Kevin Warren's Blog

  For several years we have been recovering from a financial disaster. The bad news is that the recovery has been so weak that many have felt we were not recovering. The good news is that the recovery has continued slowly but surely. During the way we have had several speed bumps thrown in our wa...

  Last week we reported on a disappointing jobs report. We also indicated that we should not jump to a conclusion as to the importance of this one report. One report can be very misleading and is subject to significant revisions in the next two reports. In this case we had inclement weather which...

  Real estate agents have been somewhat absent in the whole debate over the qualified mortgage lending and ability-to-repay rules, but they are not immune from the consequences. With the lending guidelines taking effect, it’s definitely time for the consumer-side of the real estate business to ge...

  New lending rules went into effect that aim to put an end to the worst home loan lending abuses of the past. The new rules are designed to take a “back to basics” approach to residential lending and lower the risk of defaults and foreclosures among borrowers, according to the Consumer Financial...

  Just when we were starting to get used to strong jobs data we were reminded of an important adage — never try to predict the future. While the analysts were predicting December job growth would be around 200,000, the number came in short of 100,000. This number disappointed the markets. In a st...

Though borrowing costs are increasing as interest rates have lifted from their historical lows, some real estate professionals believe the rise may boost home sales. “It will get people sitting on the fence to decide, ‘We better do something or it’s going to cost us money,’” says Margaret Dixon, ...

It has been five years since the depth of the recession was upon us. For five years we have been recovering. The recovery has been painful and slow with many starts and stops. Yet, as we approach 2014 there seems to be more optimism regarding the status of the economy recovery and our future. Som...

For one of the least productive congressional sessions in modern history, the final word about tax overhaul was entirely in character: Nothing’s happening. But is that good or bad news for homeowners, buyers and small-scale real estate investors? A bit of both. When House Ways and Means Committee...

Here is an interesting picture. The S&P/Case-Shiller House Price index showed prices in the 20 largest cities increased 13.3 percent annually in September, the highest year-over-year increase since February 2006. Yet, existing home sales have slowed a bit and pending home sales have been lower fo...

  It is official. The Federal Housing Administration’s Office of Single Family Housing published Mortgagee Letter 2013-43 on Friday, December 6. This letter announced that on January 1, 2014, FHA will implement new Single Family loan limits for mortgages as detailed in the Housing and Economic Re...