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Trust This.
By Joseph E. Seagle, Esq. ● Mar 03, 2023
Smart Brevity® count: 2 mins...589 words
👋 Happy Friday! In case you haven’t heard, today is 🥳 National Employee Appreciation Day. In observance, my paralegal — Haley — is taking a long weekend, and others in the office are working from home. Those working in the offices will be treated to a sub and cookie lunch. What are you doing at your workplace to celebrate employees?
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1 big thing: “Boring and Balanced” is coming
Logan Mohtashami, lead analyst for HousingWire Daily, has said that the “savagely unhealthy housing market” is over, and we’re on our way to a “boring and balanced” market.
Why it matters: Historically, the housing market has been calm and slow-growing. Bidding wars are not “normal” in all markets, and inventory meets demands.
With mortgage interest rates at almost 7.5 percent for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, demand is slowing, and inventory is slowly climbing.
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According to Mahtashami, the market is no longer a “teenager” where homes were on the market for less than 20 days.
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Now, as the number of days-on-market averages 67, it’s a sign of returning to balancing supply and demand.
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The average days-on-market pre-pandemic was 87, so we’re not “boring” .., yet.
The bottom line: As the market settled, buyers returned in January, increasing pending home sales by 8.1% compared to the prior year. But that was because interest rates had fallen in December and January.
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Now that rates are back up, prices are expected to remain flat for the rest of the year.
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New construction home sales are expected to increase as sellers hang onto their existing homes (and mortgages).
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Builders and mortgage lenders are working in tandem to help buyers afford new construction with first-year rate buydowns and even fixed-rate mortgages in the 4.25% range.
Our thought bubble: Balanced and boring may be coming to existing home sales, but new construction sales will lead the housing market in new contracts into 2024.
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Fannie Mae, on Wednesday, announced that formal appraisals are no longer the default option in valuing a property for a mortgage loan. They will also accept appraisal waivers, property data, and hybrid appraisals. Fannie Mae
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The House passed the SECURE Notarization Act of 2023 on Monday. The act, if it becomes law, standardizes remote online notarization nationwide. It would legalize RON in every state rather than the patchwork quilt of states that currently allow it with various requirements and restrictions. NAR
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The US Marshals Service was the target of a ransomware attack that exposed details of investigations, and the investigators, to the hackers. Bloomberg
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The median monthly rent in metro Orlando was $2,109 in January, down slightly from December but up 4% year-over-year, according to Rent.com. However, Orlando apartments at 978 square feet are much larger than the national average. Orlando Sentinel
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Orlando ranks fourth in the top 10 most affordable real estate markets for investors. Bigger Pockets
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My sinuses are burning just looking at this picture. Tis the season of the daily sinus headache, runny nose, and yellow-dusted cars. March came in like a lamb. I’m hoping it goes out like a (wet) lion to wash some of this pollen away.
Until then, I’ll just keep using my (non-Nikon iPhone) Kodachrome to get these shots.
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We hope you found this helpful — any feedback is appreciated and can be shared by hitting reply or using the feedback feature below.
Be on the lookout for our next issue! 👋
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