Californians are facing yet another setback on the housing front after a major insurer said it is pulling out of 72,000 home-insurance policies—and the insurance industry’s steady retreat from the state could have a serious effect on home prices and sales, experts say.
“Mortgage rates moved slightly lower this week, providing a bit more room in the budgets of some prospective homebuyers,” Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist, said in a statement. “Regardless, rates remain elevated near 7% as markets watch for signs of cooling inflation, hoping that rates will come down further.”
A newly proposed regulation aims to draw insurers back to the state by allowing them to anticipate future wildfire risks when raising their rates. The proposed rule change, released Thursday, would allow companies to submit catastrophe models for wildfires, floods and terrorism to the California Department of Insurance for approval.
The Federal Reserve concluded a “no news is good news” meeting on Wednesday. But to suggest there is nothing to glean or profit from the announcement that interest rates will remain high for the next two months or that the economy is doing well would be mistaken.
For many people, buying or selling a home can be a huge financial decision. But a recent class-action settlement could change the way U.S. homes have been sold for over a hundred years. Last year a jury found that realtors had conspired to keep commissions artificially high.
Ste. Michelle Wine Estates is selling the Sonoma Pinot Noir and Chardonnay producer as it shifts away from California. While the wine world is full of news of mergers and acquisitions, the latest transaction in California is more of a homecoming. Patz & Hall co-founder James Hall and a small group of investors are buying the winery back eight years after it was sold to Ste. Michelle Wine Estates.