News Updates

ATTOM Data Solutions’ First Quarter U.S. Home Sales Report Reveals Some Softening

ATTOM Data Solutions released is first quarter 2019 U.S. Home Sales Report on April 25. Among its findings are a slight dip in U.S. average homeownership tenure and average sales price gains. “We are starting to see homes sales prices and profit margins softening for the nation, and the average homeownership tenure did see a slight dip from last quarter,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer at ATTOM Data Solutions. “However, home prices are still above pre-recession peaks in 59 percent of local markets, and as the buying season starts to kick into gear, the next few months may provide even more answers to the question of whether a lasso is indeed around the market or if the recent trend is a temporary bump in the ride.” Average Sales Price Gains Homeowners who sold in the first quarter saw an average price gain of $57,500 since purchase, or an average 31.5 percent return on their original purchase price. That’s down from an average gain of $60,000 in first quarter 2018 but up from an average gain of $56,733 in first quarter 2018. Of the 123 metropolitan statistical areas included in the report, those with the highest average home seller returns in first quarter 2019 were San Jose, California (84.1 percent); San Francisco, California (70.9 percent); Seattle, Washington (63.1 percent); Modesto, California (59.7 percent); and Salt Lake City, Utah (56.5 percent). Homeownership Tenure Homeowners who sold in the first quarter owned their homes an average of 8.05 years. How does that compare to previous quarters? According to the report, that average represents a decrease from a record-high average of 8.17 years in the fourth quarter of 2018, but it is up from the first quarter of 2018 when the average tenure was 7.75 years. Before the Great Recession, homeownership tenure averaged 4.21 years nationwide between the first quarter of 2000 and the third quarter of 2007. Average homeownership tenure was down from a year ago in Kansas City, Tucson, Boston, Orlando and Oklahoma City, however. Those cities were among 25 of the 108 metro areas in the report to run counter to the national trend. Among major metropolitan areas with a population of at least 1 million, those with the longest average homeownership tenure for home sellers who sold in the first quarter were Hartford, Connecticut (12.52 years); Boston, Massachusetts (12.36 years); Providence, Rhode Island (11.15 years); San Francisco, California (10.40 years); and San Jose, California (10.27 years). Author admin View all posts

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NES Financial Signs 20th Opportunity Zone Fund to Groundbreaking Administration Platform

N ES Financial has contracted to provide its 20th Opportunity Zone Fund client with its purpose-built Opportunity Zone Fund Administration Suite, which is designed to provide security, transparency and compliance to fund managers and investors. NES Financial’s innovative, technology-enabled administration expertise, which has established best practices in private equity, EB-5 investor visas and tax-deferred 1031 property exchanges, is poised to do the same for Opportunity Zone Funds. “Pending further regulations, the OZ [Opportunity Zone] program is currently operating with a minimum in initial oversight,” said Reid Thomas, executive vice president at NES Financial. “On the one hand, this is a good thing—there’s very little red tape to deter fund formation and investment. However, this same flexibility also leaves the industry vulnerable to impropriety, intentional or otherwise. Our OZ Fund Administration Suite brings established best practices from other, more mature financial industries into the Opportunity Zone space, maximizing fund security, transparency and compliance and providing peace of mind to investors.” Author admin View all posts

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Rent Manager Is FrontRunner or Residential Property Management Software

Software Advice has again named London Computer Systems’ product, Rent Manager® property management software, a FrontRunner for residential property management software. LCS develops business-critical software used in all 50 states and several global markets. “The property management technology space continues to change, and our goal is to be on the leading edge of that innovation,” said Brittany Christerson, director of sales and marketing for Rent Manager. FrontRunners is published on Software Advice, an online service for businesses navigating the software selection process. FrontRunners evaluates verified end-user reviews and product data, positioning the top-scoring products based on usability and user recommendations for businesses. Rent Manager had a Usability score of 4.41 and a User Recommended score of 4.28, both out of a possible score of 5. Rent Manager was ranked in the top three enterprise vendors for property management software programs included on the report. A total of 170 residential property management products were evaluated. FrontRunners constitute the subjective opinions of individual end-user reviews, ratings, and data applied against a documented methodology; they neither represent the views of, nor constitute an endorsement by, Software Advice or its affiliates. Author admin View all posts

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SiteSeer Technologies Named Preferred Vendor of SVN Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Firm

SiteSeer Technologies, creator of SiteSeer Professional site selection software, has been named a preferred vendor of SVN International Corp. Founded in 1987, SVN is a globally recognized commercial real estate brand. SVN will use SiteSeer’s Void Analysis tool to identify retail demand gaps and fill shopping centers with quality retail tenants. The company also intends to use Retail Match Analog Model, Model Builder, demographics tools and mapping tools in SiteSeer. SiteSeer provides a suite of software, professional services, consulting and support for site selection and market analysis. SiteSeer Professional is a web-based analytics platform that helps businesses make data-driven location decisions through mapping, demographics, custom reporting, analytics and predictive modeling tools. Author admin View all posts

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Worley Acquires Alacrity

Worley Claims Services, which provides insurance claims services in North America, has acquired Alacrity Renovation Services from Lowe’s Companies, Inc. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in 1999, Alacrity provides managed home, property restoration and commercial property repair and emergency services to insurance carriers, financial institutions, property asset management firms and the real estate market. Through its experienced workforce of approximately 150 employees and credentialed network of more than 2,500 contractors, Alacrity specializes in providing property restoration and repair solutions in all markets throughout the United States. Jim Pearl, CEO of Worley, said: “This acquisition expands Worley’s position as one of the largest providers of managed repair services in the property insurance market and aligns with our long-term strategy to continue making investments and strategic partnerships that will allow us to be a more comprehensive service provider capable of meeting the needs of our clients throughout the claim lifecycle.” Worley provides property, auto and casualty claims adjustment services and staffing solutions to national and regional insurance companies, MGAs, TPAs, self-insured corporations, as well as clients in the federal/state government sector. Alacrity is Worley’s eighth acquisition since 2015. In addition to the Alacrity acquisitions, Worley has also acquired Nexxus Solutions, NCA Group, RJMW Claims Services, Summit Independent Claim Services, Apex Claims Services of New England, Audit Services and Replacement Source of America. Author admin View all posts

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Bob Carroll Joins GSO

Investment firm Blackstone has added to the leadership team of its global credit platform, GSO Capital Partners (GSO). Bob Carroll has been hired as a managing director and head of distressed trading. He will oversee all trading activity related to GSO’s expansive public distressed efforts. Carroll most recently worked with hedge fund Smith Cove Capital, where he was responsible for all trading activity. Before that, he spent 10 years at Perry Capital as head of trading. Previously, Carroll was a trader at Litespeed Partners and Imperial Capital. GSO also announced that Adam Maitin joined the trading desk as a vice president. Adam joins from BlueMountain Capital where he spent two years trading high-yield, distressed and investment-grade credit. Before his stint at BlueMountain, Maitin was an associate at Alliance Bernstein. Author admin View all posts

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