Vetted by HousingWire  |  Our editors independently review the products we recommend. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission.We’ve all heard the news: over 60,000 real estate agents left the profession in the first half of 2023. This exodus left many brokerages scrambling to replac

There were a total of 361 consumer complaints submitted to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) related to the reverse mortgage industry during the calendar year 2023, according to a consumer complaint database maintained by the Bureau.Of those complaints, 167 had to do with “trouble duri

A Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-sponsored Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) requires a borrower to be at or over the age of 62 to qualify for a loan, making baby boomers most of the new qualifying candidates for a HECM.A new report from Construction Coverage sourced by its researchers an

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued a management alert this week, saying that the department has struggled to identify and prevent “improper payments” related to its programs for 11 consecutive years.The OIG advised HUD leadership t

The past three years in the mortgage industry were cutthroat, with origination volume shrinking, and while things are looking better for 2024, lenders are still in a position where they must make bold moves to stem losses on the production side of the business, according to a report from Stratmor Gr

Pending home sales rose 8.3% month over month in December, according to the newest data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). It was the largest monthly jump in pending home sales since 2020. NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) increased to 77.3 in December, up from 71.6 in November. On

Nevada’s unusual commission lawsuit is no longer so unusual. When the copycat commission suit was initially filed in early January by Nevada home seller Nathaniel Whaley, the complaint named just Realtor associations and MLSs as defendants, making it stand out from the spate of other commission suit

The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs held a hearing on Thursday that focused on the reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), showing that its bipartisan support is generally intact. But senators also expressed concerns about affordability after a new

People say that housing leads the economy into a recession: this is true when new home sales and housing permits fall together. When that happens, the builders start laying off workers before the national economy goes into a recession. This is one reason I raised my fifth recession red flag for Hous

Government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced this week the release of their “Mission Index,” updating or expanding their single-family social bond framework to better communicate the goals of the index to stakeholders and investors.The GSEs issued separate announcemen

Fannie Mae has announced updates to its HomeReady product, including a temporary $2,500 credit for very low-income purchase borrowers to use for down payment and closing costs. Another step the government-sponsored enterprise took was to enhance the best efforts commitments on HomeReady loans. It al

A cohort of former employees at now-defunct reverse mortgage lender Live Well Financial has been granted final settlement approval in a class action lawsuit brought against the company’s estate in May 2019.Monica Williams, a former loan account manager in Live Well’s Richmond, Va. headquarters, init

San Diego-based reverse mortgage wholesale lender Smartfi Home Loans has forged a partnership with LoanPASS to use the technology company’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) product and pricing engine in its reverse lending operations.Stating its desire to expand reverse mortgage wholesale lending throug

Delinquencies rose in December but the rise is mostly due to the calendar: December ended on a Sunday, so payments made on the last day of the month were credited to January. As a result, some loans appeared temporarily delinquent, ICE noted in its First Look Mortgage Performance report. The nationa

New Jersey-based TD Bank has decided to invest $10 billion in affordable homeownership initiatives by 2027, including providing loans and liquidity to the residential lending market. The investment represents half of the bank’s three-year Community Impact Plan announced Wednesday, which will direct

Let’s talk about lowball offers. What constitutes a “lowball” offer, when is it appropriate or not appropriate and how can you encourage your buyer clients to stop insisting on offering a price that’s unlikely to result in an offer?By definition, a lowball offer is an offer that is significantly bel

Agents subscribed to Bright MLS now have access to a built-in advertising tool through a new partnership with Collabra Technology, according to an announcement on Tuesday.Through the Bright MLS platform, subscribers will have access to Collabra’s AdBuilder, which lets agents plan and schedule paid d

Mortgage demand continued to increase last week, as seen in an uptick in purchase activity. Mortgage applications rose by 3.7% in the week ending Jan. 19 compared to one week earlier on a seasonally adjusted basis, per the Mortgage Bankers Association‘s (MBA) weekly mortgage applications survey. “Co

Last month, DataDigest explored market experts’ expectations for 2024, with the consensus calling for a moderately better housing market than 2023.But a meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee the following week set off a market frenzy over expectations of interest rate cuts, moving mortgage ra

Private equity giant Blackstone is set to acquire Tricon Residential in a deal valued at around $3.5 billion, the company announced last week. Blackstone entered an agreement to acquire all outstanding common shares of Tricon, with a price tag of $11.25 per common share. The proposed transaction com