Yearly Archives: 2014

Fannie and Freddie Mac Lower Downpayments to 3% to Spur Housing Opportunities

Following months of talk and speculation, both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced on Monday they will begin allowing qualifying first-time borrowers to purchase homes with just a 3 percent down payment. By lowering the down payment down to 3 percent, leaders from the GSEs and the Federal Housing Finance Administration (FHFA) hope to increase homeownership…
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Home Flipping Drops to Five-Year Low in Q3

Home flipping sales declined nationwide both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year, hitting their lowest level since the second quarter of 2009, according to RealtyTrac's Q3 2014 U.S. Home Flipping Report released today. The number of home flipping sales, or those in which a home is purchased and sold within 12 months, represented 4 percent of all single-family…
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JREG Neighborhood Reinvestment Program

It’s important to make a difference in the communities that we live in and where we do business. The foundation of our communities are built upon the backs of our schools. We are reinvesting in education and the students who are in great need. We need your help to enhance the impact that we can…
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Introducing the JREG CARES Program

James Real Estate Group has joined forces to create the JREG CARES program, benefiting Seattle Children's. What is It? With every transaction JREG completes, we will make a donation to the Emergency Patient Assistance Fund at Seattle Children’s. Proceeds help fund groceries, electricity, transportation and other basic needs to help shift the focus on the child’s health rather…
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Foreclosure Inventories Continue to Fall – Down 35% Year Over Year

CoreLogic published its monthly National Foreclosure Report with data from June 2014, which indicates that foreclosure inventory is down 35 percent from June last year. Foreclosures fell from 54,000 to 49,000 on a year-over-year basis. The report further indicated that foreclosure inventory in the United States shrank for 17 consecutive months as of June 2014 and fell…
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Is Unemployment Stifling the Housing Market?

Is Unemployment Stifling the Housing Market?
The unemployment rate was unchanged in May, staying put at 6.3 percent with 9.8 million Americans unemployed. Unemployment is the lowest it has been since September 2008. However, RealtyTrac's Octavio Nuiry makes the case that there is more to unemployment than percentages, and that a hidden actor is depressing housing market growth—and could cause more problems in the future.…
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Default Rates Decline in April to Lowest Post-Recession Rate

Data through April 2014 showed a decline in the national default rate from March, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices and Experian for the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices. The indices are a comprehensive measure of changes in consumer credit defaults, released monthly. The national composite default rate recorded its lowest post-recession figure of 1.11%…
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U.S. Home Flipping Drops Nationwide: Now Account for Only 3.7% of All Sales

RealtyTrac released its U.S. Home Flipping Report for Q1 2014, reporting that 3.7% of all U.S. single-family home sales were flips. Home flipping over all is down, dropping 4.1% from the fourth quarter in 2013, as well as declining 6.5% from the previous year's first quarter. The company defines flips as homes purchased and sold…
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