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☆ Home Sellers' Tough Summer: Get Ready for Lower Prices, Fewer Offers
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-08 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Rich baby boomers jumped in with all-cash offers, and sellers scored huge windfalls as weary buyers pushed prices to new heights. After all, people have to move for a wide variety of life reasons; mortgage rates be damned. "The further and further we get from the peak of the market," Peterson told me, "the harder it is to deny what's happened." Mortgage rates haven't fallen — in fact, they've gone up about 0.6 percentage points since the start of the year. "It can always be tricky telling somebody that they were just lucky because it makes you sound envious," Peterson told me.

Persons: Rich, Sellers, Eric Peterson, Peterson, Austin, Freddie, they've, Selma Hepp, Freddie Mac, Mike Simonsen, Redfin, towners, Libby Levinson, Katz, Price, Levinson, John Burns, they'll, Realtor.com, you'd Organizations: Freddie Mac, Reserve, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Altos Research, Sun, John, John Burns Research, Consulting Locations: Austin, Boise , Idaho, Denver

☆ Homebuyers' Biggest Mistake: Waiting for Mortgage Rates to Fall
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Then, as the Federal Reserve began its battle against inflation in 2022, mortgage rates shot up, eventually hitting a 20-year high in October. Over the past decade, there's been a clear correlation between mortgage rates and inventory: When mortgage rates fall, the number of available homes for sale at a given moment shrinks. So, yes, waiting it out until mortgage rates decline sure seems appealing. The Federal Reserve has signaled that it plans to drop borrowing rates this year, which would likely push down mortgage rates. Advertisement"People are focusing on mortgage rates because every week they hear about mortgage rates changing," Doerner of the FHFA told me.

Persons: swiping, there's, Mike Simonsen, Freddie Mac, CoreLogic, —, homebuyers, Redfin, John Burns, Alex Thomas, There's, Will Doerner, Doerner, They're, Simonsen, it's, Jerome Powell Organizations: Federal Reserve, Buyers, Altos Research, Bank of America, John, John Burns Research, Consulting, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Federal, Fed

☆ Home Prices May Be Sky-High, but America Is Not in a Housing Bubble
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

The housing market, they claimed, was a bubble destined to burst. I’ve spent the past few years asking experts a simple question: Has the housing market reached bubble territory? AdvertisementFor a time, it seemed like the housing market was doing a speedrun through Simonsen’s checklist. And even if the economy does take a turn, a run-of-the-mill recession probably wouldn’t be enough to topple the housing market. The housing market is far from balanced, but we’re at least heading in that direction.

Persons: doomsayers, I’ve, Redfin, you’ve, you’ll, Mike Simonsen, megalandlords, ”, Ian Shepherdson, Goldman Sachs, Jerome Powell, Powell, Rick Palacios Jr, John Burns, ” doomsayers, might’ve, It’s, it’s, Logan Mohtashami, don’t, US homebuilders, “ It’s, ” Mohtashami, Selma Hepp, Fannie Mae, Palacios, ” Palacios, Mohtashami Organizations: Altos Research, Wall, John, John Burns Research, Consulting, Mortgage Bankers Association, Federal Reserve Bank of New, Federal Housing Finance Agency Locations: Charlotte, North Carolina, Austin, Las Vegas, Miami, Boise , Idaho, Dallas, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, US

☆ Disney 100: See 543 Disney characters pose for a group photo in 'Once Upon a Studio' short film
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( Alli Rosenbloom | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —As Disney celebrates its 100 year anniversary on Monday, the walls of the company’s animation studio come alive in the new short film, “Once Upon a Studio.”In the 12-minute short, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, with the help of Tinker Bell, lead the charge in bringing 543 Disney characters – villains included – together for a group photo to mark the occasion. Burny Mattinson, an animator who worked for the studio for 70 years, locks the doors to Disney’s Burbank animation studio as the characters file out. In a poignant moment, a frantic Mickey Mouse stops in a hallway when he sees a portrait of Walt Disney himself. On with the show.”Outside, Goofy attempts to set up the camera atop a ladder but tumbles to the ground and the camera breaks. “Once Upon a Studio” is streaming now on Disney+.

Persons: Minnie Mouse, Tinker Bell, Burny, Burbank, “ Let’s, Minnie, “ yoo, Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Anna, Elsa, Jeremy Irons, Scar, King, Jodi Benson, Ariel, “, “ Aladdin, ”, Robin Williams, Brad Simonsen, Walt Disney, Mickey, Goofy Organizations: CNN, Disney, ”, Variety

☆ The last, best hope for homebuyers
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

But there may be one last hope for salvation for these hard-pressed homebuyers: brand-spanking new houses. Many builders are even dangling perks like cheaper loans or other discounts to ease the pain of higher mortgage rates. Homebuilding is typically a cyclical industry, following the ups and downs of the broader housing market. Of course, people will always move for reasons that have nothing to do with mortgage rates. Even if buyers get some relief from new housing construction, builders are still a long way off from bridging the housing shortfall.

Persons: Richard de Chazal, William Blair, de Chazal, Realtor.com, bottoming, John Burns, Black Knight, Mike Simonsen, Simonsen, bode, it's, Sheryl Palmer, Taylor Morrison, Palmer, Cristian deRitis, Jay Parsons, Matthew Walsh, Walsh, Freddie Mac, Lawrence Yun, They're, production's, James Rodriguez Organizations: Federal Reserve, National Association of Realtors, John Burns Research, Consulting, Altos Research, National Association of Homebuilders, Builders, Moody's

☆ Housing Market Ice Age: Fewer Sales, Higher Home Prices, Less Inventory
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( James Rodriguez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

The result is a housing market that's fundamentally out of whack. The housing market has changed for good — and with the benefit of time-earned wisdom, we can pinpoint the moment it entered a new era. Two big things happened during the initial response to the pandemic that launched the housing market past the point of no return. Both factors have propelled competition in the housing market to new heights and made it challenging for would-be buyers to find their footing. Some aspects of the pandemic-era housing market that once seemed "odd" are increasingly becoming new norms.

☆ 5 things wildly successful real-estate brokers do to get the most out of their days
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Zoe Rosenberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Fellow New York-based Douglas Elliman agent Lisa Simonsen also had a former career in fitness. As such, the agent who sold more than $100 million in 2022 makes sure she works out in her building's gym, usually on a spin bike, every morning. McKenzie RyanFormer Junior Olympian and real-estate wunderkind McKenzie Ryan used to compete on the national level in rhythmic gymnastics. Serhant gets a new SUV every year "just to update it," though he said he makes sure his car and clothes are never nicer than his clients'. The Douglas Elliman agent knows what she has to do to succeed: She was the top-selling agent in Miami in 2021 with $750 million in transactions.

☆ A day in the life of Lisa Simonsen, an NYC luxury real-estate agent who takes calls at 3 a.m., counts Kelly Ripa as a client, and closed over $100 million in deals in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Zoe Rosenberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Lisa Simonsen is a New York high-society fixture and a real-estate broker with Douglas Elliman. She has closed over $2 billion in deals since 2005, with over $100 million in sales in 2022. Her day starts at 5 a.m. with cycling and green juice and ends at 10 p.m. with client phone calls. These days she is among the top-selling brokers at brokerage Douglas Elliman, where she heads up the ten-member Simonsen Team. "I'm very passionate about my work," Simonsen said.

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