Judge Andrea R. Wood, who is overseeing the two Batton homebuyer commission lawsuits and the Moehrl commission suit, has recused herself from the cases, according to a legal filing on Wednesday.In the filing, the Chicago-based U.S. district court judge said that it had recently come to her attention

The city council of Portland, Oregon, unanimously passed what it is calling the city’s first-ever housing production strategy, which is based on a proposal introduced this summer by Commissioner Carmen Rubio.Like many major metropolitan areas across the country, Portland is facing a housing shortage

Artificial intelligence is already a tool in Zillow’s search experience, and now the company is adding natural language capabilities to it.Zillow’s existing AI search capabilities already allowed for surfacing homes on the basis of things related to the home itself. Now the AI can search by commute

Mortgage demand rose slightly last week as mortgage rates moved lower.Loan application volume increased 1.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending Aug. 30 compared to the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).The MBA’s refinance index decreased 0.3% from the

Figure Technology Solutions, the parent company of Figure Lending LLC, announced on Wednesday the hiring of Ronald Chillemi as its first chief legal officer and corporate secretary. Chillemi has more than 25 years of experience in regulatory affairs, government relations and compliance across a numb

New York City-headquartered investment firm Pretium Partners announced Wednesday that it has hired two new managing directors as its seeks to bolster its real estate debt strategy.The firm hired Brendan Bosman, a former senior managing director and head of U.S. housing investing at Minneapolis-based

Declining mortgage rates in August provided some relief for U.S. homebuyers and made it the most affordable month since February. Of the 2.5 million “in-the-money“ mortgage holders as of Aug. 22, more than 60% took out their mortgages in the past two years, including 850,000 in 2023 and 560,000 this

Mortgage rates remain relatively high and existing-home inventory is low as a result. That’s providing a golden opportunity for homebuilders.The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported Tuesday that its Home Building Geography Index (HBGI) showed growth in the number of building permits

With elevated mortgage rates having persisted over the past two years, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated recently that a cut to the federal funds rate at this month’s meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is on the table, which would likely have the effect of driving mortga

Florida-based independent brokerage The Keyes Co./Illustrated Properties has joined the growing list of brokerages that have settled the commission lawsuits. The firm notified the court of its settlement agreement on Tuesday in the consolidated Gibson and Umpa suits suits via a motion to stay the ca

In a new episode of the “Real Estate Insiders Unfiltered” podcast, John Campbell — managing director at Stephens Inc. and an equity research analyst — joins hosts James Dwiggins and Keith Robinson to chat about last month’s major changes for the real estate industry.The trio discuss the major compan

CMG Home Loans, the retail lending division of CMG Financial, announced on Tuesday the appointment of Kari Van Kleef to the position of reverse mortgage operations manager. She is one of “several industry veterans who will be directing the dedicated reverse mortgage department at CMG,” the company s

Mortgage servicer Nationstar, doing business as Mr. Cooper, is expected to settle a lawsuit with electronic payment processing vendor ACI Payments that is related to alleged damages from unauthorized mortgage payments imposed on Mr. Cooper’s customers three years ago.The settlement notice was filed

Vice President Kamala Harris and Minn. Gov. Tim Walz sat down with CNN last week for the pair’s first major televised interview since becoming the Democratic nominees for president and vice president of the United States, and housing continues to be an issue Harris aims to address in her public-faci

The chief economist of Fannie Mae expects to hang up the cleats this year. Doug Duncan, who’s been the chief economist at the government-sponsored enterprise since 2008, will be retiring effective Sept. 22, according to Rob Chrisman, who first reported the news on his blog Tuesday morning. Mark Pali

For many in the real estate industry, Aug. 17, 2024 — the date that the business practice changes outlined in the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) commission lawsuit settlement agreement went into effect — served as a reckoning of sorts.“I am in awe of how many folks decided on Thursday that

This week the available inventory of homes for sale inched down across the country. It was a lead up to the holiday weekend, so that’s not uncommon. But it is indicative that we’re roughly at the peak of inventory for the summer. We may have a few more weeks of inventory gains, but the long stretch

The real estate industry is undergoing a seismic transformation, with recent regulatory changes pushing the National Association of Realtors to a critical juncture. As these shifts unfold, real estate agents face both challenges and opportunities. Those who adapt will find themselves in a prime posi

Have we seen the peak in housing inventory for 2024? The best part about 2024 has been that higher mortgage rates have created an inventory buffer, so if the economy gets softer and rates fall, we have many more homes to work with than we had in 2020-2023.I have consistently written that with mortga