housing wire

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

Mortgage loan application volume rebounded from the week prior, increasing by 0.3% for the week ending Sept. 10, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly report. The increase in application volume was predominantly driven by purchase mortgage activity, which grew

The Treasury Department and FHFA announced Tuesday that they are suspending certain requirements that were added in January to the Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements (PSPAs) between Treasury and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Under those requirements, Fannie Mae had restricted

Black Knight is looking to hook mortgage brokers with a new loan origination system designed specifically for them. The Florida-based mortgage tech and analytics behemoth on Wednesday unveiled “LoanCatcher” to mortgage brokers, which it described as an “end-to-end” solution that

Big changes are ahead in the valuation space, most recently seen with the FHFA asking for input on appraisal modernization efforts. Will hybrid appraisals become the new norm? Are the GSEs going to expand the use of appraisal waivers? These

Mike Calhoun is president of the Center for Responsible Lending This week the Biden administration announced several high-level nominations, including Alanna McCargo to lead Ginnie Mae. But missing from those announcements was the White House’s widely expected pick for the

Real estate startup Pacaso announced Tuesday that it has raised $125 million in its recent Series C funding round, giving it a $1.5 billion valuation. This announcement comes less than six months after the company raised $75 million, bringing its

Monday’s announcement that Alanna McCargo, senior advisor at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, is up for the nomination of Ginnie Mae president put a smile on the face of the mortgage industry. Fair housing organizations, trade groups, and

Appraisal modernization efforts could mean big changes for property valuations, which is why HousingWire invited Lyle Radke, director of collateral policy at Fannie Mae, to speak at HW Annual Sept. 27-28. Radke will speak on The Future of Valuations panel,

President Joe Biden and Sandra Thompson The Biden administration, in announcements from a suite of federal agencies, signaled Wednesday that it is making a significant effort to address the lack of supply of affordable housing in America. The announcements spanned

A 50-year-old former unlicensed mortgage broker from Long Island, New York, pleaded guilty Wednesday to defrauding clients and wholesale lenders out of $4.7 million in mortgage refinancing proceeds that were supposed to pay off existing client mortgages. Brent Kaufman, of