After the Federal Reserve lowered benchmark interest rates by 50 basis points last week, mortgage rates continued to move lower, although at a slower pace compared to recent weeks.At HousingWire‘s Mortgage Rates Center on Tuesday, the average 30-year conforming loan rate was 6.25%, down 9 basis poin

Invitation Homes, the largest owner of U.S. single-family rental homes, has agreed to pay $48 million to consumers and change some of its practices, according to a proposed settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that was announced Tuesday. According to the FTC, Invitation Homes advertise

In a surprising move, the Federal Reserve has lowered interest rates by 0.50%, a decision that has sent ripples through various sectors of the economy, particularly the real estate market. While many analysts anticipated a smaller reduction, this larger-than-expected cut raises questions about its i

Less than a week after an amended complaint added a slew of new plaintiffs to the Davis homebuyer commission lawsuit, the judge overseeing the case has denied defendant Hanna Holdings’ motion to dismiss or transfer the suit.Judge Wendy Beetlestone of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District

Top U.S. mortgage lender United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) this week won a three-year legal battle with a mortgage brokerage firm. The case involves the lender’s controversial “All-In” initiative, which states that brokers who work with UWM cannot engage in business with competitors Rocket Mortgage an

Coldwell Banker Realty is strengthening its roster of California-based agents. On Monday, the brokerage announced that it was welcoming top-performing agent Jing Hu to the firm’s office in the Silicon Valley hub of Cupertino.Hu was previously brokered with Keller Williams Santa Clara Valley. She tra

Seller repurchases of Freddie Mac mortgages rose to $430 million in the second quarter of 2024, a 29.1% increase from the first quarter, according to an analysis of public filings by Inside Mortgage Finance. By contrast, sellers of loans through fellow government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) Fannie Ma

San Diego-based Smartfi Home Loans, which is primarily active as a wholesale lender in the reverse mortgage space and is actively building a retail division that offers reverse mortgage products, has hired industry veteran Martin Lenoir as its new chief marketing officer.Lenoir most recently served

Los Angeles area-based mortgage lender Premier Plus Lending announced last week that it is expanding into the senior-focused home equity market with a new division, Retirement Mortgage Solutions, which will include reverse mortgages and other home equity-based lending instruments.“The new division f

A former regional operations manager at CrossCountry Mortgage (CCM) is suing the company over allegations of age discrimination and wrongful termination for her refusal to participate in illegal activities.  Penny Smith, 61, filed the lawsuit in early September in a district court in Pennsylvania. S

On Monday, a coalition of eight senators — seven Democrats and one Independent — submitted a letter to Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Sandra Thompson, urging her to phase in a series of modernized energy-efficiency standards for mortgages backed by the government-sponsored enterprise

CoStar Group has taken the win in the latest round of the battle between the Homes.com parent company and Move, the parent company of Realtor.com.In a tentative ruling released Monday, Judge George H. Wu of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California denied Move’s motion for preli

Mortgage technology platform provider Dark Matter Technologies announced on Monday that it has added a second loan origination system (LOS) — NOVA — to its product lineup.NOVA joins current LOS Empower, and both offerings will aim to offer distinct options for a wider range of mortgage lenders, acco

The Real Brokerage has expanded its footprint into the Richmond, Virginia, area. Nicole Reed Real Estate & Associates is joining Real, bringing an eight-agent team that serves not only Richmond but the Virginia markets of Fredericksburg, Charlottesville and Hampton Roads, in addition to Atlanta.Nico

While many brokerages have made the decision in recent weeks to settle the commission lawsuits, white-label brokerage Side is taking a different tack.On Friday, the firm filed a motion to dismiss the QJ Team copycat commission lawsuit. The suit was filed in Texas in November 2023, roughly two weeks

California-based mortgage lender loanDepot has hired military advocate Bryan Bergjans as part of an effort to boost its lending capacity in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) space. Bergjans joined the company this month as its national director of military growth and strategy. Before that

Have we seen the bottom in mortgage rates for 2024 after a crazy roller coaster ride so far this year? My 2024 forecast had a mortgage rate range of 7.25%-5.75%. To get to the lower end of this range, we needed to see two things: the labor market getting softer and the mortgage spreads improving. Th

The Federal Reserve did something this week it hadn’t done in more than four years when it lowered the federal funds rate by half a percentage point. But for mortgage industry professionals hampered by fewer sales opportunities since the Fed’s streak of rate hikes began in March 2022, will this be t

A top luxury agent in New York City has left Official Partners. Compass announced the hiring of Jared Schwadron this week, poaching him from the troubled brokerage founded by Tal and Oren Alexander.Schwadron has more than $1 billion in sales over a 15-year career that includes stops in New York City

The National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA), the reverse mortgage industry’s leading trade association, is preparing to host its 2024 Annual Meeting and Expo on Sept. 24-26 in San Diego.The event is typically the largest, most expansive meeting for a wide variety of reverse mortgage pr