Today’s News Synopsis:

One trend in the real estate housing market making a comeback is house flipping with 6% of homes sold last year being flips.  Redfin came out with another one of their unique lists, this time showing the best places to live if you do not own a car.  A further growth in housing is being held back by restrictions in the regulatory and supply-side of the market.

In The News:

CNBC – “House flipping is back, with all its opportunities and risks” (2-5-2017)

“Flipping is back.  The trend of buying a fixer-upper, making some repairs and “flipping” to a new buyer quickly is making a return to real estate markets, years after the trend fell out of fashion with home buyers.”

Bloomberg – “Everyone Is Suddenly Worried About This U.S. Mortgage-Bond Whale” (2-5-2017)

“Almost a decade after it all began, the Federal Reserve is finally talking about unwinding its grand experiment in monetary policy.”

NAHB – “Regulatory and Supply-Side Challenges Inhibit More Robust Housing Growth” (2-6-2017)

“Although employment and home price levels have returned to or exceeded normal levels of activity, new-home construction during the fourth quarter of 2016 remained tepid in many markets due to regulatory and supply-side constraints, according to the National Association of Home Builders/First American Leading Markets Index (LMI) released today.”

Redfin – “Redfin Names the Best Cities for Living Without a Car” (2-6-2017)

“Proximity to restaurants, grocery stores, parks and jobs are some of the key perks of urban living, especially if those destinations are accessible without a car.”

DS News – “Homeowners Use Tax Refunds as Lifeline” (2-6-2017)

“The foreclosure picture continues to improve in the U.S., according to the recently released Black Knight Financial Services Mortgage Monitor.”

Dallas News – “Dallas on the rise as one of world’s top property investment markets” (2-6-2017)

“Last year’s surge of big property buys has put Big D on a list of the world’s top real estate investment markets for 2016.”

Bloomberg – “Here Comes the Economic Growth That Confidence Data’s Predicting” (2-6-2017)

“It turns out businesses and consumers have reason to be confident economic growth is about to pick up. But it’s not because of President Donald Trump’s policy prescriptions.”

Mortgage Bankers Association – “New RIHA Study Details Shifts in Rented vs. Owned Housing Stock” (2-6-2017)

“The Research Institute for Housing America (RIHA) today released a new study examining the shift of existing housing stock between owner-occupied and rental over time.”

Quartz – “How Vancouver got its housig bubble under control: a lesson for cities like London and San Francisco” (2-6-2017)

“Good news Londoners, Stockholmers, and San Franciscans: Vancouver may have solved one of your toughest problems. Last year, the Canadian city topped UBS’s Global Real Estate Bubble index, a ranking of cities most at risk of being in a property bubble; the bank said Vancouver’s housing market was in ‘overdrive.'”