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» VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 27 loan officers are investing in understanding how to work with them. Younger customers expect personal support when needed, but also 24-hour access with online capabilities. It is understandable if some millennials are a little baffled by why the mortgage origination process is so complex and not as streamlined as other purchase experiences. ere's work yet that needs to be done, even though some progress has been made. e home ownership rate for this generation will likely be lower than previous generations, just because of the nature of work, which is concentrated in dense areas, and the fact that this generation is a little more interested in flexibility and in experiences over possessions. In general, however, surveys suggest aspirations for home ownership are still there, and some millennials are acting on that, especially once they get married and have children. HOW DO DAMAGING NATURAL DISASTERS IMPACT HOUSING? e costs for natural disasters have been doubling every decade, even when you adjust for inflation. Some of that is because we've been building more, sometimes in marginal areas. ere also seems to be an increase in the severity of floods, hurricanes and fires. ese trends are likely to continue, and so it will be an increasing burden on homeowners as insurance costs go up. I live in California and the cost of fire insurance has gone up, sometimes dramatically, for people in fire-prone areas. It is understandable, but it's certainly a hit to their finances. e threat of power outages in California on windy days will be the last straw for some people on the fence about moving to a lower-cost state. California is already one of the three weakest housing markets at the moment, according to e National Association of Realtors' Buyer Traffic Index, along with West Virginia and Connecticut. Likewise, Florida has the highest insurance costs in the country, which is understandable given the hurricanes. e National Flood Insurance Program, in my opinion, is generally underpriced, which encourages building in areas that are going to get hit. Increasing natural hazard risks have not caused a fundamental shift in home prices, and perhaps part of that is because lenders don't usually price mortgages for the regional natural hazard risk; they just require flood insurance in specific zones. I don't see that changing anytime soon. WHAT ARE THE PRIMARY MISCONCEPTIONS YOU ENCOUNTER ABOUT THE CURRENT STATE OF THE HOUSING MARKET? ere's too much fear of a major home price downturn. Fundamentals remain favorable because we're underbuilt. e downward spiral that we got into last time isn't going to happen. ere will be personal pain due to additional foreclosures, but we shouldn't see it feeding on itself like it did last time. THE LEADER IN DEFAULT SERVICING NEWS Help shape the next issue of DS News. Drop us a line at Editor@DSNews.com. "ere's too much fear of a major downturn…e downward spiral that we got into last time isn't going to happen. ere will be personal pain due to additional foreclosures, but we shouldn't see it feeding on itself like we did last time."