Lamacchia Realty continues acquisition spree with Berkshire Dream Home

Massachusetts-based Lamacchia Realty is continuing its expansion. The brokerage announced Tuesday that it has acquired Dalton, Massachusetts-based Berkshire Dream Home for an undisclosed sum.Berkshire Dream Home was founded in 2014 by Andy and Sarah Perenick. According to the release, in was the top
Read MoreMortgage rates hold steady despite softer labor market

Mortgage rates held steady over the past week despite recent signs of relief from the labor market, according to HousingWire’s Mortgage Rates Center. In large part because of the lack of clarity as to when the Federal Reserve will begin cutting the benchmark rate, mortgage rates remained above the 7
Read MoreCoStar pulls two Homes.com ads after Move challenges traffic numbers

CoStar Group is withdrawing two of its Homes.com advertising campaigns after two Fast-Track SWIFT rulings from the BBB’s National Programs National Advertising Division.The two challenges were brought by Move, Inc., the parent company of rival Realtor.com. Fast-Track SWIFT is an expedited process fo
Read MoreSFR investors drive up rents, but don’t cause gentrification: Philadelphia Fed

Institutional investors in single-family rental (SFR) houses cause rents in a neighborhood to increase quickly, but their entrance into a neighborhood doesn’t cause gentrification. That’s the conclusion from a working paper released Tuesday by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The paper exam
Read More12 proven real estate scripts that boost confidence & earn more business

As a broker and real estate coach, I’m always surprised when new agents tell me they don’t want to use real estate scripts. A script is just a predetermined question or response that helps guide a conversation closer to your desired outcome. Knowing what you’ll say in advance on a call, at an open h
Read MoreOwning Manhattan? How much business SERHANT.’s agents really do

Since launching in late June, Ryan Serhant’s latest reality TV venture “Owning Manhattan” on Netflix, has become quite the phenomenon. Despite debuting on June 28, the show cracked Netflix’s top-10 most streamed shows in the U.S. for the week ending on June 30. The show stars Serhant, who is no stra
Read MoreTreasury Dept. proposes rule to expand oversight of homes purchased near military facilities

The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Monday announced that it has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to expand the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS)’ authority to review real estate transactions near military installations by foreign buyers.CFIUS is an inter-a
Read MoreNRMLA president talks HMBS 2.0 term sheet and its potential impact

At the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) Eastern Regional Meeting in May, Acting Ginnie Mae President Sam Valverde said that the government-owned company planned to release a term sheet for a newly proposed Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM)-backed Securities (HMBS) program s
Read MoreHousing market sees more price cuts as inventory continues to grow

Nationally, the housing market indicators have been slow for several months now. There have been a few markets; however, that have defied the national trends where inventory has stayed tighter and demand keeps rolling in. Available inventory of unsold homes in the U.S. is 40% more now than last year
Read MoreCHLA calls on CFPB to take action against trigger lead calls

The Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) on Monday submitted a letter to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra, urging the agency to more forcefully go after trigger lead solicitations. To cement the point, CHLA is calling such solicitations “junk calls,” echoing the
Read MoreRestoration of historic Frank Lloyd Wright home complicated by reverse mortgage

An historic home in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1903 is in serious need of repairs and renovations, but an existing reverse mortgage loan is complicating the process of initiating the work. This is according to original reporting by Crain’s Chicago Busin
Read MoreConsumers expect home-price growth to slow down: The Fed

Despite a spate of reports showing the cost of housing increasing, consumers have a slightly rosier view of future home-price growth.That’s according to a new consumer survey from the Federal Reserve that shows respondents believe that home-price growth will be 3%. That’s down from 3.3% in last mont
Read MoreNewrez imposes another round of layoffs

Top-five mortgage lender Newrez, owned by asset manager Rithm Capital, has imposed another round of layoffs affecting 265 employees in Colorado and Arizona, per documents sent to state authorities.That’s the third round this year, following the acquisition of Computershare Mortgage Services and its
Read MoreBanc of California selling $2B in DSCR loans

Roughly eight months after acquiring PacWest Bancorp in a rescue deal, Banc of California is selling roughly $2 billion in business-purpose residential mortgage loans, according to Bloomberg.PacWest had already sold the servicing on the debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) loans, which were originated
Read MoreThe housing market is better positioned for lower mortgage rates
Now that we are halfway through the year, we can see that active inventory in America is growing, unlike what happened in 2023. This is precisely what the doctor ordered for the housing market. In March of 2022, we only had 240,000 active single-family homes available for sale, leading me to call th
Read MoreVishal Garg ruled to pay $5.5M in a decade-long lawsuit

A New York jury found Vishal Garg, CEO and founder of digital mortgage lender Better.com, liable for breach of fiduciary duty and conversion in a decade-long lawsuit filed by his former partner, Raza Khan. Garg intends to appeal. The court ordered Garg to pay $5.5 million to Educational Investment &
Read MoreMove’s trade secret lawsuit is a ‘PR stunt,’ says CoStar’s Andy Florance

To Andy Florance, the CEO of CoStar Group, the trade secret lawsuit Move, Inc., the parent company of listing portal rival Realtor.com, recently filed against his firm is all a “PR stunt.”“Effectively, you create a bogus story and you use a relatively junior person as a pawn and you get a story out
Read MoreTexas Capital, Ginnie Mae attorneys seek extension for their court requests

Attorneys for both Ginnie Mae and Texas Capital Bank (TCB) are asking a magistrate judge overseeing their case about HECM tail collateral in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas for an extension to decide on separate motions brought by both parties: one seeking a change of venu
Read MoreExperts share tips for beginning to age in place

As those in or near retirement continue to proclaim a preference for aging in place, there may be challenges for people who aren’t sure about how or when they should get started on making plans. A series of home healthcare, renovation and senior care experts offer tips on ways to begin in a column p
Read MoreYoung voters are concerned about housing. But ‘malaise’ may last years: Politico

Data on the intersection between housing issues and politics is clear: in 2024, housing is an issue that resonates strongly with younger voters, but high mortgage rates and high home prices may be issues for years to come. This is according to a report published this week by Politico.Recent data abo
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