housing wire

HousingWire’s Vanguard award program honors executives in housing who have become leaders in their respective fields and are moving markets forward, each and every day. And today marks the last day of the 2022 nomination period for this prestigious award.

Demand for mortgages declined for the second consecutive week, led by a dip in purchase mortgage applications — despite rates on a downward trend. The market composite index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 1.7% for the week ending

Volatile mortgage rates and economic uncertainty have rocked the housing market this year, challenging mortgage lenders, real estate agents, title companies and appraisal firms to adapt quickly to changing conditions. That’s why we’ve designed our HW Annual event Oct. 3-5

California-based Pennymac launched a product that can freeze mortgage rates as many as 90 days, in a bid to attract more borrowers to the market amid volatile rates. Dubbed “Lock & Shop,” the product, rolled out in mid-June, has two

Lenders continued to tighten credit standards in June as higher mortgage rates slowed refinance and purchase activity. The monthly Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) fell by 0.3% in June, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. A decline of the index,

Luke Tomaszewski, an appraiser doing home inspections in the aftermath of the housing bust, was traveling as much as an hour across Chicago just to snap exterior photos of bank-owned properties. Sitting in traffic, Tomaszewski wished he could pay an

In a few months, the loss mitigation measures that have kept close to 100,000 veterans from foreclosure during COVID-19 will end. Decisions of policymakers at the Department of Veterans Affairs will determine what happens to those borrowers. The VA also faces challenges

Digital real estate closing platform, Qualia, announced the release of a new mortgage lender edition of its Qualia Connect platform on Tuesday. According to Qualia, this release means that the Connect platform will now be able to integrate directly into

San Francisco-based Unison is extending its reach in the heartland by expanding its shared-equity loan program to homeowners in Nebraska. The move follows the opening of an office in Omaha earlier this year and reaching the milestone as of June 30 of

The loan quality of mortgage pools backing private-label securitization (PLS) deals has remained solid this year through the end of June, even as deal volume slowed appreciably between the first and second quarters.  In addition, the average coupon for PLS

Nonbank lender loanDepot is making what appears to be the largest series of cuts in the mortgage industry this year, eliminating 4,800 jobs over the course of 2022. Overall, the California-based lender is implementing a program dubbed “Vision 2025” to save

This week’s HW+ member spotlight features Jeremy Potter, chief evangelist at Stavvy, a 2022 Tech100 Mortgage winner. Potter was recently promoted after serving as head of legal and capital markets and is a thought leader in the industry, regularly sharing his insights

All lenders must explain their rationale when denying credit to loan applicants, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau affirmed Thursday, after looking into whether companies claiming exemption because they rely on “complex algorithms” were in violation of federal anti-discrimination law. The

Donna Corley, head of the single-family division at Freddie Mac, is stepping down from her post at the government-sponsored enterprise. Corley will stay on until Nov. 25 as executive vice president and special advisor, reporting to Michael Hutchins, president of

There is no single silver bullet that will rectify the pernicious impact of bias in residential real estate valuations — it is a complex problem that requires a multifaceted solution. But there is the promise of a better future on

It’s an excellent time to discuss housing inventory. The housing market shifted in March of this year. As the 10-year yield broke above 1.94% and mortgage rates rose, we saw the impact on housing data. Since the summer of 2020,

The Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) appreciates that the Biden administration has created a White House Task Force on Manufactured Housing. We also commend the administration for the White House initiative announced a week ago Monday to “Ease the Burden of

In the midst of a competitive purchase market, it’s more important than ever to foster existing borrower relationships. In light of this, HW Media CEO Clayton Collins spoke with Steve Reich, COO at Finance of America Mortgage, to learn more

A Florida-based loan officer faces more than 30 years in federal prison if convicted on charges alleging she falsified divorce papers and child support payment information to help unqualified borrowers secure a loan, according to a Department of Justice indictment.

Freddie Mac will now automatically verify borrower employment 10 days ahead of closing, which it says is more efficient than obtaining that information through oral or written verification. The option will be available starting June 1. To verify the borrower’s

At least two financial institutions brought back adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) products this week amid surging mortgage rates and double-digit home price growth. Michigan-based wholesale lender Homepoint rolled out a jumbo ARM product offering a maximum loan amount as much as

Blend Labs reported a $73.5 million loss in the first quarter, but pointed to the performance of its mortgage banking and title sectors as a positive sign for the rest of the year. The company’s revenue rose to $71.5 million,

Mortgage servicing is a scale business, meaning the economics of scale can be achieved with larger servicing portfolio by spreading the fixed costs among more loans being serviced. Such scaling; however, hasn’t achieved the expected results as indicated by both

Homeowners in New York who are knee-deep in foreclosure litigation may soon get a break, as a piece of legislation making its way to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk could discharge a swath of foreclosure cases pending in state and appellate