Icelandic Bubble, Appreciation Forecast, Mild Inflation
Iceland – has experienced its share of bubbles. A herring bubble in the 1960’s, in the early 2000’s they bet on becoming a financial hub before that crash and shortly after their country blew up. The 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull caused the largest airspace disruption since WWII. The volcano did, however, ignite a tourism industry […]
Oil, Fed Rate Cut, Mortgage Rates Improve
Oil – Saudi Arabia suspended 1/2 of its daily oil production after one of their central processing facility was attacked exposing its vulnerability. This facility produced 5% of total global supply and its loss caused oil prices to spike by approximately 13%. Rates – after increasingly significantly in September, rates improved this week after attacks […]
How Tax Code Created ‘The Claw’, Rates increase in September
The “beverage of the summer’s” popularity (a frat spent $7,500 on a bulk purchase in Austin) is due partially to our tax laws. Spirits are taxed at a higher rate than beer making it expensive to mix vodka into a cocktail and sell it. White Claw outsmarted the tax code by reinvented the process to […]
Fintech Lenders Circumnavigate Regulation
Opendoor is stepping into the mortgage space in Texas & Arizona. Arizona passed a ‘regulatory sandbox program’ which allows Fintech companies (like Opendoor & Zillow) to circumnavigate standard CFPB mortgage regulations. In Arizona Opendoor can be your realtor, lender, and title agent simultaneously (what could go wrong?). Already having developed a reputation for hidden fees […]
Negative Rates? Strong Home Sales, Rates Flat
Global Interest Rates – Jyske Bank in Denmark announced it is offering a negative interest rate on a 10 year fix with a ‘strong equity position’. Of course this is after fees but it’s interesting to think that you could take a loan on your house for another investment and get paid to do so! […]
Fortnite World Cup, Rates Improve, Fed Funds 0.25% Cut
E-Sports – the Fortnite (released July 2017) world cup took place last weekend in the sold out Arthur Ashe Stadium (seats 23K+). A 16 year-old beat out 40 million players to win a $3M purse which eclipsed Djokovic & Halep’s purses @ Wimbledon. Viewership peaked at 2.3M viewers which is 2.6X the viewership of Wimbledon […]
Rethinking Economic Principles, Rates Flat, Appreciation
Going below the ‘natural rate’ of unemployment could spark an inflationary escalator. even Fed Chair Powell has commented on how the relationship between unemployment & inflation has been zero. Globalization is good for everyone – except our blue collar workers. Large budget deficits cause the government and private sector to compete over selling bonds driving […]
Rates Improve, Fed Cuts Likely, Conforming Low Income Program Updates
Both Fannie & Freddie have announced updates to their low income/down payment programs that give discounts on note rate and mortgage insurance rates (these programs allow: 3% down, boarder income, ADU income, & low down payment on owner occupied 2-4 units). The updates make it more challenging to qualify. Instead of allowing 100% of Area […]
Cornering the Lottery, Delinquencies Hit 20 Year Low, Rates Bounce Up.
Ever think about buying all possible number combinations to win the lottery? This story covers this history of lottery and how one man managed to successfully corner the lottery 12 times. Rates bounced up this week after a steady decline for the previous two months. Fed Chair Jerome Powell testified that uncertainty continues to weigh […]
Happy 243 BD, How we use our Land, Strong Appreciation Forecast
Who could have predicted 243 years ago that the United States would become the largest global economy? A big reason for our success is our vast amount of land and natural resources, but how do we use these 1.9 billion acres of real estate? It turns out that we use most of our land for […]