Fathom Holdings announced another round of key leadership promotions. On Wednesday, company promoted Jon Gwin to chief revenue officer and Samantha Giuggio to president of Fathom Realty and chief operations officer of Fathom Holdings. Gwin and Giuggio join Fathom’s leadership as the latest promotions following Joanne Zach’s move to chief financial officer on Nov. 6. As the new CRO, Gwin will focus on generating revenue, fostering strategic partnerships and managing expansion initiatives across Fathom’s divisions — including real estate, mortgage and title. Before the transition, Gwin joined Fathom as chief operating officer in June 2024. “As I transition to Chief Revenue Officer, I am eager to prioritize initiatives that will accelerate revenue growth and strengthen our strategic position in the marketplace,” Gwin said in a statement. “Our dedication to long-term value creation and innovation will guide our impact across the industry.”Gwin’s career includes decades of experience across several brands. The new CRO started his career as a real estate market analyst for Jack in the Box. His career trajectory later led into several management and leadership roles in mortgage lending — including a role as COO for American Financial Network, where he helped the company fund more than $13 billion in annual retail and wholesale mortgage production. According to Fathom, Gwin “played a key role in advancing growth and operational success throughout Fathom’s diverse portfolio of brands.”Giuggio will take on two major roles as president of Fathom Realty and COO of Fathom Holdings. The firm highlighted her ability to build high-performance teams and a “collaborative company culture.” Giuggio also looks forward to taking on her newly expanded roles with the firm.“It’s an honor to step into this expanded role, building on the achievements of our agents and teams to enhance operational excellence across Fathom Holdings,” Giuggio said in a statement. “I look forward to strengthening our growth strategies and delivering exceptional value to both our agents and clients.”Fathom Realty’s new president started her 14-year career as an agent for Allen Tate Realtors in North Carolina. After that, Giuggio dabbled in entrepreneurship before joining Fathom Realty as the regional vice president for North Carolina. Years later, she rose through the ranks to her most recent COO role with Fathom Realty. HousingWire also acknowledged Giuggio as a 2024 Woman of Influence.The promotions illustrate Fathom’s goals to expand its operations and better serve the housing market in 2025. Fathom Holdings CEO Marco Fregenal said that Gwin’s and Giuggio’s skill sets complement the firm’s expansion efforts. Fathom also acquired 2,200 agents from Arizona-based My Home Group on Nov. 5.“Jon’s strategic acumen and revenue focus, coupled with Samantha’s operational leadership, will be pivotal as we drive Fathom’s expansion and create lasting value for our stakeholders,” Fregenal said.

Reverse mortgage educators Dan Hultquist and Jim McMinn brought their “Rules of the Game” presentation back to this year’s National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) Annual Meeting and Expo in San Diego. After starting with the importance of focused information and certain reverse mortgage product features, the pair went deeper into other longstanding elements that some industry participants might be misinformed about.The interactive presentation features the presenters wearing referee shirts. They engaged the audience to call “fouls” on certain incorrect example statements by equipping them with whistles, with a goal of correcting the record based on the black-and-white reverse mortgage product and program regulations.Partial prepayments and line of creditThe reverse mortgage line of credit is often seen by industry originators as a powerful and persuasive tool to bring customers into the fold. But some misconceptions about how the credit line is impacted by partial Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) prepayments was called out by Hultquist and McMinn.“Mr. Wilson,” began McMinn to a hypothetical reverse mortgage customer. “Yes, partial prepayments will reduce your loan balance, but because payments are applied to mortgage insurance first, we can’t increase your line of credit until you pay back all the accrued MIP and accrued interest.”The whistle blew immediately. Hultquist characterized this particular misconception as one that has lingered for many years.“There’s still a lot of people in this industry who believe that if you make a prepayment on a reverse mortgage, that because of the servicing waterfall, it’s not going to increase your line of credit dollar for dollar,” he said. “You can go to any of the modeling software to model what happens if you make a prepayment — the line of credit will go up.”There is definitely a servicing waterfall that is important to keep in mind for tax and accounting purposes, Hultquist explained. If payments above $600 are made in a calendar year, then the borrower will receive a Form 1098 from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that itemizes these amounts.But the HECM adjustable-rate mortgage note says that the borrower “may specify whether a prepayment is to be credited to that portion of the principal balance representing monthly or the line of credit,” Hultquist explained.If the borrower doesn’t specify, however, then the lender will “apply any partial prepayments to an existing line of credit or create a new line of credit,” Hultquist said.But there are specific circumstances in which partial prepayments will not result in a line-of-credit increase. This makes it important to continue leaning away from definitive statements, as the pair previously explained.Relationship between debt and equityMcMinn continued with the next misconception, speaking again to a hypothetical borrower.“Mrs. Jones, a reverse mortgage is a ‘rising debt, falling equity’ loan,” he said. “As your debt — the amount you owe — grows larger, your equity gets smaller.”Again, the whistle immediately rang out.A reverse mortgage amortization schedule, Hultquist explained, is a “federally regulated document.” Industry regulators — including U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-certified HECM counselors — are required to use similar language. The issue is the definitive statements made by such language. And there is a key element that is overlooked in such a statement.“Home appreciation is the largest driving force in your equity position, your home equity,” Hultquist said. “Who in their right mind would model a flat home value over a 30-year period? You’d have to be clinically insane to do that, right? Historically, that would be extremely, extremely unlikely.”Take the example of a $400,000 home with an assumed appreciation rate of 4% per year, which assumes roughly $16,000 in appreciation in the first year. If the reverse mortgage was for $100,000 — 25% of the home’s value — then the interest rate on the loan would need to be 16% or higher for the homeowner to lose equity.“Is that likely? No, and yet, that’s how we sell it,” Hultquist said. “Just doing a quick Google search, you’ll find, ‘As your loan balance rises, your equity decreases.’ That’s a definitive statement that I would say is historically false.”

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is facing yet another lawsuit related to its three-way membership agreement, which requires Realtors to join their local, state and national associations in order to obtain access to the MLS.The suit was filed Nov. 1 in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles by John Diaz, a broker at UHOO Real Estate Services, who is representing himself pro se. The defendants include NAR, the California Association of Realtors (CAR), the Lodi Association of Realtors (LAR) and MetroList MLS. The antitrust suit seeks damages, injunctive relief and a jury trial.The suit claims that the defendants “have established an exclusionary practice, requiring brokers to join multiple associations (NAR, CAR, and LAR) to gain access to MLS services provided by MetroList, which are essential for conducting real estate transactions.” It goes on to state that the membership requirement “constitutes an unlawful tying arrangement,” as brokers and agents “must ‘purchase’ association memberships they may not need or want to obtain MLS services.”According to Diaz, the three-way membership agreement has “created an anti-competitive monopoly over MLS services, limiting the market’s ability to support alternative trade organizations, thereby stifling competition in violation of the Sherman Act.” The plaintiff also claims that he has “experienced a significant financial burden” due to the membership dues and MLS fees, which he said have “diminished his revenue and impeded his business.”Additionally, Diaz claims that the defendants have breached their contractual obligations by failing to “provide equitable value and service proportional to the fees paid by Plaintiff.”“Defendants have violated the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing by imposing excessive fees and forced memberships that serve no legitimate business purpose for Plaintiff,” the complaint states.None of the defendants returned HousingWire‘s requests for comment.NAR currently faces two other antitrust suits — Hardy and Muhammad — that involve similar allegations. Additionally, the Alabama Association of Realtors sent a letter to NAR asking it to end the three-way agreement.But earlier this week, in a speech in front of NAR members and its board, trade association CEO Nykia Wright sought to quiet any discontent over the policy.“We are here to make sure that those rumblings subside,” she said, “because it is our duty to make sure that people understand what happens at the local level, the state level, the national level, and really make sure that people understand that there is no cannibalization of services, but it’s really working together to make things work.”

Movement Mortgage has named Steve Smith, a mortgage veteran who most recently served as Movement’s executive advisor, as its new president and chief financial officer. Smith will lead teams across sales, operations, finance, servicing and corporate functions at the South Carolina-based mortgage lender that originated about $16 billion in mortgage loans from January to September, up 2.7% compared to the same period last year, according to Inside Mortgage Finance (IMF). The announcement was made Wednesday. Movement CEO Casey Crawford, a former pro football player who founded the distributed retail nonbank in 2008, said in a statement that Smith has a “track record of leading companies through aggressive growth and transformation.” Meanwhile, Smith said Movement is “uniquely positioned to win big in the coming years.” Smith previously served as president and CFO of Stearns Lending, CFO of Caliber Home Loans, executive for core servicing and centralized sales for Bank of America and CFO of consumer markets for Countrywide. Michael Brennan was previously listed as the company’s president but is now listed as the national director of partner sales, according to the company’s website. He joined Movement in March 2015 to lead the Northeast region, was promoted to chief performance officer in 2020 and president in 2021.Movement had 2,152 sponsored mortgage loan officers and 436 active branches as of Wednesday, per the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS). In July, the lender and rival loanDepot agreed to end a one-year dispute over the poaching of employees. But it still has an ongoing litigation with competitor Summit Funding.

The Home Depot Foundation — the philanthropic arm of the home improvement retail conglomerate — announced that it is investing $10 million for the purpose of enabling older military veterans to age in place in their homes. The goal is to help them avoid homelessness by funding affordable housing construction, home repairs and adaptations as well as giving out financial assistance.The new commitment furthers the foundation’s stated goal of reaching $750 million in investment activity.“According to recent projections from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the number of veterans over the age of 85 who require care will increase by a staggering 535% over the next 20 years,” the announcement explained. “Research also indicates that homelessness among individuals aged 65 and older will reach its peak by 2030, with veterans being disproportionately affected compared to the general population. While veteran homelessness has decreased by 55% over the past decade, it began to rise again in 2023.”Making small accessibility improvements or renovations in the home can sometimes be the difference between remaining housed or becoming displaced, according to Erin Izen, executive director of the Home Depot Foundation.“With this new $10 million investment, the Home Depot Foundation is proud to further our support of our nonprofit partners improving veteran housing across the country, helping veterans safely maintain their independence for years to come,” Inzen said.There are four key areas the funding will be applied toward.One is the creation of roughly 230 new or refurbished rental housing units through organizations such as U.S.VETS and the Coalition for Responsible Community Development to be made available to veterans. A second will provide 125 “urgent home repairs” for low-income veteran families to be completed by organizations such as Operation Homefront.Additionally, rental and/or mortgage assistance will be made available to 270 veterans, along with home adaptations and critical home repairs — including the implementation of smart-home technology — for 400 veterans.“The generous investment from The Home Depot Foundation is an important step forward in our shared mission to support and uplift our veterans through housing,” said Stephen Peck, CEO of U.S.VETS. “We are honored to be a partner in this initiative to expand affordable, accessible supportive housing that meets the needs of those who have bravely served our nation.”Smart-home technology is becoming an increasingly important component of aging in place. Additionally, veterans are a cohort that is largely unaware that housing grants exist to help them remain in their homes as they get older, according to AARP survey data.Home Depot’s recent earnings report could give context to its moves in the housing market. The company indicated that people are increasingly selective about investments, favoring essential and/or seasonal maintenance over major remodels.

The U.S. finds itself in a “troubling environment” for bolstering Black homeownership as evidenced by two key — and lagging — metrics. This is according to the 2024 State of Housing in Black America (SHIBA) report published this month by the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB).“The two best-performing demographics for African Americans — Black female-headed households and millennials — both declined in home sales in 2023,” the organization explained in an announcement of the report’s findings.The national Black homeownership rate continues to significantly lag behind the white homeownership rate at respective rates of 45.7% and 74.3% in 2023. The peak Black homeownership rate of 49% occurred in 2004, meaning there has been a sharp drop in the past 20 years.“The 2024 SHIBA report confirms that we are in a state of emergency with Black homeownership,” NAREB President Courtney Johnson Rose said. “The SHIBA report underscores that there has been little progress in increasing Black homeownership. The past two years have been tough, but even before 2021, Black homeownership was either falling or stagnant and remains far from its pre-2004 high of nearly 50%.”Rose singled out the declines in mortgage applications and originations among Black millennials as an exceptionally poor sign of the trajectory of Black homeownership, since that cohort of homebuyers contributes significantly to long-term wealth accumulation for Black families.“When [millennials] slow their home purchases, it curtails opportunities for intergenerational wealth,” she explained. “Their success determines the aggregate potential for future Black homeownership increases.”The report also said that potential Black homebuyers are too often shut out of the opportunity to participate in the market.“Black mortgage applicants are turned down more often than whites; Blacks are more likely to receive high-cost home loans than their white counterparts on similar properties, and houses in Black neighborhoods are less likely to be appraised at the same values compared to similar homes in white communities,” the report found.Additionally, the report finds it “alarming” that a strong Black presence in the labor market is “not prompting increases in homeownership or narrowing the wealth gap.”Lower-income Black and white mortgage applicants were also found to be paying higher interest rates in general than those of greater means, the report said. This “underscores the urgent need for reforms to reshape the nation’s housing finance system so it can help the families that need it most,” NAREB stated.In 2023, there was a notable pullback in the number of applications and approvals for home loans among all racial and ethnic categories, with “a particularly notable drop” occurring among white applicants, NAREB said. This development has “significant implications for the housing market.”Black applicants faced more headwinds compared with their white counterparts when confronted with mortgage denials. These occurred for Black applicants at a rate of 17%, more than double the rate for white applicants (7%).The rate of Black women applying for mortgages has also fallen, the report found.“Until 2021, there had been a steady rise in the number of applications from Black women since the Great Recession,” the report reads. “In 2022, there was a noteworthy shift, and the number of applications began declining. By 2023, applications submitted by Black women decreased by 24% from 2022.”

The NYC rental broker fee is dead. The New York City Council voted Wednesday afternoon to enact the Fairness in Apartment Rentals Act (FARE) Act, a bill that would end tenant-paid rental broker fees when brokers are exclusively representing landlords, as part of a broader effort to address the city’s housing affordability crisis.Upon signing a lease in New York City, tenants typically pay the broker 15% of the annual rent to brokers, adding thousands of dollars to the costs associated with moving. The bill is proposed to “prohibit brokers from passing their fee onto tenants where the broker is exclusively representing the landlord’s interests.”New York is unique in how its rental market functions. Because of a combination of chronically low supply of apartments and strong desirability, landlords have made it customary to charge renters for their own broker’s services — which typically involve running a credit check and application, opening the doors and answering questions. The legislation — introduced by Council Member Chi Ossé — will take effect in 180 days, giving renters relief from the costly one-time payments, which often total more than $10,000. In virtually every other city, landlords typically cover agent commissions for leasing, as reported by the Associated Press.The New York State Association of Realtors has fought vigorously against the legislation, arguing that eliminating broker fees “threatens brokers’ livelihoods, could lead to higher rents, and may limit housing access.”Another powerful trade organization, the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), even proposed its own version of the bill, which would increase disclosures made to tenants rather than change how brokers are paid. The group argues that under Ossé’s bill, landlords will pass the cost of broker fees onto tenants by increasing rents.New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat with strong connections to real estate leaders, formerly expressed concerns about the bill at his weekly news conference on Tuesday, stating that he doesn’t want it to negatively impact small property owners.The United States Supreme Court recently declined to hear cases that would radically change New York’s rent control laws.

Rocket Companies, the parent of Rocket Mortgage, paid a reported $14 million to acquire the domain name Rocket.com.The purchase, which was initially reported by DomainInvesting.com, was said to be from defense contractor L3Harris Technologies Inc. Rumors of the deal began in early September. The transaction was referenced in a recent filing by L3Harris with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).Rocket CEO Varun Krisha acknowledged the transaction in Tuesday’s third-quarter earnings call. He said that the Rocket brand is evolving and one of the first steps in the process involved the “acquisition of Rocket.com, a site that will unify the homeownership experience across home search and mortgage in the coming months.”Rocket reported a 28% increase in mortgage production and gains in market share for the period, according to executives. But the company posted a GAAP net loss of $481 million from July to September, largely due to an $878.3 million loss in the fair value of its mortgage servicing rights (MSRs).

Keller Williams has dramatically expanded its presence in New Jersey. The brokerage announced Wednesday that the KW Integrity market center has merged with Sparta, New Jersey-based Clearview Realty, bringing 25 agents and tens of millions of dollars in annual sales volume to KW Integrity.“This merger between Clearview Realty and KW Integrity signifies a strategic union that will bring enhanced resources, expertise and opportunities to our leadership and agents as stakeholders,” Keller Williams regional director Christopher Stevens said in a statement.Since the beginning of 2022, Clearview has sold 635 units totaling $225.7 million in sales volume. So far in 2024, the group has sold 198 units for $79.5 million in sales volume, which is already the most Clearview has generated in a single year.Clearview owner and broker John Schlaffer was appointed as team leader of the KW Integrity market center effective Dec. 1.“This new partnership with KW Integrity represents a fantastic opportunity for us to expand our resources, enhance our capabilities, and provide even greater value to our agents,” Schlaffer said in a statement. “Together, we’ll be able to leverage Keller Williams’ global brand name, technology, comprehensive training programs, and extensive networks to elevate each of our successes to an even higher level.”Keller Williams has had more than a few staffing changes this year. In July, the brokerage added four new people to its executive team, including Cody Gibson as vice president of KW MAPS Coaching and Rachel Elder as vice president of KW Cares.In June, independent brokerage TJ Lewis Real Estate affiliated with Keller Williams. The Austin-based team brought 31 agents to KW. In 2023, the group closed 141 transactions for a total of $39.5 million in sales volume.

For the first time in seven weeks, mortgage demand rose as applications were up 0.5% during the week ending Nov. 8, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported Wednesday.Purchase loan demand drove the slight increase in the MBA’s Market Composite Index, which measures loan application volumes. The purchase index rose 2% from the prior week on a seasonally adjusted basis. Refinances, however, were down 2% as mortgage rates continue to climb close to 7%, according to HousingWire‘s Mortgage Rates Center.On a year-over-year basis, the purchase index was up 1% and the refi index was up 43%.“Mortgage rates continued to increase last week, driven by higher Treasury yields as financial markets digested the likely impacts of a Trump presidency,“ Joel Kan, the MBA’s deputy chief economist, said in a statement. “The Federal Reserve’s 25-basis-point rate cut was already anticipated and did little to move the markets.“The 30-year fixed rate was at 6.86 percent last week, its highest since July 2024. However, despite the increase in rates, applications increased for the first time in seven weeks.”The refinance share of mortgage applications remained unchanged during the week at 39.9%, while adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) saw their share decrease to 6.5%.Government lending activity was another bright spot in the report as applications for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans increased their share to 16%, up from 15.5% a week ago, while applications for U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) loans grew their share from 12.5% to 13.3% during the week.“Purchase applications picked up and remained close to levels from a year ago,“ Kan said. “FHA and VA purchase applications drove the stronger overall purchase activity, increasing 3 percent and 9 percent, respectively. FHA mortgage rates bucked the overall trend and were lower over the week, which likely helped some borrowers. Conventional purchase applications were also up slightly. Meanwhile, the upward climb in rates led to refinance activity falling to its lowest level since May 2024.”  The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances of $766,550 or less shed 5 basis points to finish the week at 6.81%. Rates for 30-year jumbo loans (balances above $766,550) increased by 2 bps to 7%. FHA loan applications also saw declining interest rates during the week, falling by 6 bps to 6.69%. Rates for 5/1 ARMs grew by 1 bps to an average of 6.06%, while those for 15-year fixed loans were unchanged at 6.21%The MBA’s weekly mortgage applications survey is benchmarked at 100 in March 1990. It covers all closed-end residential mortgage applications originated through the retail and consumer direct channels.

Detroit-based Rocket Companies, the parent of Rocket Mortgage, saw its strategy of investing in technology and expanding its servicing portfolio start to pay off in the third quarter of 2024. It originated $28.5 billion in loans during the period — up 28% year over year.Short-lived relief in mortgage rates led to a double-digit increase in mortgage production and gains in market share during the period, executives said. But the company delivered a GAAP net loss of $481 million from July through September, a figure that was driven by a loss of $878.3 million in the fair value of its mortgage servicing rights (MSRs).“Over the past few months, the market has thrown our industry almost every curve ball imaginable,” Varun Krishna, CEO and director of Rocket Companies, told analysts during an earnings call on Tuesday. “With inflation easing, the Federal Reserve cut rates for the first time in four years. But in an interesting twist, while the Fed lowered rates, mortgage rates did not follow suit. Instead, both the 10-year Treasury yield and the 30-year fixed mortgage rate actually increased.“In my experience, it’s always important to take the long view and put things in perspective. Despite the housing market being challenging, we are seeing signs of rejuvenation. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate has declined from nearly 8% a year ago. This is helping improve purchase affordability and opening up refinancing opportunities to lower monthly payments, plus housing inventory has increased from 3.4 months to 4.3 months.” Rocket’s GAAP net loss of $481 million from July to September was a reversal from its $178 million profit in the second quarteer of 2024, per filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Adjusted earnings, which excludes non-cash expenses and one-time charges, reached $166 million in Q3 2024, lower than the $255 million figure in Q2. The GAAP net loss also stemmed from a decline in total revenue, which reached $647 million in Q3, down from $1.3 billion in Q2. Meanwhile, expenses rose to $1.14 billion, up from $1.1 billion in the second quarter.Operationally, a two-week dip in mortgage rates created a brief window for refinancing in Q3 2024, pushing Rocket’s total origination volume to $28.5 billion from July to September — up from $24.6 billion in the previous quarter and $22.1 billion in Q3 2023. Its direct-to-consumer channel remained the primary driver, generating $14 billion in volume during the period, compared to $12.4 billion from its third-party originator channel.Gain-on-sale margins for Q3 2024 were 278 basis points, a decrease from 299 bps in the previous quarter but nearly unchanged from 276 bps in Q3 2023. This was driven by a margin of 410 bps in the direct-to-consumer channel and 147 bps in the third-party origination (TPO) channel. Executives anticipate margin expansion in the fourth quarter, a period when competitors typically adjust pricing strategies around the holidays. According to Rocket leadership, current margins are approaching the historically healthy levels seen before the pandemic.Rocket’s playbookWhile the company doesn’t provide a detailed breakdown of purchase versus refinance business, executives reported market share growth in both areas during the quarter. Refinancing opportunities are largely coming from Rocket’s servicing portfolio, which reached an unpaid principal balance (UPB) of $546.1 billion at the end of Q3. With 2.6 million loans, Rocket’s servicing operations generated approximately $1.5 billion in annual fee income.Rocket, like its peers, has been actively acquiring servicing assets. In Q3 alone, it invested $311 million to add $22.4 billion in UPB, bringing its total UPB acquisitions from January to October to $70 billion. Executives anticipate that portfolio acquisitions will remain a key capital deployment strategy alongside opportunities from subservicing agreements, such as Rocket’s partnership with real estate investment trust Annaly Capital Management. The company’s total liquidity was $8.3 billion as of Sept. 30, including $1.2 billion of cash on the balance sheet. Rocket reported an 85% recapture rate on its servicing portfolio. The company is leveraging technology to navigate mortgage market cycles more effectively. Chief financial officer Brian Brown told analysts that the company can “support $150 billion in origination volume without adding a single dollar in fixed costs.”Additionally, Krishna said Rocket Logic, the company’s proprietary loan origination system, now saves more than 800,000 team member hours per year — a 14% increase in just two months — that result in more than $30 million in annual savings.Looking ahead, Rocket projects adjusted revenue between $1.05 billion and $1.2 billion in Q4 2024, a seasonally slower period due to the holidays. Executives said higher mortgage rates have also dampened application volumes. Rocket shares fell 11.3% in the after market, following the earnings call, to $13.78.

Bill Pulte, the philanthropist and CEO of Pulte Capital — and who shares a name with his grandfather, the founder of Atlanta-based homebuilder PulteGroup — is reportedly under consideration for the post of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) secretary in the new Trump administration, according to a report from the New York Post.Pulte is a regular and frequent poster on the social media platform X, having used the platform as the source of philanthropic giving to other platform users. He is also a vocal supporter of President-elect Donald Trump who lambasted the housing proposals of Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 election campaign.The Post reported that unnamed sources close to the situation claim that key transition figures are “loudly” advocating on his behalf. Additionally, they claim that Pulte has already had some conversations with members of the Trump transition team.The report also noted that Ben Carson, the HUD secretary during Trump’s first term in office, is not interested in returning to the role. Instead, he is reportedly jockeying to become secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).“Bill comes from a prominent family and is probably best qualified, probably overqualified,” the source said, according to the Post.Pulte has also posted photos of himself on X in close proximity to Trump and high-profile figures of the 2024 campaign — including former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Vice President-elect JD Vance and Trump himself.Pulte said Tuesday in a post on X that Trump “is the only builder who has ever been elected president,” adding that he can take action on the federal lands owned by the government.Following prior presidential elections that have resulted in a new occupant in the White House, the nominee for HUD secretary is typically a post that is announced within the first two weeks of December.In 2008, following the victory of Barack Obama, Shaun Donovan was named the nominee-designate for HUD secretary on Dec. 13. In 2016, Carson was announced as the selection for the role on Dec. 5, roughly a month after Trump’s first election win. In 2020, Marcia Fudge was announced as the nominee on Dec. 8 for the Biden administration.Pulte is no longer involved with PulteGroup. He sued leaders at the company in 2022 for allegedly harassing him on X, then known as Twitter.

As 2025 approaches, state-funded down payment assistance (DPA) programs are helping veterans, service members and surviving spouses achieve their dreams of homeownership.This comes from a new survey by Down Payment Resource — a nationwide database designed to connect prospective homebuyers to financial assistance opportunities. The study analyzed DPA programs from more than 1,300 housing finance agencies, municipalities, nonprofits and other organizations. A total of 29 down payment assistance programs were added in the U.S. in third-quarter 2024. Down Payment Resource highlighted 49 of the 2,400-plus programs that offer up to $117,000 specifically for veterans. That represents a slight decrease from the 61 programs that offered up to $120,000 per borrower last year.In 2024, second-lien mortgage programs (20) stand out with the highest number of veteran-tailored DPA programs. Grant programs (15) and first-lien mortgage programs (12) came in next.The 15 grant programs offer forgivable assistance, provided that a homeowner maintains their status as the primary occupant and owns no additional properties. Last year, 24 programs offered the same benefit. The report also noted a slight increase in the minimum down payment assistance amount for veteran-tailored programs, which grew from $2,000 to $2,500. The maximum assistance amount decreased from $120,000 to $117,000. Rob Chrane, founder and CEO of Down Payment Resource, said that veterans and their families should be more aware of DPA options heading into 2025.“Owning a home is foundational to long-term financial stability, and our goal is to ensure Veterans and their families are aware of the assistance available to them,” Chrane said in a statement. “As we celebrate Veterans Day and Military Family Appreciation Month, we’d like to thank our Veterans, service members and their families. It’s our hope that these programs can unlock the doors to homeownership and all the benefits it brings for them in the coming year.”Data shows that more veterans have been gearing up for homeownership in 2024. According to a National Association of Realtors (NAR) report in July, veteran homeownership has steadily increased since 2008, with veterans outpacing civilian buyers in some markets. And another survey by Veterans United Home Loans found that 74% of the military population plans to purchase a home in 2025, compared to 69% of surveyed civilians. Veterans or family members interested in purchasing multiunit properties may also receive assistance. The report highlighted that 24 programs support the purchase of one- to four-unit homes. With mortgage rates expected to sink further in 2025, program demand could continue to grow.

Digital mortgage exchange platform and loan aggregator MAXEX announced on Tuesday the hiring of mortgage technology veteran Daniel Wallace as its new chief operating officer. Wallace brings more than 30 years of experience as a leader of tech-focused mortgage, asset management and capital market platforms. Bill Decker, MAXEX president and co-founder, highlighted Wallace’s expertise in mortgage technology as a valuable asset for the company. “Dan Wallace is exceptionally well qualified to help lead MAXEX as COO during this exciting phase of our company’s growth,” Decker said in a statement. “Dan’s unique expertise positions him at the intersection of technology, asset management, and mortgage finance, perfectly aligning with our vision for the future. Dan has led some of the industry’s most impactful platforms, and his leadership will further strengthen our team’s ability to deliver on our vision.”Daniel WallaceMAXEX chairman and co-founder Tom Pearce shared Decker’s praise for Wallace, highlighting the new COO’s vision for building an accessible central mortgage market platform. “Dan is a proven leader who brings invaluable expertise across the technology and mortgage finance ecosystem, which will enhance our leadership team and drive greater innovation and execution. His alignment with our long-term vision for an accessible, centralized mortgage market utility underscores our unique market position,” Pearce said.The new COO’s leadership journey began in the capital market sector. Wallace served as managing director at financial services firm Lehman Brothers before the company went bankrupt in 2008 following the nationwide financial crisis. He later transitioned into several capital partner roles, including as venture partner at Conversion Capital and as co-founder of Capital Crossing — which saw peak revenue of $52 million in 2023, according to data from career development site Zippia. Before joining MAXEX, Wallace served as CEO of Haven Servicing. According to an announcement, MAXEX intends to work with Haven to enhance digital technology in the marketplace under Wallace’s direction. Prior to Haven, Wallace served as the general manager of lending at Figure Technologies — a leading nonbank home equity line of credit lender — and as CEO of FirstKey Mortgage.In a statement, Wallace reinforced his commitment to increased mortgage trading on the MAXEX centralized platform. “MAXEX has built a trusted and unique ecosystem, connecting over 340 mortgage originators and more than 30 prominent loan buyers through advanced technology to make the secondary mortgage market more efficient and accessible,” Wallace said.“The U.S. mortgage market is the world’s largest credit market. However, due to its complexity, mortgages had never been successfully traded on a centralized exchange before MAXEX. I’m excited to join the MAXEX leadership team at this critical growth stage,” he added.MAXEX is based in Atlanta. It is the first mortgage company to grant access to mortgage trading under a central clearinghouse platform. MAXEX said it has managed more than $37 billion in transactions.

Finance of America (FOA), the leading reverse mortgage lender, presented a robust outlook last week in its third-quarter 2024 earnings and is aiming to hit the ground running with business in 2025.While the reverse industry has faced unique headwinds over the past couple of years, the company is seeking to build on the momentum provided by its HomeSafe Second proprietary product. It also wants to widely deploy refreshed marketing strategies that are designed to both educate and appeal to older homeowners about the use of home equity in retirement.FOA President Kristen Sieffert spoke about some of these efforts during a Q3 earnings call.‘Digital innovation’ team being builtHomeSafe Second, a proprietary second-lien reverse mortgage product, has been a major focus for FOA and its partners this year. The product was first introduced in 2018, marking the industry’s first-ever second-lien reverse mortgage option. It was suspended in 2020 due to economic volatility caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but it marked its return in February 2023 with a minimum-age eligibility reduction to 55. The company also recently announced a refresh of the product, lowering the interest rate and adding four additional states to its service area for a total to 10 states.On the earnings call, Sieffert discussed a new “digital innovation” team that is being built at FOA with the purpose of delivering “financial services to seniors in a way that is modern and user-friendly.” At the end of Q3 2024, the company launched a digital-first marketing campaign for HomeSafe Second specifically to identify the most effective strategies for attracting new customers, and a “dedicated team” is being built to further support these efforts.“As the campaigns and team mature, insights gained will inform our growth strategy and investments for a digital-first channel next year and beyond,” Sieffert said.New ad agency, HomeSafe Second performanceSieffert also revealed that the company has enlisted the services of a new advertising agency partner. In 2025, it will begin rolling out new regional and local programs designed to “build our brand profile and drive business in strategic markets,” she said.Sieffert also mentioned the refreshed elements of HomeSafe Second, sharing information that looks to corroborate the statements of additional interest from customers.“In the third quarter, we saw an 89% increase in HomeSafe Second loans compared to Q2, and we anticipate further growth as we invest more capital and resources in the product,” she said.The potential for building on HomeSafe Second’s numbers also comes from broader trends in the home equity lending space, she said.“While home equity lending nationwide is on the rise, recent data shows that people 55 and older face denial rates exceeding 35%,” she said. “Many in this demographic have considerable home equity but struggle with tighter credit conditions that impact qualifications. This represents a significant opportunity for us as our products are specifically designed to serve this demographic.”With speculation around mortgage rates now turning to a higher-for-longer scenario, Sieffert said that HomeSafe Second will continue to be “a better option for many borrowers 55 and older.”But in the event that rates fall, the traditional Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) and first-lien HomeSafe products could offer “more attractive outcomes, as well as increased refinance opportunities for our borrower base,” she said.

Cornerstone Financing, a venture co-founded by former Reverse Mortgage Funding (RMF) CEO Craig Corn, has secured $285 million in financing through global investment firms Aquiline Capital Partners LP and Nomura.The funding will go to support the company’s specialty home equity-tapping product known as the Cornerstone Home Equity Insurance/Investment Funding Solutions (CHEIFS). The product operates similarly to a shared equity investment. It allows homeowners to sell a portion of their home equity for cash to specifically fund “insurance, annuities, long-term care, and other financial and life planning options,” the company said.“Partnering with these prestigious institutions affirms our commitment to providing advisors with innovative home equity solutions,” said Daniel Anderson, who co-founded Cornerstone Financing alongside Corn.CHEIFS is currently available in four states: Arizona, California, Florida and Pennsylvania. Supported by the new funding round, the company has ambitions for a national expansion and is seeking new distribution partnerships.The company describes the product’s purpose as aiming to “utilize previously untapped home equity to enable superior estate, insurance, and investment planning through trusted advisors.”Timothy Gravely, partner and head of credit for Aquiline, added that the firm got involved due to the unrealized potential for using home equity to address retirement shortfalls.“We are proud to support Cornerstone in the expansion of CHEIFS,” Gravely said. “This product addresses a critical gap we observed through our participation in the insurance market, and we are excited to back the solution.”Corn is a longtime reverse mortgage industry professional, having served in leadership roles at Financial Freedom and EverBank Reverse Mortgage, and as vice president for MetLife’s reverse mortgage division. In 2013, Corn and his partners launched RMF, which became a leading reverse mortgage lender.According to Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) endorsement data compiled by Reverse Market Insight (RMI) in early November 2022 — just prior to the halting of originations and its subsequent bankruptcy — RMF was the fifth-largest HECM lender in the country, with 4,804 endorsements over the 12-month period that ended Oct. 31 of that year.Following the collapse of RMF and the assumption of its servicing portfolio by Ginnie Mae, Corn and Anderson went on to launch Cornerstone Financing in May 2023.

One month into her presidency, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced a new initiative to address her country’s housing deficit by building 1 homes and offering zero-interest mortgages, a development first reported by Newsweek.The program is designed to support vulnerable groups, including female-led households, young people, Indigenous communities and senior citizens. The announcement fulfills Sheinbaum’s campaign pledge to create affordable housing and advance equitable urban development initiatives.Sheinbaum’s Housing and Regularization Program is a partnership between the federal government and Mexico’s national housing agencies. Under the program, the National Workers’ Housing Fund Institute (INFONAVIT) will build 500,000 homes, and the National Housing Commission (CONAVI) will construct an additional 500,000 homes for those ineligible for traditional public housing programs, according to Newsweek.The Welfare Financial Institution (FINABIEN), a new government-backed lender, will offer subsidized financing to further assist those outside of standard public housing eligibility.The initiative includes significant funding, with the Mexican government committing the equivalent of about $30.8 billion in U.S. dollars for housing development, particularly in rural and underserved regions.Sheinbaum’s housing plan also unfolds amid evolving U.S.-Mexico relations, with tensions around migration and trade expected to rise following Donald Trump‘s election.

Housing markets across the country have stalled since mortgage rates began to rise in 2022, but relief may be on the way.That’s according to Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors (NAR), whose latest forecast calls for a 9% increase in home sales in 2025 and a further boost of 13% in 2026. Underpinning these numbers are Yun’s belief that broader macroeconomic trends will boost the housing market.Yun’s comments came at the annual NAR NXT conference in Boston, during which he noted the benefits of homeownership.“When more people work, they have the capacity or they’re in a better position to buy a home,” Yun said. “Home sales depend mainly on jobs and mortgage rates.”Yun’s forecast comes at the same that the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released a macroeconomic forecast that predicts a sluggish economy over the next few years. While gross domestic product rose 3.2% in 2023, MBA’s outlook is that 2024 will finish at 2.3%, followed by three years of growth of 2% or less.Residential investment — which boomed in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic — will be more mixed after hitting 2.5% growth in 2023. The MBA forecast shows a 0.1% gain in 2024, followed by more volatile growth of 1.1% to 3.3% in the next three years.It also shows stabilizing inflation, with consumer price appreciation pinging between 1.9% and 2.3% per year. Mortgage rates will play a huge part in where the housing market goes from here, and Yun expects four separate rate cuts in 2025. The elephant in the room for any current economic forecast is incoming President-elect Donald Trump, who has criticized Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for his interest rate policies and has signaled his preference for rates to come down.But Trump’s proposed plan for tariffs has been widely panned by economists, who say they would supercharge inflation. While specific numbers have varied on any given day, Trump proposed a 10% to 20% blanket tariff on all foreign imports and a 60% to 100% tariff on Chinese goods. In the days leading up to the election, he suggested a 25% tariff on Mexican imports.If Trump implements these tariffs and they have the effects feared by economists, it would squeeze household budgets and make it more difficult for people to afford to buy a house, depending on whether the inflation would be offset by mortgage rate reductions. They would also push up homebuilding costs.“Today, we have a massive budget deficit at a time when we are not in an economic recession,” Yun said at NAR NXT. “Clearly, President-elect Trump will not stop tax cuts; he will extend or expand them. There will be less mortgage money available because the government is borrowing so much money. However, if the Trump administration can lay out a credible plan to reduce the budget deficit, then mortgage rates can move downward.”

For Nykia Wright, CEO of the National Association of Realtors, 2025 is going to be all about turning NAR into a trade association for the future while rebuilding relationships with members.“NAR is really focused on rebuilding the association for today and tomorrow,” Wright told NAR members gathered in Boston Monday for the trade group’s board of directors’ meeting at the conclusion of the NAR NXT conference. “One thing is for certain, the industry is changing and we must lead and change with it.”According to Wright, a large part of revamping NAR will include a focus on redefining the member experience. To rebuild these relationships and work to redefine the member experience, Wright said NAR will be consulting surveys and focus groups conducted at NAR NXT.“Through the use of those surveys, we are going to understand a lot more about what people need on the ground, and meet them where they are and organize ourselves accordingly,” Wright said. “Certainly, we need to redefine our relationships with brokerages — large and small, public and private.”Wright also told attendees that she would soon be announcing the hiring of a special adviser, whom she said will help her “turbocharge and add rocket fuel to getting around the country reestablishing those relationships.”Partially fueling Wright’s desire to rebuild relationships with members comes from the recent “rumblings” to challenge the three-way membership agreement among local, state and national Realtor associations.“We are here to make sure that those rumblings subside,“ she said, “because it is our duty to make sure that people understand what happens at the local level, the state level, the national level, and really make sure that people understand that there is no cannibalization of services, but it’s really working together to make things work.”The rumblings that Wright referenced also include two antitrust lawsuits (Hardy and Muhammad) that were filed by brokers and are seeking class-action status. The suits allege that the requirement for all Realtors and brokers to be members of NAR, their state Realtor association and a local board of Realtors represents an antitrust violation.In addition to these suits, the Alabama Association of Realtors sent a letter to NAR asking it to end the three-way agreement.Although Wright did not offer any further discussion of the three-way agreement, she did mention that NAR was looking to rebuild its relationships with “partner organizations.”“This is a very, very large ecosystem in residential and commercial real estate, and there are a lot of people in organizations that do things a lot better than the association,” Wright said. “We want to acknowledge that and leverage that.”Like NAR president Kevin Sears, Wright also acknowledged that NAR’s budget will be tighter in the future if its commission lawsuit settlement agreement is approved later this month. Due to this, she said the trade group is looking at “repositioning” some of its 300-person staff to meet the association’s “ever-growing needs.”Additionally, Wright said she wants to change the discussion surrounding the size of NAR’s leadership — which includes a board of directors consisting of nearly 1,000 members — to focus on the group’s “effectiveness.”“It is our implicit and explicit oath to you all that we will continue to do that, so that we will make sure that people around the nation — consumers and Realtors and agents alike — understand our purpose, and make sure that people are not discussing negative narratives about us,” Wright said.As part of this effort, Wright highlighted that NAR has recently hired its first chief human resources officer. It also has brought in a Washington, D.C.-based legal firm to complete a risk assessment of NAR’s current policies to determine if any of them pose future legal risks.“Recently we’ve been taking each pitch as it comes and we have not been winning those ballgames,” Wright said. “What we want to do is look outside and see what those risks are, and understand how we can better manage and not be caught in the antitrust world again.”The trade group expects to have findings back sometime in the next two months. It plans to use this information to help its governing body understand what it needs to do in the future to avoid further litigation over its rules.As NAR and the real estate industry at large look to move beyond the past year, which Wright said was filled with “hiccups,” she asked the board and NAR members to help disseminate consumer guides that expalin the terms of NAR’s settlement and the associated business practice changes.“Not only is it important for people to understand what are the results of the settlement, but when we were sitting across from the Department of Justice, it appeared that they were implicitly indicting us for not educating the consumer,” Wright said. “So, to the extent that you all can continue to hand out those guides, we don’t want to be sitting across from the government with that type of accusation in the future, even though we know internally what we do every single day.”Wright’s address at NAR NXT came a little over a year after her one-year anniversary at the trade association. She was named as interim CEO in early November 2023 following the resignation of longtime CEO Bob Goldberg. NAR made things official with Wright in August, naming her as the trade group’s permanent CEO.

Downpayment assistance programs are available to first-time homebuyers across the country in the form of more than 2,400 such offerings at the local and state levels, but they have not had an appreciable impact on the level of U.S. homeownership.This is why a zero-down Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage would be a more viable and cost-effective option, according to a recent issue brief published by the Urban Institute and co-authored by Michael Stegman, Ted Tozer and Richard Green.“For many years, four in five FHA borrowers have been first-time borrowers,” they wrote. “The FHA has also provided access to families of color relatively more than other lending channels. It is also the only federally backed mortgage program that still requires a down payment.”A zero-down option would not be useful if there were a lack of “mortgage-ready borrowers,” the group wrote. But prior Urban Institute research has indicated that “many potential millennial homebuyers are 40 or younger and do not have a mortgage but have the credit characteristics to qualify for a mortgage — suggesting a lack of a down payment is the only barrier to homeownership.”The authors used data from the U.S. Census Bureau‘s 2022 American Community Survey to estimate that one-third of renter households, or roughly 15 million in total, “have a sufficient income to afford the monthly costs of the average-price FHA-insured home ($362,700) at a 6 percent interest rate.”The writers also claim there is less inflationary risk on a zero-down FHA program when compared with a national downpayment assistance plan. The latter option was discussed by Vice President Kamala Harris multiple times on the campaign trail as a potential program she would’ve sought to implement had she been elected.But the inflationary risk of such a program is clear, since “large down payment grants are essentially one-time income transfers that shift out the housing demand curve, which likely boosts housing prices to some degree,” the authors wrote. “In contrast, a zero-down mortgage relaxes a liquid asset constraint without changing effective borrower income.”In terms of a potential legislative template, the group details a bipartisan proposal introduced by members of Congress during the George W. Bush administration that would “offer a new 100 percent financing mortgage product to help first-time homebuyers purchase a home by allowing zero downpayment loans and financing of the settlement costs.”Several elements of this plan from 2004 could work in today’s mortgage market environment, they argue. These include the addition of a surcharge to the mortgage insurance premium; a volume cap of about 10% percent of total single-family loan endorsement volume based on the preceding year’s totals; guardrails that would suspend the program if the foreclosure rate exceeded 3.5% in a given year; and holding borrowers “to the same underwriting standards that applied to the broader program and required one-on-one housing counseling from a HUD-approved counseling agency.”Some changes would have to be made to the original proposal, they say, including post-financial crisis consumer protections and loss-mitigation options; incorporation of modern (and tighter) FHA underwriting standards; and the exclusion of settlement costs from the loan.“The financial crisis, high rents, stagnant wage growth, and other factors have prevented many renters from building the savings required to afford a down payment. And for many, this is the only barrier to buying a home,” the authors stated. “A zero-down FHA mortgage option could help a new generation attain homeownership, while being cost-effective and presenting minimal risk to the federal government.”The prospects of such a plan being discussed have changed significantly since the proposal was published on Oct. 29. While downpayment assistance and expanded incentives for homebuilders were discussed by Harris as a presidential candidate, the campaign of President-elect Donald Trump primarily focused on addressing housing costs by curbing immigration and by prioritizing the sale of federal lands to serve as bases for more new homes.It remains to be seen what a second Trump administration will prioritize when it comes to housing affordability, an issue that does not appear to have played a major role in his election victory last week.