The city's Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution earlier this week that would encourage the lenders who own distressed properties to sell them to nonprofits and community development financial institutions rather than to hedge funds, Wall Street speculators, or private equity firms.
Read More »Investors Skeptical of Fed Rate Increase Forecast
In their latest economic projections from June, the members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) projected a median federal funds rate of 1 percent at year-end 2015 and 2.5 percent at the end of 2016. Based on their own modeling, the analysts say investors put the probability of the federal funds rate hitting the FOMC's target next year at 31 percent, with 2016's projected rate having a 27 percent probability.
Read More »Pittsburgh Best, San Francisco Worst For Home Flipping
Recent data released by RealtyTrac for the second quarter of 2014 indicated that Pittsburgh is the best market in the nation for home flipping, while the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont market was the worst.
Read More »First Quarter Housing Affordability Edges Higher
A decrease in median home prices coupled with steady mortgage rates helped contribute to higher housing affordability in the first quarter of 2014, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). NAHB, coupled with Wells Fargo, recently published their Housing Opportunity Index (HOI), which found 65.5 percent of new and existing homes sold between January through March were affordable to families.
Read More »Tech Industry Drives San Francisco Economy, Housing Market
A booming tech sector and overall job and income growth have helped fuel a real estate boom in San Francisco, according to a recent special commentary from the Wells Fargo Economics Group. The group found that the city's perennially tight housing market has gotten even tighter, pushing rents and home prices up.
Read More »California Economy Makes Progress
The Wells Fargo Economics Group released its California Economic Outlook for February, 2014. The report noted that while recovery has been slow in the past, "[T]he state has methodically made progress working through a number of major impediments, most notably the overhang of foreclosures and distressed homes left over from the housing bust."
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