housing wire

A full month of sub-3% mortgage rates, ongoing housing market supply constraints, and a 300% increase in lumber prices over the past 15 months has prompted Fannie Mae‘s Economic and Strategic Group to revise several of its 2021 forecasts. March’s

The American Land Title Association (ALTA) will be hosting approximately 400 people at the ALTA Advocacy Summit, the second virtual version of the association’s annual congressional fly-in, on May 18-20.  The event includes discussions and forums on public policies regarding remote online

A Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) report highlighted the perils of low-rates for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s single-family Credit Risk Transfers. Despite heightened investor uncertainty during the onset of the pandemic, GSE-backed mortgages have outperformed expectations, the report notes.

Could it finally be happening? Senators Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) have reintroduced federal legislation that would allow remote online legislation (RON) nationwide.  Dubbed the Securing and Enabling Commerce Using Remote and Electronic (SECURE) Notarization Act, the bipartisan

Historically low mortgage rates had their moment in the sun in 2020. They rested far below 3% for months before America’s economic rebound pushed them back up in the winter of 2021. But data released on Thursday from Freddie Mac

With the economic expansion well underway, one big question remains: When will mortgage rates move toward 4% and higher? Mortgage rates increased toward 3.25% in mid-February from the recent all-time lows of 2.625% at the start of the year, but

Mortgage forbearance exits picked up steam last week as the the total number of loans in forbearance dropped by 14 basis points to 4.22% of servicers’ portfolio share, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association‘s Forbearance and Call Volume Survey. With last

One of the great questions facing the housing markets in 2021 is what will happen when the mortgage forbearance programs under the CARES Act expire. When this act was originally passed on March 27, 2020, there were notable concerns that

Homebuilder confidence remained unchanged in the latest National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) report, holding steady at 83 for newly built single-family homes in May. The index gauging current sales conditions also remained

On May 13, FHFA Director Mark Calabria wrote an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal defending the final ‘living wills’ rule published in the Federal Register on May 4. The key to this op-ed is understanding what was left

The number of properties with foreclosure filings hit 11,810 in April, down 1% month over month and 17% year over year, according to a recent study from RealtyTrac and ATTOM Data Solutions. May marks the 14th month of the federal

Former TIAA CEO and President Roger Ferguson Jr. has joined the Notarize board of directors, the company announced in a release on Thursday. Under Ferguson’s management, TIAA more than doubled its total assets to over $1 trillion. Ferguson retired from

Credit can be confusing, but it can also be a huge asset going into the home-buying process. A good credit score increases the likelihood of qualifying for a mortgage because it indicates to the lender that you’re more likely to

In the last few years, there’s been a lot of conversation surrounding 25 to 40-year-olds and their home purchasing habits. But according to a new LendingTree study, millennials aren’t the only ones making big purchases – Generation X is doing

Mat Ishbia isn’t sweating a projected drop in gain-on-sale margins, all the way down to 75 to 110 basis points. Quite the contrary. In his estimation, a higher rate environment and hyper-competitive pricing will provide United Wholesale Mortgage an opening

Are you thinking about buying your first home? Because of today’s low interest rates, some homebuyers may be able to afford the homes of their dream. But low interest rates aren’t the only thing you should consider when house shopping.

Genworth Financial said it will delay the initial public offering of its recently rebranded mortgage insurance arm, Enact Holdings. Tom McInerny, the president and CEO of Genworth, said that recent market volatility led the company to put off the IPO.

Mortgage applications for new homes dropped 9% in April from March, however, overall applications are still up a whopping 30.8% year over year for homebuilders, according to the latest survey report from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Amid continued competition from borrowers, the average

As you probably know by now, the Federal Housing and Finance Agency has limited GSEs to a 7% cap on loan purchases for second home and investment properties. This means that lenders who sell these types of loans to Fannie

Compass has successfully become a publicly traded company, but the residential brokerage continues to lose money and it has unclear plans to generate more revenue. In its inaugural earnings call, the eight-year-old, New York City-based brokerage reported Wednesday a net

Compliance attorneys and mortgage industry lobbyists aren’t the only ones wishing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) would proceed with the General Qualified Mortgage Final Rule as it had initially planned. The same day the CFPB announced plans to delay

Five years after introducing the Rocket Mortgage brand for digital lending, Rocket Companies will finally retire the legacy Quicken name on July 31. “More than 20 years ago, Dan Gilbert, our founder and chairman, had a vision of putting the entire

A recent WalletHub study of 179 U.S. cities determined that Seattle is the top market for real estate agents to currently work in, and Corpus Christi, Texas, was deemed the worst. In studying the cities, two factors were considered —

Even with historically low levels of inventory, rising mortgage rates and uneven job growth, experts still believe 2021 will be a record year for home sales. How much will be spent on homes? Officials are predicting sale numbers to easily