Jenn Pfeiffer - The Jenn Pfeiffer Team

November 27, 2023

A 30-Year Trap: The Problem With America’s Weird Mortgages

One big reason the U.S. housing market is broken: Owners don’t want to give up their cushy old loans. By: Ben Casselman | New York Times Buying a home was hard before the pandemic. Somehow, it keeps getting harder. Prices, already sky-high, have gotten even higher, up nearly 40 percent over the past three years. Available homes have gotten scarcer: Listings are down nearly 20 percent over the same period. And now interest rates have soared to a 20-year high, eroding buying power without — in defiance of normal economic logic — doing much to dent prices. None of which, of course, is a problem for people who already own homes....

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November 22, 2023

Living

Are There Actually More Homes for Sale Right Now?

From our friends in KCM If you’re looking to make a move, you want to be sure you have the latest information on the housing market. To help make that possible, here’s an update on the supply of homes for sale today. Whether you’re looking to buy or sell, the number of homes available in your local market matters to you. Take a look below. What’s the Truth About Today’s Housing Inventory? While the story for the past few years has been how few homes are on the market, recent national data may leave you feeling a bit confused. That’s because Realtor.com shows inventory is actually growing a bit month-over-month in many parts of the country...

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November 21, 2023

Living, News

5 Oldest Homes for Sale in America—All Built in the 1600s

By Lisa Johnson Mandell | REALTOR.COM As we prepare our Thanksgiving table, our thoughts might turn to the very first people who started the American holiday. There’s one fascinating fact you might not think about: The settlers sure knew how to build a shelter back then. In fact, some of the homes that were built during the 1600s are still standing, and some are even on the market. In the spirit of the season, we did some sleuthing and found the five oldest homes for sale in America right now, in good living condition, despite being built not too long after the first Thanksgiving in the 1600s! One is a grand riverfront estate,...

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November 20, 2023

Living

Marin maintains presence in ranking of priciest ZIP codes in U.S.

By: Kate Talerico | Marin Independent Journal The Bay Area, with its million-dollar views and multimillion-dollar enclaves, has kept its status as the most expensive metropolitan area in the United States. The region’s ZIP codes make up 37 of the top 100 most expensive ZIP codes in the country, according to a new 2023 ranking by real estate data company PropertyShark that examined median home sales prices. Marin County has six ZIP codes on the top-100 list, led by Stinson Beach at No. 6. Its ZIP code, 94970, had a median home price of $4.5 million last year, according to the analysis. Debra Allen, a Coldwell Banker Realty agent who was involved in...

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November 17, 2023

Living

Annual Rent Increase for 3/1/24 – 2/28/25 Announced

BY: SF.GOV For rent-controlled units, the annual allowable increase amount effective March 1, 2024 through February 28, 2025 is 1.7%. November 17, 2023 For rent-controlled units, the annual allowable increase amount effective March 1, 2024 through February 28, 2025 is 1.7%. This amount is based on 60% of the increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers in the Bay Area, which was 2.8% as posted in November 2022 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. To calculate the dollar amount of the 1.7% annual rent increase, multiply the tenant's base rent by .017. For example, if the tenant's base rent is $2,000.00, the annual increase would be calculated as follows: $2,000.00...

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November 16, 2023

Lifestyle

Sea rise costs pose “critical issue” and opportunity for developers

By: The Real Deal Bay Area regulators look to private sector to fill $105B funding gap for mitigation When Landsea Homes acquired a development site fronting the Alameda Estuary in 2021, it knew it would have to pay for more than just the land. The site faced a projected 24 inches of sea rise, so Landsea spent another $12 million on resilience projects to keep its development safe. It built an $8.7 million sea wall, and spent several million more on an underground storm drain system and utilities, according to its Northern California President Josh Santos. It also shouldered time-related costs for the additional coastal approvals. There was something in...

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November 15, 2023

Living

1 Step Forward, 2 Steps Back: What the Latest Housing Market Curveball Means for You

By Margaret Heidenry | REALTOR.COM The housing market these days seems to meet any sign of good news with a dose of bad. Case in point: Mortgage rates fell for the second week in a row, slipping to 7.5% for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage as of Nov. 9. It’s a marked improvement from last week’s 7.76%, according to Freddie Mac. While this rate dip offers a dash of relief to cash-strapped buyers, home prices marched higher for the week ending Nov. 4. “This past week, the nation’s median listing price ticked up once again as the market continued to face tight inventory conditions,” notes Realtor.com® economic research analyst Hannah Jones in her analysis. We’ll examine what all of the...

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November 14, 2023

Buying

Inflation Is Finally Falling—Will Mortgage Rates Follow?

By Clare Trapasso: REALTOR.COM Inflation is finally falling, according to a government report released on Tuesday, and mortgage rates might be close behind. Over the past year and a half, the U.S. Federal Reserve has been hiking its short-term interest rates to combat inflation. This has helped to push up mortgage rates, which are separate from the Fed’s rates but have been moving in a similar direction. The Fed’s aggressive moves now appear to have been working. Inflation fell to 3.2% year over year in October, down from a 3.7% year-over-year increase in September, according to the consumer price index released on Tuesday. That could lead the Fed to hold rates steady and...

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November 13, 2023

Buying

Foreclosures and Bankruptcies Won’t Crash the Housing Market

By our friends in KCM If you’ve been following the news recently, you might have seen articles about an increase in foreclosures and bankruptcies. That could be making you feel uneasy, especially if you’re thinking about buying or selling a house. But the truth is, even though the numbers are going up, the data shows the housing market isn’t headed for a crisis. Foreclosure Activity Rising, but Less Than Headlines Suggest In recent years, the number of foreclosures has been very low. That’s because, in 2020 and 2021, the forbearance program and other relief options were put in place to help many homeowners stay in their homes during that tough time. When the moratorium ended, there was an...

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November 9, 2023

Buying, Lifestyle

Listening to Real Estate Agents Can Pay Off for Originators

By Rob Chrisman, Senior Advisor If we’ve learned anything from 2022 and 2023, it is that they are not 2020 and 2021. Volumes and margins have dropped, as have profits. The number of lenders and originators have dropped as well. And those originators, whether they are brokers, IMB loan officers (LOs) or bank and credit union LOs, have had to adapt to a changed environment where they not only can’t sit at their desk waiting for the phone to ring but must go out and actively look for new business. Where can LOs find the elusive purchase borrower? Many lenders have originators who are looking for leads in unconventional places....

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Author: Jenn Pfeiffer

A 30-Year Trap: The Problem With America’s Weird Mortgages

Are There Actually More Homes for Sale Right Now?

5 Oldest Homes for Sale in America—All Built in the 1600s

Marin maintains presence in ranking of priciest ZIP codes in U.S.

Annual Rent Increase for 3/1/24 – 2/28/25 Announced

Sea rise costs pose “critical issue” and opportunity for developers

1 Step Forward, 2 Steps Back: What the Latest Housing Market Curveball Means for You

Inflation Is Finally Falling—Will Mortgage Rates Follow?

Foreclosures and Bankruptcies Won’t Crash the Housing Market

Listening to Real Estate Agents Can Pay Off for Originators

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