housing wire

As COVID-19 swept across the U.S., shutting down businesses and forcing many into unemployment, fear of a foreclosure wave has been rising. As borrowers came close to defaulting on their loans, rules were set in place that forced servicers to

At its beginning, the COVID-19 crisis had many consumers and housing professionals alike bracing for a housing crash. And with good reason: We were, and are, facing the biggest health and economic shock in recent modern-day history.   But what many

In a second-quarter report from ATTOM Data Solutions, it was revealed that housing markets most at risk due to the economic impact of COVID-19 are located on the East Coast. More specifically, 11 suburban counties around New York City, five

Sierra Pacific Mortgage has named Jeff Lochmandy as its vice president and divisional sales director for third-party originations. With over 30 years of experience in the mortgage industry, Lochmandy was previously at HomePoint Financial as its managing director. “I am

Multifamily housing saw fewer tenants making their rent payments for July as the COVID-19 pandemic worsened. According to RealPage and the National Multifamily Housing Council‘s research, 77.4% of renters living in professionally-managed apartments in the U.S. made their rent payment

Ginnie Mae’s newly imposed restriction on repooling of reperforming forborne loans yet again penalizes servicers acting as essential service providers in the continuing efforts to protect mortgagors facing financial hardship due to COVID-19.  Let me count some of the ways

There are 4.14 million mortgages in forbearance this week, a two-month low, Black Knight said in a report on Friday. The number dropped by 435,000 from last week – the largest decline of the pandemic, according to the report. Measured

Wells Fargo announced updates to its non-conforming refinance products at the beginning of July. While the updates loosen the jumbo requirements for current customers, the new standard for customers without a Wells Fargo relationship increased four times the amount it

In August, HousingWire is relaunching our all-new magazine, and we want to celebrate with something big. To help, we are calling on you and all our loyal readers. In honor of our redesigned magazine, HousingWire will donate $5 to the

Notarize on Wednesday announced its partnership with Title365, a division of Xome, that will allow the companies to offer hybrid and fully digital residential real estate closings. As part of the collaboration, Title365 will collect, organize and retain mortgage documents

This week a Quicken Loans SEC filing confirmed the company will IPO with Rocket branding, as I predicted in HousingWire last month. Below, I explain why this is important, what it means for consumers and key things all mortgage pros

It’s been a good week for virtual notary services, which have seen a big bump in business during the COVID-19 pandemic. On Tuesday, DocuSign announced it had acquired Austin-based startup Liveoak Technologies for $38 million in an all-stock transaction. In

iBuyer platform zavvie has announced the release of a new version of its Offer Optimizer, which is aimed at helping agents engage clients with the possible selling options. Image courtesy of zavvie. Click to enlarge. These options include instant offers

During times of crisis, communities and industries are defined by those who step up. National Association of Realtors Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Victoria Gillespie said Realtors did just that. Gillespie’s record on success speaks for itself: Under Gillespie’s leadership

Quicken Loans on Tuesday filed an S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under the name Rocket Companies. Last month, we reported that the largest online mortgage lender in the U.S. had confidentially filed for its prospectus for an

Purchase applications bounced back last week to the highest level in almost a month with a 5% gain from the week prior, according to a report by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan

Nationally, asking rents fell 0.4% in April and May, following nearly a decade of solid growth, a new report from Yardi Matrix revealed. Between January 2015 and the first quarter of 2020, before COVID-19 hit, asking rents grew a considerable

It’s that time of year again — the 2020 HousingWire Vanguard awards just opened for nominations. You might notice a slight shift – we’re opening the nominations earlier than last year. That’s because for the first time ever, we are

Zillow announced Tuesday morning that it would resume buying homes via Zillow Offers in five more markets, making 20 out of its 24 markets operational again since pausing the service due to COVID-19. Home sellers in Los Angeles; Riverside, California;

Kanye West had a busy weekend. On July 4 the rapper used Twitter to announce he was running for president, apparently with the support of Elon Musk, and on Sunday seemed to indicate he was resuming an affordable-housing project he

While risk is inherent in all stages of origination, the closing process has a distinctive consideration as lenders and title agents collaborate on sealing the deal. With so many moving parts, risk mitigation is key to ensuring a successful closing.

Lenders attempting to reach borrowers in arrears will still be limited in the use of robocalls thanks to the actions of the Supreme Court on Monday, where they upheld a federal ban on the non-emergency auto-dialed calls to cell phones.

The danger of mortgage forbearances turning into foreclosures is rising as COVID-19 infections surge in the U.S., according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. COVID-19 cases in Texas, Arizona, Florida and other sunbelt states have set record highs in

The Houston Association of Realtors said it will stop using the term “master” when describing bedrooms or bathrooms via its multiple listing service. Instead, HAR will update the phrase to say “primary bedroom” and “primary bathroom,” according to the Houston