housing wire

HousingWire recently chatted with Homepoint Chief Experience Officer Ginger Wilcox about the company’s rebrand and hiring surge in the middle of a global pandemic. Wilcox explains how Homepoint is redefining the home buying and homeownership experience moving forward. HousingWire: Ginger,

HW Media, publisher of HousingWire, FinLedger, and producer of Engage Events, today announced it has closed on the strategic acquisition of REAL Trends, the residential real estate industry’s leading report that ranks the performance of the top U.S. brokerage firms.

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that applications decreased 1.2% during the week ending Dec. 4 in its latest weekly survey — the second straight week of application decreases. The refinance index and the unadjusted purchase index did increase, however, jumping

Real estate technology company Knock has announced the launch of Knock Nest, a standalone sale-leaseback solution that allows homeowners to access the cash they’ve built up in their home while continuing to live in it. Via Knock Nest, homeowners can

With record origination volume stretching capacity and a fresh infusion of capital from the public markets en route, a slew of big nonbank lenders are shifting strategies and declining to sell their mortgage servicing rights, which they’d previously relied on

HousingWire recently spoke with Mike Fierman, managing partner and co-CEO of Angel Oak, about the non-QM lending outlook for 2021 and how Angel Oak’s “originate to hold” model benefits originators. HousingWire:  What sets you apart from other non-QM lenders and

Residential real estate marketplace Sundae has announced it closed $36 million in Series B funding on Tuesday, led by QED Investors and with additional participation from Founders Fund, Susa Ventures, Navitas Capital, Prudence Holdings and General Global Capital. This round

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has announced the appointment of two executives to the agency’s Executive Committee. Sydney Menefee has been selected to fill the senior deputy comptroller for Midsize and Community Bank Supervision on a permanent

As we look ahead to 2021, we remember that this year, the housing market has continued to remain a bright spot in the economy, even as other areas continue to struggle amid stay-at-home orders and economic shutdowns.  COVID-19 threw the

Following three months of increases, Fannie Mae’s Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI), a composite index designed to track the housing market and consumer confidence to sell or buy a home, fell 1.7 points in November to 80. Year-over-year, the HPSI is down 11.5

After two weeks of slight increases, the U.S. forbearance rate, measuring the share of mortgages with suspended payments, remained unchanged from the week prior at 5.54%, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The MBA estimates there are still 2.8 million homeowners

The incoming Biden administration has made improving racial equity a pillar of its domestic policy agenda, and appropriately so. There is a compelling argument that ending historic economic and racial inequity should start with housing, specifically down payment assistance. With

Like many digital solutions, remote online notarization (RON) became a key technology in 2020 as the housing industry scrambled to keep real estate transactions moving despite limited in-person interactions with customers.   “Almost every business has been forced to redesign every

Carrollton, Texas-based a360inc, an employee-owned legal and financial services technology and outsourcing company, acquired Express Notary Services, a national notary and signing services provider based in Irvine, California. Express Notary Services provides national notarization and signing services and is one of

Economic activity curtailed by the rising COVID-19 cases moderated the decline of U.S unemployment in November as the rate fell just .1% from October to 6.8%, the Labor Department said on Friday. With nearly 400,000 people making up that .1% drop, the

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) announced the new members of its 2021 Residential Board of Governors and the Chairs of the Residential Committee. The new appointees include New American Funding Co-Founder and President Patty Arvielo, who created the company’s Latino Focus

iBuyer purchase volumes were significantly lower during the third quarter this year than they were pre-pandemic, according to zavvie‘s inaugural Seller Preference Report. In Q3, iBuyer purchases dropped 82% year over year. Zillow, Redfin, Offerpad and Opendoor all paused respective

CoreLogic released its final three-year housing and mortgage outlook report for the year on Thursday, and if numbers hold up, the data company predicts 2021 will maintain its unprecedented sales and record low mortgage rates as the economy continues to

Ralph McLaughlinHaus Chief Economist and SVP of Analytics This is the first installment of our economist Q&A series of the top housing market forecasts for 2021. Every Tuesday in December in the HW+ Slack channel, HousingWire will be hosting a

Even prior to the pandemic, housing inventory had hit record lows, and the problem has only gotten worse as demand continues to rise. Total home sales are outpacing new listings by a wide margin every month, and real estate tech

Boise, Idaho was the No. 1 midsized housing market to watch in 2020, according to Zillow, because of its draw for young professionals, families, and retirees alike. In 2018, Forbes ranked the city No. 1 on its list of America’s

The average U.S. mortgage rate for a 30-year fixed loan fell one basis point this week to 2.71%, Freddie Mac said in a report on Thursday – the lowest rate in the survey’s near 50-year history. This week’s rate broke the previous record set on

Independent mortgage banks (IMB) and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks saw an average net gain of $5,535 on each loan they originated in the third quarter of 2020, up dramatically from the $4,548 in profit-per loan they recorded just a

The passage of Proposition 19 in California — which will generate wildfire relief funds while providing tax breaks for senior citizens — was a victory for the California Association of Realtors, which lobbied for its passage and put real dollars