Redfin: Spring housing market 'Hot But Cold'

Good morning. Welcome to the third week of May (already)! Today's newsletter is 789 words or a 3½-minute read. Let’s dive in.

1. Redfin: Spring housing market 'Hot But Cold'

Fewer homes are selling than usual this spring–but the ones that are changing hands are going fast, with a small pool of buyers circling an even smaller pool of listings, according to a new report from Redfin. The report shows a 19% decline in new home listings, but despite this, nearly half of the homes are selling within two weeks.

“This spring’s housing market is hot but cold, with scant listings making it less active than usual but fast and competitive at the same time,” said Taylor Marr, Redfin’s deputy chief economist. “The good news is that buyers are out there, trying to find a seat in a game of musical chairs. The bad news is there aren’t enough chairs.”

Marr said many potential home sales are locked up until mortgage rates fall “to a level for which current owners would be willing to trade in their 3% rate. The problem is that’s unlikely to happen anytime soon, as although inflation is steadily coming down from last year’s record-high levels, it’s still above target.”

2. Former Live Well CFO avoids prison

Former Live Well Financial Inc. CFO Eric Rohr has been sentenced to time served and three years of supervised release for his involvement in a $200 million bond fraud scheme.

Rohr cooperated with prosecutors, leading to a lighter sentence compared to the maximum of 17 years in prison.

He helped convict Live Well's founder Michael Hild, who received a 44-month prison sentence. The scheme involved inflating Live Well's bond portfolio to obtain more loans. Restitution for the bond fraud victims, estimated at $69 million, is yet to be determined.

A MESSAGE FROM MAXWELL

Winning Agent Business: Guide to a Strong Referral Network

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3. Multifamily mortgage outlook reduced again by MBA

The MBA has lowered its outlook for multifamily lending in 2023 due to ongoing sluggishness in the commercial real estate sector. The projected total for multifamily mortgage originations is now $375 billion, which is $9 billion lower than the previous forecast.

"Higher interest rates, uncertainty about property values, and questions about the outlook for the cash flows of some properties led to a slowdown in commercial real estate transactions and financing beginning in the middle of 2022," said Jamie Woodwell, head of commercial real estate research, in a press release. "That slowdown is likely to persist through much of this year as investors, lenders, and others look for greater transparency into the markets."

Multifamily originations were down 44% in Q1 2023 compared with Q4 2022, a slightly higher pace than the 42% decline in all forms of commercial real estate-secured lending. The MBA's forecast for the multifamily market in 2024 is $456 billion.

4. More Nuggets

💎 Dimon hands. Some institutional homebuyers are on pause right now. Not J.P. Morgan Asset Management. JPMorgan wants to be your landlord. (Fortune)

📉 Home Point reported another quarterly net loss of $133.8 million on Friday morning, just two days after announcing that it is being sold to Mr. Cooper for $324 million in cash. (GNW)

🔑 In other news: A new mortgage that requires no deposit has launched in Britain to help renters make the jump onto the housing ladder. (CNBC)

5. AI mortgage tools keep launching

As artificial intelligence continues to advance (fast), technology companies in home finance are leveraging its potential for increased efficiency. Here are five recent AI developments in the space.

• Areal introduces a closing disclosure balancer to ensure data alignment and compliance with mortgage settlement regulations.

• Tavant adds asset analysis capabilities to its AI Touchless Lending platform and partners with Propmix for appraisal digitization.

• Ocrulus utilizes OpenAI, Google, and Amazon tools to automate document data extraction and improve algorithms for lending processes.

• Restb.ai collaborates with Black Knight and Georgia MLS to enhance photo compliance and property tagging tools for real estate listings.

• Homegenius, a subsidiary of Radian, unveils an AI-backed home search portal, homegeniusIQ, to assist homebuyers in assessing room conditions and value through photo analysis.

☀️ See you on Wednesday!

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