126 episodes

Top of Mind is the show where real estate industry insiders dive into the big trends shaping the market today.

Top of Mind HousingWire

    • Business
    • 4.8 • 21 Ratings

Top of Mind is the show where real estate industry insiders dive into the big trends shaping the market today.

    Housing demand stalls as homebuyers wait for lower rates (7/22/24 Market Update)

    Housing demand stalls as homebuyers wait for lower rates (7/22/24 Market Update)

    Welcome to How’s the Market, our weekly look at what’s happening in the US housing market, powered by data from Altos Research.
    If you want to see all the inventory, pricing, and supply and demand charts we reference in the show, head on over to our YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/altosresearch.
    Hosted by Mike Simonsen, President of Altos Research
    A true data geek, Mike founded Altos Research in 2006 to bring data and insight on the U.S. housing market to those who need it most. Altos provides national and local real estate data to financial institutions, real estate professionals, and investors across the country, and the company is now part of HW Media, publisher of HousingWire and RealTrends. Mike uses Altos data to identify trends in the real estate market well before the headlines, and his work has been featured in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Fortune, Forbes and other publications.

    • 15 min
    What happens to the housing market when rates finally drop? (7/15/24 Market Update)

    What happens to the housing market when rates finally drop? (7/15/24 Market Update)

    Welcome to How’s the Market, our weekly look at what’s happening in the US housing market, powered by data from Altos Research.
    If you want to see all the inventory, pricing, and supply and demand charts we reference in the show, head on over to our YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/altosresearch.
    Hosted by Mike Simonsen, President of Altos Research
    A true data geek, Mike founded Altos Research in 2006 to bring data and insight on the U.S. housing market to those who need it most. Altos provides national and local real estate data to financial institutions, real estate professionals, and investors across the country, and the company is now part of HW Media, publisher of HousingWire and RealTrends. Mike uses Altos data to identify trends in the real estate market well before the headlines, and his work has been featured in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Fortune, Forbes and other publications.

    • 14 min
    Forecasting Home Prices with Pulsenomics’ Terry Loebs

    Forecasting Home Prices with Pulsenomics’ Terry Loebs

    In this episode of the Top of Mind podcast, Mike Simonsen sits down with Terry Loebs from Pulsenomics for a deep dive into forecasting home prices and the housing market. Terry has been at the forefront of measuring and projecting home prices for decades.
    About Terry Loebs
    Terry Loebs possesses more than 35 years of experience in the capital markets and in developing innovative data-driven products and services. He started his career on Wall Street evaluating and trading mortgage whole loans and servicing rights portfolios while earning his MBA at The New York University Stern School of Business.
    After joining the Case Shiller Weiss, Inc. (CSW) in 1996, Terry led the commercial development of the Case-Shiller Indexes®, the subsequent effort to establish their reputation as a premier home price performance benchmark, and the launch of the first AVM for both consumers and lenders. After the 2002 acquisition of CSW by Fiserv, Terry managed the property data analytics team at the merged organization for three years before reuniting with Robert Shiller at MacroMarkets LLC.
    In 2011, Terry founded Pulsenomics®, an independent research and index product development firm that leverages expertise in data analytics, opinion research, financial markets, and economics to deliver unique insight and market intelligence to institutional clients, partners, and the public at large. Since 2010, Terry has managed an expert survey panel comprised of over 150 leading economists, investment strategists, portfolio managers, and real estate market analysts to produce the quarterly Home Price Expectations Survey™, which is currently sponsored by Fannie Mae. 
    For nearly a decade, Terry also served as lead independent trustee and eventually board chairman overseeing a multibillion-dollar ETF trust until its sale in early 2024.
    Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: 

    Can people really forecast the housing market? Or home prices?

    Can we better understand how housing wealth impacts the broader economy?

    Why legacy macroeconomic confidence indicators don’t include housing and why that matters

    What the Fannie Mae Home Price Expectations Survey tells us about the housing market for 2024 and beyond

    The surprising way that forecasters’ views for housing in 2024 are different than they have been for the last 15 years

    Why home prices have “downward stickiness”

    How forecasting long-term home prices is different from forecasting the next year and what to look for long term

    The one housing market indicator that 84% of expert panelists agree on

    Which risks are not yet priced into the housing market expectations

    The big macro economic trends that are potentially the most impactful for the housing market in the coming years.


    Resources mentioned in this episode:

    Terry Loebs | LinkedIn

    Pulsenomics

    Mike Simonsen | LinkedIn

    Altos Research


    Featuring Mike Simonsen, President of Altos Research
    A true data geek, Mike founded Altos Research in 2006 to bring data and insight on the U.S. housing market to those who need it most. The company now serves the largest Wall Street investment firms, banks, and tens of thousands of real estate professionals around the country. Mike's insights on the market have been featured in Forbes, New York Times, Bloomberg, Dallas Morning News, Seattle PI, and many other national media outlets.
    Follow us on Twitter for more data analysis and insights:

    Altos on Twitter

    Mike on Twitter


    About Altos Research
    The Top of Mind Podcast is produced by Altos Research.
    Each week, Altos tracks every home for sale in the country - all the pricing, and all the changes in pricing - and synthesizes those analytics to make them available before becoming visible through traditional channels.
    Schedule a demo to see Altos in action. You can also get a copy of our free eBook: How To Use Market Data to Build Your Real Estate Business.

    • 58 min
    Housing market sees more price cuts as inventory continues to grow.

    Housing market sees more price cuts as inventory continues to grow.

    Welcome to How’s the Market, our weekly look at what’s happening in the US housing market, powered by data from Altos Research.
    If you want to see all the inventory, pricing, and supply and demand charts we reference in the show, head on over to our YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/altosresearch.
    Hosted by Mike Simonsen, President of Altos Research
    A true data geek, Mike founded Altos Research in 2006 to bring data and insight on the U.S. housing market to those who need it most. Altos provides national and local real estate data to financial institutions, real estate professionals, and investors across the country, and the company is now part of HW Media, publisher of HousingWire and RealTrends. Mike uses Altos data to identify trends in the real estate market well before the headlines, and his work has been featured in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Fortune, Forbes and other publications.

    • 15 min
    What to expect in the real estate market for the rest of the year

    What to expect in the real estate market for the rest of the year

    Welcome to How’s the Market, our weekly look at what’s happening in the US housing market, powered by data from Altos Research.
    If you want to see all the inventory, pricing, and supply and demand charts we reference in the show, head on over to our YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/altosresearch.
    Hosted by Mike Simonsen, President of Altos Research
    A true data geek, Mike founded Altos Research in 2006 to bring data and insight on the U.S. housing market to those who need it most. Altos provides national and local real estate data to financial institutions, real estate professionals, and investors across the country, and the company is now part of HW Media, publisher of HousingWire and RealTrends. Mike uses Altos data to identify trends in the real estate market well before the headlines, and his work has been featured in the New York Times, The Atlantic, Fortune, Forbes and other publications.

    • 13 min
    Real Talk on Rates with Mortgage News Daily’s Matt Graham

    Real Talk on Rates with Mortgage News Daily’s Matt Graham

    In this episode of the Top of Mind podcast, Mike Simonsen sits down with Matt Graham from MBS Live and Mortgage News Daily. A former loan originator, Matt is one of the foremost technology innovators and market commentators in the mortgage industry. Matt talks about what to expect with mortgage rates for the rest of the year and into 2025, and offers keen insights into a variety of other economic indicators.
    About Matt Graham
    A former originator, Matt fell into the rabbit hole of following the bond market in order to better understand mortgage rate movement. While the systems available at the time were useful, they barely scratched the surface. They also ran the risk of teaching originators to focus on things that didn't really matter.
    So Matt set out to build something that solved both problems. In the 20 years that followed, Matt has proven to be the industry's foremost innovator in market data services designed specifically for mortgage originators. MBS Live continues to be the most trusted, most accurate, and most timely source of streaming bond prices, data and dialogue.
    Matt is routinely featured in the media as a mortgage rate expert and is responsible for helping several major media outlets modernize their mortgage rate reporting. He currently lives in the Pacific Northwest where he enjoys skiing, fishing, hunting, coaching youth sports, playing in the old guy league, and most of all, spending time with his family.
    Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: 

    Why everyone was fooled about rates for 2024

    What to look for with mortgage rates for the rest of the year and into 2025

    What to look for in the inflation data for the next few months

    Which other macroeconomic measures we should be watching

    How the Fed communicates, and how markets react to the Fed

    The latest dynamics of mortgage pricing, fees and points

    Why the last two years has been “tougher than the Great Financial Crisis” for mortgage lenders

    Why the 8% interest rate in September 2023 was probably “defensive panic” and unlikely to repeat

    How the post-Covid stimulus money is still reverberating in the economy and the markets today

    Whether there’s a threshold rate for where consumers start to buy homes

    His view of the imperative to “spread the wealth” of real estate in the US to more people, including those who are long term renters


    Resources mentioned in this episode:

    Matt Graham | LinkedIn

    MBS Live

    Mortgage News Daily

    Mike Simonsen | LinkedIn

    Altos Research


    Featuring Mike Simonsen, President of Altos Research
    A true data geek, Mike founded Altos Research in 2006 to bring data and insight on the U.S. housing market to those who need it most. The company now serves the largest Wall Street investment firms, banks, and tens of thousands of real estate professionals around the country. Mike's insights on the market have been featured in Forbes, New York Times, Bloomberg, Dallas Morning News, Seattle PI, and many other national media outlets.
    Follow us on Twitter for more data analysis and insights:

    Altos on Twitter

    Mike on Twitter


    About Altos Research
    The Top of Mind Podcast is produced by Altos Research.
    Each week, Altos tracks every home for sale in the country - all the pricing, and all the changes in pricing - and synthesizes those analytics to make them available before becoming visible through traditional channels.
    Schedule a demo to see Altos in action. You can also get a copy of our free eBook: How To Use Market Data to Build Your Real Estate Business.

    • 54 min

Customer Reviews

4.8 out of 5
21 Ratings

21 Ratings

Steve Mazzini ,

Great housing data and guests

Thanks for the great work Mike! Excellent guests and a thoughtful approach to economics and housing

Financial Samurai ,

Great data

Love the charts from Twitter too. I write about real estate personal finance strategies all the time and your stats are very helpful. Sam, FinancialSamurai.com

AspenAppr ,

Fantastic Housing Information

I am a real property appraiser. I pull stats every day as part of my work. This is one of my favorite podcasts! Mike Simonsen keeps it real by not sensationalizing the data. He just reports what his research reflects, which I love! And the insights he and his guests share are always incredibly helpful to me when trying to navigate my own research and analysis. Thanks for being such a great resource!

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