Talking about the latest report on home prices from CoreLogic, the latest numbers of mortgage delinquencies, a rent to own scam in South Carolina plus more!
US Home Prices Increase 7%
CoreLogic is reporting that US home prices increased 7% in November 2017 compared with November 2016 and increased month over month by 1.0 percent in November 2017 compared with October 2017.
This is the 3rd consecutive month of 7% year over year increases in US home prices! CoreLogic is predicting that US home prices will increase 4.2% from November 2017 to November 2018.
CEO Frank Martell said:
Without a significant surge in new building and affordable housing stock, the relatively high level of growth in home prices of recent years will continue in most markets. Although policymakers are increasingly looking for ways to address the lack of affordable housing, much more needs to be done soon to see a significant improvement over the medium term.
Once again we hear how the limited inventory is causing problems. CoreLogic is talking about US home prices and buyers and sellers must rely upon the expertise of a local Realtor to make informed decisions.
If you are curious about real estate conditions in Anderson County SC, you can read the Market Reports
Freddie Mac’s Serious Delinquency Rate Decreased
Freddie Mac just reported that their single-family delinquency rate in November 2017 increased to 0.95% from 0.86% in October 2017. However, it is down from the 1.03% rate in November 2016.
The peak for Freddie’s serious delinquency rate was back in 2010. While the increase from the previous month isn’t good, we are still slowly heading in the right direction.
Widespread Rent to Own Scam in South Carolina
From Greenville Online:
At least a dozen people say they have been scammed by Kingdom Connected Investments, a defunct Greenville real estate investment company.
Dozens of civil lawsuits from the Upstate to the Lowcountry have been filed against the company, which has drawn scrutiny from local and state law enforcement. To date, there are 61 cases filed in Greenville, Anderson, Pickens and Oconee counties. In Richland County, there are 23 lawsuits on file involving the company.
The Better Business Bureau has received 28 complaints against Kingdom Connected Investments, which has an F rating from the organization, said Vee Daniels, president of the Upstate Better Business Bureau.
Complainants have accused the company’s owners, Michael “Bubba” Roush and his wife, Dana Roush, of using religious guises to defraud many out of homes and steal hundreds of thousands of dollars in mortgage and investment payments.
Rent to owns or lease options are often scams used by the unscrupulous to prey on people with crappy credit. If your credit needs work, then you need to improve your credit instead of falling prey to one of these scammers.
To learn more about the dangers of rent to own, please read Slow Down Buckaroo
The Next Financial Crisis Will Be Worse Than the Last One
From Truthdig:
The billionaire who ran on an anti-establishment platform went on a swamp-filling, deregulatory and inequality-producing tear, in the process creating the wealthiest Cabinet in modern United States history and expanding his own empire along the way. His offspring, Russia-related investigations aside, didn’t do too shabbily either. White House policy adviser Ivanka Trump’s brand opened a splashy new store in the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan, just in time for Christmas.
If you look at the stock and asset markets, as Donald Trump tends to do (and as Barack Obama did, too), you’d think all is fine with the world. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 24 percent this year. The Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index rose 6.20 percent. The price of one Bitcoin rose about 1,646 percent.
On the flip side of that euphoria however, is the fact that the median wage rose just 2.4 percent and has remained effectively stagnant relative to inflation. And although the unemployment rate fell to a 17-year low of 4.1 percent, the labor force participation rate dropped to 62.7 percent, its lowest level in nearly four decades—particularly difficult for new entrants to the workforce, such as students graduating under a $1.3 trillion pile of unrepayable or very challenging student loan debt.
A must read for the open minded…
Where Are We Headed and Why Am I In This Handbasket?
From Rasmussen:
Forty percent (40%) of Likely U.S. Voters now think the country is heading in the right direction, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey for the week ending December 28.
I guess we can be happy that 60% aren’t being delusional. On the other hand, are they being overly pessimistic?
Well that is it for today! Please hit those share and subscribe buttons!
