co-founders Drew and Austin, to our high performance team is huge for us. Their unique perspective and expertise is invaluable as we enter a new phase of growth,” added Josh Ernst. If you’re interested in joining the Backflip team, or learning more about its product offerings, please visit: dobackflip.com About Backflip Backflip is a real estate financial technology company that supports individual entrepreneurs reinvigorating the housing supply by acquiring and renovating single family homes. The company offers purpose-built technology and capital products used by its members to source, analyze and finance residential real estate investments. Backflip’s platform democratizes technology, data, and financing strategies that were previously only available to institutional investors and large corporations. Please visit www.dobackflip.com or download the app at the iOS App Store or Google Play Store to learn more.

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Mixed Data Complicates Economic Forecast, though Recession Remains Likely

Lack of Homes for Sale Is Supporting Home Prices, New Home Construction Mixed data has painted a muddled picture of macroeconomic conditions in recent months, though a recession remains the most likely outcome of the rapid tightening of monetary policy and late-stage business cycle dynamics, according to the June 2023 commentary from the Fannie Mae (OTCQB: FNMA) Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) Group. While inflation has moderated partly due to slowing domestic and global economic growth, the ESR Group believes continued robustness in the labor market risks an entrenchment of some core inflationary pressures. Lessons learned from the inflationary era of the 1970-80s, a time when price pressures eased and then quickly reaccelerated, lead the ESR Group to expect that the Fed will maintain its restrictive monetary policy stance until it is abundantly clear that inflation pressures from the labor market have eased. However, based on the timing of data releases, that evidence is unlikely to appear until a recession is already unavoidable, making the question of a downturn more a matter of “when” than “if,” according to the ESR Group. Current housing market dynamics continue to be fueled by the lack of existing homes available for sale, a trend that did not improve during the spring homebuying season, when more homes are typically put on the market. This has supported a return to home price growth in recent months and continued to boost new home construction. While the ESR Group continues to expect housing starts to weaken in coming quarters, this is predicated on the business cycle turning. In the absence of a recession, the ESR Group notes substantial upside risk to its new home sales and starts forecasts. “Core inflation remains sticky, having not fallen as rapidly as other price measures, creating upside risk to the fed funds rate, as noted in the Federal Reserve’s Summary of Economic Projections, and making it likely in our view that it maintains a restrictive posture for longer than most market participants initially anticipated,” said Doug Duncan, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, Fannie Mae. “Meanwhile, housing prices continue to show stronger growth than what was previously expected given the suddenness and significant magnitude of mortgage rate increases. Housing’s performance is a testimony to the strength of demographic-related demand in the face of Baby Boomers aging in place and Gen-Xers locking in historically low rates, both of which have helped keep housing supply at historically low levels. Homebuilders continue to add to that supply, but years of meager homebuilding over the past business cycle means the imbalance will likely continue for some time. We do expect housing will be supportive of the overall economy as it exits the modest recession.” Visit the Economic & Strategic Research site at fanniemae.com to read the full June 2023 Economic Outlook, including the Economic Developments Commentary, Economic Forecast, Housing Forecast, and Multifamily Market Commentary. To receive e-mail updates with other housing market research from Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group, please click here. About the ESR GroupFannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Research Group, led by Chief Economist Doug Duncan, studies current data, analyzes historical and emerging trends, and conducts surveys of consumer and mortgage lender groups to provide forecasts and analyses on the economy, housing, and mortgage markets. The ESR Group was recently awarded the prestigious 2022 Lawrence R. Klein Award for Blue Chip Forecast Accuracy based on the accuracy of its macroeconomic forecasts published over the 4-year period from 2018 to 2021.

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Attention Investors and Fix-n-Flippers!

Attention Investors and Fix-n-Flippers! REI INK has partnered with the National Private Lenders Association and John Burns Research and Consulting to give you the chance to participate in a survey of fix-and-flip market conditions. We encourage you to participate, as you will receive exclusive data and information about specific markets of your choosing. What’s in it for You?At the end of the survey, participants can download a FREE set of ~10 pages of metro-level data for any market. Data includes statistics on sales, prices, rents, demand, supply, and affordability. Participants can download 1 set of data for each market they rate (up to 3). Survey closes Monday, July 17th at 5pm EST. Click the link below or copy and paste into your browser to participate: https://jbrec.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_00L1Lka1bCVHv0i?Group=NPLA&Source=REIINK ConfidentialityYour participation and responses are confidential. Only JBREC has access to the raw data, which is completely anonymous. None of the data can be traced back to any individual, and the survey does not collect contact information. View our certification for compliance and industry best practices. Thank you in advance for your feedback.

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