C21 Market Update – February 2020
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Daily Archives: March 16, 2020
Buying, Selling or Just Curious – Realtor.com® Helps You Determine What a Home is Worth
Estimated home values from three highly respected sources now available on for-sale and off-market homes
Santa Clara, CA – March 12, 2020 (PRNewswire) To help provide consumers with the information they need to make confident choices, realtor.com® announced today that it now displays estimated property values from three widely respected sources on for-sale and off-market properties. Realtor.com® is the only national home search site to offer a range of values from third party sources.
To provide more insight into a home’s value, realtor.com® is partnering with the same trusted data providers used by lenders and insurance companies to estimate a property’s value. While not an appraisal, this data will empower consumers to make more informed and confident decisions when buying or selling a home.
“A home is often a person’s largest asset, so it’s natural to wonder what it is worth. Additionally, everyone wants to make sure they’re getting a fair deal when buying or selling,” said Todd Callow, vice president, product management, realtor.com®. “By providing consumers with multiple estimates from the same sources that financial institutions rely on to estimate a home’s value, we are able to offer a broader set of data to help our users make informed decisions about buying and selling homes.”
Many factors go into accurately estimating the value of a home including location, size, finishes, school districts and much more; so, property estimates can vary from one source to the next. Although no automated model is 100 percent accurate, providing data from multiple sources, each with their own unique algorithms, enables consumers to have a more complete picture of home value. While these data sources add a layer of transparency and show consumers the information often only available to financial institutions, they are not a replacement for the value gained from speaking to a local real estate professional.
In addition to being included on for-sale listings, the values will also appear in the My Home portal, realtor.com®’s dashboard for homeowners to track everything about their home including value, equity and mortgage, all in one place. This will further help homeowners to understand the value of their home and make decisions about refinancing, remodeling, neighborhood changes and more.
Realtor.com® is a trusted source for accurate and transparent real estate information and listings. These home value estimates add an important data point from which consumers can more easily buy and sell with confidence.
Home values are now available for web and mobile web with iOS and Android coming soon. To see the new home values, visit the My Home portal or property listings on realtor.com®. To learn more visit: realtor.com/estimates.
About realtor.com®
Realtor.com® makes buying, selling and living in homes easier and more rewarding for everyone. Realtor.com® pioneered the world of digital real estate 20 years ago, and today through its website and mobile apps is a trusted source for the information, tools and professional expertise that help people move confidently through every step of their home journey. Using proprietary data science and machine learning technology, realtor.com® pairs buyers and sellers with local agents in their market, helping take the guesswork out of buying and selling a home. For professionals, realtor.com® is a trusted provider of consumer connections and branding solutions that help them succeed in today’s on-demand world. Realtor.com® is operated by News Corp [Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA] [ASX: NWS, NWSLV] subsidiary Move, Inc. under a perpetual license from the National Association of REALTORS®. For more information, visitrealtor.com®.
Media Contact
Nicole Murphy, nicole.murphy@move.com
Resilience of U.S. Economy Tested by COVID-19 Outbreak and Oil Price Shock
Low Mortgage Rate Environment Likely to Support Housing, Spur Refinance Activity
Washington, D.C. – March 12, 2020 (PRNewswire) According to the latest commentary from the Fannie Mae (OTCQB: FNMA) Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) Group, the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak and sharp decline in oil prices are likely to result in decreased economic growth. Assuming the outbreak is relatively short-lived, the ESR Group is currently forecasting 1.8 percent full-year 2020 growth, down from its prior month forecast of 2.2 percent. Real GDP growth is now forecast to approach zero in the second quarter before an expected recovery in the second half of the year. However, if the crisis worsens considerably or lasts longer than a few months, a more substantial slowdown or contraction in the global economy is possible. In response, the ESR Group expects the Federal Reserve to maintain its accommodative posture and reduce the federal funds rate by an additional 50 basis points at its next meeting. In early 2021, assuming greater economic stability, the ESR Group expects the Fed to begin raising rates.
While uncertainty and heightened financial volatility may soften demand for “big ticket” items including home purchases, the ESR Group expects historically low mortgage rates to provide some offsetting relief. The lower interest rate environment is likely to continue to support housing and fuel a surge in refinance activity, even as macroeconomic growth slows.
“The recent shocks to the global economy are unprecedented and have introduced immense uncertainty into our economic forecast. While we are still projecting modest growth in the coming months, the impact of the coronavirus threatens the longest expansion in U.S. history,” said Fannie Mae Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Doug Duncan. “The rapid international spread of the coronavirus and Saudi Arabia’s decision to dramatically increase oil production – and the resulting impacts on financial market volatility and consumer behavior – led us to revise downward our second-quarter growth forecast to near-zero and our full-year 2020 forecast to 1.8 percent from last month’s 2.2 percent. However, those forecasts are subject to significant uncertainty, depending on the extent and duration of the coronavirus outbreak, its impact on consumer and business behavior, and government policy response. We expect the FOMC to cut the federal funds rate by an additional 50 basis points at its next meeting, adding to its 50-basis-point cut from earlier this month.”
Visit the Economic & Strategic Research site at fanniemae.com to read the full March 2020 Economic Outlook, including the Economic Developments Commentary, Economic Forecast, Housing Forecast, and Multifamily Market Commentary. To receive e-mail updates with other housing market research from Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research Group, please click here.
About Fannie Mae
Fannie Mae helps make the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage and affordable rental housing possible for millions of Americans. We partner with lenders to create housing opportunities for families across the country. We are driving positive changes in housing finance to make the home buying process easier, while reducing costs and risk. To learn more, visit:
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Fannie Mae Newsroom
https://www.fanniemae.com/news
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Opinions, analyses, estimates, forecasts, and other views of Fannie Mae’s Economic & Strategic Research (ESR) Group included in these materials should not be construed as indicating Fannie Mae’s business prospects or expected results, are based on a number of assumptions, and are subject to change without notice. How this information affects Fannie Mae will depend on many factors. Although the ESR Group bases its opinions, analyses, estimates, forecasts, and other views on information it considers reliable, it does not guarantee that the information provided in these materials is accurate, current, or suitable for any particular purpose. Changes in the assumptions or the information underlying these views could produce materially different results. The analyses, opinions, estimates, forecasts, and other views published by the ESR Group represent the views of that group as of the date indicated and do not necessarily represent the views of Fannie Mae or its management.