Rental vacancy data shows progress that can keep mortgage rates lower
One of the positive housing stories that doesn’t get a lot of attention is the vacancy data we have in the U.S. today, especially the rental vacancy data, which is helping to fight inflation and keep mortgage rates lower. The homeowner vacancy data has improved with the rise in housing inventory, bu
Read MoreRecruiting Insight adds automation and analytics with HiringCenter Pro

Real estate brokerage recruitment platform Recruiting Insight wants to help firms level up their recruiting game with its new platform HiringCenter Pro. Launched on Monday, Recruiting Insight describes HiringCenter Pro as an AI-enabled recruiting platform. The company said the platform will help br
Read MoreZillow promotes three executives, including new chief product officer

Zillow is making changes to its leadership team. On Wednesday, the company announced the promotions of three existing Zillow leaders. These appointments include Christopher Roberts as chief product officer, Marissa Brooks as senior vice president of corporate affairs and Jon Lim as senior vice pres
Read MoreHousing leaders say Trump’s plan must go deeper than lower mortgage rates

President Donald Trump highlighted taxes, inflation and trade in his State of the Union address on Tuesday evening, but he made only a passing reference to housing, leaving affordability largely unaddressed to the chagrin of housing professionals. Housing professionals had expected a larger discussi
Read MoreHow one Florida community transformed hurricane resilience into record sales

Southwest Florida was tagged by homebuilding business strategists and observers as one of the nation’s more difficult and listless markets in 2025. On the other hand, Babcock Ranch – a master-planned, solar-powered community located near Fort Myers – defied gravity, carrying on in better-than-expect
Read MoreBrown Harris Stevens adds Corcoran agent Debbie Baum

Veteran real estate agent Debbie Baum is making the move to Brown Harris Stevens from Corcoran, according to an announcement on Wednesday. Baum has more than 23 years of experience serving residential real estate clients in Manhattan. Earlier on in her professional career, Baum spent over 20 years
Read MoreAddy AI integrates with ICE Encompass for loan officer workflows

Addy AI, a loan officer workflow platform, announced this week a partnership with ICE Mortgage Technology to integrate with the Encompass loan origination system. The integration, which aims to help loan officers spend less time reading PDFs, chasing documents and interpreting findings, is designed
Read MoreNortheast gains leverage as Sun Belt markets slow

The U.S. housing market is entering spring with improving demand and rising supply, but the balance of power is shifting at the metro level. Weekly pending home sales returned to year-over-year growth at 59,283, up from 56,693 during the same week last year. New listings increased to 60,428, compare
Read MoreRetirement planning faces longevity risk as Americans live longer

Advancements in health care mean that Americans are living longer than ever. Data from the National Center for Health Statistics shows that U.S. residents born in 2024 have an average life expectancy of 79, an increase of more than six months compared to 2023. While a longer life span is positive ne
Read MoreHomes.com metrics climb as CoStar profit slides in 2025

Despite recording the 59th consecutive quarter of double-digit revenue growth during the fourth quarter of 2025, with revenue jumping 27% to $900 million, CoStar Group’s financial results may not have been as strong as many expected given the firm’s recent rhetoric about how well the company is perf
Read MoreTrump State of the Union offers few housing details

President Donald Trump delivered the annual State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday night and touched on a wide variety of economic topics. But he barely mentioned ways to make housing more affordable for everyday Americans. Housing professionals expected the speech to include subjects lik
Read MoreBuilders engineer payments, not prices — LGI results highlight why

We intended to dig into LGI Homes’ fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings last week. Then the National Association of Home Builders’ International Builders’ Show happened in Orlando, and the days became a blur of conversations, walking meetings, and on-the-fly triangulation among builders, capit
Read MoreRealtor.com CEO Damian Eales on portal strategy and MLS ties

The real estate listing portal space has generated its fair share of headlines over the last several months. While Zillow, Homes.com and Redfin have been stealing most of the spotlight, Realtor.com has also issued some announcements of its own. HousingWire recently caught up with Realtor.com CEO Dam
Read MoreCalifornia-based LenderMac to acquire Direct Mortgage

Cypress, California-based LenderMac Holdco LLC has agreed to acquire Direct Mortgage Corp. in a move aimed at expanding its geographic footprint and building a multichannel mortgage platform, the companies announced Tuesday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. “This acquisition represent
Read MoreFriday Harbor adds income and asset scenario testing for LOs

AI-powered mortgage underwriting platform Friday Harbor announced Tuesday the launch of a new set of tools called Income and Asset Sandbox, which are designed to help loan officers structure income and asset decisions earlier in the origination process. The tools allow lending teams to test how diff
Read MoreICE’s Matt Dowd: MSP updates are ‘just a foundation’ for AI journey

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. (ICE) is seeing an “overwhelmingly positive” response from mortgage servicers in response to its newly updated MSP platform user interface, as servicers view the update as the first step in a broader push toward automation and AI-driven efficiencies. The update marks t
Read MoreFHFA hit with FOIA lawsuit over Powell memo

The Campaign for Accountability (CfA), a nonpartisan watchdog group, has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The group alleges the FHFA failed to comply with a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that sought access to a report prepared by FHFA Director Bill Pulte about
Read MoreHoulihan Lawrence adds 3 RealTrends-ranked agents in NYC push

Houlihan Lawrence is strengthening its presence in Yonkers, New York, with the addition of eight new agents, according to an announcement on Tuesday. Among these additions is the Vision Alliance Team, led by Rahhim and Tara Shillingford. Rahhim Shillingford is the former principal broker of Vision A
Read MoreGeorgia lawmakers revive push for LIHTC property tax protection

Georgia affordable housing developers revived an effort to amend the state constitution to shield their properties from steep property tax hikes. State Rep. Shaw Blackmon, chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee, and State Rep. Rob Leverett officially introduced a constitutional amendment on Mo
Read MoreReal Brokerage adds RealTrends Verified Haley Garcia team in The Woodlands

The Real Brokerage is strengthening its presence in the luxury housing market of The Woodlands, Texas. The firm announced Tuesday that Haley Garcia and her five agent team Garcia Real Estate Group are making the move to Real after leaving Keller Williams Realty – The Woodlands. The team will be joi
Read More
Categories
Recent Posts








