U.S. home-price growth is predicted to finish this year at 4.7% before slowing to 3.1% in 2025, according to a quarterly survey of housing experts conducted by government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) Fannie Mae.The third-quarter 2024 survey polled more than 100 mortgage, real estate and academic exper

With elevated levels of home equity across the U.S., mortgage lenders are making home equity lending more accessible to reach more borrowers.Nearly all of the companies analyzed that provide home equity lending have a digital application process, while about half incorporate a soft credit pull befor

Guild Mortgage announced on Wednesday the introduction of a new product line called the “Flex Payment Mortgage,” which includes Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-sponsored Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs), refinances, proprietary jumbo options and HECM for Purchase (H4P) loans.“Guild’s Fl

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) on Wednesday published Mortgagee Letter (ML) 2024-18, which implements updates to debenture interest rates and reimbursements for Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program claims proposed in July. The ML goes into effect on Sept. 28.Debenture interest re

Judge Andrea R. Wood, who is overseeing the two Batton homebuyer commission lawsuits and the Moehrl commission suit, has recused herself from the cases, according to a legal filing on Wednesday.In the filing, the Chicago-based U.S. district court judge said that it had recently come to her attention

The city council of Portland, Oregon, unanimously passed what it is calling the city’s first-ever housing production strategy, which is based on a proposal introduced this summer by Commissioner Carmen Rubio.Like many major metropolitan areas across the country, Portland is facing a housing shortage

Artificial intelligence is already a tool in Zillow’s search experience, and now the company is adding natural language capabilities to it.Zillow’s existing AI search capabilities already allowed for surfacing homes on the basis of things related to the home itself. Now the AI can search by commute

Mortgage demand rose slightly last week as mortgage rates moved lower.Loan application volume increased 1.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending Aug. 30 compared to the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).The MBA’s refinance index decreased 0.3% from the

Figure Technology Solutions, the parent company of Figure Lending LLC, announced on Wednesday the hiring of Ronald Chillemi as its first chief legal officer and corporate secretary. Chillemi has more than 25 years of experience in regulatory affairs, government relations and compliance across a numb

New York City-headquartered investment firm Pretium Partners announced Wednesday that it has hired two new managing directors as its seeks to bolster its real estate debt strategy.The firm hired Brendan Bosman, a former senior managing director and head of U.S. housing investing at Minneapolis-based

Declining mortgage rates in August provided some relief for U.S. homebuyers and made it the most affordable month since February. Of the 2.5 million “in-the-money“ mortgage holders as of Aug. 22, more than 60% took out their mortgages in the past two years, including 850,000 in 2023 and 560,000 this

Mortgage rates remain relatively high and existing-home inventory is low as a result. That’s providing a golden opportunity for homebuilders.The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported Tuesday that its Home Building Geography Index (HBGI) showed growth in the number of building permits

With elevated mortgage rates having persisted over the past two years, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated recently that a cut to the federal funds rate at this month’s meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is on the table, which would likely have the effect of driving mortga

Florida-based independent brokerage The Keyes Co./Illustrated Properties has joined the growing list of brokerages that have settled the commission lawsuits. The firm notified the court of its settlement agreement on Tuesday in the consolidated Gibson and Umpa suits suits via a motion to stay the ca

In a new episode of the “Real Estate Insiders Unfiltered” podcast, John Campbell — managing director at Stephens Inc. and an equity research analyst — joins hosts James Dwiggins and Keith Robinson to chat about last month’s major changes for the real estate industry.The trio discuss the major compan

CMG Home Loans, the retail lending division of CMG Financial, announced on Tuesday the appointment of Kari Van Kleef to the position of reverse mortgage operations manager. She is one of “several industry veterans who will be directing the dedicated reverse mortgage department at CMG,” the company s

Mortgage servicer Nationstar, doing business as Mr. Cooper, is expected to settle a lawsuit with electronic payment processing vendor ACI Payments that is related to alleged damages from unauthorized mortgage payments imposed on Mr. Cooper’s customers three years ago.The settlement notice was filed

Vice President Kamala Harris and Minn. Gov. Tim Walz sat down with CNN last week for the pair’s first major televised interview since becoming the Democratic nominees for president and vice president of the United States, and housing continues to be an issue Harris aims to address in her public-faci

The chief economist of Fannie Mae expects to hang up the cleats this year. Doug Duncan, who’s been the chief economist at the government-sponsored enterprise since 2008, will be retiring effective Sept. 22, according to Rob Chrisman, who first reported the news on his blog Tuesday morning. Mark Pali