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94 upwards to usher in 2018," said Young. According to the data, Western U.S. remained the hottest housing market, with Seattle, Las Vegas, and San Francisco report- ing the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities covered under the index's 20-City Composite. ough the overall 20-City Composite posted a 6.3 percent year-over-year gain, slightly down from 6.4 percent in the previous month, Seattle posted a 12.7 percent year-over- year increase in home prices—leading the market for home prices. Seattle was followed by Las Vegas which showed an 11.1 percent increase, and San Francisco with a 9.2 percent increase in home prices. "Seattle and Las Vegas had the fastest growing prices for the second month in a row and continued their double-digit growth in December. Prices are up throughout the country, but these two markets are seeing the growth that's almost double the U.S. average," said Joe Kirchner, Senior Economist at Realtor. com. "is year, we could see Las Vegas tak- ing the top spot from Seattle in the 20-City composite." their 12-month bank statement program to 90 percent loan-to-value (LTV) with no mortgage insurance requirement. CSC has eliminated the need for 24 months of bank statements on the Maggi program, again adding speed and efficiency to the process. e lender fee on the Maggi (Alt-A) product has decreased from $1,195 to $995. Furthermore, all rates on all products have decreased by as much as .25 percent. "We believe the time is right for these prod- uct updates, and considering our last five years of loan performance, these changes warrant incorporation," said Will Fisher, SVP of Sales and Marketing for CSC. Citadel Servicing Corporation, the first Lender to reenter the mortgage lending space formally known as subprime, and now renamed by CSC as "non-prime," provides financing for both owner-occupied and non- owner occupied residential properties. Estab- lished in 2004, Citadel Servicing Corporation provides an array of non-traditional financial lending products for borrowers with inconsis- tent past credit histories and allows for alterna- tive sources of income documentation. CSC services all loans originated by its efforts and currently works with Mortgage Professionals exclusively via a wholesale or correspondent relationship. WASHINGTON West Remains Most Expensive Region Home prices continued their upward climb over the last 12 months, ending 2017 with a growth of 6.3 percent according to the December 2017 data on the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index that was released by S&P Global on Tuesday. "Home prices capped the year on a high, reflecting 2017's favorable economic conditions which were characterized by strong consumer fundamentals such as job growth and low unemployment. Demand also grew with mortgage rates in December holding below 4 percent despite a mid-month interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve," said Cheryl Young, Senior Economist at Trulia. However, these numbers could also herald another tough home-buying season as inven- tory remains scarce going into 2018. "e stage is set for another tough home buying season. Starter home buyers will again bear the brunt of frustration as affordability remains out of reach, exacerbated by mortgage rates marching were some new additions to the company's top 10 list of core-based statistical areas (CBSAs) that saw value gains this month, and two dominant CBSAs dropped off the list since the first time in 2017—San Francisco and San Jose. Despite not making the cut, San Fran- cisco and San Jose still maintain their top two positions for the highest average selling price. San Francisco showed a 59 percent increase in average home price compared to pre-crash high to $1.35 million and San Jose showed 4 percent increase to $1.1 million. is trajectory in average selling price mimicked the average household income for the two cities. e aver- age household income recorded for Q1 2018 for San Francisco is $114,063 marking an increase of 49.5 percent, while the increase for San Jose is 41.5 percent. Tom O'Grady, CEO Pro Teck, concluded, "they are still hot markets." Increase in average household income is not the only factor affecting the HVF; Pro Teck also takes into account affordability by calculating as the average mortgage payment needed to buy an average priced home. Both San Francisco and San Jose hit bubble territory (meaning home value highs not seen since 2005-2007) marking an all-time low for afford- ability. DS News examined bubble trends in its December 2017 cover story "Housing Bubble 2.0." In it, writer Nicole Casperson spoke with CoreLogic CEO, Frank Nothaft who noted similar regional bubble concerns. "While economists may not foresee a housing bubble on a national level, bubbles may occur in local- ized markets, as they have in the past if the right elements are at play," said Nothaft. Program Enhancements for Non-Prime California-based non-prime wholesale residential lender Citadel Servicing Corpora- tion (CSC) has announced a major update to their product platform. Effective immediately, CSC will begin offering a 5/1 Hybrid Adjust- able Rate Mortgage (ARM) and 5/25 Interest Only (IO) term. is now allows borrowers to qualify for the IO program without as big of a recast, which normally would increase the DTI that is used to qualify. CSC has also introduced their easiest qualification program for full doc income to date by allowing a single year's Returns or W-2 as documentation. is will allow brokers and borrowers to move faster through the process. e company has also expanded According to the March 2018 RE/MAX National Housing Report, the average for how long a home stayed on the market in Seattle, Washington, during February 2018 was 33 days. KNOW THIS

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