Office of the Chief Economist

Blog

CoreLogic’s Office of the Chief Economist (OCE) employs some of the brightest minds and most often quoted professionals in the housing ecosystem, including Molly Boesel, Selma Hepp and other experts who know how to best interpret data trends and tell you what they mean. The OCE authors CoreLogic’s regular monthly economic reports: The Home Price Index (HPI), the Loan Performance Index (LPI), the Single-Family Rent Index (SFRI) and the S&P Case-Shiller Index (CSI). Our economists also routinely weigh in on other key housing topics on our blog, podcasts and videos. Read previous blog posts from CoreLogic's economists.
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October 11, 2018

Debt-to-Income Is the Number One Reason for Denied Mortgage Applica...

Debt-to-Income ratio has risen over the last few years Whether you are a first-time or seasoned homebuyer, with the joy and excitement of buying a home also generally comes the task of obtaining mortgage finance. However, every year, the dream of becoming a first-time homeowner or trading up may ...

August 22, 2018

Why Are Jumbo Loans Cheaper than Conforming Loans?

Increased Conforming G-Fee, Higher Jumbo Credit Standard, and Risk-Based Pricing Historically large-balance mortgage loans, known as ‘jumbo’ loans, had a higher interest rate than conforming loans.[1] However, since mid-2013 a jumbo loan has been cheaper to borrow than a conforming mortgage ...

December 15, 2017

Home Price Winners and Losers

A Deeper Look at the CoreLogic HPI Shows Some Losers Can Be Big Winners Since the U.S. began recovering from the home-price bust in 2006, economists have used the peak-to-current change in prices as a measure of recovery in markets. However, the peak-to-current change hyper-focuses on economic lo...

December 1, 2017

How Much Is Your Home’s Collateral Value?

Traditional Appraisal and Automated Valuation Models Don’t Always See Eye to Eye Recently the two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced plans to waive the requirement of a professional appraisal on qualified purchase loans with a loan-to-value ratio at or be...

November 22, 2017

Millennial Homebuyers Are Not All the Same

Older Millennials Closer to Generation Xers than to Younger Millennials Millennials, born from 1981 to 1997, accounted for 40 percent of homebuyer loan applications during January to September of this year.[1] However, there are notable differences between the younger millennial homebuyers (...

November 10, 2016

Effective Age Versus Actual Age

An Important Appraisal Question Have you ever thought about how the components of your home contribute to the age of your home? The roof, siding, trim and windows, how long do they all last? How about the furnace and water heater? While electrical and plumbing fixtures, carpet, vinyl, flooring ma...

July 22, 2016

Boomerang Buyers Making a Gradual Return

Less Than Half Return Even 16 Years After Foreclosure Next year marks seven years since the foreclosure crisis peaked in 2010, during which enough time would have passed for the black mark of foreclosure to be erased from millions of consumer credit reports. In total, 1.9 million homeowners who f...

November 12, 2015

Demographic Bulge to Drive Long-term Home Sale and Rental Markets

Millennials & Babyboomers Will be Strong Tailwinds Going Forward Demographic forces will power housing demand in coming years as the millennial cohorts come into prime ages for forming households and buying first or second homes. The housing market has begun to feel the effects of this trend ...

July 13, 2015

Strong Dollar Discourages Many Foreign Homebuyers in the US

Home sales in the U.S. during the first four months of 2015 have been the best in eight years. Relative to the same period one year ago, sales jumped 9 percent, helped by a drop in fixed mortgage rates of almost one-half a percentage point. However, one group of homebuyers has backed off over the...