AI-powered real estate assistant Sidekick unveiled a partnership with the San Francisco Association of Realtors (SFAR) on Monday. The collaboration will allow the region’s 4,000 agents to leverage Sidekick’s integrated datasets and workflows, making SFAR the first association to offer a generative A

AnnieMac Home Mortgage appointed Ian Aubourg to the role of senior vice president of retail sales, the Mount Laurel, New Jersey-based lender announced Monday. In his new position at AnnieMac, Aubourg will tap into his leadership skills to drive growth and improve the mortgage experience for clients.

Following an announcement that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Office of Policy Development and Research is seeking public comment related to application and origination documents for the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-backed Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM)

Inventory increases aren’t occurring at a super fast pace, but the number of homes on the market across the country keeps expanding. As mortgage rates stay elevated and the number of unsold homes on the market grows — especially in the South — the leading indicators for future home sales prices cont

After exiting the wholesale channel in February, top U.S. mortgage lender Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. has decided to grow its retail footprint organically by hiring origination teams from various competitors.The company announced last week that, in April, it welcomed production teams that col

Legendary investor Warren Buffett and Greg Abel, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, addressed the commission lawsuits and HomeServices of America’s recently announced settlement of the suits, during Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting on Saturday.“There is no question that the industr

U.S. home prices continued to climb in March as a persistent shortage of homes for sale helped to buoy the housing market, according to the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Home Price Index.And while prospective homebuyers cope with the challenges of rising housing unaffordability, existing homeowner

Rocket Companies, the parent of Rocket Mortgage, announced on Monday that it has hired Shawn Malhotra, a former Thomson Reuters and Intel executive, as the first chief technology officer (CTO) in the company’s history.   Malhotra will oversee, among other areas, the firm’s artificial intelligence (A

A coalition of four lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives — two Democrats and two Republicans — have come together to found the Bipartisan Congressional Real Estate Caucus, a group designed to “support policies that allow [the real estate] industry to prosper” due to its overall importance

Representatives of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and the Housing Policy Council (HPC) are urging leaders at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to delay a mandatory compliance date with the agency’s Veteran Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program, which aims to prevent foreclosur

My model for inventory growth with higher mortgage rates came crashing down last week. After two weeks of significant increases, inventory growth slowed dramatically and is far from my 11,000-17,000 growth model with mortgage rates over 7.25%. Did the recent dip in mortgage rates play a role here or

Friday’s jobs report came in as a miss of estimates and wage growth came in lower than expected. The labor market isn’t tight anymore and that will eventually be good news for mortgage rates. After last month’s jobs report, I talked about the path the Federal Reserve could take to land the plane bas

Earlier this week, Zillow launched a new “touring agreement,” a nonexclusive contract for buyers and agents to use for home tours. The real estate giant was prompted to do this by the terms of  National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) commission lawsuit settlement agreement which requires agents to h

No matter where you are in the Tar Heel State, real estate professionals across North Carolina are frustrated by the lack of housing inventory.“The challenge remains lack of inventory — that’s definitely the big one,” said Alison Alston, the broker-owner of Charlotte-based Lodestone Real Estate and

The tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut may face a housing gap of 920,000 units by 2035, a new report published by the Regional Plan Association (RPA) found. The analysis, conducted by McKinsey & Co., highlights a current shortage of 540,000 housing units in the region.To address

A bill that will permanently allow for remote reverse mortgage counseling via telephone or video conferencing services in the state of Massachusetts has been signed into law by Gov. Maura Healey (D), doing away with a strict face-to-face requirement that has stretched the state’s counseling resource

The business practice changes outlined in the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) commission lawsuit settlement agreement,will go into effect on Aug. 17, 2024, according to a letter sent to members on Friday by NAR chief legal officer Katie Johnson.Originally, the trade group had said the practi

eXp Realty has acquired Broker’s LLC, a 500-agent independent brokerage based in South Florida and founded by Claudia Serna, eXp announced on Thursday.“Claudia’s impressive track record and the entrepreneurial spirit of Broker’s LLC align perfectly with our values and vision,” Leo Pareja, CEO of eXp

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) on Friday published Mortgagee Letter 2024-08, which extends a foreclosure moratorium on the Hawaiian island of Maui through Aug. 4, 2024, for FHA-insured forward mortgages and Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs).The moratorium, initially scheduled to exp