Mortgage rates continue to hover around 7%, as they have since the latter half of 2023 when the Federal Reserve stopped raising benchmark rates. While the conventional wisdom is that high rates are choking the housing market, a new survey suggests it’s not as all-encompassing as one might think.Brig

Inventory grew by almost 14,000 homes this week. That’s a pretty solid number, but actually fewer than our model had predicted for the week.Available inventory of unsold homes continues to grow but that growth in seems a bit less intense than it could be. The sales rate — the demand side — is slower

Hilton Head, South Carolina-based “borderless” MLS REsides is joining firms like MLS Property Information Network and Northwest MLS by not opting into the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) nationwide commission lawsuit settlement agreement.The non-Realtor-owned MLS announced its decision to op

An executive refinance banker formerly employed by Rocket Mortgage is suing the company for treating her unfairly in the workplace. She alleges that the company refused a transfer request, cut her salary and demoted her when similarly situated white male employees were not given similar treatment, a

Nominations for the 2024 HousingWire Insiders award are open throughout the month of June. This prestigious award recognizes the operational leaders who are driving the growth and success of their organizations behind the scenes. Over the years, Insiders have shared how this recognition has positive

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Monday announced $469 million in new funding that will go toward fixing up older homes, renovating existing stock with new safety features and preserving affordable housing.The funds will be allocated to state and local governments under

Homeownership rates among minority groups have always lagged behind that of whites, but one group — Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) — is closing that gap.Freddie Mac’s June 2024 outlook on the economic, housing and mortgage markets revealed that over the past 20 year

Are we seeing the start of a market shift in mortgage demand? Notably, mortgage rates have been gradually declining, and we’ve observed back-to-back positive weeks in purchase application data for the first time since mid-March. While I typically prefer to see a sustained growth of 12-14 weeks befor

Real estate mailers aren’t dead — far from it. With so many agents focused on digital marketing, mailers can help you stand out from the crowd to attract new leads, increase brand awareness, generate more referrals, and ultimately close more deals.To get you started on the path to dominating your fa

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) on Friday announced that it has given conditional approval for Freddie Mac to begin purchasing closed-end second mortgages through a pilot program.The pilot program includes several limitations to the types of loans the government-sponsored enterprise will b

Both existing housing inventory and home prices have been rising together year over year, which might seem odd at first glance since existing home sales are trending near all-time lows. However, I can clear up any confusion on this topic. Let’s keep it simple: total active listings are still below 2

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on Friday announced a new round of disaster relief in the state of Hawaii that is targeted for the island of Kauai following severe storms, flooding and landslides that took place there in April.On June 17, President Joe Biden issued an exec

The Montana Board of Housing is aiming to remind the state’s seniors about a government-administered program that is specifically designed to help older adults access their home’s equity — and it should be very familiar to members of the reverse mortgage industry.Recently, officials with the state’s

In survey after survey in which Americans are asked about their preferred living situations in retirement, recent data is clear — they want to age in place in their current homes and remain in the familiar environs of their house and community. But a closer look at aging in place by NextAvenue asser

Since making headlines for the first time roughly 18 months ago, right-to-list agreements — also known as Non-Title Recorded Agreements for Personal Service (NTRAPS) — have been banned in 30 states, according to an announcement from the American Land Title Association (ALTA).The title industry trade

While major cities are often the bellwethers when it comes to home-price trends, a SmartAsset analysis of Zillow data released Thursday shows that some secondary and tertiary U.S. metro areas are leading the way for home-price appreciation.SmartAsset, a personal finance and fintech website, ranked t

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced on Friday that it has joined more than 20 other federal agencies to update its climate adaptation plan in furtherance of the White House’s national climate resilience framework. As the nation’s resources are further strained by the

Low levels of for-sale inventory, high mortgage rates, and record-high home prices continue to hamper existing-home sales.According to the May 2024 existing-home sales report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), sales volume fell 2.8% year over year to an annualized rate of 4.11 million.

On a recent HousingWire Daily podcast, I explored the question of whether construction labor was finally showing a recession risk. Today’s housing starts data has further solidified this trend, which we’ve been tracking for several months: construction labor is at risk, serving as a potent leading i

On Thursday, two U.S. regulators — the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) — announced their approval of a final rule imposing quality control standards for automated valuation models (AVMs) used by mortgage originators and secondary market