By Kerry Smith How well does HUD oversee the nation’s Housing Trust Funds, which flow to states for affordable housing? The Fed’s oversight group suggests five changes. WASHINGTON – On August 8, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report entitled “Affordable Housing: Improvements Needed in HUD’s Oversight of the Housing Trust Fund Program.” The Housing Trust Fund (HTF) provides grants to states, which use them to produce and preserve affordable housing for extremely low- and very low-income households. It requires Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to set aside 4.2 basis points of each dollar of unpaid principal balance
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By Alex Veiga The average rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage rose for the third week in a row, up from last week’s average 6.90%. A year ago, it was 5.22%. WASHINGTON (AP) – The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate rose this week to just under 7%, the latest setback for would-be homebuyers already facing affordability challenges due to a housing market limited by a shortage of homes for sale. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan rose to 6.96% from 6.90% last week. A year ago, the rate averaged 5.22%. It’s
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By Kerry Smith The Florida Real Estate Commission took the first steps to create a new rule by offering preliminary, rough-draft language and opening the rule for development. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. –  At the Florida Real Estate Commission’s (FREC) July 26 meeting, the commissioners considered preliminary language to create standards for issuing multiple brokers licenses pursuant to section 475.215, F.S. After discussing the issue and focusing on some potential language, the commissioners voted to open a rule proposal for development. They’re now expected to advance the discussion at their upcoming meeting on Aug. 23 at 8:30 a.m., 400 West Robinson St.,
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By Jim Saunders Nine states, including Fla., have challenged flood insurance Risk Rating 2.0 in court. This week, the U.S. urged a judge to deny their preliminary injunction request. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Biden administration this week urged a federal judge to reject a challenge by Florida and other states to an overhaul of the National Flood Insurance Program that has led to higher premiums for many property owners. U.S. Department of Justice attorneys filed motions to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the overhaul and to deny a request by the states for a preliminary injunction. The motions said the changes,
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By Kerry Smith 82% of consumers said it’s a “bad time to buy” a home in Fannie Mae’s July survey – an all-time low. And those saying “good time to buy” dropped from 22% to 18%. WASHINGTON – Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) increased slightly in July, though consumers’ growing confidence about their personal financial situations was largely offset by additional pessimism about homebuying conditions. Half of the HPSI’s six components rose month-to-month, but more than four out of five consumers (82%) said that it’s a “bad time to buy” a home – a new survey high and up from
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Tampa skyline By Kerry Smith A study that looked at the number of hybrid jobs, broadband, housing, and more listed Tampa (No. 3) and Orlando (No. 15) as top cities for worker flexibility. ORLANDO, Fla. – A study of 70 U.S. cities by CommercialSearch – part of the Yardi suite of commercial listing platforms – found Central Florida cities in the top 20: Tampa at No. 3 and Orlando at No. 15. According to the study, a number of flexible work arrangements exist, including gig work and fulltime work from home, and hybrid work arrangements appear to have staying power
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By Elena Cox New construction could help create the 4.3M homes the U.S. needs, but there aren’t enough people to build them. It’s a lingering aftermath of the Great Recession. WASHINGTON – The U.S. is short about 4.3 million homes, according to recent estimates from Zillow – a key reason buying a home has gotten more expensive. But the simplest solution, to build more houses, has a flaw – there’s no one to build them. “In the wake of the Great Recession, the residential construction industry lost 1.5 million jobs. Tens of thousands of homebuilders went out of business. The
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By Lawrence Mower Staff at Florida Housing Finance Corp. – the state’s official oversight board – will continue to fund affordable housing projects during the investigation. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis’ affordable housing director has been suspended pending the outcome of an inspector general investigation, leaving the Florida agency leaderless as it prepares to assign hundreds of millions of dollars. Mike DiNapoli, executive director of the Florida Housing Finance Corp., was placed on administrative leave last month, according to interviews the Herald/Times had with current and former state employees. The move comes less than six months after DeSantis chose
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By Firas Al Msaddi AI uses current data and history to make recommendations and can’t consider unexpected events, such as hurricanes, or changing realities, such as “black swan” events. MIAMI – On our real estate portal DXBInteract.com, we have attempted to utilize AI (artificial intelligence) to forecast future fluctuations in property prices in Dubai and pinpoint optimal investment opportunities. We then turned our attention to the U.S. property market to learn more on best practices since it deals in more data points. In 2021 and 2022, the prominent digital real estate companies Zillow and Opendoor suffered substantial financial losses primarily
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By Christopher Carter Mortgages revolve around a 20% down payment, and buyers who put less down use mortgage insurance to do so – yet many don’t understand what that means. KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. – Mortgage Insurance is one of the most misunderstood topics in real estate. When buyers use financing and their down payment is less than 20% of the purchase price (or appraised value), lenders require mortgage insurance. Lenders’ tracking studies indicate that when buyers start out with less than 20% initial equity in the property, there is a higher risk of the loan going into default, then into
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