Annual home price gains reach 5.3% in March: CoreLogic

U.S. single-family home prices continued their upward trajectory in March, marking the 146th consecutive month of annualized gains, CoreLogic reported. Prices rose by 1.2% compared to February 2024 and by 5.3% compared to March 2023, according to the company’s home price index released Tuesday. Over
Read MoreFOA records loss in Q1 but remains confident about improving profitability

Finance of America Companies (FOA), which controls the outgoing brands Finance of America Reverse (FAR) and American Advisors Group (AAG), recorded a net loss under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) of $16 million in Q1 2024 and an adjusted net loss of $7 million for the quarter, accor
Read MoreNAR magazine devotes space to reverse mortgages and seniors

The official magazine for the National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently touched on the topic of reverse mortgages, mentioning products such as the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) for Purchase (H4P) and addressing topics like the desires of baby boomers to age in place in their homes.Des
Read MoreWhite House, HUD announce $5.5B in housing and community development grants

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the White House announced $5.5 billion in funding on Tuesday that will be distributed through more than 2,400 grants to 1,200 communities in various states, urban areas and other localities.The funding is designed to address a series of
Read MorePolly announces AI integration into its pricing engine

Mortgage capital markets tech firm Polly announced on Tuesday that it has launched “Polly/AI,” which integrates artificial intelligence (AI) technology into the newest version of its product and pricing engine (PPE) and includes a “co-pilot” for loan officers that will “process, interpret, and recom
Read MoreMortgage rates ease as the labor market cools

Mortgage rates eased slightly last week after a cooler-than-expected jobs report. Additionally, the 10-year Treasury yield fell after Friday’s jobs report.HousingWire’s Mortgage Rates Center showed the average 30-year fixed rate for conventional loans at 7.51% on Tuesday, slightly below the rate of
Read MoreNew York City rents grew seven times faster than wages last year, tightening affordability crunch

San Francisco Realtors partner with AI startup Sidekick

AI-powered real estate assistant Sidekick unveiled a partnership with the San Francisco Association of Realtors (SFAR) on Monday. The collaboration will allow the region’s 4,000 agents to leverage Sidekick’s integrated datasets and workflows, making SFAR the first association to offer a generative A
Read MoreAnnieMac Home Mortgage welcomes a new face to its executive team

AnnieMac Home Mortgage appointed Ian Aubourg to the role of senior vice president of retail sales, the Mount Laurel, New Jersey-based lender announced Monday. In his new position at AnnieMac, Aubourg will tap into his leadership skills to drive growth and improve the mortgage experience for clients.
Read MoreNRMLA, MBA provide comments on HECM application, origination documents

Following an announcement that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Office of Policy Development and Research is seeking public comment related to application and origination documents for the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-backed Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM)
Read MoreHome price signals point to flat growth

Inventory increases aren’t occurring at a super fast pace, but the number of homes on the market across the country keeps expanding. As mortgage rates stay elevated and the number of unsold homes on the market grows — especially in the South — the leading indicators for future home sales prices cont
Read MoreAfter exiting wholesale, Fairway hires origination teams across the nation

After exiting the wholesale channel in February, top U.S. mortgage lender Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. has decided to grow its retail footprint organically by hiring origination teams from various competitors.The company announced last week that, in April, it welcomed production teams that col
Read MoreWarren Buffett: Real estate agent commission structure “has worked out very well”

Legendary investor Warren Buffett and Greg Abel, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, addressed the commission lawsuits and HomeServices of America’s recently announced settlement of the suits, during Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting on Saturday.“There is no question that the industr
Read MoreU.S. mortgage holders post record levels of home equity: ICE

U.S. home prices continued to climb in March as a persistent shortage of homes for sale helped to buoy the housing market, according to the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Home Price Index.And while prospective homebuyers cope with the challenges of rising housing unaffordability, existing homeowner
Read MoreRocket hires former Thomson Reuters, Intel executive as its first CTO

Rocket Companies, the parent of Rocket Mortgage, announced on Monday that it has hired Shawn Malhotra, a former Thomson Reuters and Intel executive, as the first chief technology officer (CTO) in the company’s history. Malhotra will oversee, among other areas, the firm’s artificial intelligence (A
Read MoreCongressional lawmakers form bipartisan real estate caucus

A coalition of four lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives — two Democrats and two Republicans — have come together to found the Bipartisan Congressional Real Estate Caucus, a group designed to “support policies that allow [the real estate] industry to prosper” due to its overall importance
Read MoreTrade groups express concerns on VA timeline for defaulted loan purchase program

Representatives of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and the Housing Policy Council (HPC) are urging leaders at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to delay a mandatory compliance date with the agency’s Veteran Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program, which aims to prevent foreclosur
Read MoreDid lower mortgage rates slow housing inventory growth?
My model for inventory growth with higher mortgage rates came crashing down last week. After two weeks of significant increases, inventory growth slowed dramatically and is far from my 11,000-17,000 growth model with mortgage rates over 7.25%. Did the recent dip in mortgage rates play a role here or
Read MoreLabor market report is good news for mortgage rates
Friday’s jobs report came in as a miss of estimates and wage growth came in lower than expected. The labor market isn’t tight anymore and that will eventually be good news for mortgage rates. After last month’s jobs report, I talked about the path the Federal Reserve could take to land the plane bas
Read MoreVirginia Realtors: Zillow’s touring agreement may not be legal

Earlier this week, Zillow launched a new “touring agreement,” a nonexclusive contract for buyers and agents to use for home tours. The real estate giant was prompted to do this by the terms of National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) commission lawsuit settlement agreement which requires agents to h
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