Lessons from California wildfires and other natural disastersCalifornia’s wildfires highlighted the chaos that natural disasters continue to unleash – not just on homeowners, but also on the mortgage servicers tasked with supporting them and the insurance industry that covers the cost of rebuilding.

Retirees and advocates for older Americans are expressing unease and bewilderment at a series of announcements made by the Social Security Administration (SSA). The agency is seeking to implement new in-person identity verification requirements and plans to close more than two dozen field offices ac

The number of home flips across the U.S. fell in 2024, continuing a downward trend as real estate investors grapple with tight profit margins.According to Attom’s 2024 U.S. Home Flipping Report, investors flipped 297,885 single-family homes and condominiums last year. That marked a 7.7% decline from

In a move designed to increase the speed that recovery funds can be provided, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Thursday published a universal notice about Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) programs that will consolidate guidance from disparate

Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. on Thursday announced that Amy Slotnick has been promoted to the role of president of national branch optimization for sales.Slotnick has previously served Fairway as a senior vice president and regional sales manager. Her new position will involve implementing new

Rent growth for single-family homes ramped up at the start of 2025, according to a new report by CoreLogic. The data provider’s Single-Family Rent Index showed that rent prices jumped 2.4% during the year ending in January.January’s rent increase is only slightly higher than December’s increase of 2

The U.S. remodeling industry reached $600 billion in value following the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite recent softening in 2022 and 2023, it still remains 50% above pre-pandemic levels. But industry fragmentation, inflation and a shortage of skilled trade labor jeopardize the ability of the industry to

There was no surprise on Wednesday as the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) chose to leave the federal funds rate unchanged at a range of 4.25% to 4.5%. The decision was almost universally expected by market observers as the Federal Reserve weighs data that could be pushing the U.S. toward a rece

After taking the time to digest elements of a proposal from lawmakers in Hawaii, the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) has expressed support for a measure to establish a state-run Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program there.In a letter submitted by NRMLA to sponsor lawma

Chief operating officer Tammy Richards is taking on a new role at Kind Lending. Richards announced Tuesday on LinkedIn that she’s now the president of retail at Kind Lending, a move that comes a little less than a year after she joined the company.She had an association with Kind Lending before bein

Financial services veteran Patrick Halonen has joined reverse mortgage lender and servicer Longbridge Financial as the company’s new head of credit policy, underwriting and quality control.“With over 25 years of expertise in the financial services industry, Halonen’s appointment underscores Longbrid

Given the current housing environment in the U.S., the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)’s new leader should prioritize the affordable housing footprint across the country, find ways to cut costs in the origination of mortgages and take additional moves designed to mitigate risk.This is accordin

Better‘s fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 earnings call showcased the company’s growing revenue and its plans to further integrate artificial intelligence into the mortgage process.Vishal Garg, Better’s CEO and founder, said that despite a market with historically low housing affordability and pers

Institutional home-buying activity remained subdued last year as transactional players — including iBuyers, flippers, and sales leaseback firms — dominated the market. While major single-family rental (SFR) funds continued to make acquisitions, their volume was significantly lower than during the po

Cardinal Financial Wholesale has introduced Cardinal Complete, a new loan processing solution aimed at streamlining operations for mortgage brokers.The platform offers an end-to-end processing service designed to reduce administrative burdens and improve efficiency from application to closing.The se

Virginia-based River City Blues Realty has merged with United Real Estate Richmond to form RVA Blue Realty, according to an announcement on Wednesday. United Real Estate Richmond is the largest Black-owned real estate brokerage in America, founded by brothers John S Finn Jr. and Jeffrey S Finn.Throu

Reverse mortgage business in the early part of 2025 has been humming along consistently, though not exactly “booming” as mortgage rates remain elevated and lenders are moving on their own initiatives to expand business and further forge partnerships with the forward mortgage side of the industry.Thi

Glenn Kelman seemed unusually down.The Redfin CEO’s playful demeanor and quotable banter was notably absent on the company’s fourth-quarter 2024 earnings call at the end of February. There could have been many innocuous reasons for sounding a bit deflated — not enough sleep or a bad day at work.But

The state of the U.S. housing market — particularly its levels of affordability, available inventory and accessibility for those with mobility or cognitive challenges — presents a unique challenge for older Americans on fixed incomes. This has led to a “failure” to properly serve the senior cohort.T

Today’s new construction report from the Census Bureau showed month-to-month growth in housing starts, but falling housing permits. Both of these data lines are currently still at the levels we saw in the early part of the COVID-19 recession. However, employment for residential construction workers