As expected, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell did not set a timeline for lowering interest rates during his semiannual monetary policy report to Congress on Tuesday morning when participants complained about the effects of a tightening monetary policy in the housing market. Powell indicated th

In the May 2024 reverse mortgage rates report, we discussed how reverse mortgage borrowers might benefit from higher interest rates over the life of the loan. While this is counterintuitive, one must often think about reverse mortgages in…well, reverse.Of course, the reason for this is because the u

Over a quarter (26%) of retired investors continue to pay off their mortgage, and precisely one-quarter of the cohort are continuing to pay down credit card debt, according to a new survey from the Nationwide Retirement Institute.The U.S. retirement population is getting older at a faster rate and a

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Tuesday announced that it has published updated policies for its 203(k) Rehabilitation Mortgage Insurance Program, in an effort to “modernize the program and enhance its usefulness for individuals and families seeking affordable financing

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago (FHLBank Chicago) and consumer credit scoring system VantageScore announced on Tuesday that the bank is now accepting mortgage collateral using VantageScore 4.0, an updated version of the scoring system using trended credit bureau data.“[M]ember financial instit

Massachusetts-based Lamacchia Realty is continuing its expansion. The brokerage announced Tuesday that it has acquired Dalton, Massachusetts-based Berkshire Dream Home for an undisclosed sum.Berkshire Dream Home was founded in 2014 by Andy and Sarah Perenick. According to the release, in was the top

Mortgage rates held steady over the past week despite recent signs of relief from the labor market, according to HousingWire’s Mortgage Rates Center. In large part because of the lack of clarity as to when the Federal Reserve will begin cutting the benchmark rate, mortgage rates remained above the 7

CoStar Group is withdrawing two of its Homes.com advertising campaigns after two Fast-Track SWIFT rulings from the BBB’s National Programs National Advertising Division.The two challenges were brought by Move, Inc., the parent company of rival Realtor.com. Fast-Track SWIFT is an expedited process fo

Institutional investors in single-family rental (SFR) houses cause rents in a neighborhood to increase quickly, but their entrance into a neighborhood doesn’t cause gentrification. That’s the conclusion from a working paper released Tuesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The paper exam

As a broker and real estate coach, I’m always surprised when new agents tell me they don’t want to use real estate scripts. A script is just a predetermined question or response that helps guide a conversation closer to your desired outcome. Knowing what you’ll say in advance on a call, at an open h

Since launching in late June, Ryan Serhant’s latest reality TV venture “Owning Manhattan” on Netflix, has become quite the phenomenon. Despite debuting on June 28, the show cracked Netflix’s top-10 most streamed shows in the U.S. for the week ending on June 30. The show stars Serhant, who is no stra

The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Monday announced that it has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to expand the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)’ authority to review real estate transactions near military installations by foreign buyers.CFIUS is an inter-a

At the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) Eastern Regional Meeting in May, Acting Ginnie Mae President Sam Valverde said that the government-owned company planned to release a term sheet for a newly proposed Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM)-backed Securities (HMBS) program s

Nationally, the housing market indicators have been slow for several months now. There have been a few markets; however, that have defied the national trends where inventory has stayed tighter and demand keeps rolling in. Available inventory of unsold homes in the U.S. is 40% more now than last year

The Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) on Monday submitted a letter to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra, urging the agency to more forcefully go after trigger lead solicitations. To cement the point, CHLA is calling such solicitations “junk calls,” echoing the

An historic home in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1903 is in serious need of repairs and renovations, but an existing reverse mortgage loan is complicating the process of initiating the work. This is according to original reporting by Crain’s Chicago Busin

Despite a spate of reports showing the cost of housing increasing, consumers have a slightly rosier view of future home-price growth.That’s according to a new consumer survey from the Federal Reserve that shows respondents believe that home-price growth will be 3%. That’s down from 3.3% in last mont

Top-five mortgage lender Newrez, owned by asset manager Rithm Capital, has imposed another round of layoffs affecting 265 employees in Colorado and Arizona, per documents sent to state authorities.That’s the third round this year, following the acquisition of Computershare Mortgage Services and its

Roughly eight months after acquiring PacWest Bancorp in a rescue deal, Banc of California is selling roughly $2 billion in business-purpose residential mortgage loans, according to Bloomberg.PacWest had already sold the servicing on the debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) loans, which were originated