The U.S. economy added significantly more jobs than expected during the first month of the year. Jobs increased by 353,000 in January, up from a revised rate of 333,000 in December, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday. January’s reading far exceeded the monthly ave

Real estate brokerage eXp Realty has entered into an affiliated business agreement with Orlando, Florida-based title firm Citrus Closing Group, according to an announcement on Thursday.“We are thrilled about the prospects of our exciting new partnership with eXp Realty, anticipating a wealth of oppo

Redfin is back to offering refunds to homebuyers but this time under a new name. Launched on Thursday, the brokerage’s Sign & Save program provides buyers who sign up to work with a Redfin agent before their second home tour — and who purchase a property with that agent within 180 days of signing th

Sure, your real estate landing pages look great — but do they convert? A good real estate website includes more than just drool-worthy images of homes priced to sell. Your real estate website should serve multiple functions, almost like a digital business card with an MLS listing storefront, a booki

The U.S. House of Representatives this week passed a bipartisan tax bill that included an expansion of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program, a move lauded by housing advocates including the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and the National Housing Conference (NHC).But political observ

United Bank will consolidate its mortgage subsidiaries into one unified mortgage business amid the housing industry struggles with elevated interest rates.United Bank has been delivering mortgage services through three channels, including two mortgage subsidiaries — Crescent Mortgage Co. and George

The report on the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) book of business inside the Mutual Mortgage Insurance (MMI) Fund was another positive overall development for the program, with the estimated economic net worth of the HECM MMI at $15.368 billion, according to the Federal Housing Administratio

In a bizarre turn of events, the National Association of Realtors posted, then removed before reposting, a video featuring the trade group’s interim CEO Nykia Wright “setting the record straight” on agent commissions.The video was first posted on Wednesday around 9 a.m. ET before being removed rough

For the past 12 years, HousingWire’s Tech100 program has recognized the industry’s most innovative and impactful technology companies that are continuing to bring long-awaited solutions to the challenges that mortgage and real estate professionals have struggled with for decades. The award uncovers

Top 10 mortgage lender and servicer NewRez is restructuring its distributed retail mortgage business, which has resulted in cuts to regional and divisional managers. The restructuring also includes reduced compensation for loan officers, and sources said that many are seeking new opportunities at ri

Editor in Chief Sarah Wheeler sat down with Uday Devalla, chief technology officer at Sagent and a 2023 Vanguard, to talk about his focus on transforming servicing, what really counts with data and the right approach to using artificial intelligence. Sarah Wheeler: After spending several decades lea

Stavvy is a truly comprehensive digital closing platform, the only solution to offer a SMART Doc engine that extends the savings, efficiency and security of eNotes to all mortgage documents for all loan programs and across all 50 states while supporting every type of eClosing and eNotarization. Stav

Mortgage rates continued their downward plunge this week as inflation keeps decelerating. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.63% as of Feb. 1, a decrease from last week’s figure of 6.69%, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey released on Thursday. Meanwhile, the 15-year f

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) that overseeing both the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a report stating that the CFPB’s enforcement investigation processes can be enhanced, and it offers recommendations on how

One of the biggest takeaways from the Wednesday press conference held by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is that the central bank isn’t likely to cut interest rates in March as investors had hoped. After signaling interest rate cuts for 2024 in its previous meeting, the focus shifted to when suc

Finance of America Companies (FOA) President Kristen Sieffert is bullish on the prospects for the reverse mortgage industry’s leading lender in 2024, particularly after the company went through a series of major changes last year, including the acquisition of American Advisors Group (AAG).This is ac

Josh Team is joining real estate brokerage Serhant as its first-ever president, Inman reported on Monday.After taking a three-year break from the industry, Team, the former president of Keller Williams, chose the brokerage headed by Ryan Serhant to make his comeback. In his new role, Team will be re

United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) announced Wednesday that it’s allowing its broker partners to offer a temporary discount of 100 basis points (bps) for conventional rate-and-term refinances. The discount is valid on new loan locks through March 29. It’s not the first time that the Pontiac, Michigan-b

Despite cooling interest rates, the title insurance segment at Big Four title firm Old Republic recorded a 22.8% annualized decline in net premiums and fees during the fourth quarter of 2023, which contributed heavily to a 12.8% decrease for all of last year.During the last three months of the year,