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In just a few months’ time, COVID-19 accelerated the digital shift era to forever change the way consumers approach home buying. This tipping point came after several years of rapid technology growth in our industry. In February 2019, we wrote

Douglas Elliman CEO Scott Durkin In May of last year, New York City residential brokerage Douglas Elliman revealed its business was at a crossroads. “Douglas Elliman began to experience a severe decline in closed sales volume in mid-March 2020 and

The aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis, plus solid housing demographics, has created a genuine problem with housing inventory. Record low inventory has resulted in a hectic housing market with forced bidding becoming typical rather than the exception. One of my

The Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Housing Finance Agency today announced that they will work hand-in-hand to strengthen, coordinate and increase fair housing enforcement of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. HUD and the FHFA entered into

Rocket Companies CEO Jay Farner Rocket Companies is not content with merely being America’s largest lender. Its ambitions are far outsized, even for a firm with a reputation for taking moonshots. In its quarterly earnings call on Thursday, CEO Jay

Big-four title company Fidelity National Financial released its second-quarter earnings this week, after Old Republic, First American, and Stewart Title announced their numbers in July. Fidelity reported $3.9 billion in total revenue for the second quarter, up from $2.4 billion

The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage slipped back down to 2.77% for the week ending August 5, according to mortgage rates data released Thursday by Freddie Mac‘s PMMS. The week prior, mortgage rates had rebounded slightly to 2.80%. According to Sam

Instead of waiting for credit standards for agency-backed mortgages to relax, two industry veterans are launching a startup to help credit-impaired borrowers rise to meet them. Jeff Walker and Steve Romano founded CredEvolv, a startup that facilitates credit counseling in

Glenn Stearns, founder and CEO at Kind Lending Residential real estate brokerage eXp continues to be profitable, and company CEO Glenn Sanford became a fan of Glenn Stearns through reality television. Those were two takeaways from the company’s second quarter

Fewer than five million households failed to make their rent or mortgage payments in the second quarter of 2021, despite the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic still being felt across the country. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Research Institute

Mortgage applications fell 1.7% in the week ending July 30, according to the latest report from the Mortgage Bankers Association. That’s despite the 30-year fixed rate falling to its lowest level in roughly six months. It’s an about-face from the

Depository bank Citi continues to round out its mortgage executive team under the stewardship of Brad Wayman. Citi announced this week that it had appointed industry veteran Liz Bryant as the new head of retail mortgage sales for the U.S.

Trouble paying for firewood, heating oil or back property taxes for your home because of Covid-19? The Homeowners Assistance Fund (HAF) can help with that. In March, Congress allocated $10 billion in funds to prevent homeowners from falling behind on

Cyber security, 5G, drones and virtual reality are the technological developments expected to have the biggest impact on real estate in the next two years, according to a National Association of Realtors survey. The survey also found that 36% percent

In spite of a recent Supreme Court ruling, the Centers for Disease Control on Tuesday issued new limits on evictions for non-payment of rent or mortgage through October 3, 2021. The measure is virtually certain to be met with legal

This article was originally published by RealTrends. To stay up to data on real estate brokerage news, please check out RealTrends’ BrokerSource newsletter. After selling her 29% stake in New York City-based Douglas Elliman in 2018, Dottie Herman will step

When you hear people say that the current housing market is like 2008 all over again, you may want to remind them of the huge differences between this market and that one. The previous economic expansion, from 2010-2019, wasn’t a

The blockchain revolution may soon be coming to mortgage lending. And it could take the form of a very old-school lender – Homebridge Financial Services. The Mike Cagney-led fintech lender Figure Technologies, most recently valued at $3.2 billion, announced Tuesday

Rocket Companies, parent of Rocket Mortgage, has its eyes on the solar energy industry, announcing this week that it will enter the green energy game by 2022. According to the Detroit-based company, it will be leveraging the same technology, data

Home prices continue to increase as national inventory levels remain low heading into August. But relief for buyers could be coming in the next 12 months. Home prices increased 2.3% from May to June, and 17.2% year-over-year, according to the

The purchase market reigned supreme in the second quarter of 2021, and multichannel lender loanDepot reported a 31% increase in purchase mortgage transactions from the prior quarter. But the lender’s gain-on-sale margin and net income fell significantly during the second

Fannie Mae continues to reap the rewards of low mortgage rates as it posted a net income of $7.2 billion for the second quarter of 2021, up from $5 billion in the first quarter. Refinances continued to account for the

Banks moved to ease lending standards for most mortgage loan products during the second quarter, according to a loan officer opinion survey published this week by the Federal Reserve Board. The quarterly survey found that banks loosened their underwriting standards

Alanna Strei of eXp Realty in San Diego and Cornerstone Communities’ new San Diego townhouses Real estate agent Alanna Strei’s client wanted to check out “Tesoro Vista Del Sur,” 134 newly built townhouses in the Ocean View Hills area of