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42 INDEX REVEALS INCREASES ACROSS THE NATION S&P Dow Jones Indices released the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index accounting for July 2017 and showing that home prices continued to increase across the country over the last year. e index reported a 5.9 percent annual gain in July, a slight increase from the previous month. e 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 5.2 percent, while the 20-City Composite posted a 5.8 percent year-over-year gain. According to David M. Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, consumers, through home buying and other spending, are the driving force in the current economic expansion. Regionally, Seattle, Washington, Portland, Oregon, and Las Vegas, Nevada, reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities. According to the data, Seattle "led the way with a 13.5 percent year-over-year price increase, followed by Portland with a 7.6 percent increase, and Las Vegas with a 7.4 percent increase." In addition, another 12 cities had greater price increases in the year ending July 2017. "While the gains in home prices in recent months have been in the Pacific Northwest, the leadership continues to shift among regions and cities across the country," said Blitzer. "Dallas and Denver are also experiencing rapid price growth. Las Vegas, one of the hardest- hit cities in the housing collapse, saw the third- fastest increase in the year through July 2017." Blitzer continued to explain other housing indicators that will have the market dealing with confronters. "e housing market will face two contradicting challenges during the rest of 2017 and into 2018," he said. "First, rebuilding following hurricanes across Texas, Florida, and other parts of the South will lead to further supply pressures. Second, the Fed's recent move to shrink its balance sheet could push mortgage rates upward." THE AMERICAN DREAM: HOMEOWNERSHIP STILL INCLUDED? In a recent report released September 2017 by PurePoint Financial, a division of MUFG Union Bank, N.A., PurePoint said the U.S. savings rate dropping to a five-year low could be followed by a redefinition of the American Dream. According to the report, 71 percent of Americans believe the American Dream has changed, and 64 percent define financial success as simply not living paycheck-to- paycheck. ough most Americans admitted to being concerned about the future, one-third of Americans save 10 percent or less of each paycheck and half have no retirement savings. In an earlier report, Apartment List found that 80 percent of the 24,000 millennial renters it surveyed want to purchase a home or condo, but due to their savings, it could mean waiting at least two decades before they can afford to. "ese results underscore the long-term crisis that homeownership in the United States may face, as millennials delay buying a home until later in life," the Apartment List report said. One of the most pressing questions in the housing market is whether the nation's largest generation will purchase homes at rates similar to their parents or if they will continue to rent long into adulthood, or even indefinitely, according to the report. At the FORCE Rally within the 2017 Five Star Conference and Expo, Nancy Braun, Owner of Showcase Realty, LLC in Charlotte, North Carolina, said to navigate this problem, agents and brokers have to be creative on how to help millennials' save or get support for their down payment. "I just heard of a really interesting program in Seattle, where a company is going to pay millennials' down payment," Braun said. "In exchange, the new owner of the property will participate in Airbnb and split the profit with the company. Obviously, people are getting creative as far as giving them options." PROTECTING DATA PROPERLY Amidst the aftermath of the Equifax data breach, cybercrime is a timely issue facing the financial services industry. News reports respond with the release of its most recent surveys and guidance to better ensure cybersecurity. In response to Equifax's data breach, LendEDU made projections based on surveys from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) complaint data. e report outlined that the bureau has received a total of 172,390 complaints in 2017. According to LendEDU, out of those total complaints, 51,696 were listed as "credit reporting related" complaints, representing 32.17 percent of all complaints and making it the largest type of grievance. To combat cybercrime challenges, External IT's latest white paper report follows the latest cybersecurity risk alert from the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE), offering guidance on the security issues financial firms face daily. "Dealing with cybersecurity incidents is not a question of 'if ' it happens, but rather 'when'," said VP of Solutions & Security at External IT Justin Kapahi. "We applaud the OCIE initiatives but believe their recommendations are a bit broad and hard for advisors, especially those who don't have expertise in security and IT, to follow." External IT's white paper details the firm's observations in the field and offers suggestions for stronger cybersecurity practices, including "implementing and documenting proper controls, enforcing and testing controls, implementing security training programs, evaluating risk and data exposure, and performing thorough due diligence on vendors." Kapahi said that with these practices applied, firms can stay ahead of federal and state regulations because any response to a new rule won't require a dramatic overhaul to their IT and cyber programs. "e cyber threat is real, and advisors who are unprepared should seriously consider partnering with an IT provider specializing in the financial sector to help them secure their firm's data, as well as to meet regulatory requirements," Kapahi said.

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