Dr. Ben Carson, HUD Nominee

Back on November 22nd, 2016, President Donald Trump announced via Twitter that he was considering Dr. Ben Carson for the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) position.

Fast forward to January 12th, 2017, Ben Carson sat for his hearing with the United States Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. While Dr. Carson, doesn't have any formal experience relating to the role in question, CNN reported that he spoke to his impoverished upbringing growing up in Detroit's inner city region.

In addition, CNN reports, "He also looked to quell concerns about his qualifications with a letter from four past HUD secretaries, including a Democrat who served in President Bill Clinton's administration, urging his confirmation."

 As far as his platform goes, Ben Carson has two clear beliefs:

1. Government programs benefiting those in need encourages dependency on the government for livelihood.
2. He is against housing discrimination, noticeably speaking to discrimination against individuals from the LGBTQ community.

On January 24th, Ben Carson received unanimous approval for a full Senate vote. While it's likely that Ben Carson will be officially approved as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, time will tell what his actual intentions are.

For questions on title and escrow services relating to real estate sale or mortgage transactions, contact Cambridge Title Company by phone at 224-330-1886 or via email at info@cambridgetitleco.com.

Mortgage Rates Decline

At the beginning of 2017, USA Today reports that "long-term mortgage rates marked their third week of declines this week, after snapping a nine-week run of increases". Freddie Mac Loan Mortgage Corporation, a public-sponsored enterprise, surveys its lenders between Monday and Wednesday every week. This past week, it was reveled that the 30-year fixed mortgage rates saw a drop from 4.12% to 4.09%. Having said that, this average is still higher than the average from this time last year, which was at 3.81%.

Along with the 30-year fixed mortgage rate, Freddie Mac's survey indicates that the 15-year fixed mortgage rate and the 5-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage also saw declines this past week. The 15-year FRM declined from 3.37% to 3.34%. The 5-year ARM decreased from 3.23% to 3.21%.

So how has this impacted mortgage applications as a whole? According to the Washington Post, "Both refinance and purchase application volume has trended down over the past three weeks, after rate reductions spurred by the Brexit vote drove increased activity,” said Lynn Fisher, the MBA’s vice president of research and economics. “As the total pool of borrowers who can benefit from a refinance continues to shrink, we continue to see weeks where small declines in average mortgage rates like we saw last week do not spur additional mortgage application activity."

In essence, even with the decline in mortgage rates, mortgage applications are not trending upward. For additional questions on mortgage rates and how they may impact you as a prospective home buyer, contact Cambridge Title Company at 224-330-1886 or at info@cambridgetitleco.com.

Champaign County Housing Market in 2017

The Illinois housing market is top-of-mind for those in real estate industry. While the situation has generally improved since the 2008 national housing market crash, they aren't as ideal as they were prebubble.

Dr. Geoffrey J.D. Hewings is the director of REAL and Professor Emeritus of Geography, of

Economics and of Urban and Regional Planning for the University of Illinois Department of Economics. When it comes to the Illinois housing market in its entirety, he believes that "Supply continues to be a problem, but prices of both regular and foreclosed properties increased and the forecasts suggest that these trends will continue into the first quarter of 2017." In addition, there are three key items to keep an eye on in 2017:

1. Low Interest Rates
2. Boosted Inflation
3. Lack of Home Availability

But how will Champaign, Illinois, Dr. Hewings' place of residence, be affected by these variables?

Jim Waller, President of Champaign County Association of REALTORS®, believes that his county's real estate market will be characterized by four primary facets in the coming year:

1. Higher Mortgage Rates
2. The Takeover of Millennial & Baby Boomers
3. Rising Consumer Confidence Boosting Home Sales
4. Lack of Home Inventory

So at a first glance, it appears that the lack of available homes is widespread throughout the state of Illinois, particularly in Champaign County. But as a counterbalance, home sales should be increasing which will meet the increasing demand from both the millennial and baby boomers age segments.

For additional information on how your county's housing market may be affected in 2017, please contact Cambridge Title Company via phone at 224-330-1886 or email at info@cambridgetitleco.com.

Kroll Bond Title Insurance Industry Report

Yahoo! Finance recently reported that Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA), a credit rating agency, had released its annual report on the United States title insurance sector. The report opens by saying, "While 2016 was an excellent year for the U.S. mortgage industry with almost $2 trillion in new loan originations, KBRA believes it was also likely to be the peak in terms of lending volumes for years to come. The Mortgage Bankers Association is forecasting a sharp decline in refinancing volumes in Q1 2017."

Despite the alleged decline, KBRA does hold the position that "the title insurance industry is well positioned to manage this considerable decline". This claim is supported by an all-time high for policyholder's surplus and expense and loss ratios nearing 15-year lows.

Despite this, "some regulatory concerns remain such as market share concentration, licensing and consumer value". That said, the general consensus is that the title insurance industry will be maneuver through these obstacles and "companies with more favorable expense management and relatively lower fixed costs should continue to report strong operating results".

For questions on how this outlook will affect title insurance policyholders and lenders, please contact Cambridge Title Company via phone at 224-330-1886 or email at info@cambridgetitleco.com.

2017 Real Estate Trends Worth Knowing

Fortune Finance recently published an article detailing real estate trends that will be on the rise throughout the next year. They entail the following:

1. Rising Rates


2. More Credit


3. More New Homes


4. The Continued Rise of Medium-sized Cities


5. Foreign Buyers Aren't Going Away

But how do these coming trends affect you? Let's go down the list.

1. With rising interest rates, there seems to be two separate mentalities: A) When rates rise, income rises so the housing marketing will be just fine, and B) Rising rates don't equate rising income levels, harming home-buying ability. In an article by CNBC, Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae's chief economist said, "If interest rates are rising because the economy is growing more rapidly, then, typically, incomes also rise, and the rise in incomes offset the increase in the size of the mortgage payment, and housing goes just fine." But what if income levels don't increase? After Donald Trump's presidential victory, Fortune also reported that "The increase in purchase activity was driven by borrowers seeking larger loans and that drove up the average loan amount on home purchase applications to $310 thousand, the highest in the survey, which dates back to 1990."


2. In the face of rising interest rates, loan borrowers are seeing additional credit granted. In 2015, Barack Obama's administration lowered its fees for first-time homebuyers and "the Federal Housing Administration will likely lower fees it charges first-time homebuyers" moving forward. As an added bonus, Yahoo! Finance reports that Federal Housing Administration loans come with three key benefits, including easy qualification, competitive rates, and low fees.


3. Because of the rising finances, the creation of homes is following suite, allowing for an economically feasible real estate market. Fortune reports that "average annual rate of new groundbreakings reaching a 1.163 million rate so far in 2016, up about 5% from 1.108 million in 2015". This allows for a greater selection of properties when considering purchasing that first home.


4. While large-scale metropolitan cities may contain the highest-paying jobs in the country, it's actually the medium-sized cities that provide affordable housing. This stems from a basic supply-and-demand model with the larger cities unable to keep up with new homes to meet those flocking from around the world.


5. Foreign buyers, particularly those from China, are seeking high-priced homes in large, metropolitan cities. In a recent blog post, we illustrated how China is directly affecting the U.S. real estate market. While this trend will be least likely to directly affect you, "U.S. and Europe continue to attract growing amounts of foreign capital", which will in turn, further develop the housing market and U.S. economy as a whole.

While these trends are said to characterize the pending real estate market, Cambridge Title Company can help you protect your interests with its title insurance and escrow services. For more information on how we do just that, please contact us via phone at 224-330-1886 or via email at info@cambridgetitleco.com.