Beginning on April 15th, the new Fannie Mae property valuation initiative launched throughout the United States. Essentially, this revolutionary system encompasses technology, data, and analytics. As a result, it enhances the lending process for every stakeholder, including lenders, Realtors, title agencies, attorneys, homeowners, and homebuyers.

Overall, Fannie Mae’s goal is to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the mortgage loan process. Back on March 1st, 2023, Fannie Mae formally announced the changes via their Selling Guide Announcement. The newly introduced options provide a range of new ways to establish a property’s market value, with unique options available depending on the risk.

Despite a seemingly endless upward trajectory, recent data finally points to falling mortgage rates. Mortgage rates, on a consistent rise over the past year, fell to 6.61%. Thus, mortgage rates decreased nearly half a percentage point since last week.

Furthermore, 15-year mortgage rates dropped to 5.98%, nearly half a point drop but still way higher than the 2.39% of one year ago. These rate drops come at a tumultuous time as the Federal Reserve stated that rate increases will most likely be coming in the next few months. However, the most recent data offers a beacon of hope to potential homebuyers.

On July 27th, 2022, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that the House reached an agreement pertaining to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. After months of contentious debates between Democrats and Republicans, the latest Act intends to lower inflationary pressures throughout the country. Furthermore, President Joe Biden signed the Act into law mid-August 2022. But how does this impact the United States economy?

As inflation soars and loan applications plummet, real estate analysts are starting to see evidence of a buyers’ market in 2022. For the past several years, many real estate analysts considered the housing market to be a ‘seller’s market’. In the real estate world, home prices rose, interest rates fell, and demand reached one of the highest points in decades. Now, though, that trend may be changing. As the United States housing market shows a slowdown in purchasing, the tide shifts towards buyers instead.

Owner’s title insurance contains a fascinating history, dating back over 150 years to 1868. In the case of Watson v. Muirhead, the transaction conveyancer discovered that the property in question was under lien. Although an attorney advised the conveyancer that the lien was invalid, a court ruled that it was in fact valid, after all.

As a direct result of the case outcome, a consortium of Philadelphia conveyancers banned together to form the first title insurance entity. With a clear goal in mind, the group set out to prevent innocent home buyers from falling victim to matters such as the aforementioned.Today, many in the real estate industry debate the merits of an owner’s title insurance policy. While lenders typically require their own policy to protect their interests, the same as generally not said for the end homeowner. However, as the real estate market progressively grows in its complexity, we firmly believe that an owner’s policy represents a saving grace for many.

An owner’s title insurance policy is critical for protecting you from all types of issues you might have with the title of your home. It is essential and should never be overlooked by homeowners who want to make sure they are fully protected from title issues that could arise. Here, we will go over some top reasons to never pass on title insurance.

Most people understand the necessity behind purchasing title insurance, but few know that there are two distinct kinds of title insurance, and even fewer know the differences between them. Owner’s and Lender’s title insurance are similar in nature but cover two different sides of a real estate transaction.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Fed lowered the historically low prime interest rate to 0%. Interest rates for 30-year mortgages are currently at historic lows, around 3% for the past few months since the virus outbreak.