Mortgage application and origination activity dropped by roughly one-third from 2022 to 2023 as high interest rates depressed broader industry activity. That’s according to Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data published by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in a report released Frid

Planet Financial Group, the parent company of Planet Home Lending, completed the issuance of $475 million in senior unsecured notes this week, the latest mortgage company to raise debt in an oversubscribed transaction. The company’s initial target for the offering was $400 million. The notes, which

The Republican steering committee in the U.S. House of Representatives has selected Rep. French Hill to chair the powerful House Financial Services Committee, which oversees the entirety of the U.S. financial services industry including the housing, insurance, securities and banking sectors.The comm

Some housing professionals believe the market could normalize in 2025 after years of changes. Veterans United Home Loans — the nation’s largest producer of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) loans — thinks that mortgage rates and home-price growth could subside, but affordability issues may pe

September signified a steady decline in mortgage performance since the end of third-quarter 2023. About 3% of all mortgages were in some form of delinquency in September 2024 — up 20 basis points year over year, according to a CoreLogic report released this week. This is the fourth consecutive month

Influential senior advocacy group AARP has released a new report assessing the prospects for aging in place in the U.S., finding that despite seniors’ overwhelming desires to remain in their own homes as they get older, there is a lot of policy work to do nationwide and inside individual communities

Many in the real estate industry are looking at 2025 as a year to get back to the basics of the business, but Side is taking it one step further.This year, as the real estate industry looked to navigate numerous challenges, from the commission lawsuits to the continued housing market slowdown, Hilar

Editor in Chief Sarah Wheeler sat down with Jeff Bell, president of both UpWell Mortgage and software company Uplist, to talk about how he thinks about technology, and the good news that the industry is turning a corner after two rough years. Bell was in tech in the late 1990s, then got into the mor

Lansing, Michigan-based reverse mortgage servicing company Celink this week announced that it earned a high net promoter score (NPS) of 74, which is generally considered an “excellent” rating of customer loyalty, following a survey of its clients.Created by author Fred Reichheld about 20 years ago,

Things are unraveling for Oren Alexander at lightning speed. A new lawsuit filed Thursday in the Supreme Court of the State of New York charges the former star real estate broker with forcibly raping an unnamed Jane Doe while his cousin, Ohad Fisherman, held her down and his twin brother, Alon Alexa

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has been something of a political lightning rod ever since it began operations in 2011 under the Obama administration. But with the incoming Trump administration showing signs of fierce opposition to the agency, some of its biggest defenders are coming

Want to build a real estate career that lasts? Mastering the art (and science) of real estate marketing is a crucial first step. The key to effective marketing is finding that Goldilocks mix of strategies that work for your personal brand, resonate with your market niche and don’t send you to the po

Leading real estate brokerage William Raveis is making another game-changing acquisition before the new year. This week, the firm announced the acquisition of Nantucket, Massachussetts-based brokerage Jordan Real Estate (JRE).The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. William Raveis — a top

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) on Thursday published a proposal for Ginnie Mae to develop a new mortgage securitization product. The association said it would boost the availability of private capital liquidity sources into the market, particularly in periods of stress for the U.S. economy.T

Real estate website design is evolving — fast. Today’s sites are sleeker, faster and capture leads based on data from tens of millions of user interactions. To keep up, your site needs to offer more than just a pretty picture of a lakefront mansion. In 2025, effective websites leverage beautiful ima

Leading U.S. mortgage lenders United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) and Better have joined Fannie Mae’s pilot program that waives lender title insurance requirements for certain refinance transactions, HousingWire has learned.The initiative, announced by President Joe Biden during his March 2024 State of

Looking to launch a real estate career in 2025? We’ve pinpointed the best online real estate schools in California for every budget, weekly schedule and timeline — with podcast-style audio lessons, mobile phone apps, and courses for every learning style. California requires 135 hours of prelicensing

It’s hard to imagine a more dramatic fall from grace than that of Oren and Tal Alexander, the once star brokers who’ve been yanked from the top of the New York City real estate world and jailed.The pair — along with Oren’s twin brother Alon — were arrested early Wednesday morning and charged with th

An ongoing lawsuit between two major reverse mortgage lenders, Mutual of Omaha Mortgage and Longbridge Financial, over marketing practices could come to an end if both parties can reach a settlement agreement prior to going to trial.But such an outcome isn’t guaranteed, and Mutual of Omaha has reque

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Office of Policy Development and Research recently published a report that more closely examines the housing needs of older Americans and the pain points that have exacerbated their needs stemming from a national housing crisis.The materia