housing wire

The much-talked-about $15,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit has made another appearance in Washington, D.C., this time as part of a housing bill introduced in the U.S. Senate. Though certain provisions of the bill contain some of the boldest proposed housing

The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage held steady at 2.87% for the week ending in August 26, according to mortgage rates data released Thursday by Freddie Mac‘s PMMS. The week prior, mortgage rates declined slightly to 2.86%. This week’s near constant

As compliance becomes an increased focal point for mortgage lenders and investors, staying ahead of state and federal regulations can be the difference between a flourishing business and one mired in fines. SitusAMC’s Scott McNulla, Senior Director of Regulatory Compliance,

Gary Keller, executive chairman of KWx  Whatever changes are afoot at Keller Williams, Gary Keller remains the company’s public face. Last October, Keller, founder of the real estate franchise network, stepped down as CEO. He took the role of executive

The Emergency Rental Assistance Program, created to help renters quash their missed payments, is disbursing the $46.5 billion allocated to the program at a snail’s pace. The month of July saw a mere $1.7 billion made available to eligible households

With four other real estate tech acquisitions in the last year, Lone Wolf Technologies recently added Boston Logic-owned Propertybase to its tech toolbox. The acquisition rounds out Lone Wolf’s technology platform that includes websites, lead generation tools, and CRM. With

Prior to the Great Recession, private label securitizations (PLS) constituted a majority of all residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) issued.  In the intervening years, the makeup of the RMBS market has changed significantly and, today, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie

Mortgage applications rose 1.6% on the week ending Aug. 20, moving in concert with a drop in Treasury yields, according to the latest report from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The market composite index moved 1% on an unadjusted basis from

In Tuesday’s new home sales report from the Census Bureau, monthly supply hit recent highs at 6.2 months and 5.9 months on the more critical three-month average. I focus on the monthly supply as being the most critical data for

LRES Corporation, a California-based REO and valuation services company, has inked a deal to acquire Keystone Asset Management, a REO property management firm that also offers related services. Terms of the deal, which is due to close on Sept. 1,

The total number of loans in forbearance remained relatively unchanged, declining by one basis point to 3.25% as of Aug. 15, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest tally. Though the drop is more subdued than in previous weeks, the

The National Association of Realtors reported 5.99 million home sales for July, which was an excellent beat of estimates and a dagger into the hearts of the 2021 housing crash crew. Mother demographics and low mortgage rates, two things that

Existing-home sales grew by 2.0% in July from the month prior, a report published by the National Association of Realtors on Monday found. But first-time homebuyers are still getting squeezed. Completed sales transactions for single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops,

As the economic recovery from COVID-19 continues, conflicting trends in mortgage credit availability have emerged. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reports that the number of mortgages reached its highest level to date in 2020, with $1.2 trillion in

The mortgage market had a stunning year in 2020, with closed-end originations increasing by 65.2% from the year prior, a Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) report published by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this week disclosed. But some of the

On July 9, President Joe Biden ordered the Federal Trade Commission to fully ban or limit an employer’s use of noncompetes. If such a rule is implemented, industry veterans and labor attorneys say it could change how the mortgage industry

For the title industry, artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer just a futuristic concept to be discussed wistfully in conference breakout sessions. It’s here — and not a moment too soon. There are few general production processes in the housing

Buoyed by the volume of mortgage originations in 2020, 12 title companies made the Inc. 5000 list this year. Like all the companies on the list, those in title dealt with the special challenges of pandemic conditions and found a

Congratulations to all of the entrepreneurs, founders and executives who have survived the onslaught of phone calls, emails and DMs from first-year private equity associates (yeah… we’re looking at you Summit Partners….). But hey, growth equity firms and potential acquirers

The volume of loans in forbearance fell 14 basis points, from 3.40% the prior week to 3.26% for the week ending August 8, per the latest Mortgage Bankers Association report, while new forbearance requests and calls to servicers increased. According

United Wholesale Mortgage CEO Mat Ishbia has set the goal of topping arch-rival Rocket Mortgage by 2024. The second quarter earnings report shows he still has quite a bit of work ahead of him. The wholesale-only lender originated $59 billion

The mortgage industry had mixed feelings about the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s move to count positive rental history in Fannie Mae’s underwriting process. Advocates for affordable housing cheered the move. Lenders appeared to be supportive of the change. But some

In an interesting announcement last week, HUD and FHFA issued a joint MOU  (memorandum of understanding) that enhances efforts to synchronize fair lending policy, enforcement and investigatory activities. This is a rare instance where HUD and the regulator of the

Divvy Homes, the prop-tech startup that buys homes on behalf of renters and guides them to eventual ownership, announced Friday a new round of funding that nearly quadrupled its valuation to $2 billion. Co-led by Tiger Global Management and Caffeinated