Ongoing supply and affordability challenges in the housing market have frustrated many homeowners who have looked to trade up or relocate for various reasons. In response, some consumers have turned to renovation projects to meet their needs.According to survey data released this week by St. Louis-based Clever Real Estate, 63% of homeowners would rather remodel their current home than move to one that has already been fixed up. There’s a variety of reasons for choosing this option, but the most commonly cited were to repair damage (35% of respondents), to increase comfort (35%), to improve the livability of the home (32%) and to enhance the home’s aesthetic appeal. The market for renovation projects is a lucrative one for homebuilders and contractors. Although consumers have been spending less on these projects for about two years, estimates from the Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) of Harvard University show that about $450 billion will be spent this year to spruce up owner-occupied homes. That figure is projected to rise slightly next year.Mortgage lenders can also benefit from these projects through a variety of products, including home equity lines of credit (HELOCs). The Clever survey found that 85% of respondents spent at least $5,000 on renovations in 2023, including 37% who spent at least $10,000. In line with the JCHS estimates, these shares are expected to rise in 2025.!function(e,n,i,s){var d="InfogramEmbeds";var o=e.getElementsByTagName(n)[0];if(window[d]&&window[d].initialized)window[d].process&&window[d].process();else if(!e.getElementById(i)){var r=e.createElement(n);r.async=1,r.id=i,r.src=s,o.parentNode.insertBefore(r,o)}}(document,"script","infogram-async","https://e.infogram.com/js/dist/embed-loader-min.js");While 45% of surveyed homeowners said their renovation plans are tied to wants rather than needs, there are financial challenges associated with many projects. About one in four respondents who recently completed a renovation said that “budget constraints” was their top challenge. Nearly 80% exceeded their budget on their previous project and 41% saw significant delays.About two-thirds of these homeowners have taken on debt to pay for a project, and about one-third have borrowed at least $10,000 in the process. And much of this debt was tied to high-interest credit cards, which 36% of respondents said they struggled to repay.The vast amount of home equity accumulated across the country could be a path to addressing these issues. Data from ICE Mortgage Technology found that tappable home equity — the amount that a homeowner can draw from while keeping a 20% equity stake — rose to a record $17.6 trillion at the midpoint of the year. And there are now 32 million borrowers who have at least $100,000 in tappable equity.Keynova Group recently surveyed 12 large banks and nonbanks about their home equity lending capabilities. Speed is a key part of this process. Nearly all of them reported having a digital application process, while two advertised the ability to fund a home equity loan within a week.

The National Association of Realtors has taken its fight with the Department of Justice to the Supreme Court.As it previously indicated it would, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) filed a writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court on Thursday. The trade group is asking the nation’s highest court to consider an appeals court’s decision to allow the Department of Justice to reopen its investigation into NAR.In July, the appeals court denied NAR’s request for a rehearing and in late August, the association announced that it would appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.The appeals court’s decision overturned the ruling of District Court Judge Timothy Kelly, who ruled in January 2023 that the terms of an earlier settlement reached by the DOJ and NAR ending the department’s investigation into the trade group were still valid. Kelly also ruled that allowing the investigation to continue would take away the benefits NAR had negotiated in the original settlement. The DOJ appealed the ruling in March 2023 and filed its first brief a few months later.The two parties reached an initial settlement in 2020, ending the DOJ’s investigation into NAR’s listing and agent compensation policies. The settlement proposed at the time included requirements for NAR to boost transparency about broker commissions and to stop misrepresenting that buyer broker services are free. In exchange for NAR’s compliance, the DOJ said it would close the investigation.But the DOJ, under new leadership in the Biden administration, withdrew the settlement in July 2021. It stated that the terms of the agreement prevent regulators from continuing to investigate certain association rules that could harm buyers and sellers.NAR filed a petition in September 2021 to set aside or modify the DOJ’s probes into the trade group.In its writ of certiorari, NAR claims that the Supreme Court should review the appeals court’s decision because it is “both exceptionally wrong and exceptionally important.”NAR argues that by allowing the government to retract from the promise it made to close its investigation, the appeals court is setting a poor precedent and that changing a binding contract “based solely on its preference to do so” is something “a private party could never successfully invoke,” the filing states. Prior to the appeals court ruling, NAR notes that there have been no instances where the government was allowed to reopen an investigation it had agreed to close.“Restoring that principle (of contractual obligations) is critical because the government enters into contracts in a vast range of contexts … in which contracting partners rely on the government to keep its word,” the filing stated.NAR also alleged that the DOJ’s decision to reopen the investigation was due to a change of leadership after President Joe Biden took office.“Although a new administration is free to change the government’s policies, it is not free to repudiate the government’s contracts,” the filing stated.

Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments will rise by 2.5% in 2025, the lowest such increase since 2021. This reflects cooling levels of inflation after a period of historic increases, which pushed the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to its own heights during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.The benefits, which apply to more than 72 million Americans, will translate into a roughly $50 increase on a monthly basis, according to the Social Security Administration (SSA).“Social Security benefits and SSI payments will increase in 2025, helping tens of millions of people keep up with expenses even as inflation has started to cool,” Social Security Commission Martin O’Malley said in a statement.Additionally, the estimated average survivor benefit will rise from $1,788 to $1,832 per month, while Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) payments will increase from $1,542 to $1,580.According to AARP, while the reduction is lower when compared to years past, it will still be welcomed by program beneficiaries.“Inflation is clearly top of mind, not just for retirees, but for Americans generally, and the annual COLA provided by Social Security is a critical feature of the system,” Rob Williams, managing director of financial planning at Charles Schwab, told AARP.Despite positive economic news that includes moderating inflation and resilient labor market, this may not translate into improved feelings about the cost of living, Williams added.The COLA increase in 2024 was 3.2%. In 2023, it was unusually high at 8.7%, while the 5.9% increase in 2022 was an early signal of the high levels of inflation in the economy.Earlier this year, the SSA updated and expanded the SSI benefit program to expand the definition of a “public assistance household” to those receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) payments and to households “where not all members receive public assistance.”But solvency remains a key, unaddressed issue for the Social Security Trust Fund. As of May 2024, the Social Security Board of Trustees revised the projected life for full benefit payments from the fund to last an additional year before being exhausted in 2035.More rigorous reform is needed to better ensure the longevity of the program, something that Congress has been unwilling to address due to the political consequences of such a move. Some lawmakers have attempted to introduce bills to address the program, but consensus has been hard to come by in today’s highly polarized political climate.

Agents and LOs are grasping with heavily damaged housing markets in the Southeast. " data-medium-file="https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241011/16/original_e539edd5-b4df-4319-84b9-78e878cf874f.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241011/16/original_e539edd5-b4df-4319-84b9-78e878cf874f.jpg?w=1024" tabindex="0" role="button" src="https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241011/16/original_e539edd5-b4df-4319-84b9-78e878cf874f.jpg?w=1024" alt="housing-markets-in-the-aftermath-of-Helene-and-Milton." class="wp-image-486254" srcset="https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241011/16/original_e539edd5-b4df-4319-84b9-78e878cf874f.jpg 1200w, https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241011/16/original_e539edd5-b4df-4319-84b9-78e878cf874f.jpg?resize=150,84 150w, https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241011/16/original_e539edd5-b4df-4319-84b9-78e878cf874f.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241011/16/original_e539edd5-b4df-4319-84b9-78e878cf874f.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241011/16/original_e539edd5-b4df-4319-84b9-78e878cf874f.jpg?resize=1024,576 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" />Agents and LOs are grappling with heavily damaged housing markets in the Southeast. Housing markets in the Southeast are reeling from a one-two punch of devastating hurricanes that are believed to have caused at least $100 billion in damage. The housing markets in Tampa, Florida, and Asheville, North Carolina, have effectively frozen as federal and state relief efforts get underway, but a full recovery will take years. Hurricane Helene, the first to strike, made landfall in Florida on Sept. 26 with winds of up to 140 miles per hour and historic levels of flooding. Helene moved inland and wiped out entire communities in western North Carolina. The storm caused more than 230 deaths and up to $47.5 billion in damage, according to CoreLogic. Two weeks after Helene hit, Movement Mortgage loan officer Mitch Davidson still has no power or running water at his Asheville home — and he says it could be months before they return. He’s been making trips back and forth from Charlotte with supplies. Many low-income homeowners near the Swannanoa River witnessed their homes wash away in the swollen waters, Davidson said. He has friends who died in the storm. The area’s famous artisan community is shuttered. Thousands have left for Charlotte and other areas, some permanently. A significant amount of critical infrastructure around Asheville is beyond repair, and while supplies are coming, there’s a skilled and unskilled labor shortage.In an interview with HousingWire, Davidson said helicopters have been circling overhead, dropping supplies via ladder. There’s no gas to be found in the area and cellular service is limited. What to do with thousands of people whose homes are no longer habitable remains an open question, even as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) sets up housing pods.“We already had an acute affordable housing problem in Asheville,” Davidson said. “And we just lost an enormous amount of our most affordable housing.”There are the professional challenges, too, even if they’re secondary considering the more pressing safety issues. “Whether you’re a loan officer like me, or a Realtor, we’re all pretty worried about income,” he said. “We have a lot fewer houses to buy and sell right now. We already had very thin inventory and some of our deals are dead because houses have been ruined. Maybe there are some refinances, but rates shot back up.”Davidson said it’s particularly hard to find an appraiser in the aftermath of Helene. They too are clearing debris from their homes and trying to help neighbors. There are no appraisal substitutes with government loans either. “I have two deals that I’m working on right now where the people have become homeless, and they’re like, ‘Hey, how soon can we close this thing? Because I got nothing.’ That’s a real common situation right now.”Federal agencies tasked with providing emergency assistance, such as FEMA and the U.S. Small Business Administration, are also facing major staffing and budgetary crises. Hurricane Milton, which made landfall late on Wednesday, will only further complicate relief and rebuilding efforts. Linesmen from power companies will be diverted and nonprofits on the ground will be stretched thin.“My biggest concern is that we will be forgotten,” Davidson said on Wednesday.New listings and pending home sales data from Altos Research captured the housing markets around Asheville coming to a screeching halt. Pending home sales fell by half following the storm.Milton arrives as a Category 3CoreLogic released a data analysis on Wednesday showing 500,000 single-family and multifamily homes in the Tampa and Sarasota, Florida, metropolitan areas with a reconstruction cost value of approximately $123 billion are at potential risk of storm surge damage from Hurricane Milton. The storm hit Tampa as a Category 3 storm on Wednesday.“The recent extreme weather events that have affected Florida and extended up to the Carolinas will have a long-lasting impact on housing in these regions,” CoreLogic chief economist Selma Hepp said. “Florida, in particular, is already experiencing pockets of real estate weakness. Rising insurance costs are a prominent concern for homeowners and potential buyers. Homeowners in any affected markets who didn’t have appropriate insurance damage coverage may be losing all of their hard- and long-earned home equity on which they relied for a financial buffer in times of economic hardship.”Altos Research data shows that, as was the case in Asheville, new listings and pending home sales in Tampa have fallen off a cliff since the storm’s formation. There were 775 new listings in Tampa on Sept. 27, a number that has since shrunk to 555. Pending sales have declined from 741 to 561.The lower level of activity makes sense as people trying to get out of the path of a hurricane aren’t prioritizing the sale of their home. Additionally, Milton prompted both buyers and home insurers to hit the brakes.Tampa-area agent Jeff Borham of eXp Realty said that insurance can’t be binded once a storm is named. A deal could still close if insurance was bound before the storm was named.The trend is even more dramatic when considering that the Tampa market — which had slowed considerably over the past year — was starting to gain steam.“Two weekends ago, even right after Helena, my team had our busiest showing weekend of the year,” Borham told HousingWire last week. “Right now we have zero scheduled showings because everybody’s stressed out over the storm. People are evacuating. We’re still getting plywood up, cleaning up their house, getting ready for the storm. There’s literally zero activity now.”But it won’t be too long until sales rise again, he said, adding that good agents are ingrained in the community.“A good agent will check on all your clients, make sure their houses are prepped, see if they need connections to handymen or contractors,” Borham said. “If people want generators, help them get generators. I think that’s our job as Realtors and real estate professionals, is to be community ambassadors and just provide value and help where we can.”

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Thursday announced $3 million in new grants for North Carolina residents impacted by Hurricane Helene. But independent reporting has also detailed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has nearly exhausted funding for the next year in just the past eight days.The $3 million in new funding from HUD comes from its Rapid Unsheltered Survivor Housing (RUSH) program. These funds are designed to “help residents and families who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness and have needs that are not otherwise served or fully met by existing Federal disaster relief programs,” the agency explained.While impact assessments are ongoing, HUD recognizes that there is a need to immediately release funding for those impacted by the disaster, according to Adrianne Todman, the acting secretary of HUD.“[W]e know the breadth of destruction warrants immediate funding to supplement emergency assistance for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness,” she said. “HUD is committed to working with state and local leaders in North Carolina, during their long road of recovery ahead.”Federal and charitable entities including FEMA and the Red Cross are providing relief assistance on the ground, but the extent of the damage has overwhelmed local capacity, HUD explained. More assistance is needed, and RUSH funding “is intended to address the immediate unmet needs for homelessness assistance and homelessness prevention in declared disaster areas.”The relief funding can be applied for by those who were already experiencing homelessness prior to Helene, and for those who were previously at risk of homelessness. Previously unhoused individuals are eligible for emergency shelter, up to 24 months of rental assistance, financial aid for moving costs and other support services.But according to reporting by Politico, the federal government has nearly exhausted funds allocated by Congress for disaster relief over the past eight days. Officials are facing successive challenges brought about by Helene and by Hurricane Milton, which struck Florida overnight on Thursday.Absent additional action from Congress, FEMA will be forced to restrict its spending as relief needs accelerate in the wake of both disasters. The full impacts of damage, displacements and losses of life are currently being assessed.“I’m going to have to evaluate how quickly we’re burning the remaining dollars in the Disaster Relief Fund,” FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said during a news briefing on Wednesday prior to Milton’s landfall.The restrictions would mean that FEMA would limit spending to life-saving operations during disasters. It would not pay for rebuilding efforts, which could leave limited repair and recovery options for critical infrastructure such as roads, bridges and water treatment facilities.“We keep a reserve in the Disaster Relief Fund to make sure I can always cover these life-saving activities,” Criswell said, according to Politico. “I’m going to have to assess that every day to see if I can wait that long.”As of Tuesday, Criswell disclosed that $9 billion of the $20 billion Congress allocated to the disaster fund through September 2025 had been spent — and that was prior to Milton’s landfall. The White House and President Joe Biden have sought additional funding for FEMA, but Congress has not taken up the request.A coalition of Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives has urged Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to reconvene the House — which is currently in recess — to address disaster needs. But Johnson has signaled he will not call for a new session prior to next month’s general election, according to reporting by NBC News.

In its race against other brokerages to add agents, eXp Realty has scored big in California.Prime Real Estate Team is leaving the white-label brokerage Side and taking its 21 agents to eXp. Led by the wife-and-husband team of Angelica Galeana Yost and Robert Yost, the team serves the Sacramento and Folsom areas of Northern California.Robert Yost is a 19-year veteran in real estate, and Angelica serves as co-team lead and director of growth.“We are thrilled to welcome Robert, Angelica and their team to eXp Realty,” CEO Leo Pareja said in a statement. “Their commitment to excellence and focus on growth perfectly align with our mission. eXp Realty continues to attract the best of the best, and we’re seeing tremendous quality growth globally as more top-tier agents recognize the value of our platform.”According to RealTrends Verified, the team produced $126 million in sales volume in on 211 transactions in 2023.“We had hit a ceiling with our previous brokerage and needed a platform that would give us more room to grow and, in turn, offer more value to our agents,” Robert Yost said in a statement. “eXp Realty’s unique structure, its Fast Forward Movement and the collaborative culture all stood out to us as being perfectly aligned with our goals.”eXp is one of a few national brokerages that are adding agents and teams at a rapid pace. In September, CanZell Realty, which operates in 20 states, joined eXp along with New York-based Grand Lux Realty.Brokerages have been under the gun since the National Association of Realtors settled the antitrust lawsuits against it in March for $418 million. New data from AccountTECH shows that larger brokerages are financially more sensitive to any drop in commissions than smaller brokerages. This is often due to the burdens of larger overhead costs tied to office space and middle management.eXp also relieved itself of a major headache this week by settling the commission lawsuits for $34 million.

“Rules of the Game,” a popular interactive session from past annual meetings of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA), returned in 2024 to the San Diego event that took place at the end of September.Hosted by reverse mortgage educators Dan Hultquist and Jim McMinn, the pair aimed to once again point out how guidelines can often be misunderstood in the reverse mortgage industry. They each sought to “blow the whistle on long-held notions that will open your eyes to a better presentation of the reverse mortgage.”The trouble with definitive statementsThe first topic the pair covered was the trap that some reverse mortgage professionals might fall into by making “definitive statements.” These may run afoul of program regulations or other more nuanced realities of the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program.“When you start using words like ‘will always,’ ‘guarantee’ or ‘never,’ those are definitive words that could be problematic if there’s an exception to the rule,” Hultquist said. “And as we know, it’s a little complex, there are exceptions to the rule, and that’s where lawsuits are.”Dan Hultquist and Jim McMinn prepare to present “Rules of the Game” at NRMLA Annual 2024 in San Diego. Photo by Chris Clow." data-image-caption="Dan Hultquist and Jim McMinn prepare to present “Rules of the Game” at NRMLA Annual 2024 in San Diego. Photo by Chris Clow." data-medium-file="https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241010/16/original_d5c621a9-6bd1-4f78-8ad3-74456a17df8b.jpg?w=226" data-large-file="https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241010/16/original_d5c621a9-6bd1-4f78-8ad3-74456a17df8b.jpg?w=690" tabindex="0" role="button" src="https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241010/16/original_d5c621a9-6bd1-4f78-8ad3-74456a17df8b.jpg" alt="Dan Hultquist and Jim McMinn prepare to present "Rules of the Game" at NRMLA Annual 2024 in San Diego. Photo by Chris Clow." class="wp-image-486006" style="width:250px" srcset="https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241010/16/original_d5c621a9-6bd1-4f78-8ad3-74456a17df8b.jpg 690w, https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241010/16/original_d5c621a9-6bd1-4f78-8ad3-74456a17df8b.jpg?resize=113,150 113w, https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241010/16/original_d5c621a9-6bd1-4f78-8ad3-74456a17df8b.jpg?resize=226,300 226w" sizes="(max-width: 690px) 100vw, 690px" />Dan Hultquist and Jim McMinn prepare to present “Rules of the Game” at NRMLA Annual 2024 in San Diego. Photo by Chris Clow.As an example, Hultquist began a statement that asked, “Is it true that borrowers can always …” before he immediately interjected.“No, don’t use the word ‘always,’” he said. “There’s no guarantee. We have no idea.”Using “wiggle words” to relay the reality of a particular rule or regulation helps to emphasize the point a professional may seek to make while steering clear of definitive statements that could be problematic, McMinn noted.The audience called out some of their favorite examples: “generally,” “usually,” “sometimes” and “typically” were offered. While a certain rule might work one way most of the time, industry professionals should stay away from a definitive declaration that a rule or guideline will always work in the same way since that is where problems can emerge.Presentation accuracy, staying in your laneKeeping with the sports theme, the pair then described a need to be “accurate with our passes,” or in other words, accurate in presentations about the particulars of the product.“When you’re going to pass that ball out there, make sure you know the guidelines,” Hultquist said. “Communicate them, and make sure everybody knows what routes they’re going to take.”One example he offered is a statement that a borrower will never be required to make a payment while they have a reverse mortgage. While payments toward the loan balance are not required by borrowers, there are other payments associated with keeping a reverse mortgage in good standing. These include property taxes, homeowners insurance and — if applicable — homeowners association (HOA) fees.“There’s got to be a caveat to that,” Hultquist said. “The caveat is not without qualifying language regarding borrower obligations.”This is to ensure that a reverse mortgage professional stays closely tied to their own area of expertise. They shouldn’t wander into areas they may know about but may not be qualified to offer specific advice about.“Don’t go out of bounds,” Hultquist said. “‘Staying in your lane’ is another way we talk about it. Don’t go out of bounds by giving tax advice, legal advice or investment advice. These are just some general rules of the game, like you don’t want to communicate with appraisers or counseling agencies or your unlicensed activity if you don’t have a license, things like that. You want to stay within boundaries.”McMinn added that the particular expertise of reverse mortgage professionals may not be narrow, but presenting insights about other topics is simply inadvisable.“We know a lot about this program,” he said. “We all live it every day, and we want to give advice to our customers and make sure that they know what they’re doing. But we want to stay within our lane, so let the legal folks do legalese. We’ll let accountants and the tax people do their thing, and then we can all come together.”Learning the playbooksThe pair also recommended learning the “playbooks” for a particular strategy, particularly when it comes to the intersection between reverse mortgages and other disciplines.“There’s a lot of playbooks out there,” Hultquist said. “It could be financial planning playbooks, maybe working with attorneys or real estate professionals. And servicing — know the servicing. I have a passion for compliance and servicing, and we have industry people that are fantastic to reach out to, but know the servicing playbook.”Hultquist also said purchase strategies have their own sets of dynamics, and having a good understanding of particular subject matter you may be seeking to invoke makes it much easier to execute with success.“Learn the playbooks so that we know what to do,” Hultquist said. “If you don’t know that playbook, then you probably shouldn’t be making that play.”

A pair of top-producing agents are returning to Coldwell Banker Realty. On Wednesday, the brokerage announced that Leominster, Massachusetts-based Lynn Walsh and Charlotte-based Victoria Speer are coming back to the firm.Walsh departed Coldwell Banker Realty in April 2024 to join Lamacchia Realty, but she recently made the decision to return. “I’m very excited to be back and working with my esteemed colleagues,” Walsh said in a statement.Walsh cited Coldwell Banker Realty’s marketing programs as one of the reasons for her return. She has more than 25 years of real estate industry experience, and she specializes in lake properties and new construction. Additionally, she has experience in commercial real estate transactions. In 2023, she closed 57 transaction sides for a total of $29.979 million in sales volume. This earned her the No. 23 spot in Massachusetts for sides in the 2024 RealTrends Verified Rankings.“We are excited to welcome Lynn back to the Coldwell Banker Realty family. She is a true professional who inspires her co-workers and prides herself on providing exceptional service to her clients. I look forward to supporting Lynn as she continues to grow her business with Coldwell Banker Realty,” Allison McIntyre, the vice president and managing broker of the company’s Leominster and Westford offices, said in a statement.Speer, the self-proclaimed “Million Dollar Listing Queen,” also announced her return to Coldwell Banker Realty on Wednesday. She spent the past few years leading a top team at The Agency.“Coldwell Banker is a leader in the luxury real estate space,” Speer said in a statement. “Its Global Luxury network connects top dealmakers across the globe and its marketing program sets the bar for high-end properties. I knew this was the best move for my clients, and I was won over by the supportive and knowledgeable leadership at Coldwell Banker Realty in Charlotte.“The Charlotte-based agent has dealt with her share of luxury listings over the years, twice setting the record for highest-priced home sale in the North Carolina hub. Most recently, in 2020, she set the record with the sale of a $7.5 million estate on Lake Norman.“Victoria’s title as the ‘Million Dollar Listing Queen’ is no exaggeration. She has a true passion for luxury real estate and has earned her reputation as a tenacious advocate for her clients who deeply understands the unique needs of affluent buyers and sellers,” Lance Branham, the managing broker for Coldwell Banker Realty in Charlotte, said in a statement.Like Walsh, Speer has 20-plus years of experience in the industry. She is a certified home stager with experience in both residential and commercial real estate.

Homelessness is an escalating problem for the growing number of U.S. seniors, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) based on data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).An estimated 138,000 older Americans — those 55 and older — experienced homelessness on a single night in 2023, according to HUD data. The growing problem is complicated by the greater needs that seniors have, according to subject matter experts interviewed by the GAO.“In addition to affordable housing, older adults often need housing with accessibility features,” the report stated. “Providers described challenges finding accessible housing within the already limited supply of affordable housing.”Health needs are also a complicating factor, since many older Americans have limitations in mobility, certain “functional impairments” such as incontinence, and other chronic conditions that traditional shelters are not always equipped to deal with. Many shelters may use bunk beds or have bathrooms with limited accessibility features, and not all shelters are capable of making such facility improvements.“Some shelters GAO visited modified their spaces or services to accommodate these needs, while others cited resource constraints,” the report explained. “Additionally, older adults transitioning into housing may need home and community-based services, such as home health care and personal care. Providers described challenges connecting older adults to such services, such as limited availability of providers.”The GAO published a 73-page report detailing the challenges faced by rising levels of senior homelessness. Older adults who are part of underserved or minority communities may also face unique challenges, including “unfair treatment, an unwelcoming environment, or cultural insensitivity,” according to the report. “Some providers reported taking steps to promote more equitable provision of services in their programs.”While some agencies have taken a proactive role to address the rising levels of senior homelessness, the GAO made two specific recommendations for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The first is for HHS to ensure that the Administration for Community Living (ACL) “as the lead agency for the Housing and Services Resource Center, works with partner agencies to clearly define short- and long-term outcomes for the center, consistent with leading collaboration practices.”The second recommendation calls on HHS and ACL to work “with partner agencies to collect and use performance information and other relevant evidence to assess progress toward the center’s desired outcomes, consistent with leading collaboration practices.”Both recommendations remain open as of Wednesday evening.

MIAC Analytics is marketing a large mortgage servicing rights portfolio on behalf of a lender with a big book of business in California. The portfolio consists of $292.91 million in Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae servicing rights. The seller will be providing full representations and warranties on the portfolio, which has an average loan size of $343,383. Roughly 42% of the portfolio consists of Fannie Mae mortgages, 28% Freddie Mac mortgages and 29% Ginnie Mae mortgages. The weighted average interest rate is 7.013% with an average delinquency rate of 2.93%. The average loan has seasoned for five months and has a weighted average FICO score of 744. More than half of second-quarter bulk MSR acquisitions were attributable to Mr. Cooper Group and Lakeview Loan Servicing, according to Inside Mortgage Finance.

Heading into Aug. 17, when the business practice changes outlined in the National Association of Realtors’ commission lawsuit settlement agreement had to be implemented, most brokers and agents were concerned about how they would disclose a seller’s offer of buyer broker compensation.What few actually considered, though, was what would happen when a buyer went from looking at a property to making an offer.Across the country, the topic is causing quite a stir as real estate professionals are sorting out how to incorporate buyer requests and seller offers of buyer agent compensation into a purchase and sales agreement. Some have decided to tackle the issue from the start of the buyer-and-agent relationship.At Leading Edge Real Estate in Boston, broker-owner Linda O’Koniewski has implemented a buyer agency agreement with a professional fee section. This outlines how much the buyer has agreed to pay their agent, and it includes a box the buyer can tick, which instructs their agent to ask the seller to cover this fee in their offer. Alternatively, they can check another box indicating that they will pay the fee out of pocket. The section even includes proposed language that the buyer’s agent could include in the agreement when asking the seller to cover the fee.Although most buyers are opting to have their agent ask the seller to cover buyer agency compensation, some are choosing to cover it themselves. O’Koniewski said this can sometimes make the buyer’s offer more attractive. But if a buyer selects the first option, O’Koniewski said it is essential that agents follow these wishes — not only because it is what the buyer wants but because it will ensure they get paid.“It is crucial to note that if an agent doesn’t explicitly include their compensation in the offer, then there is no mechanism to ensure they get paid,” O’Koniewski said. “The previous system guaranteed buyer agent payment through MLS enforcement. which is no longer in effect. Seller might even withdraw their offer of a concession if they receive lower-than-expected offers.“Therefore, it is essential for buyer’s agents to write in their professional fee and clearly state it is being paid by the seller to avoid it being seen as a co-broke. Some of our agents are also specifying what the offer would look like it if included a concession for the buyer. This proactive approach prevents any misunderstandings and reinforces the buyer’s decision to pay the fee.”Joanie McIntire is the president of the New Hampshire Association of Realtors and an agent at Coldwell Banker J. Hampe Associates. She has other reasons why a buyer’s agent should include information about how they are getting paid, whether it’s an offer or in a purchase and sales agreement.“If I don’t see it on the purchase and sale, I am going to assume that the buyer has it covered and that my seller doesn’t have to pay that fee,” McIntire said. “Maybe you are trying to make your offer more attractive to the seller, so you don’t include it on the purchase and sales, but in a negotiation situation, I think it is really important to have it on there, just as you would if you are waiving inspection, so that way everyone knows what the buyer’s intentions are going in.”She and other agents believe that by having this information upfront, it makes it easier for sellers to compare offers in a bidding-war situation, which is currently common in New Hampshire.“As the buy-side agent, you don’t want to get to the closing table and realize that the seller isn’t going to cover your compensation because you didn’t ask for it in the purchase and sales and your buyer doesn’t have the money to come out of pocket,” McIntire said.Prior to the business practice changes going into place, brokers say buyer agency fees got swept into the contract through the practice of cooperative compensation. This is no longer the case now that buyers must sign buyer agency agreements outlining exactly how much their agent will be paid. But some agents still feel uneasy about injecting their fees into negotiations by including them in a purchase and sales agreement.In Florida, Tom Baker — the district sales manager of The Keyes Co.’s Hutchinson Island office — said it has never been the practice there to include broker compensation into a purchase agreement. Due to the NAR settlement, however, Florida Realtors released a variety of “compensation agreements.” These can be between a listing broker and a buyer’s broker, a buyer and their broker, or a seller and the buyer’s broker.“We are seeing these referenced as contingencies in contracts, such as ‘this contract is contingent upon Seller executing the Seller to Buyer Broker Compensation Agreement as presented with this offer,’” Baker wrote in an email to HousingWire.Similar to McIntire’s assumptions, Baker noted that if a buyer is paying all of their agent’s compensation, it is not mentioned in the offer or the purchase and sales agreement.Among lenders, the inconsistent inclusion of requests for buyer agent compensation is also creating confusion and chaos.“We’ve seen some transactions being delayed because of this, which of course is a concern when you have a borrower who has lined up movers and other support items to facilitate their move,” said Amanda Tucker, chief risk and compliance officer at Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group.“But when we get to the closing table, if we haven’t calculated cash to close and we don’t have clarity on what portion of the closing funds are going to the buyer broker, it does cause the transaction to stop.”Tucker said lenders are having to look for documentation in the form of a buyer agency agreement or cooperative compensation agreement, if the information is not in the sales contract. This will determine how much the buyer’s agent is getting paid and where the funds are coming from. If the buyer was expecting the seller to cover some or all of the buyer broker fee, the added cost comes as an unwelcome surprise at the closing table.Despite the confusion, the inclusion of this information remains a point of contention nationwide. While she doesn’t like having to disclose what the buyer’s agent fee is to the seller, Gretchen Pearson — the broker-owner of California-based Berkshire Hathaway Drysdale Properties — sees it as a necessary evil.“To avoid confusion if the buyer is asking the seller to participate in compensation for her buyer’s agent, it needs to be in the purchase and sales agreement,” she wrote in an email. “But I don’t believe it is the seller’s right or business to see the buyer’s agreement with their agent, but they could request a redacted version, but that isn’t equitable because the buyer can’t request to see the seller’s contract with their agent.”Until further best practices emerge, real estate professionals agree it is best to include any requests for buyer agent compensation in a purchase and sales agreement. This will avoid nasty surprises for homebuyers and their agents.

The home insurance marketplace has been facing a reckoning. The challenges that higher costs place on carriers, regulators, lenders and consumers has been well documented this year, and the acceleration of extreme weather events has only made things worse. The arrival of Hurricane Helene late last month threatens to exacerbate the situation in the states it struck. And it raises questions about how more of these events could impact the mortgage industry.With the death toll from Helene crossing the grim milestone of 230 this week — and with thousands of impacted homes without flood insurance wiped away — this could lead to a ripple effect that drives homeowners insurance premiums even higher.Helene slammed into areas across multiple states that conventional wisdom of years’ past would have been called safe from the impacts of extreme weather and climate change. Further challenges will be brought by Hurricane Milton, which is expected to have a sizable impact this week along the Gulf Coast.Experts who spoke with HousingWire are concerned about further increases to insurance costs, which could threaten the financial stability of consumers and depress home sales in what has already been a challenging time for the mortgage and real estate industries.Rethinking the dynamicTaylor Stork, president of the Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) and chief operating officer of Developer’s Mortgage Co., said that reliance on the old way of doing things between the mortgage and insurance industries likely needs to be rethought due to the impact of extreme weather on the insurance marketplace.Stork relayed a personal anecdote. A family member living in Florida bought a house on the water at Madeira Beach. Despite buying the home with a relatively small loan, the owners became concerned about the availability of insurance and elected to strategically sell based on this concern.The move paid off, since a hurricane arrived not long after.“The reason I tell this anecdote is that their insurance had already gone up a lot two years ago,” Stork said in an interview. “I think it is a prelude to what we’re going to start seeing in hurricane-prone areas, which is that people will choose to leave due to economic reasons, safety and soundness reasons, and because having to start your life over after everything gets wet is a hassle.”Rising homeowners insurance expenses resulting from climate change-induced natural disasters are emerging as “a core threat and challenge facing not only homeowners, but our industry in general,” Stork explained. “Because there’s this new element entering into the individual transaction, but it’s also entering into the geography.”The reckoning with homeowners insurance adds another element to keep track of — on top of traditional indicators like interest rates and home values.“As lenders, we’re starting to have to factor in the potential for insurance rates to change or to become unavailable, and it’s going to particularly hit servicers in a bigger way than it hits originators,” he said. “But it’s definitely going to change the origination calculus.”This means the dynamic of interactions between the mortgage and insurance industries will need to evolve into something new, Stork said.“All mortgage companies, banks and federal credit unions, we all need to be thinking about what our backup plan is, instead of only relying on the historical structures that we’ve always used,” Stork said. “Mortgage companies have always taken it for granted that there was going to be insurance. Back when I was a loan officer, I couldn’t tell you how many times I’d get to a few days before closing, and my borrower would ask about what ‘HOI’ was.”This would lead to a scramble to get a homeowners insurance quote so that a closing could take place on time, since it was much easier to secure in the past. That’s no longer the case.“I think that mortgage companies need to stop taking insurance for granted and start thinking about insurance as a core component of the mortgage process,” Stork said. “I think it’s time that we start looking at insurance like we look at an appraisal: make sure the house can get insured, make sure that the insurance is affordable, make sure it makes sense, that the deductible is what meets requirements and the policy meets all the regulatory guidelines.”Projecting the impactConsumers should likely expect insurance rates to go up in the immediate aftermath of Helene and Milton, according to Mike Fratantoni, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).In the aftermath of the 2007-08 financial crisis, the Dodd-Frank Act and other mortgage regulations were primarily “geared to preventing payment shock,” Fratantoni said. That’s no longer the case.“We’re essentially in a market now where there isn’t payment shock from the mortgage components anymore, and we thought we had developed a much more stable system,” he said. “So, it’s a real challenge now that payment shock is not coming from the mortgage or from the interest rate moving — because so many folks have a fixed-rate mortgage — but the increase in payment is coming outside of mortgages, from insurance and in property taxes.”On top of this, state-level regulations on insurance premiums artificially restricted increases, and many of these restrictions have since been relaxed. Premiums shot up as a result, and capital markets for reinsurance have seen prices go up as insurers deal with the quick succession of extreme weather events, he explained.“From a mortgage perspective, the mortgage lender’s responsibility is making sure that a homebuyer, when they get in the home, has the right amount of insurance on that property,“ Fratantoni said. “The servicer, then, over time, is monitoring that and making sure those premiums are paid to make sure the insurance stays enforced. The lender and the servicer’s responsibility, and the actual insurance pricing, that’s a whole different organization and market.”Despite the high level of interaction, the lender has no control over the actual costs of insurance. This has spurred serious conversations, which are amplified by the devastation wrought by recent storms. MBA has heard concerns from its membership regarding a lack of thought given to home insurance policies, as consumers discover they don’t have one and then “scramble” to put one in place.“I think that’s the biggest near-term concern,” Fratantoni said. “How we try to improve that availability for whatever changes are necessary. And then over time, I think that’ll help to stabilize the pricing as well.”Risk modeling for stormsTom Larsen, associate vice president of hazard and risk management at CoreLogic, explained some of the novel impacts of Helene alongside the dynamics in play for the imminent landfall of Hurricane Milton in Florida. As a model vendor, one of CoreLogic’s services is to construct risk models for insurers to better understand the severity and frequency of losses.Insurers often have to set aside reserves each year for extreme weather events, but the increased level of volatility brought about by Helene and Milton compound issues faced over the past few years due to historic levels of inflation.Prior reserves set aside by insurers were then complicated by rising costs for virtually everything else, which made planning for the set-asides a challenging prospect. “Because the loss numbers go up, and if their savings don’t go up equivalently, then there’s a shortfall,” Larsen said.Climate changes adds to concerns over water, whether coming from storm surge, rising sea levels or intense amounts of rainfall, which is driven into rivers and causes flooding. The point is that the risk is constantly evolving — and at a speed that critical industries are having a hard time keeping up with.A potential bright spot for creating resiliency against future events comes from a move to change building codes and better fortify homes against extreme weather, which has been very visible in a state like Florida. But this mainly applies to newer homes, and legacy construction will need to take a different approach.“[Fortification] works really well in an area like Florida that’s growing rapidly, but it’s not as effective in areas like North Carolina and Georgia where the housing in those communities is not growing as much,” Larsen said.Speed to implement any change is also an issue. Flood insurance is not required with mortgage insurance for “legacy reasons,” Larsen explained. But in certain states — including North Carolina — you’re not required to have hazard insurance if you own your home free and clear, even if you reside in a flood zone.“That’s a challenge,” Larsen said. “But now, it starts to look like bicycle or motorcycle helmet laws. You’re requiring people to do things for their own good, even though they may not feel it’s necessary, and they realize it’s expensive.”That’s not to say that certain areas prone to storm damage aren’t making progress. Florida recently imposed new roof requirements to better protect homes against extreme weather, which has lowered damage rates for newer homes, Larsen noted.

In its ongoing battle with CoStar, the parent company of Realtor.com is not giving up without a fight. Initially filed by Move Inc. in July, the lawsuit centers on James Kaminsky, a former Realtor.com employee who went to work at CoStar-backed Homes.com after being laid off by the Move subsidiary. In the suit, Move alleges that Kaminsky stole documents and trade secrets from Realtor.com, which he then provided to CoStar to fuel the rapid growth of Homes.com.The company’s latest filing comes roughly two weeks after California District Court Judge George H. Wu denied Move’s motion for a preliminary injunction against CoStar. Move now claims that Kaminsky violated the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) by accessing Move-owned documents roughly 40 times after he was laid off by Realtor.com in January 2024.Under the CFAA, individuals are prohibited from “intentionally accessing a computer without authorization or in excess of authorization.” But the law also “fails to define what ‘without authorization’ means,” according to the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. The law includes a maximum prison sentence of 10 to 20 years for obtaining national security documents, accessing a computer and obtaining information, extortion involving computers, and six other hacking offenses. The attempt and conspiracy to commit a CFAA offense carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.Move’s filing claims that by removing personal information and documents from his Move-owned computer and then accessing Realtor.com-owned documents pertaining to the News & Insights team after his termination, Kaminsky was in violation of the CFAA. Additionally, Move claims that is was unable to recover the files that Kaminsky allegedly destroyed.Move also continues to allege that Kaminsky shared the documents he accessed with CoStar, which it claims CoStar used to boost user traffic on Homes.com. Move claims Kaminsky’s actions caused it more than $5,000 in damages, which satisfies the CFAA’s threshold to allow victims to take private action.“Mr. Kaminsky’s attack on Move’s protected computer systems, both as an individual and a CoStar employee, caused significant harm — and certainly more than $5,000 in damages,” the filing states. “Move spent substantial time and resources investigating the nature and scope of the breach, taking steps to secure its computer systems and engaging a forensic expert to assist.”If Wu grants Move’s latest motion, the company would be allowed to file a second amended complaint and begin discovery.In an emailed statement, CoStar chief legal counsel Gene Boxer expressed gratitude over the court denying Move’s request for a preliminary injunction.“The Court’s opinion underscores what CoStar has said all along — Move’s case is built on baseless speculation, not fact. As we have said from the beginning, this case — which Move has tried to weaponize in the press — is a PR stunt in response to the fact that Move is failing in the marketplace. Putting aside the inaccuracies in Move’s theory, Move’s complaint also fails as a matter of law,” Boxer wrote. “CoStar has therefore moved to dismiss several of Move’s claims as legally deficient, including because Move has failed to plead the requisite damages or that CoStar ever accessed any Move documents, computer, or information.  Whether at this phase or at the conclusion, CoStar is confident it will ultimately prevail in this case, on both the facts and the law.”

After reaching their highest level since July 2022, mortgage applications have declined for two straight weeks, counteracting some recent positive signs for a still-sputtering housing industry.According to weekly data released Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), applications shrank 5.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ending Oct. 4. This included a 9% weekly decline in refinance applications and a 0.1% decline in purchase loan demand.Compared to same week in 2023, however, purchase applications were up 8% and refi applications were up 159%.“In the wake of stronger economic data last week, including the September jobs report, mortgage rates moved higher, with the 30-year fixed rate rising to 6.36 percent — the highest since August,” Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s senior vice president and chief economist, said in a statement. “Conventional loan refinances, which tend to have larger balances than government loans and hence are more responsive for a given change in mortgage rates, fell to a greater extent over the week.”Refis have become more prevalent of late as interest rates have dropped enough from the recent peaks to put more borrowers in the money. But the refi share of mortgage activity dropped last week by 250 basis points (bps) and accounted for 52.4% of new applications.In reference to the purchase market, Fratantoni observed that a couple key factors continue to play a role in consumer demand. “As we have highlighted before, the decision to buy a home is impacted by many factors, not just the level of mortgage rates,“ he said. “The largest constraint for many prospective homebuyers over the past year had been the lack of inventory. Now, there are more homes available in many markets across the country, and with mortgage rates still low compared to recent history, at least some potential homebuyers are moving ahead.”MBA data showed that government lending continues to represent a steady share of the mortgage market. For the week ending Oct. 4, Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans decreased by 40 bps and represented 16.2% of all applications, while U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) loans rose by 150 bps to account for 16.9% of applications.The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate loans with conforming balances ($766,550 or less) jumped from 6.14% to 6.36% during the week. Lender points, including origination fees, increased slightly to an average of 0.62 for mortgages with 80% loan-to-value (LTV) ratios.Interest rates for jumbo loans (balances of more than $766,550) moved 12 bps higher during the week, averaging 6.64%. Lender points averaged 0.5, up 14 bps, on 80% LTV loans.Adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) increased to 5.9% of all applications.The MBA’s survey covers more than 75% of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications across a variety of independent mortgage banks, commercial banks and thrifts. Its weekly application index is benchmarked to 100 in March 1990.

If commission rates drop significantly as a result of the National Association of Realtors antitrust lawsuit settlement, it’s potentially an existential threat to many brokerages. But which ones and how many?Data from AccountTECH might bring us closer to an answer. Based on a sample of 100 brokerages of varying sizes and expenditures, the data shows a general trend of larger brokerages being more sensitive to a drop in commission rates than smaller ones.That’s because many large brokerages still pay for office space and middle management.“You know that expression they tell you at Weight Watchers — don’t eat bread because you’re probably going to put jam on it?” asked AccountTECH CEO Mark Blagden. “Don’t open an office because you’re going to have to staff it.”Blagden’s study divides the sample by agent count at brokerages and then applies different commission rates to their 2023 financials. The commission splits at the brokerages and their expenditures are held constant.While smaller brokerages are generally starting from better financial footing, they’re also less sensitive to lower commissions. For brokerages with fewer than 30 agents, 65% are profitable at a 3% commission rate while 35% are profitable at a 2% commission. A 30 percentage point drop is certainly dramatic, but for brokerages with an agent count between 75 and 100 agents, 90% are profitable at a 3% commission and only 20% are profitable at a 2% commission, 70 percentage point drop.Larger brokerages are already struggling, though it’s fair to say they have more resources at their disposal to. For brokerages with an agent count between 200 and 300, only 42% are profitable at a 3% commission and it drops to 17% at 2.5%, according to AccountTech. With an agent count between 100 and 200, 64% are profitable at a 3% commission, but that number plunges to 9% at a 2.25% commission.Blagden says that the 50-to-75-agent brokerages are in the best position to sustain drops. He sees the average commission right now being about 2.5%, and 70% of brokerages in that agent count range are profitable, which is significantly higher than other ranges.While those brokerages do see a drop to just 20% at a 2% commission rate, that’s more than brokerages above 50 agents, and it only drops below 50% at that rate.“Having 75 to 100 agents seems to be the best place to be because you don’t necessarily have to have management, you don’t have to have a lot of offices, you don’t have to have a lot of managers, and you can just take most of that to the bottom line in terms of profit,” he said.He added that the most impactful ways for brokerages operating in the red to get into the black is to dump office space or take a higher split of commissions.While it’s largely expected that commissions will drop as a result of the new settlement rules, different brokerages have reported different numbers. On its second-quarter earnings call, Compass disclosed that it has not seen any movement in commissions, while Redfin reported that they’ve dropped.

Ginnie Mae has taken a far more active role in the reverse mortgage industry over the past two years, stemming from the failure of a major industry lender that threatened liquidity for other major players in the space. The government-owned company has long overseen the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM)-backed Securities (HMBS) program, through which reverse mortgages are securitized and sold to investors.While recent industry liquidity challenges were first addressed under the leadership of former Ginnie Mae president Alanna McCargo, the company’s acting president, Sam Valverde, is currently charged with leadership responsibilities. These include the eventual implementation of “HMBS 2.0,” a complementary program that the industry is looking at with great interest.To get an idea of where things stand with Ginnie Mae’s recent reverse mortgage activity, HousingWire’s Reverse Mortgage Daily (RMD) sat down with Valverde for an exclusive interview.Small size, big importanceWhen asked about his own interactions with the reverse mortgage program and some of the initiatives he is overseeing, Valverde recognized the importance of the program in meeting the company’s mission.Sam Valverde, acting president of Ginnie Mae." data-image-caption="Sam Valverde" data-medium-file="https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241009/16/original_b1f3032a-c19a-4386-8641-7952d4647488.jpg?w=240" data-large-file="https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241009/16/original_b1f3032a-c19a-4386-8641-7952d4647488.jpg?w=819" tabindex="0" role="button" src="https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241009/16/original_b1f3032a-c19a-4386-8641-7952d4647488.jpg?w=819" alt="Sam Valverde, acting president of Ginnie Mae." class="wp-image-460379" style="width:200px" srcset="https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241009/16/original_b1f3032a-c19a-4386-8641-7952d4647488.jpg 1280w, https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241009/16/original_b1f3032a-c19a-4386-8641-7952d4647488.jpg?resize=120,150 120w, https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241009/16/original_b1f3032a-c19a-4386-8641-7952d4647488.jpg?resize=240,300 240w, https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241009/16/original_b1f3032a-c19a-4386-8641-7952d4647488.jpg?resize=768,960 768w, https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241009/16/original_b1f3032a-c19a-4386-8641-7952d4647488.jpg?resize=819,1024 819w, https://img.chime.me/image/fs/chimeblog/20241009/16/original_b1f3032a-c19a-4386-8641-7952d4647488.jpg?resize=1229,1536 1229w" sizes="(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px" />Sam Valverde“HMBS is a small part of our portfolio, but it’s a critically important part of how we meet our mission,” he said. “Ensuring this critical retirement tool remains available to America’s seniors is not just Ginnie Mae’s priority — it’s a shared priority between us, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) broadly, and our industry partners. It’s more critical than ever because our population continues to age, and more seniors are going to need a way to supplement their income without being displaced.”Similar to recent comments from FHA Commissioner Julia Gordon, Valverde gave service to the idea of the industry’s demographics having the potential to expand the base of reverse mortgage business. “I think the growing demographic need for this program suggests that there’s new demand on the horizon that can support future growth of the program, if we can stabilize it in the near term,” he said. “At Ginnie, we’ve made addressing the issues facing the reverse mortgage sector a critical priority, even when we’ve had resource constraints to contend with. It will remain a priority going forward.”Industry collaboration, actions takenWhen asked about the partnership between Ginnie Mae and members of the reverse mortgage industry, Valverde said the shared work has been productive.“[The industry has] been our partners in the program — both generally and in developing our response,” he said. “Our issuers make and aggregate the mortgages; Ginnie Mae can’t do that. We don’t serve consumers directly, so we rely on our issuers. “When the rate environment precipitated the failure of RMF, it became clear we needed to act to preserve the viability of the program for senior borrowers, while ensuring RMF borrowers weren’t adversely affected. We began focusing on multiple issues facing the sector.”The first priority was on tail finance liquidity, to ensure that issuers could continue to honor borrowers’ draw requests. That work began in October 2023, but there was also a need to address liquidity constraints that older HECM loans were placing on issuers.“This year, we really started working in tandem with FHA, and they’ve done a lot to support issuer liquidity as well,” he said.FHA reduced its number of occupancy defaults by allowing residents to certify occupancy via alternative means. It also made it easier to apply for loan assignments earlier while allowing servicers to resolve defaults more quickly by increasing incentives for borrowers, their heirs and servicers. But more work was needed, which is where HMBS 2.0 comes into the fold.“Even with all this great work from FHA, it was clear more needed to be done,” Valverde said. “So, we began exploring a new securities program — what we and the industry have been calling ‘HMBS 2.0.’ For that, we’ve consulted closely with issuers and industry experts to identify the needs of the market and get their input.”Look for more from Sam Valverde on reverse mortgages and HMBS 2.0 soon on HousingWire’s RMD.

A panel of experts with the Yale School of Medicine this week offered tips for aging in place, giving service to both physical health while addressing the social and emotional well-being of older people who seek to stay in their homes as they get older.Research from multiple sources has shown that older people have an overwhelming preference to age in place in their current homes. In 2021, research from AARP pegged the figure at 78% of Americans 50 and older who want to remain in place as they age. Other entities place this share even higher, at nearly 90% based on 2023 data.“As older adults plan for their future, one of the biggest factors to consider is mental and physical health, say Yale School of Medicine experts, who offer the following tips for those who choose to grow old at home rather than move into an assisted living facility or retirement home,” the advice column stated.The panel of experts included four doctors — assistant professors Snigdha Jain and Maura Singh, and professors of geriatric medicine Mary Tinetti and Barry J. Wu. The group produced four primary tips related to aging in place, with the first being to prioritize social connections.“Staying socially engaged is not only cognitively stimulating but also essential in reducing feelings of isolation and loneliness,” according to Singh.“Regular interactions with friends or family provide opportunities for physical activity and mental engagement and can promote emotional well-being,” Singh said in the article. “Even when leaving the home is difficult, virtual connections through phone calls, video chats, or other shared activities can help maintain a sense of community and purpose.”The second tip involves addressing the need for physical exercise.“I call my 91-year-old mom daily to encourage her to ambulate using her walker at home,” Wu explained. “I also remind her on the call to avoid falls as this will adversely affect her quality of life.”The third tip is to identify individual “barriers to being physically active,” which can include the period following a hospitalization or recovery from a serious illness.“These barriers may be physical symptoms, such as pain or fatigue, or mental health symptoms, such as feeling depressed or anxious,” Jain said. “They may also be contextual barriers, such as not having a walking aid needed for balance or a safe neighborhood to allow being active.”The final tip is for older people to identify what brings the most value into their lives. This can help to balance individual desires with compromises needed for sufficient care. “To continue aging at home, you may have to balance the benefits with the burdens of care,” Tinetti said. “Understanding your health priorities will help you and your care team make the right decisions.”She also pointed to a website she oversees as a potential tool for helping older people make these decisions.

A housing watchdog group has filed more than 100 complaints that target more than 200 defendants for allegedly discriminating against potential housing applicants who sought to use Section 8 housing vouchers to secure a dwelling. In 2019, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed a bill into law that bars “housing discrimination, including discrimination through public or private land use practices, decisions, or authorizations, based on specified personal characteristics, including source of income.”The intent of the legislation was to “provide a participant in a housing voucher program an opportunity to receive a thorough and fair vetting when they seek housing,” according to the text of the bill.But as many as 200 real estate agents, brokerage firms and landlords are alleged to have violated this law by discriminating against applicants with federally subsidized Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, according to an undercover investigation conducted by the Housing Rights Initiative (HRI).A total of 112 complaints targeting 203 defendants were filed en masse with the state of California’s Civil Rights Department, HRI announced Tuesday. The defendants include some of the most prominent real estate companies in the nation — Coldwell Banker, eXp Realty, Sotheby’s International Realty and RE/MAX.“Over the course of a year, HRI trained, equipped, and deployed an army of undercover investigators, who posed as prospective tenants with Section 8 vouchers,” HRI said in a statement. “These investigators contacted hundreds of brokers and landlords by text message to determine compliance with California’s fair housing laws.”Among what it calls “completed tests” — in which the investigators were able to determine if a company accepted such vouchers — HRI said that investigators who sought housing with vouchers were discriminated against 44% of the time in the city of San Francisco. This figure rose to 53% of the time in Oakland, 58% of the time in San Jose and 70% of the time in Los Angeles.The announced legal action included text messages that HRI said were obtained by the investigators, which they attribute to brokers at companies including eXp and Sotheby’s. These messages — submitted as evidence in the filings but not independently confirmed — appear to depict the relevant targets turning down a potential applicant when asked by the investigator if Section 8 vouchers were accepted for a particular listing.When reached by HousingWire, a Coldwell Banker Realty spokesperson said that the company “advocates for fair housing practices and we offer enhanced training, awareness, and staffing measures to further promote equitable access to housing for all. We are reviewing the claims.”HousingWire also contacted representatives of eXp, Sotheby’s and RE/MAX for comment but did not immediately receive a response.HRI publicly released a Google Sheets document that lists each case of alleged discrimination, including timestamps, broker names, listings and screenshots of text messages.“The goal of these filings is to get the real estate companies to stop their discriminatory housing practices and exacerbating California’s homelessness and affordable housing crisis,” HRI said in a statement.“Furthermore, the result of HRI’s investigation underscores the need for proactive and systematic enforcement to combat housing discrimination and for the State of California to provide adequate funding for the California Civil Rights Department to meet the scale of the problem,” the group added.A review of the texts posted online by HRI showed a variety of responses to direct questions about Section 8 voucher acceptance, with some brokers saying they didn’t want to go through the “hassle” of working with the program. Others said that the landlord for a particular property “wasn’t registered” with the Section 8 program. Another claimed that Section 8 was “not eligible” for a particular listing.In 2018, research from the Urban Institute found that as many as 76% of Los Angeles-area landlords refused to accept Section 8 vouchers, a figure that rose to 82% in low-poverty neighborhoods.In 2019, reporting by the Los Angeles Times said that the reasons given for landlords’ hesitance to accept vouchers included “concerns over red tape.” But the most common reason was said to be “simple economics: Property owners increasingly can charge more than the government is willing to pay.”

Real estate technology platform Propy is now enabling its users to handle property inspections without leaving its app. The San Francisco-based Propy has formed a partnership with property inspection platform Inspectify, according to a joint announcement on Tuesday. Through this strategic partnership, Inspectify will be directly integrated with Propy’s platform— and users can access the features immediately. This pairing allows Propy users — most of whom are homebuyers or real estate agents — to access inspection reports and data to finalize transactions at a faster rate. Before, users would have to order inspection reports outside of the Propy platform, delaying the closing process. But they can now order inspection reports with one click, quickly transfer the data from Inspectify and pay on a single website.“This partnership with Inspectify is all about making life easier for our users,” Propy CEO Natalia Karayaneva said in a statement. “By keeping the inspection process within the Propy platform, we’re simplifying the home-buying journey and moving property settlements onchain without human off-line and off-chain interactions one step closer to the full potential.”The full potential being referred to is Propy’s efforts to move into Web3 space, regarded by many as the next generation of the internet. Web3 uses blockchain technology to decentralize data and give multiple users access to information that cannot be altered without permission. Propy’s platform already relies on blockchain technology for most aspects of its real estate transactions. With this integration, users won’t have to go off chain to find inspection reports.In a recent post on X, Karayaneva expressed her passion for blockchain technology’s use in the housing industry, describing real estate as “the best asset to decentralize after money.” She said that bringing real estate on chain could save billions of dollars per year for consumers on title transfers, title registries and other transaction steps. Propy has closed about $10 billion of on-chain real estate transactions to date via its platform. The company has future plans to add remote notary scheduling to its features. Inspectify leadership also expressed excitement about the partnership with Propy.“We’ve always believed that the home inspection that happens at the time of home purchase is the most robust and complex data set that exists on homes today, but given how analogous the process has been historically, it’s nearly impossible to unlock its full potential,” Josh Jensen, CEO of Inspectify, said in a statement.“Through this partnership with Propy, there is a tremendous opportunity to create more utility and value for homebuyers and ultimately the homeowners they are becoming.”According to its website, Inspectify has provided $19 billion in home inspections since launching in 2019, speeding up the process for homebuyers nationwide. 

After a lengthy decline precipitated by lower inflation, a cooling labor market and hints of a Federal Reserve policy change, mortgage rates appear to have bottomed out for now.According to HousingWire‘s Mortgage Rates Center, the average 30-year conforming fixed rate dropped to 6.23% on Sept. 27. That was the lowest figure of the year, but it has increased to 6.31% as of Tuesday. And 15-year conforming fixed rates have risen from 5.58% to 5.70% during the same period.Still, rates look more attractive today than they have for much of the year. And some people who purchased homes when rates were above 7% are now making the decision to refinance, according to newly released origination data from Optimal Blue.Optimal Blue data for September showed that rate locks for rate-and-term refinances jumped by 49% from August and were up 644% from the historically low levels of September 2023. Cash-out refi locks rose by more modest figures of 6% month over month and 55% year over year.Refinances now account for 32% of locked loans, up from roughly 23% a year ago, and refi production numbers are now at their highest level since January 2022. Purchase lending remains relatively subdued as locks were down 3.3% from August but up 6.1% year over year.“Excluding April of this year, which was impacted by the timing of Easter, September marks the first month with a year-over-year (YoY) increase in purchase locks since the Fed began raising rates in Spring of 2022,” Brennan O’Connell, director of data solutions at Optimal Blue, said in a statement. ”As we move into Q4, this is a very encouraging sign that the market may have found a floor and production is on the upswing.”The September jobs report came in hotter than expected, which dampened hopes of deeper rate cuts by the end of the year. The 254,000 jobs added last month were higher than the 12-month average of 203,000, while the July and August jobs data were revised upward by 72,000. Higher wage growth of 4% per year also served as a wet blanket.“All of these signs point toward a successful ‘soft landing,’ but also stoke worries that inflation may not move in a straight line to the Fed’s 2% target,” Mike Fratantoni, senior vice president and chief economist at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), said last week. “This report could certainly slow the expected pace of rate cuts.”Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for September will be released Thursday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, but the report is not expected to move the needle for mortgage rates or other financial markets. Afifa Saburi, a capital markets analyst for Veterans United Home Loans, noted in a statement that core CPI — excluding volatile food and energy prices — is forecast at 0.26%, which would be flat compared to August and up 3.2% year over year.“It will take a lot for this week’s CPI report to move the bond market back into positive territory after the selloff due to a very strong labor market report from Friday,“ Saburi said. “The Federal Reserve has made it clear that the employment side of its dual mandate is currently the main driver of its rate path decisions, given that inflation is slowly coming down.“ She went on to note that mortgage rate forecasts have become less aggressive in their expectations for further cuts. The CME Group‘s FedWatch tool anticipates an 87% chance of a 25 basis-point cut at the Fed’s meeting next month, along with a 76% chance of a 25-bps cut in December. If these cuts are realized, the federal funds rate would drop to a range of 4.25% to 4.5%. But just as the Fed’s decision to cut 50 basis points last month hasn’t created further downward movement, small cuts by the end of 2024 are unlikely to influence mortgage rates.”Prospective buyers who are ready to purchase likely won’t see much change in interest rates for the rest of the year,” Saburi said.BTIG analysts Eric Hagen and Jake Katsikis said they ”wouldn’t be surprised to see some lenders catch up this week” by raising rates as much as 25 bps. But they also noted positive signs for the refi market as the MBA upped its overall origination forecast for 2025. The trade group estimates that refis will account for 37% of the market next year, compared to 29% this year.”It aligns with the pickup in search engine traffic for buzz words like ‘mortgage refi’ making 12-month highs, helping validate there’s pent-up demand to unlock savings, even if it appears relatively marginal compared to the savings picked up in the refi wave in the pandemic,” Hagen and Katsikis said in written commentary.