housing wire

On Tuesday, the U.S. Census Bureau released their report for March, showing a solid number of housing permits and starts — but these were boosted by multifamily construction. In addition, this data lags behind the current reality of a housing

With rates at the highest level in a decade, mortgage applications for the week ending April 15 fell 5%, according to the latest survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The drop was largely driven by an 8% decline in refinancing

At an investor conference last fall, Redwood Trust Inc. CEO Christopher Abate outlined the company’s strategy to expand its reach in existing markets while also seeking out strategic investments in new markets. Those new investments include venture capital plays, particularly in

Phishing remains the go-to attack for hackers targeting the mortgage and real estate industries. Loan officers and mortgage executives alike continue to click on links in seemingly routine emails, ultimately giving bad actors complete access to lenders’ systems and mortgage

Despite advances in technology, the mortgage industry still lacks efficiency Mortgage executives are aware of a problem: despite billions of dollars in technology investments, the mortgage industry still largely looks like it did two decades ago. After all, it still

With interest rates on the rise, refis trending downwards and a significant decrease in purchase volume brought on by low inventory, mortgage lenders are looking for smart solutions to combat margin compressions in 2022 and beyond. HousingWire recently spoke with

Each year, HousingWire recognizes the outstanding women in housing who are making notable contributions to both their businesses and to the industry at-large. Last year’s list of nominations were so robust that we expanded the number of honorees from 50

Title insurance protects borrowers from financial loss if the lender discovers a defect in the title to the property (for example, a previous mortgage) and demands a borrower to pay back the loan. Title insurance also guards against loss in

In this HW+ Slack Q&A, HousingWire Lead Analyst Logan Mohtashami gives the inside scoop on where rates are headed, his insights on the latest economic reports and more. As a member of HW+, you can us join for regular 30-minute Slack Q&As, where

Fast-rising interest rates, up 1.5 percentage points over the past three months, have thrown a wrench into the mortgage origination and private-label securitization markets. Refinancing is plummeting, purchase activity is softening, and rate volatility is making secondary market deals harder to price

Mortgage application volume dropped 1.3% for the week ending on April 8, from the previous week, as mortgage rates eclipsed the 5% mark.  Refinance applications fell 5% from the prior week and 62% from the same week a year ago,

Housing has always been an engine of economic growth. But that engine could stall if action isn’t taken to increase the supply of affordable housing and expand opportunities for lending to underserved families. The nation’s gross domestic product generally averages

Mortgage delinquency rates in January reached a 23-year low, driven by the skyrocketing housing prices and a strong job market. About 3.3% of mortgages were delinquent by at least 30 days or more including foreclosure in January, according to a

Origination volume in the Veterans Affairs (VA) universe amounted to $388 billion in 2021, an analysis of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data by Polygon Research application HMDAVision found. This marks a notable dip in originations from 2020, a record-breaking year in

Despite being outlawed over 50 years ago, redlining still persists in America. Now the country’s signature law to stop redlining is under review. Redlining is a five-alarm word in the lexicon of American racism, but it really has a quite

This week, the Community Home Lenders Association (CHLA) repeated their call for FHA to lower premiums and to eliminate the life of loan premium on FHA loans. While I might have a different view on the life of loan premium,

Given the current housing inventory crisis, it might surprise people to realize this: we built too many homes during the housing bubble years. Wait, what? But we have a housing shortage, right? Yes, but this is where my work is

Origination volume for FHA-insured loans increased by 3% in 2021, growing from $324 billion in 2020 to $332.24 billion, an analysis of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data by Polygon Research application HMDAVision found. Of the origination volume, retail lenders

Beverly Hills, California-based The Agency leads the top 50 firms in average sales price by sides with a whopping $2.5 million average sales price in the 2022 RealTrends 500 brokerage rankings. The 2022 RealTrends 500 rankings top 50 firms by

eXp Realty and Compass lead the top movers by transactions. Different from our top movers by transaction side percentage, this is the actual numeric increase in transaction sides year to year between 2020 and 2021. The 2022 RealTrends 500 rankings

As lenders adapt to a purchase-centered market, HousingWire spoke to Brian Boero, CEO of 1000watt, about opportunities to grow lenders’ effectiveness in the Realtor and broker market. HousingWire: What’s happening right now in the Realtor world that lenders should know

Keller Williams and RE/MAX lead the list of the top 50 one-year movers by percentage transaction sides, with Keller Williams — Cunningham Group, based in Santa Monica, California, seeing a 136% increase in sides between 2020 and 2021. Data for

The Biden administration unveiled a $1.6 trillion discretionary spending request for 2023, which includes a 19% budget increase for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). If the request is approved by Congress, HUD could receive $71.9 billion, approximately

On the heels of completing its first credit insurance risk transfer (CIRT) deal of the year in early March, Fannie Mae has announced that it has executed two additional CIRT deals.  The newest deals, CIRT 2022-2 and CIRT 2022-3, together transferred $1.8 billion