REI INK

ServiceLink Survey Reveals How Homebuyers are Adapting to a White-Hot Real Estate Market

  • by
  • Comment Off
  • 356 views

The 2022 ServiceLink State of Homebuying Report highlights how low housing inventory and high home prices are leading the next generation of buyers to consider alternative paths to homeownership With the pandemic still affecting many parts of the housing industry and homebuying experience, buyers are adjusting their behaviors and expectations to navigate today’s competitive market conditions. A new survey report, released from ServiceLink, part of the FNF family of companies and the nation’s premier provider of tech-enabled mortgage services, analyzes generational trends among recent homebuyers, their attitudes toward alternative paths to homeownership and the role technology plays throughout the process. The 2022 ServiceLink State of Homebuying Report (SOHBR) features insights from 1,000 homeowners who purchased a home within the past five years. This comprehensive report examines shifting experiences and approaches to homebuying and refinancing and changing attitudes about the role technology plays in the process. Key findings of the report include: Homebuyer demographics are changing: Gen Z and millennials will play a big role in the housing market in 2022 • 32% plan to refinance this year (compared to 23% of Gen X and 9% of baby boomers) • 26% are likely to purchase a new home this year (compared to 12% of Gen X and 6% of baby boomers) • 23% would purchase a home without seeing it in person first (compared to 16% of Gen X and 5% of baby boomers). • 55% either have bought, or are willing to buy at auction (compared to 50% of Gen X and 23% of baby boomers) Buyer fatigue is real: Complicated market conditions are leading homebuyers to put off purchasing a new home • Almost a quarter (24%) of recent homebuyers considered buying a new home in the last five years, but ultimately decided against it • Nearly half (44%) said options were too expensive (as compared to 31% in the 2021 SOHBR) • 29% said their financial situation changed (as compared to 24% in the 2021 SOHBR) • 28% cited low housing inventory (as compared to 8% in the 2021 SOHBR) Auction is gaining traction: Homebuyers are considering alternative routes to homeownership • One-third of respondents (33%) would consider buying a home at auction while 11% of respondents have already purchased a home this way • Gen Z/millennials are the most open to buying an auction property as 55% have either already purchased one or would be willing to do so (compared to 50% of Gen X and 23% of baby boomers) • Top motivations for buying a home via auction: potential cost savings (72%), a faster homebuying process (44%) and being able to bid remotely via an app or online (37%) • The primary use for a home purchased at auction: fix and flip (31%), primary residence (29%) and rental income (23%). Gen Z/millennials are most likely to buy at auction to use the property for rental income (28%), compared to 19% of Gen X and 11% of baby boomers. Technology eases the process: Homebuyers continue to see the benefit of technology in improving the homebuying experience • Convenience/ease of use (72%) and time savings (60%) prove to be the biggest benefits of using technology in the homebuying process, across age and gender. This is similar to the results of the 2021 SOHBR where 68% cited convenience/ease of use and 68% cited time savings • 83% of baby boomers said convenience/ease of use was the top benefit of using tech (compared to 66% of Gen Z/millennials and 70% of Gen X) Rethinking refinance: The refinance boom shows signs of slowing • Securing a better mortgage rate (62%) was the number one reason for homeowners to refinance • One-quarter of respondents refinanced their current home. Of those that refinanced, Gen Z and millennials led the subset at 35% (compared to 19% of Gen X and 16% of baby boomers) • 64% say they are not very likely or not likely at all to refinance in 2022 (as compared to 50% in the 2021 SOHBR) “As bidding wars, low inventory and rising interest rates continue to intensify the competition, buyers have had to get creative in order to come out ahead in this challenging real estate market,” said Dave Steinmetz, president of origination services, ServiceLink. “Our study suggests that a growing number of buyers are embracing technology, and many are open to new pathways to achieve homeownership. This indicates there is an opportunity for lenders to provide more targeted resources and guidance to buyers throughout their homebuying journey.” Read the full report here. About ServiceLink ServiceLink is the nation’s premier provider of digital mortgage services to the mortgage and finance industries. ServiceLink leads the way by delivering best-in-class technologies, a full product suite of services and proven experience, built on a foundation of quality, compliance and service excellence. ServiceLink provides valuation, title and closing, and flood services to mortgage originators; and default valuation, integrated default title services, vendor invoicing and claims audit services, as well as field services and auction services to mortgage servicers. ServiceLink helps clients in the lending industry and beyond achieve their strategic goals, realize greater efficiencies, and better serve their customers. For more information about ServiceLink, please visit svclnk.com.

Read More

WORD OF THE DAY: Nabob

  • by
  • Comment Off
  • 622 views

[NAY-bob] Part of speech: Noun Origin: Hindi, 17th century Definitions: A very wealthy and powerful person; historically, a European who made their fortune in India or another Eastern country Examples of Nabob in a sentence “He was such a nabob that he was invited to every fundraiser and charity event in town.” “In the 1800s, a man could leave England as a pauper and return after a few years in India as a celebrated nabob.” About Nabob Originally, a nabob was a man who came home after finding his wealth in India and flaunted his new fortunes. Now a nabob is anyone with considerable wealth and power, still with a rather showy connotation. This person could also be described as a tycoon, a magnate, or a mogul. Did you Know? The term “nabob” was brought into English from Hindi during British colonial rule in India. Droves of British men were employed by the East India Company (a giant in trading) and were coming home from the East with huge fortunes. The word continued to spread westward, landing in San Francisco. As rich and powerful men built impressive mansions on hills, they were referred to as nabobs. The name was eventually shortened, and you have the current neighborhood of Nob Hill.

Read More

OZ FundHub Launches New Opportunity Zone Online Platform

  • by
  • Comment Off
  • 481 views

Connecting Opportunity Zone Investors to Qualified Opportunity Zone Funds OZ FundHublaunched a new online platform serving as a neutral marketplace for Opportunity Zone (OZ) investors and Qualified Opportunity Funds (QOFs) to connect. OZ FundHub will provide educational tools for investors to learn about OZ investing and as an informational marketplace to find the right funds for their specific investment requirements and needs. OZ FundHub was created to address the needs of buyers (investors) and sellers (funds) to solve two problems in the OZ space. First, many investors are perfect OZ candidates but lack access to tools that optimize the educational and fund selection process. Second, QOFs are missing the opportunity to capture relevant opportunity zone search traffic and convert that into material investments in their fund/s. “The bipartisan Opportunity Zone program is a great investment vehicle that benefits investors while simultaneously delivering social impact to communities in distress,” says Michael Hubert Co-Founder of OZ FundHub. “With such a high volume of investor interest and a lack of demand generation expertise in this space, we saw an opening to leverage our experience to elevate the entire market.” OZ FundHub provides value for the entire Opportunity Zone market with exclusive products for funds and tools for investors including: OZ Fund Finder: Investors complete a short questionnaire and in turn are provided with a curated list of QOFs that fit their investment goals. OZFH Connect: Specialty webinars where QOFs can pitch their funds directly to investors whose investment criteria (investment size, region of interest, timeline, etc.) align with the fund’s offerings. OZFH Learning Center: Providing original and digestible Opportunity Zone educational material to empower investors. This includes guides, white papers and original blog articles. Content will also be added to our social channels with additional OZ news and updates. OZ Maps: QOFs display their planned projects on interactive maps for investors to visualize. OZ Forum: The first public forum where investors and fund managers connect and engage directly. Fund managers can monitor specific questions and subjects discussed in the investor market. Additionally, certain areas of the forum will be available for funds to advertise. Newsletters and Sponsored Content: Funds can leverage OZ FundHub’s database of interested investors to deliver curated content specific to your fund. The OZ FundHub team will help with the production of this material. For OZ FundHub’s official website, visit www.ozfundhub.com. About the OZ FundHub Team Michael Hubert: OZ FundHub co-founder, Michael Hubert, has more than 18 years of experience in demand generation leading successful B2C and B2B organizations. Founder and principal consultant of The Hubert Group, his portfolio of clients includes Hubspot, Forge Global, and Urban Confluence. Michael has contributed as a Demand Generation specialist in investor relations at previous opportunity zone funds, successfully raising $87M in capital. Jake DeVine: A graduate of USC Marshall School of Business, Co-founder Jake DeVine brings experience in real estate investor relations in the opportunity zone space. Jake was an integral part of the Investor Relations Team at previous firms closing deals from the funds demand generation funnel and limited partner pool. In addition to his role managing investors, Jake has successfully raised $27M. About OZ FundHub Founded in 2022 by Michael Hubert and Jake DeVine in Los Altos, California, OZ FundHub is committed to increasing awareness of Opportunity Zone investments to aid investors and fund managers in their quest to get returns on their capital while creating positive social impact in communities throughout the country. For more information visit www.ozfundhub.com. Contacts Mandee Bangamarketing@ozfundhub.com408-515-4800

Read More

HOME FLIPS INCREASE BUT PROFITS DECLINE ACROSS U.S. IN 2021

  • by
  • Comment Off
  • 402 views

Number of Homes Flipped in United States Rises to Highest Level in 15 Years Profit Margins on Flipped Homes Drop at Unusually Fast Pace Percentage of Flips Purchased with Cash Increases ATTOM, a leading curator of real estate data nationwide for land and property data, released its year-end 2021 U.S. Home Flipping Report, which shows that 323,465 single-family homes and condos in the United States were flipped in 2021. That was up 26 percent from 2020, to the highest point since 2006. The report reveals that the number of home flips in 2021 was up from 257,091 in 2020 to a total not seen since nearly 334,000 homes were flipped by investors in 2006. Last year’s flips represented 5.5 percent of all home sales in the nation during 2021, down from 5.8 percent in 2020 and 6.1 percent in 2019. But even as quick-turnaround sales by investors shot up, gross profit margins on home flips in 2021 sank to their lowest level in more than a decade after dropping at the fastest pace in more than 15 years. Homes flipped in 2021 typically generated a gross profit of $65,000 nationwide (the difference between the median sales price and the median amount originally paid by investors). That was down 3 percent from $67,000 in 2020 and translated into just a 31 percent return on investment compared to the original acquisition price – the lowest margin since 2008. The latest ROI (before accounting for mortgage interest, property taxes, renovation expenses and other holding costs) was down from 41.9 percent in 2020 and 40 percent in 2019. The decline in the ROI also marked the steepest drop since at least 2005, resulting in margins that were commonly down by 20 percentage points from the 51 percent peak over the past decade, hit in 2016. “While gross profits were lower for fix-and-flip investors in 2021, there may have been offsets that protected net profits,” said Rick Sharga, ATTOM’s executive vice president of market intelligence. “Fewer flippers financed their purchases, so their cost of capital was lower. And it took less time to execute a flip, reducing holding costs, and suggesting that less extensive – and less expensive – repairs were needed to bring the properties to market. A lot of the mark-up on fix-and-flip properties historically has come from the value of those repairs, but so have a lot of the costs that reduce net profits.” Investors saw their gross profit margins dip for the fourth time in five years as the median value of the homes they flipped rose more slowly than the median price they paid to purchase properties – 21.1 percent versus 31.3 percent. The decline in home-flipping profits may represent a rare crack in the foundation of the U.S. housing market, which otherwise boomed in 2021 both because of and in spite of the worldwide Coronavirus pandemic. Throughout the two-year-old pandemic, a surge of buyers has flooded the market amid a confluence of key factors. Tops among them have been a combination of historically low mortgage rates and a desire of many households largely unscathed financially by the pandemic to trade densely populated virus-prone areas for the perceived safety and wider spaces offered by a single-family home and yard. Home flipping rates down in slightly more than half of local markets; biggest drops in Northeast and WestHome flips as a portion of all home sales decreased from 2020 to 2021 in 110 of the 209 metropolitan statistical areas analyzed in the report (53 percent). Nine of the 10 biggest decreases in annual flipping rates among MSAs came in the Northeast and West, led by Honolulu, HI (rate down 83 percent); Atlantic City, NJ (down 73 percent); Manchester, NH (down 57.7 percent); Rochester, NY (down 48 percent) and Cedar Rapids, IA (down 47.8 percent). Metro areas qualified for the report if they had a population of at least 200,000 and at least 100 home flips in 2021. Aside from Rochester, the biggest decreases in flipping rates in 2021 across MSAs with a population of 1 million or more were in Las Vegas, NV (rate down 37.2 percent); Minneapolis, MN (down 36.7 percent); Sacramento, CA (down 36.3 percent) and Philadelphia, PA (down 35.4 percent). Home flipping rates increased from 2020 to 2021 in 99 metro areas with sufficient data to analyze (47 percent). The largest annual increases in 2021 in the home flipping rate came in Provo, UT (rate up 114.3 percent); Salt Lake City, UT (up 113.4 percent); Austin, TX (up 111.2 percent); College Station, TX (up 97.4 percent) and Ogden, UT (up 95 percent). Aside from Salt Lake City and Austin, the biggest annual flipping-rate increases in MSAs with a population of 1 million or more were in San Antonio, TX (rate up 56.2 percent); Dallas, TX (up 34.4 percent) and Houston, TX (up 32.3 percent). Share of home flips purchased with financing decreases to lowest level in three years Nationally, the percentage of flipped homes purchased with financing decreased in 2021 to 38.7 percent, down from 41 percent in 2020 and from 39.9 percent in 2019. Meanwhile, 61.3 percent of homes flipped in 2021 were bought with all-cash, up from 59 percent in 2020 and from 60.1 percent two years earlier. “In an environment where mortgage rates are rising as rapidly as they are today, investors buying with cash are at a distinct advantage over consumer homebuyers,” Sharga noted. “The combination of rising home prices, rising mortgage rates and rising inflation is undoubtedly creating affordability issues for many prospective buyers, so it’s possible that there will be less competition overall for the limited inventory of homes available for sale.” Among metropolitan statistical areas with a population of 1 million or more and sufficient data to analyze, those with the highest percentage of flipped homes purchased by investors with financing in 2021 included Louisville, KY (55.6 percent); San Diego, CA (55.4 percent); Seattle, WA (52.6 percent); Portland, OR (48.6 percent) and San Francisco, CA (47.6 percent). In that same group, the metro areas with a population of 200,000 or more that had the highest percentage of flips purchased with all cash included Tuscaloosa, AL (90.6 percent); Buffalo, NY (84.1 percent); Dayton, OH (82.8 percent); Detroit, MI (82.2 percent) and Canton, OH (82.1 percent). Typical gross profits on home flips decline in 2021 after hitting 15-year high Homes flipped in 2021 were sold for a median price nationwide of $275,000, with a

Read More

WORD OF THE DAY: Nebulous

  • by
  • Comment Off
  • 2,166 views

[ne-byə-ləs] Part of speech: Adjective Origin: Latin Definition: Hazy or cloudy, either literally or figuratively; having to do with a cosmic nebula Examples of Nebulous in a sentence “He’s very creative, but his ideas are always a bit nebulous and vague.” “We looked up at the nebulous clouds of green and purple in the night sky.” About Nebulous The largest cosmic nebula that we know of is the Tarantula Nebula. It’s 1,862 lightyears across. That’s over 100 million times the distance between Earth and the Sun. Did you Know? Nebulous comes from the Latin word nebulosus, meaning “misty” or “foggy.”

Read More

Challenging Housing Market Results in Nearly 80% of Homeowners Preferring to Renovate Than Move

  • by
  • Comment Off
  • 297 views

42% of homeowners say rising interest rates are delaying their home improvements; nearly half that are planning projects have encountered material delays In light of a difficult housing market filled with high home prices and low supply, Discover Home Loans issued a survey to better understand homeowners’ attitudes towards home improvements, purchasing and refinancing. According to its survey, Discover found 79% of homeowners would rather renovate their current home than move to a different one. In fact, 58% of Gen Z and millennial homeowners are currently working on home improvements or plan to do so within the next three months, and the majority, 82%, say they plan to improve their home as a form of investment. “With tappable home equity on the rise, now is the time for homeowners to finance their home improvements with a home equity loan and ultimately, stay in the homes they love long-term,” said Rob Cook, vice president of marketing, digital & analytics of Discover Home Loans. “In some markets, there’s a challenge of low housing inventory and high demand, which is increasing home prices and giving another reason for homeowners to stay with and invest in their current home.” According to the survey, homeowners are most wanting to conduct routine maintenance, update appliances or refinish their flooring. Notably, the number of Americans planning to update their floors jumped 11 percentage points since August 2020; meanwhile, those planning to replace external elements (roofing, doors and gutters) increased seven percentage points. Current Economic Conditions Creating Snags for Some While appetite for home improvement projects remains high, those planning immediate projects are running into problems with price increases and material sourcing. About half of those planning a home improvement now or in the next three months, 48%, say they’ve experienced delays in getting materials for their projects, and 41% think they will encounter delays. More than 57% of homeowners undertaking projects have gone over budget, and nearly two in three report their project cost has increased since their initial contractor bid. Rising interest rates have had a significant impact as well, resulting in 42% of homeowners delaying their home improvement project. “As the U.S. continues to deal with rising material costs and supply chain issues, it’s more important than ever for homeowners to plan ahead for their remodel”, said Cook. “The best first step is to get your financing in order. Starting with a loan calculator, like the one provided by Discover Home Loans, can help give homeowners a sense of how much they can borrow, and what monthly payments may look like.” About Discover Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) is a digital banking and payment services company with one of the most recognized brands in U.S. financial services. Since its inception in 1986, the company has become one of the largest card issuers in the United States. The company issues the Discover card, America’s cash rewards pioneer, and offers private student loans, personal loans, home loans, checking and savings accounts and certificates of deposit through its banking business. It operates the Discover Global Network, comprised of Discover Network, with millions of merchant and cash access locations; PULSE, one of the nation’s leading ATM/debit networks; and Diners Club International, a global payments network with acceptance around the world. For more information, visit www.discover.com/company.

Read More