Snakes. Vultures. Con artists. Liars. These are all untrue and offensive words that come up when searching “Realtors” or “Real estate agents.” And before getting my real estate license in 2009, I had the same opinion, too.But even with all the negative nouns used to describe some real estate agents,

Three agents formerly affiliated with Keller Williams Realty — Jerri L. Moulder, David L. Bueker and Robert E. Hill — have taken legal action against the real estate brokerage by filing three separate class-action lawsuits, Inman first reported on Tuesday. The lawsuits contest alterations made to Ke

The Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program faces stability and viability challenges stemming from the 2022 collapse of a major industry lender and its extinguishment from the HECM-backed Securities (HMBS) program, which could warrant congressional scrutiny if these challenges are not properl

Ellington Financial, the parent company of reverse mortgage industry lender and servicer Longbridge Financial, announced the successful closing of a new securitization backed by a pool of proprietary reverse mortgages initially originated by Longbridge.The securitization was valued at $208 million a

Just for a moment, let’s imagine a world in which a person purchases a home shortly before a global pandemic. Even though they have a low mortgage rate on their home loan, the pandemic causes unanticipated financial hardships which lead to a decrease in their annual income as well as the necessity o

Last year might best be described as a risk-prone atmosphere for the single-family rental sector and the related fix-and-flip market.The risky operating environment has been marked by volatile, high interest rates (with 30-year fixed rates now hovering around 7%), high financing costs and moderating

Since its inception in 1908, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) has undergone a remarkable transformation, with women now accounting for 62% of its membership, according to data for the trade organization.AceableAgent, an online real estate school, surveyed more than 600 female real estate a

Mortgage rates rose this week as the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note inched up. As of Monday, the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note was about 4.25%, according to Tradeweb, up from 3.86% at the end of last year. As a result, HousingWire’s Mortgage Rates Center showed the average 30

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed 43,903 foreclosure prevention actions in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to a new report published by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).Over the course of 2023, the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) completed 192,897 foreclosure prevention act

loanDepot has settled a lawsuit filed by a Maryland couple accusing the firm of appraisal bias, ending a case that gained national attention two years ago. Court documents filed on March 22 show that the lender and plaintiffs Nathan Connolly and Shani Mott — the latter a scholar of Black studies at 

Home prices maintained their upward trajectory in the opening month of the year. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index posted a 6% annual gain in January, up from a 5.6% gain in December, according to a report released Tuesday. It was the seventh consecutive month of annual p

Marcia Fudge is now the former secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), having served her final day on Friday, March 22, after announcing her resignation just 11 days earlier. Adrianne Todman now serves as acting HUD secretary.In a recently published interview with NP

California-based multichannel mortgage lender HighTechLending appointed reverse mortgage industry veteran Brian Boccia to serve as a senior account executive in its third-party origination (TPO) channel. He joins the company after prior experience at companies like Mutual of Omaha Mortgage and Rever

Fueled by a surge in mortgage rates, owning a home has become increasingly expensive. According to a Freddie Mac housing and mortgage market report released Monday, while mortgage payments remain the primary pressure point for homeowners, insurance costs are emerging as a growing burden.Homeowners i

Today’s new home sales report shows the importance of lower rates. Last year, when mortgage rates were approaching 8%, people wondered if homebuilders could still buy down rates to boost sales. The answer is no: new home sales were hit as mortgage rates headed higher last year, which impacted the bu

On the heels of the $418 million settlement recently announced by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), mortgage trade group Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) has called on the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) to expedite regulatory change that would allow veterans and active-dut

It may be counterintuitive, but loan officer Scott Betley, a 32-year-old TikTok sensation, says he isn’t worried about a potential U.S. ban of the short-form video app.Betley, who has more than a decade of experience helping first-time and move-up buyers, joined NFM Lending as a loan officer in 2021

Last week was a pretty strong week for all the housing numbers. New supply and sales numbers keep climbing — both weekly and over last year. Home prices had a slight increase this week across the board. What does this means for home prices this spring? As the data comes in each week this year, I’ve

The Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing (SABEW) announced the winners of the 2023 Best in Business Awards, honoring excellence in business journalism from 2023.HousingWire journalist Will Robinson won the Data Journalism category for his data reporting series on the seismic changes in

During a virtual open house hosted by Keller Williams to answer agent and broker questions about the settlements in the commission lawsuits, the overwhelming message was for real estate professionals to focus on what they can control.“Don’t panic. Remain calm, trust that you are in the right place a