Vendor Resource Management, Inc. announced that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded the company with a 10-year contract for program management, marketing, and other real estate services on the VA’s portfolio of sing-family residential real estate. Headquartered in Carrollton, Texas, VRM is a nationwide financial services solution and REO services company helping lenders, servicers, investors and government agencies increase compliance, reduce operational and reputational risk, decrease loss severity and improve origination and servicing returns.

A potential sales report released Tuesday showed an increase in existing-home sales for the Month of May despite the many issues facing home inventory. Industry professionals predict with the growing age of millennials and eventual starting of families, demand for housing will remain healthy. Rising rates and financing costs could be leaving existing homeowners as prisoners to their own homes. Keeping in mind the state of the market when looking at home sales at a particular time will give incite on whether it is a good time to buy or sell.

As real estate agents say, “location, location, location”—and that means if you’re located near a Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s, according to research. After studying the areas both before and after the stores were built, researchers found neighborhoods that previously were appreciating at normal or below normal levels started appreciating rapidly after opening. Either they know how to pick neighborhoods, or people truly love to live near Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s.

There are many factors that have affected homeownership rates after the 2008 financial crisis— specifically in regards to young adult social norms and changes in the housing market. The homeownership rate among 25- to 44-year olds has dropped 10 percent in the last decade and recent research shows this could be increased with closing the interracial gap in education and wealth. This research falls in line with statistics on diversity found in the corporate world.

The Government has been trying to figure out where the profits from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will go for over four years now, but according to a prominent hedge fund manager, it could go on another five more. When investors bought into the GSEs during the 2008 housing crash, they were under the impression that the allocation of profit would be amongst the shareholders. When the company changed their terms in 2012, a legal battle ensued that could last a total of 10 years.

Lower and moderate-income residents of Washington, D.C. are now able to afford homeownership thanks to the District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency’s (DCHFA) administering of the DC Housing and Community Development's Home Purchase Assistance Program (HPAP). Monday, the DCHFA announced their first closing under the program during Mayor Muriel Brown’s June Housing Bloom, a monthlong initiative showcasing how the public and private sectors are partnering to produce and preserve affordable housing and revitalize neighborhoods across D.C. After five years living in a small apartment with three children, the first family to receive assistance now owns a four level townhome.

Despite the housing shortage and April’s drop in home sales, the housing market not only returned to seasonally high sales, but set a post-recession record— the strongest home sales in the last nine years of the report. According to the National Housing Report, May sales increased 20.6 percent from April and 4.3 percent from May 2016. The only metro considered to be a buyers market in the U.S. for May was Miami, Florida, which was only 0.1 over a balanced market between buyer and seller.

The U.S. is embarking on its ninth year of economic expansion and Fannie Mae is predicting economic growth rebound. Consumer spending growth is expected to return to its position as the biggest contributor to economic growth. With labor and inventory shortages still prevalent, the housing market hasn’t changed very much and home prices are still on the rise. Based on their research, Fannie expects mortgage rates to remain supportive, but the outlook on existing home sales remains cautious.

Inventory was on everyone’s mind last week, and in the week ahead the New Home Sales Report and Existing Home Sales Report for May will be released Friday and Wednesday, respectively. With home buying putting undue stress on first time homebuyers, and a severe lack of inventory due to an unwillingness to sell and fewer new houses being built, it is becoming increasingly difficult for those that desire to purchase. The previous New Home Sales report was at nearly half a million—569,000—while existing homes counted 5.57 million sales, not enough to provide a relief for the growing market.

Potestivo & Associates, P.C., who specializes in the real estate finance and credit industry, is pleased to announce two attorneys from their Chicago team have been promoted to partner, effective June 12. Kimberly J. Goodell and Caleb J. Halberg will each serve in their new capacity as Assistant Vice President – Managing Attorney and are the newest members of the firm’s Omni Executive Committee.