by rtdosen | Oct 2, 2015 | Ryan Dosen Real Estate Articles
State of the Market: Fall Edition By Ryan Dosen Fall is here. Welcome are the cooler temperatures and beautiful colors, as well as the typical flurry of real estate activity. People have returned from summer vacation, kids are back in school, and many will try to close transactions before year-end and the holidays. In general, the market seems to be following a similar path this year, at a noticeably faster pace. Pending Home Sales Remain Up Year-Over-Year The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports that “pending home sales retreated in August but remained at a healthy level of activity and have now risen year-over-year for 12 consecutive months.” NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index is also up 6.1% year-over-year. Pending sales are an important indicator for the real estate market, as they represent the number of transactions that are under contract, but not yet closed. A measure of closed transactions would show us where the market is today. However, most are more concerned with where the market is headed. Pending transactions represent closings that will, for the most part, occur in the next couple of months—providing a decent indicator of the real estate market’s health in the near future. Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist for NAR, says that “pending sales have leveled off since mid-summer, with buyers being bounded by rising prices and few available and affordable properties within their budget…. Even with existing-housing supply barely budging all summer and no relief coming from new construction, contract activity is still higher than earlier this year and a year ago.” In Chester County, housing supply has dipped about 7 percent since...
by rtdosen | Oct 2, 2015 | Ryan Dosen Real Estate Articles
TRID Clears the Air on Home Loan & Settlement Terms By Ryan Dosen New forms, new procedures, and new requirements are coming for real estate loans and settlements by way of the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule. For loan applications taken on or after October 3, 2015, Good Faith Estimates go the way of the dinosaur and lenders will have heightened requirements for getting you to the closing table. For consumers, the changes should largely be positive, unless you find yourself working with a lender or agent that is not prepared for the changes. Changes to Loan Paperwork Currently, lenders are required to provide their clients with Good Faith Estimates (GFEs) and Truth-in-Lending Act disclosures (TILAs). The GFE provides the consumer with lender, sales price, loan amount, interest rate, and type of loan information. The TILA provides the consumer with the loan’s interest rate, along with information about fees, such as loan origination fees, underwriting and processing fees, and other costs associated with the loan. Starting on October 3, the GFE and TILA are replaced with a 3-page Loan Estimate form. The new form provides the consumer with much of the same information, but in a format that is supposed to be more easily digestible. Changes to HUD-1 Currently, the HUD-1 Settlement Statement is the form that is signed at closing, summarizing all payments being made pursuant to a real estate transaction. The HUD-1 and final TILA forms are being replaced with a new 5-page Closing Disclosure form. In addition to providing a breakdown of financials, this form is used to disclose many of the terms and...
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