housing wire

This is the fifth installment of our economist Q&A series, as we work to answer the top 2021 housing market questions for our HW+ members. Every Tuesday in December, HousingWire interviewed a top economist in the HW+ Slack channel. In

To start off this week’s people movers, Mid America Mortgage promoted Jemma Pachiano to chief operating officer. Pachiano joined the company in 2011 as national support and training director where she led communication between the company’s executive team, operations team and

Are you considering purchasing a home for the first time? Then you’re probably already saving money for your down payment. But what about all the other costs needed to complete the transaction? Understanding what expenses are required at closing to

Correspondent and wholesale lender Homepoint is the latest mortgage company to aim for an IPO. The Ann Arbor, Michigan-based lender filed an S-1 with the Securities and Exchanges Commission on Friday afternoon. The company indicated in the S-1 that its

The Federal Reserve made another bid for economic stability on Friday after Vice Chairman Richard Clarida said he expects the central bank to maintain the pace of its bond purchases through 2021. “My economic outlook is consistent with us keeping

For many of us, the start of a new year is usually synonymous with a renewed sense of professional self, focusing on new goals, new prospects for the year and, of course, the excitement for the upcoming spring real estate

Another month of rising COVID-19 cases left the unemployment situation in the U.S. virtually unchanged in December, with the rate holding for the second month at 6.7%, the U.S. Labor Department said on Friday. Due to massive losses in the

It seems simple enough on its face: when a lender makes a home loan, the lender must determine, document, and verify that the prospective borrower has the ability to repay their full loan. Over a decade after passage of the

Months after taking over management of broker LOS platform ARIVE, mortgage software startup LendWize has finalized a deal to take complete ownership of the origination platform. LendWize took over management of the platform in early 2020 and integrated ARIVE’s software

The first week of January is usually a quiet time for housing and for policy makers in Washington D.C. Even in a transition year, despite the perfunctory obligations to certify elections, plan for inaugurations, and swear in new members of

To generate buzz for its upcoming independent public offering, United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) is offering a special deal on conventional mortgage loans to select borrowers for the next two months. “We’re going to celebrate this exciting time by kickstarting 2021

Knock has launched its Home Swap product in Jacksonville, Florida – the sixth location in the Sunshine State and 15th in the U.S. Before expanding to Jacksonville, Home Swap opened in the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, Florida

Homeowners in the petri dish of iBuying can now sell their home via RedfinNow. Phoenix is the first market RedfinNow has launched in 2021, following the launch of San Francisco and Seattle early last month. RedfinNow is entering an already

Georgia held its runoff election on Tuesday, and Democrats appear to have won control of the Senate. Now, housing experts are shifting their 2021 forecasts, theorizing that the refinance wave could be cut short. As of press time, the race

For many middle-aged and older homeowners with several years of equity on their homes, 2021 could be a prime time to refinance from a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage into a 15-year mortgage. The three primary reasons homeowners refinance to shorter-term loans

iBuyer Offerpad has made its services available through Maronda Homes, a homebuilder in Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Kentucky and Georgia. This is the first of the company’s strategic homebuilder partners to offer the services to new-construction customers, and they’re starting with

Foundation Title & Escrow announced it is expanding its footprint in Alabama through its merger with Paula Title. This is the latest in a series of growth expenditures for Tennessee-based Foundation Title & Escrow. Previously, the company expanded its territory

2020 has certainly been a year to remember. While we may be ready to firmly plant our feet in 2021, we shouldn’t leave the past 12 months behind without taking a critical look at how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted

Mortgage applications dropped 4.2% from two weeks prior, according to the latest report by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Mortgage rates continued 2020’s trend at historically low figures, with the 30-year fixed rate at 2.86% and the 15-year fixed rate at

Over the past few decades, the inventory of affordable homes has been in sharp decline while home prices have risen dramatically. In fact, since 2012, the average price of a home has risen by almost 47%. As a result, affordable

Proptech company RealPage will acquire WhiteSky Communications, a company that offers internet, video and voice services to multifamily buildings. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed on Monday. Alabama-based WhiteSky offers its bulk services to apartments, student living, hotels,

The Housing Policy Council has weighed in on the Conference of State Bank Supervisors’ new proposed standards for nonbank mortgage servicers. In its comments, HPC suggests that regulators need to align on the regulations in order to avoid disruption. In

Chicago-based lender Guaranteed Rate is acquiring multi-channel lender Stearns Holdings for an undisclosed sum, multiple sources told HousingWire Tuesday. Employees at Stearns, which is owned by financial giant Blackstone Group, were told in an all-hands call on Tuesday afternoon, sources

Months after it delayed its $250 million initial public offering, AmeriHome has signaled that it may now be ready to enter the public markets. The lender and servicer filed updated paperwork with the Securities and Exchanges Commission on Monday detailing