housing wire

July marked the fourth consecutive month in which the growth rate of home prices set a record, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index Report released on Tuesday. The index showed a 19.7% annual gain for

Lisa Dunn, partner/owner at LAUREL Real Estate Resources Continuing our new HW+ member spotlight series, we’re featuring Lisa Dunn, partner/owner at LAUREL Real Estate Resources. She specializes in residential real estate throughout Orange County, California, and is currently celebrating over 25

The average 30-year-fixed mortgage rose, ever so slightly, to 2.88% for the week ending Sept. 23, according to Freddie Mac‘s latest PMMS survey. Mortgage rates have been roughly flat for months now. “The slowdown in economic growth around the world

Appraisers have experienced many challenges in the last couple of years. From juggling high volume demand for appraisals in the middle of a pandemic, appraisers had to radically change their processes. Most took these challenges in stride and adopted innovative

Appraisal management company Clear Capital is looking to beef up tech tools for its network of appraisers, and it is doing so through an acquisition.  The Reno, Nevada-based company just closed on the acquisition of Finnish proptech startup CubiCasa this

The nation’s third largest MLS, with over 70,000 agents in Florida and Puerto Rico, Stellar MLS announced Tuesday that it is partnering with Remine and MoxiWorks to launch a new platform for real estate professionals. Stellar MLS currently offers members

A former executive at loanDepot dropped a bombshell on the mortgage industry late Wednesday, alleging in a lawsuit that the California-based nonbank lender, in a ploy to drum up money during the refi boom and in preparation for its initial

Homeowners with mortgages gained $2.9 trillion in equity in the second quarter of 2021, a 29.3% year-over-year increase, according to a new report by CoreLogic released Wednesday. This marks an average gain of $51,500(!) per borrower since the second quarter

An Appraisal Subcommittee roundtable discussion about bias in appraisals struck a nerve with attendees of the virtual summit, many of them appraisal professionals. Department of Housing and Urban Development Sec. Marcia Fudge, who headlined the event, gave a short presentation

The average borrower has drastically changed throughout the years. Today, more borrowers are self-employed, work remotely and have multiple streams of income. For brokers, working with these borrowers can be complicated because they require unique processes. HousingWire recently spoke with

The National Association of Realtors reported existing home sales for August came in at a very tiny beat of estimates at 5,880,000. Now that we are a few days away from October, we can again say that the housing bubble

Starting March 14, 2022, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will require all lenders to use FHA Catalyst for appraisals. The module can also accept appraisals for Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs), the administration announced last week. The FHA Catalyst: Electronic

A series of regulatory changes are taking place in housing due to a new political administration and the country’s reckoning with racial inequality in homeownership. That’s why HousingWire invited attorney Jeffrey Naimon, partner at the Buckley LLP Washington, D.C. office,

American suburbs surrounding the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan areas gained a total of 4.7 million new residents since 2010, with 3.7 million of them renters, according to a report by nationwide apartment search website RENTCafé on U.S. Census Bureau data.

Eight months after President Joe Biden tapped Rohit Chopra to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he is ready to bring the nomination to the Senate floor for a vote. The Senate Cloakroom

A full one-third of the compensation paid to non-controlling shareholder real estate CEOs is variable, according to the 2021 RealTrends Brokerage Compensation Report. This is up considerably from 2016, when the last report was published. “A great thing happened over

While the rise of digital technology has permanently shifted the world of lending, many borrowers still look for a human-touch experience to help create trust and transparency throughout the lending process. “A successful model can maximize the use of both

Confidence among homebuilders steadied over the past month despite continuing material and labor challenges, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) report. The report is based on a monthly survey

Servicers’ forbearance portfolio volume fell once again last week, as exits remained elevated compared to requests or re-entries. The total number of loans in forbearance dropped by eight basis points to 3.00% as of Sept. 12, according to the Mortgage

Fannie Mae announced that it will restart its credit risk transfer program by the fourth quarter of 2021, following proposed changes to its capital rule. The company said it expects to transfer mortgage credit risk via its Connecticut Avenue Securities

U.S. homebuilders started construction on 1.615 million homes in August, up 3.9% from July 2021 and 17.4% higher than a year ago, according to a new report by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban

As the housing economy becomes increasingly digital, appraisal modernization may hold the key to not only providing a better experience for borrowers and lenders but also reducing potential appraisal bias. That’s why HousingWire invited Rachel Robinson, director, collateral policy and

President Joe Biden and FHFA Acting Director Sandra Thompson Less than a week before President Donald Trump was scheduled to leave office, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria announced several controversial changes that infuriated

The reverse mortgage volume boom appears to have diminished for now, at least if new data is any indication. Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) endorsements fell in August, 2021 by 14.3% to 3,679 loans, with July now having marked the