Daily Archives: June 13, 2019

Realtor.com® to Open New Opcity Tech Hub in Downtown Austin

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The office will house nearly 200 employees and serve as a product and engineering hub for its fast-growing real estate technology platform

Austin, TX – June 13, 2019 (PRNewswire) Realtor.com®, operated by Move, Inc., today announced plans to open a second office in Austin. Its new downtown location will serve as a product and engineering hub for its Opcity business, the real estate technology platform that improves the home buying and selling experience by quickly connecting consumers to a real estate professional who meets their specific needs.

Named a Best Place to Work in 2019 by the Austin Business Journal and by both Inc. Magazine and the Austin American-Statesman in 2018, Opcity expects to move into its second location at 901 E. 6th St. – a 129,444-square-foot creative office building currently under construction, of which it will rent approximately 29,000 square feet – in the fall. It expects to house nearly 200 product, engineering, data science and analytics employees at the new site.

“This new location will give us access to a greater pool of resources and talent that will allow us to remain a leader in real estate innovation. Downtown Austin is a great tech hub and we’re excited to be back in the heart of it,” said Ben Rubenstein, CEO of Opcity.

The space offers natural light and the ability to tailor the layout to Opcity’s specific needs. It is being designed by architectural firm Perkins + Will to mirror other realtor.com® locations. The design will incorporate home-inspired furniture and decor to reinforce realtor.com®‘s mission of making buying and selling homes easier and more rewarding. To inspire employees to do their best work, the office will be equipped with a fully stocked kitchenette, meeting and huddle rooms, secure bike racks, a dog park, showers, and more.

The 901 E. 6th location is in close proximity to many restaurants as well as the highway and Metrorail, making it an ideal location and easy commute from anywhere in the city.

Founded in 2015, Opcity is a fast-growing technology platform that uses data science and machine learning to connect home buyers and sellers with a real estate professional that meets their specific needs. Move, Inc. acquired Opcity in October 2018 to serve as the foundation for building a highly personalized, guided experience that helps consumers navigate the complexities of buying and selling a home.

Speaking in an earnings call last month, Move owner News Corp’s Chief Executive Robert Thomson said that the acquisition of Opcity represents “an investment in future growth,” and noted that “providing higher quality leads to real estate professionals is part of the changing U.S. property market and will result in higher quality returns for realtor.com®.” 

Real estate revenues at Move rose 14 percent year-over-year as of the third quarter of Fiscal Year 2019, and realtor.com®experienced record traffic in April, up 7 percent from the prior year to over 69 million uniques, leading to 209 million visits.  According to April data from Comscore, realtor.com® has a greater number of visits per visitor compared to the competition, with more total views per user across all platforms.

Opcity currently employs approximately 600 consumer experience, sales, marketing, finance and accounting employees at its 6800 Burleson Road headquarters location.

To see a complete list of open positions, visit opcity.com/careers

About Move, Inc. 
Move, Inc., a subsidiary of News Corp [Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA] [ASX: NWS, NWSLV], operates a family of websites and mobile experiences for consumers and real estate professionals through all stages of the home journey. This includes realtor.com®, a leading online real estate destination that pioneered digital real estate more than 20 years ago. Operating under a perpetual license from the National Association of REALTORS®, realtor.com®, offers the most MLS-listed for-sale listings among national real estate portals, and access to information, tools and professional expertise that help people move confidently through every step of their home journey. Through its Opcity platform, realtor.com® uses data science and machine learning to connect consumers with a real estate professional based on their specific buying and selling needs.

For more information, contact: 
Lexie Holbert at lexie.puckett@move.com

LendingTree Study Reveals Dads Are the No. 1 Source of Financial Advice

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Ahead of Father’s Day, LendingTree surveyed Americans to find out how dads impact their children’s money habits

Charlotte, NC – June 12, 2019 (PRNewswire) LendingTree®, the nation’s leading online loan marketplace, released its study on dads’ roles as financial models. The survey found that 43 percent of respondents go to their dad when they need financial advice, and 23 percent would ask their dad about money before consulting a financial advisor (14 percent).

LendingTree tree surveyed over 1,000 Americans about their dad’s role as a financial role model and the impact dads have on developing money habits.

Key findings

  • The survey found that 43 percent of survey respondents go to their dad when they need financial advice — and 23 percent would ask their dad about money before consulting a financial advisor (14 percent).
  • About half (49 percent) of respondents consider their father to be their financial role model, and about 56 percent say their dad helped them develop good money habits growing up.
  • Buying a car (64 percent), budgeting (38 percent) and career advice (37 percent) are the most common ways dads have helped their children navigate their personal finances.
  • Millennials are more likely than any other age group to value their father’s financial advice.
  • More than two-thirds (68 percent) will use strategies their father taught them when teaching their own children about money.

To view the full report, visit https://www.lendingtree.com/personal/dads-are-the-no-1-source-of-financial-advice-survey/. 

Methodology

LendingTree commissioned Qualtrics to conduct an online survey of 1,049 Americans, with the sample base proportioned to represent the general population. The survey was fielded May 13-15, 2019.

About LendingTree
LendingTree (NASDAQ: TREE) is the nation’s leading online marketplace that connects consumers with the choices they need to be confident in their financial decisions. LendingTree empowers consumers to shop for financial services the same way they would shop for airline tickets or hotel stays, comparing multiple offers from a nationwide network of over 500 partners in one simple search, and can choose the option that best fits their financial needs. Services include mortgage loans, mortgage refinances, auto loans, personal loans, business loans, student refinances, credit cards and more. Through the My LendingTree platform, consumers receive free credit scores, credit monitoring and recommendations to improve credit health. My LendingTree proactively compares consumers’ credit accounts against offers on our network, and notifies consumers when there is an opportunity to save money. In short, LendingTree’s purpose is to help simplify financial decisions for life’s meaningful moments through choice, education and support. LendingTree, LLC is a subsidiary of LendingTree, Inc. For more information, go to www.lendingtree.com, dial 800-555-TREE, like our Facebook page and/or follow us on Twitter @LendingTree.

MEDIA CONTACT:
press@lendingtree.com

U.S. Completed Foreclosures Decrease 50 Percent From A Year Ago

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Foreclosure Starts Continue Upward Trend in Florida; New Jersey, Maryland and Florida Rank Highest in Foreclosure Rate; Overall Foreclosure Activity Decreases 22 Percent from a Year Ago

Irvine, CA – June 13, 2019 (PRNewswire) ATTOM Data Solutions, curator of the nation’s premier property database and first property data provider of Data-as-a-Service (DaaS), today released its May 2019 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 56,152 U.S. properties in May 2019, up 1 percent from the previous month but down 22 percent from a year ago for the 11th consecutive month with an annual decline.

“We are continuing to see a downward trend with overall foreclosure activity, especially in completed foreclosures declining year after year,” said Todd Teta, chief product officer at ATTOM Data Solutions. “However, in May 2019 we did see an uptick in the number of states increasing in foreclosure starts going from 17 to 23 states rising annually, and again Florida is bucking the national trend with a continuous annual increase.”

May 2019 Foreclosure Starts by County

Foreclosure completions decline annually in every state except Vermont
Lenders completed foreclosures (REO) on 10,634 U.S. properties in May 2019, down 4 percent from the previous month and down 50 percent from a year ago – a 7th consecutive annual decline.

States across the nation, except for Vermont all saw annual declines in completed foreclosures. Those that saw an annual decline of more than 50 percent in REOs included Michigan (down 84 percent); Massachusetts (down 74 percent); Indiana (down 67 percent); Kentucky (down 66 percent); and New Jersey (down 64 percent). 

In looking at those greater metropolitan areas with a population of 200,000 or more and those that had at least 100 completed foreclosures in May 2019, with double-digit decreases were Birmingham, Alabama (down 67 percent); New York, New York (down 59 percent); Washington, DC (down 58 percent); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (down 57 percent); and Detroit, Michigan (down 54 percent).

Florida foreclosure starts continuing double-digit annual increase
Lenders started the foreclosure process on 30,554 U.S. properties in May 2019, while slightly up (less than 1 percent) from last month they are down 9 percent from May 2018 –fourth consecutive month with an annual decline.

Counter to the national trend states that saw an increase in foreclosure starts in May 2019 were Wisconsin (up 99 percent); Kentucky (up 64 percent); Louisiana (up 53 percent); Missouri (up 34 percent); and Florida (up 23 percent). This is the 12th consecutive month that Florida has seen double-digit annual increases in foreclosure starts.

“To put the numbers in perspective, I would use a full year, perhaps 2006 as a ‘normal’ benchmark number. That would be the last year before the real estate world crashed,” said Bruce Norris, president of The Norris Group. “The total foreclosure starts for Florida in 2006 was 102,875. In 2018, there were 33,031 foreclosure starts. Even at a 25% increase over 2018, 2019 will still be less than 50% of 2006. An increase of some 8,000 foreclosure starts is not a game changer at this point.”

States that posted annual decreases in foreclosure starts in May 2019, included Texas (down 39 percent); Pennsylvania(down 38 percent); Massachusetts (down 34 percent); Oklahoma (down 29 percent); and New York (down 25 percent).

Those major metropolitan statistical areas with a population greater than 1,000,000 that saw an annual decrease in foreclosure starts included Indianapolis, Indiana (down 82 percent); Houston, Texas (down 65 percent); San Jose, California (down 58 percent); Austin, Texas (down 41 percent); and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (down 34 percent).

New Jersey, Maryland and Florida rank top 3 in worst foreclosure rate
Nationwide one in every 2,411 housing units had a foreclosure filing in May 2019.

States with the highest foreclosure rates were New Jersey (one in every 1,117 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Maryland (one in every 1,127 housing units); Florida (one in every 1,238 housing units); Delaware (one in every 1,279 housing units); and Illinois (one in every 1,363 housing units).

Among 220 metropolitan statistical areas with a population of at least 200,000, those with the highest foreclosure rates in May 2019 were Atlantic City, New Jersey (one in every 680 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Jacksonville, Florida(one in every 764 housing units); 
Fayetteville, North Carolina (one in every 777 housing units); Columbia, South Carolina (one in every 936 housing units); and Rockford, Illinois (one in every 941 housing units).

Report methodology
The ATTOM Data Solutions U.S. Foreclosure Market Report provides a count of the total number of properties with at least one foreclosure filing entered into the ATTOM Data Warehouse during the month and quarter. Some foreclosure filings entered into the database during the quarter may have been recorded in the previous quarter. Data is collected from more than 2,200 counties nationwide, and those counties account for more than 90 percent of the U.S. population. ATTOM’s report incorporates documents filed in all three phases of foreclosure: Default — Notice of Default(NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS); Auction — Notice of Trustee Sale and Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NTS and NFS); and Real Estate Owned, or REO properties (that have been foreclosed on and repurchased by a bank). For the annual, midyear and quarterly reports, if more than one type of foreclosure document is received for a property during the timeframe, only the most recent filing is counted in the report. The annual, midyear, quarterly and monthly reports all check if the same type of document was filed against a property previously. If so, and if that previous filing occurred within the estimated foreclosure timeframe for the state where the property is located, the report does not count the property in the current year, quarter or month.

About ATTOM Data Solutions
ATTOM Data Solutions provides premium property data to power products that improve transparency, innovation, efficiency and disruption in a data-driven economy. ATTOM multi-sources property tax, deed, mortgage, foreclosure, environmental risk, natural hazard, and neighborhood data for more than 155 million U.S. residential and commercial properties covering 99 percent of the nation’s population. A rigorous data management process involving more than 20 steps validates, standardizes and enhances the data collected by ATTOM, assigning each property record with a persistent, unique ID — the ATTOM ID. The 9TB ATTOM Data Warehouse fuels innovation in many industries including mortgage, real estate, insurance, marketing, government and more through flexible data delivery solutions that include bulk file licenses, APIs, market trends, marketing lists, match & append and introducing the first property data deliver solution, a cloud-based data platform that streamlines data management – Data-as-a-Service (DaaS).

Media Contact:
Christine Stricker
949.748.8428
christine.stricker@attomdata.com

Data and Report Licensing:
949.502.8313
datareports@attomdata.com