Banks face higher capital requirements:  50% of banks disappear.

Banks face higher capital requirements:  50% of banks disappear.

Major banks are facing one of the biggest regulatory overhauls since the financial crisis of 2008, setting up a major clash over the amount of capital that they have to set aside to weather downturns.  At the same time regional banks are already struggling with...
New Senate bill, predatory investing, to curb corporate investors from buying up single-family homes

New Senate bill, predatory investing, to curb corporate investors from buying up single-family homes

Lawmakers introduced a bill Tuesday aimed at curtailing investor activity in the housing market that they say is driving up home prices. The Stop Predatory Investing Act is targeting single family investors.  What is in the newly proposed bill and how will this impact...
Why do consumers keep spending and how does this impact real estate

Why do consumers keep spending and how does this impact real estate

According to a recent Federal Reserve Report, fourteen million mortgages were refinanced during the COVID refinance boom, and these refinances will have effects on the mortgage market, real estate, and the general economy for years to come. An astonishing 430 billion...
Rising Rates increase Distressed Homeowners. Regulators have a fix.

Rising Rates increase Distressed Homeowners. Regulators have a fix.

I always cringe when I see a press release that “regulators” have a solution!  FHA has yet another new proposal that sounds great on the surface, but as typical misses some very important items that will cost taxpayers millions or considerably more as government...
Wages continue higher, productivity falls fastest in 75 years, impact on real estate, inflation, and rates

Wages continue higher, productivity falls fastest in 75 years, impact on real estate, inflation, and rates

US labor productivity tumbled by 7.5% in the first quarter of 2023 – the largest decline in worker output per hour since 1947, according to Labor Department data released Thursday.  What does declining productivity mean for interest rates, commercial and residential...
Hot inflation puts further rate hike in play, impact on real estate

Hot inflation puts further rate hike in play, impact on real estate

Although the market rejoiced in the recent fed “skip”, as you dig into the numbers more the outcome is a lot less sanguine.  Why does inflation continue running hotter than anticipated?  What does this mean for interest rates and real estate?  What happens when...