housing wire

United Wholesale Mortgage originated more than $54 billion in mortgages and generated more than $1.3 billion in net income during the fourth quarter, the company revealed on Wednesday. The wholesale lender’s parent company reported $54.7 billion in originations, a 71%

There’s no doubt we’re in a seller’s housing market. With inventory at record lows, demand surging and prices on the rise, buying — even just finding — a home in today’s market is quite the challenge. Of course, nothing’s impossible.

Mortgage servicers received less complaints at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to data from Inside Mortgage Finance. The data showed that mortgage protests overall decreased by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, while

Mortgage applications jumped 8.15% from the week ending Jan. 29, breaking a two-week streak of decreases, according to the latest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The refinance index also increased 11% from the previous week – up to its

Ginnie Mae announced its first guarantee of a mortgage-backed security backed by digital pools, or pools of loans that consist entirely of eNotes. The MBS were loans closed by Rocket Mortgage in December, are issued as of Jan. 1, 2021

Despite an unrelenting COVID-19 virus and economic recession, U.S. homeownership rose in the fourth quarter of 2020 from the same period last year. And it’s reached a record high for white homeowners, but fallen for Black Americans. The overall homeownership

The Biden administration has begun making plans to release $1.3 billion in aid that Puerto Rico can use to protect against future climate disasters, alongside the removal of various spending restrictions Housing and Urban Development originally put in place by

CoreLogic Deputy Chief Economist Selma Hepp will be speaking on the economic outlook at HousingWire’s Spring Summit on March 4. It’s a topic she’s well-suited to speak on — at CoreLogic, Hepp is responsible for analyzing, interpreting and forecasting economic

Old Republic International Corp. reported positive revenue for 2020, in large part because its title insurance arm made up for a decrease in general earned premiums. The Chicago-based company saw a total of $670 million in net income in 2020,

Today’s HousingWire Daily focuses on the newly released HousingWire February magazine issue. In this episode, HW+ Managing Editor Brena Nath discusses what readers will find in this issue, which focuses on the unique challenges servicers face in 2021. HW Magazine

A coalition of 33 state attorneys general filed a motion against PHH Mortgage and its predecessor Ocwen Loan Servicing for allegedly charging unlawful servicing fees to nearly 1 million borrowers. The attorneys general, co-led by New York’s Letitia James and

Housing startup Divvy Homes announced a $110 million Series C funding round – headlined by Tiger Global Management – bringing its total debt and equity raised since 2017 to more than $500 million. The Divvy Homes business model is aimed

Digital mortgage servicer Valon (formerly known as Peach Street) announced on Tuesday it picked up $50 million in a Series A funding round spearheaded by venture capital heavyweight Andreessen Horowitz. Valon now boasts $53 million in total funding to date,

Now that several vaccines are being distributed and hospitalizations appear to be on the decline in many areas, we can start thinking about life after COVID-19. I am interested to see what habits and cultural shifts stay with us and

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust announced that company founder and Non-Executive Chairman Stanford Kurland died at age 68 due to complications from COVID-19. Kurland had also been battling brain cancer. The company and industry leaders alike mourned his passing, calling him

People often confuse the home appraisal with the home inspection.  Appraisals are estimates of a home’s value — and they’re typically required before you can close on your mortgage loan. Inspections, on the other hand, are designed to assess the

President Joe Biden signed several new executive orders on Tuesday that address racial equity, including a memorandum that directs the Department of Housing and Urban Development to both mitigate racial bias in housing and advance fair housing laws. “The nation

Early COVID housing policy helped servicers care for homeowners in these first nine months of the pandemic with fast forbearances and smart deferrals. Now let’s preview how this will play out for servicers, homeowners and the housing economy in 2021.

Record low inventory and strong buyer demand once again pushed up the cost of homes in the U.S., as prices in November rose 9.5% nationally over the same time last year, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index. November’s numbers mark the greatest

Amerant Bank, one of the largest community banks in Florida, announced that it is venturing into the mortgage industry with the formation of Amerant Mortgage. The company said this expansion was a direct response to the state’s growing demand for

Industry officials were quick to signal their support for yesterday’s historic U.S. Treasury Secretary confirmation of Janet Yellen, the 74-year-old who now holds the distinction of being the first female to hold the position in its 230-year history. After a

The U.S. Senate officially appointed Janet Yellen as Treasury Secretary on Monday, ensuring the 74-year-old will be the first woman to lead the department in its more than 230-year history. As part of Yellen’s team, the Treasury also named Natalie

Real estate services and technology firm SitusAMC on Monday announced its acquisition of mortgage and title outsourcer Assimilate Solutions – the second acquisition by the New York-based firm in January, and its fourth overall in less than a year. Terms of the

The U.S. forbearance rate held relatively steady last week, rising one basis point to 5.38% of servicers’ portfolio volume, according to a survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association released on Monday. The virtually unchanged rate of forbearance volume can be attributed to a stalemate between