The House of Representatives in the state of Washington last week approved a bill that seeks to expedite the process of converting commercial buildings into residential complexes. The measure passed overwhelmingly in a vote of 95-2.HB 1757 is sponsored by Rep. Amy Walen (D) and would modify the regu

Rising property taxes are a thorn in the side of many Americans in today’s housing market. Older Americans in particular are feeling the brunt of higher tax payments in key metro areas and are being forced to move, a recent report concluded.John Burns Research & Consulting (JBREC), a leading real es

Appraisers concerned about the rising role of appraisal management companies (AMCs) were dealt a blow by the turmoil that’s engulfed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) since Donald Trump returned to the White House in January.Leaders in the appraisal profession had turned to the CFPB in

As a key government funding deadline of March 14 fast approaches, Republicans in the Senate are aiming to reauthorize the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), again putting the program’s funding at risk of a lapse.Absent a legislative remedy seeking a longer reauthorization for the program, lawm

When the National Association of Realtors (NAR) first started its Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers in 1981, it found that single women were the second largest demographic in the U.S. housing market, trailing only married couples.That was only seven years after women were legally allowed to obtain

In this week’s episode of the PowerHouse podcast, HousingWire President Diego Sanchez chats with Jason Bressler, chief technology officer at United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM). During the conversation, the duo discuss UWM’s recent partnership with Sphere LOS while exploring artificial intelligence and

Jet HomeLoans, the mortgage arm of publicly traded homebuilder Dream Finders Homes, has acquired Cherry Creek Mortgage LLC. The deal, which closed on March 4, should provide Jet HomeLoans with greater secondary execution it can use to help homebuyers with affordability, an executive told HousingWire

A lawsuit over allegedly deceptive and misleading advertising practices between two of the reverse mortgage industry’s leading players saw a new development this week. Mutual of Omaha Mortgage amended its counterclaim that alleges deceptive advertising practices against Longbridge Financial.In a sui

Union Home Mortgage (UHM) on Friday announced two changes to its executive leadership team, just days after the company grew its footprint through the acquisition of NRL Mortgage.Ohio-based UHM promoted Brian Smith to chief operating officer of retail lending and hired David Alonzo as its chief tech

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools equip real estate agents with unprecedented capabilities. While ChatGPT has become a go-to tool for many of us, there are tons of AI tools for real estate that offer a more efficient, data-driven approach to generating new client leads. From automated chatbots that

Labor over inflation has been my mantra since late 2022. Today, the BLS jobs report showed that the labor market is getting softer, but it’s not breaking. This gives us a glimpse of what may happen over the next 10 months for mortgage rates, especially since, since Jan. 14, we’ve seen them move lowe

Older Americans are often targets of financial scams by bad actors, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) wants to see her state’s Legislature address it more directly.Hochul is seeking to mandate specialized training for bank tellers and other banking professionals in New York to identify and stop ins

Reverse mortgage industry performance metrics continued their 2025 softness on the basis of endorsement volume and securities issuance, February data shows.Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) endorsements and HECM-backed securities (HMBS) issuance saw declines in February, although the number of

Fresh off a marathon confirmation hearing to assess the fitness of four Trump administration appointees, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is castigating each of the candidates after reviewing their answers to her questionnaires.This comes as the Senate banking committee on Thursday advanced the nomin

A group of 25 Canadian nationals have been charged in what the U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont is referring to as a “grandparent scam” that allegedly defrauded older U.S. citizens across 41 states.23 of the alleged participants were arrested in Canada on Tuesday, according to an announceme

All eyes are on the jobs report tomorrow after a string of weak economic reports over the last week. Large-scale layoffs of government workers, President Trump’s back-and-forth tariff policies and a negative forecast for first-quarter GDP have sparked questions about a recession and how that would i

loanDepot founder and controlling shareholder Anthony Hsieh is returning to an operational role at the California-based mortgage lender and CEO Frank Martell is departing.In an announcement made Thursday, loanDepot said Hsieh, the company’s chairman of the board, has returned as executive chairman o

Canada has been invited to the tariff pause party.President Donald Trump signed an agreement Thursday for a one-month pause to 25% tariffs on Canadian goods covered by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). This includes the majority of materials used in home construction, including lumb

TransUnion has expanded its partnership with Truework to provide mortgage lenders with broader access to income and employment verification data.The collaboration integrates Truework’s verification system into TransUnion’s advanced programming interface (API), allowing lenders to verify borrower inc

The housing market in Washington D.C. is being closely watched amid widespread layoffs of federal government workers. Sweeping cuts by Elon Musk’s DOGE agency have sent many government employees packing, while other staff need to find housing in the area to comply with return-to-work mandates.Will i