housing wire

Movement Mortgage CEO Casey Crawford and President Mike Brennan. Movement Mortgage’s deal to acquire top indie retail lender Mortgage Network marks a shift in the South Carolina-based company’s strategy. “Over the years, we’ve been more focused on organic growth, one

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported today on two trends in existing home sales that we have seen for many months now: sales are declining while total inventory data has fallen directly for the three straight months. On a

Black Knight agreed to sell its TitlePoint business unit to former parent company Fidelity National Financial for $225 million in cash. A sale of TitlePoint is expected ahead of Black Knight’s planned blockbuster acquisition by Intercontinental Exchange, Inc.  TitlePoint enables

Proptech firm Rhino will be buying the technology and assets of Deposify, a cash security deposit management technology platform, to launch an end-to-end deposit management and compliance platform. The platform, which is planned to launch after the transaction closes this

Don’t be fooled by last week’s mortgage rate collapse.  A combination of elevated mortgage rates, sluggish home sales and inflation continue to plague the housing market workforce, with numerous mortgage lenders and real estate startups shedding employees. “The U.S. housing

On Aug. 31, 2022, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced that it would conduct a comprehensive review of the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) system. This article addresses two legal issues relevant to the review: FHFA’s statutory authority to

The third quarter used to be historically the strongest of the year for independent mortgage banks (IMBs) and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks.  At least until 2022.  On the origination side, these companies’ costs exceeded $11,000 per loan for the

The housing recession was in full swing in October. Existing home sales last month declined 5.9% from September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.43 million in October, and were down 28.4% year over year. That’s the largest year

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchased a record $2.52 trillion in single-family loans in 2021, with the average guarantee fee — expected to cover credit losses, administrative costs and cost of capital — rising 2 basis points from the prior year

FHA’s Tuesday release of its MMIF Report showing that FHA continues to build its capital reserve ratio to 11.1% will no doubt add fuel to the public debate about whether FHA should cut premiums for the borrowers it serves. This

Wisconsin-based mortgage lender Waterstone Mortgage Corporation appointed Chik Quintans its new director of digital marketing, the company announced Thursday. In his new role, Quintans will oversee the digital marketing strategy to advance Waterstone Mortgage’s online presence through social media campaigns

It’s yet another casualty in the non-QM space – California-based Athas Capital Group is winding down its operations and laying off more than 200 employees due to the challenges in the secondary market.  Executives at the mortgage lender announced their

High mortgage rates and looming economic uncertainty caused trillions in equity to evaporate from the housing market in the third quarter of 2022, according to Black Knight’s mortgage monitor report. And while additional declines are expected to be on the

Despite increased competition, wholesale lender Homepoint has rolled out a new home equity line of credit (HELOC) product. The goal is to court more brokers at a time when home equity levels remain high.  Available on investment properties, single-unit owner-occupied

Revenue and net income were both down for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the third quarter, and the two government sponsored entities (GSEs) expect the housing market to deteriorate further in the fourth quarter. Collectively, the GSEs have set

California lender New American Funding issued pink slips to 240 employees last week, bringing the total cut this year to nearly 1,000. The force reductions come after two years of rapid expansion. “The mortgage market slowdown is unfortunately affecting our

On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 261,000 jobs were created and we had 29,000 positive revisions to prior reports. This means the honey badger labor market will keep the Federal Reserve from pivoting anytime soon.  This has

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) released a report on Friday that found 88% of all first-time homebuyers in the U.S. are white, while 8% are Hispanic, 3% are Black and 2% are Asian. The share of Black and Asian

This week’s HW+ member spotlight features Aaron Smith, vice president at sales at Next Door Photos. HW Media: What is your current favorite HW+ article and why? Aaron Smith: I love everything RealTrends. It helps cut through the noise of the market and shows you what

There has been a flurry of recent articles prognosticating a decrease to Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insurance premiums. Several trade groups including the Mortgage Bankers Association have corresponded with the HUD Secretary in support of cuts. One news article suggested a possible

Retail lender and servicer Mr. Cooper has dropped the ax on approximately 800 staffers, roughly a week after hinting that job cuts were coming due to lower origination production. “In the face of market volatility and economic uncertainty, Mr. Cooper

Rocket Companies, the parent of Rocket Mortgage, lost money in the third quarter and also appears to have lost its title as America’s largest mortgage originator. Rocket originated $25.6 billion in mortgage volume in the third quarter, which was 71%

Job growth continued in October, but at a slower pace as the Federal Reserve continues to raise interest rates. Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 261,000 jobs from September, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) is now the biggest mortgage lender in America, thanks in large part to a cut-rate pricing strategy that has put extreme pressure on competitors. UWM originated $33.5 billion in the third quarter, toppling its arch rival