Today’s News Synopsis:

Hottest zip code where people are wanting to live is located in, of all places, Watauga, Texas.  The Mortgage Bankers Association reported an 8% increase in multifamily lending year-over-year.  Mortgage rates decreased this week with 30-year rates now at 3.88% and 15-year rates at 3.19%.

In The News:

Zillow – “Zillow Prize Ranks as One of the Most Popular Machine Learning Contests of All Time” (10-19-2017)

“Today, Zillow announces that the qualifying round of Zillow® Prize, the machine learning competition with a $1 million grand prize, has closed following record-breaking participation from scientific minds around the globe.”

Realtor.com – “Why Is This Texas Town Reigning as the Country’s Hottest ZIP Code?” (10-19-2017)

“Hotness is one of those terms that seem to have lost much of their meaning lately, right up there with “awesomeness,” “scalability,” or “fake news.” But when it’s applied to real estate, “hotness” conjures up something very tangible indeed: places where people are truly gung-ho to live.”

CoreLogic – “CoreLogic Releases First HPI Forecast Validation Report” (10-19-2017)

“CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX), a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled solutions provider, today released its first CoreLogic HPI Forecast Validation Report that publicly compares its 12-month CoreLogic HPI Forecast to the actual CoreLogic HPI Index.”

Mortgage Bankers Association – “Multifamily Lending Up 8 Percent in 2016” (10-19-2017)

“Multifamily lending was up 8 percent year over year in 2016, with nearly three thousand different multifamily lenders providing a total of $269.2 billion in new mortgages for apartment buildings with five or more units, according to a new report from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).”

NAHB – “Remodeling Market Indicators Maintain Strength in Third Quarter” (10-19-2017)

“The National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) Remodeling Market Index (RMI) posted a reading of 57 in the third quarter of 2017, up two points from the previous quarter. For 18 consecutive quarters, the RMI has been at or above 50, which indicates that more remodelers report market activity is higher compared to the prior quarter than report it is lower.”

Black Knight Financial Services – “Black Knight’s First Look at September 2017 Mortgage Data” (10-19-2017)

“Nationally, the number of non-current mortgages (those at least 30 days past-due or in active foreclosure) jumped by 214,000 (+9 percent), driven primarily by fallout from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.”

ATTOM Data Solutions – “25 Best Zips for Buying Single Family Rentals” (10-19-2017)

“ATTOM Data Solutions, curator of the nation’s largest multi-sourced property database, today released its Q3 2017 Single Family Rental Market report, which identified the top 25 U.S. zip codes for buying single family rental homes based on potential rental yields and cash flow, vacancy rates, home price appreciation, population growth, neighborhood quality, and average property age.”

Freddie Mac – “Mortgage Rates Tick Down” (10-19-2017)

“Freddie Mac (OTCQB: FMCC) today released the results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey (PMMS^®), showing the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate ticking down this week.”