This is such big news today that we can’t even find the original source — it’s literally all over the Internet — so we’ll just take this one from Detroit. The original cord cutters have reached a threshold. People canceling cable TV for Netflix may still have a way to go, but people ditching land-lines for cell phones has now reached 50:50. That’s right, only half of American phones still have a land line, at all (only 8% go the other way, and have a land line, but no mobile). Which side of the coin is your house on?

For some context, in 2009 jumbo loans accounted for 5.5% of the market. Contrast that with this year, through September, where they’re accounting for almost 19% of the market — the highest level since 2006 (though still not quite to the peak of 2000). Why the difference? The answer is simple. A conforming loan is based on government set limits. The price of houses has been going up, and the government limits haven’t. The median home price in most of the U.S. is well below the normal limit, but only 39 counties will see increases in 2016, which will put pressure on mortgages over much of the country.

There was a while there where covering mortgage rates got (depending on your perspective) highly entertaining or highly nerve-wracking, as the news flip-flopped every day. Well, mortgage rates and the housing market all seem reasonably stable at the moment, but one of the big factors driving home prices has been foreign investment. Now it’s time for that to flip-flop. Depending on who you believe, either we’re awash in Chinese money, or the Chinese are fleeing the market.

OK. The article is a paid op-ed by PIMCO, so they have a vested interest in the position. But that doesn’t mean they’re wrong. The four points Mark makes — strong job growth and consumer confidence; low inventories and rising pent-up demand; a willingness to lend and expanding demand for credit; and relative affordability — are all true. For those reasons, the housing market looks to be a good, stable investment option for the near-term future, regardless of what the Fed does.

We reported earlier this year when Google added a mortgage calculator to organic search results. This week, they’ve taken another step forward. Google Compare now provides “[a] real-time, apples-to-apples comparison of rate quotes”. Of course, there’s a lot more to a mortgage than just the rate quote, and talking to a broker is still key, but this tool should put smaller brokerages on more equal footing with the big boys. At the moment, it’s only available in California, but it’s coming to the rest of the U.S., soon.

As we enter the holiday season, many Americans will be traveling quite a bit. For some, that’s just a drive to see local relatives; but for many, it can mean much longer trips, from elderly “snowbirds” heading to warm islands, to expats returning home to see family members. The U.S. State Department regularly issues travel warnings surrounding specific countries; however, global warnings are quite rare. Yesterday, they issued just such a global warning  which extends through next February. There’s no need for immediate alarm. However, if you or your loved ones are traveling internationally this holiday season, you should read the alert and exercise appropriate caution. Safe travels, everyone.

Of course, everyone knows that property has different value in different markets. And everyone knows that the cost of labor is different in different markets, so the cost of building houses can vary. But it turns out that, far more important than the cost of labor, local zoning can have a huge impact on housing prices. This article on Vox approaches the issue from a national level, but zoning is very, very local. What are your thoughts? Are you happy with the zoning decisions where you live?

If you didn’t catch the brief coverage on CNN (here’s the original article , and you’re not particularly active on social media, then you may have missed a particularly heartwarming example of Americans doing the charitable thing. In the wake of the Paris attack last week, even though airports remained open, there were many cancelled flights. It turns out that from coast to coast, the hashtag #strandedinUS was used by caring Americans to open their homes to stranded French families. It’s always nice to see that we can still open our hearts to strangers, once in a while.

The third quarter turned in some more positive results on the housing industry as a whole, and mortgage borrowing in particular. The Globe and Mail reported on two key milestones yesterday. First, as of September 30th, the mortgage delinquency rate was 4.99%. Second, for that same date, the percentage of mortgages in foreclosure was 1.88%. Those were firsts since 2007 that those rates were below 5% and 2%, respectively. They went on to forecast higher earnings for American homeowners.