Today’s inflation reports show that Federal Reserve rate cuts are in play in 2024 — not because of the labor market breaking, but because real rates are too high. If the labor market gets weaker, meaning jobless claims break over 323,000 on the four-week moving average, we can get even more rate cut

Cenlar FSB, the second-largest mortgage servicer and largest subservicer in the U.S., has partnered with financial services-focused data and analytics company BaseCap Analytics to pilot a new program designed to enhance regulatory and operational processes and compliance.The technology is designed t

The Council of Multiple Listing Services announced its new board of director members for 2024 on Tuesday. The MLS trade group said the new directors will assume their roles starting Jan. 1, 2024.The two new directors elected to the board are Justin Haag, the general counsel and incoming president an

California-based mortgage lender loanDepot on Tuesday announced the launch of its fully automated underwriting engine called melloNow.The new system, which has been in beta-testing for the last several quarters, delivers a fully conditional loan approval “in minutes rather than hours or days,” the c

The copycat commission lawsuits have made it to the West Coast. A home seller plaintiff in California filed an antitrust lawsuit on Friday in U.S. District Court for Northern California, accusing the real estate industry of colluding to artificially inflate real estate agent commissions.The lawsuit

Homeowners are increasingly concerned with flood insurance premium hikes impacting affordability, Fannie Mae‘s latest national flood survey showed. Despite people’s personal flooding experience, consumers have a poor understanding of the flood risk of their residence, particularly for those in high-

Inflation continued to edge down in November on a monthly basis, reinforcing the likelihood that the Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady at its final meeting of the year on Wednesday.Consumer prices were up 3.1% in November from a year earlier, down from 3.2% in October, according to data re

In the mortgage business, November typically represents the start of the slow season. While mortgage rates cooled down significantly from October, it wasn’t enough to overcome seasonal, historic trends and low levels of inventory.Lock volume declined 10% last month from October, driven by a 12% drop

While sellers of existing homes have struggled with rising rates and softening demand, homebuilders have not only survived, but thrived in this market thanks to the use of mortgage rate buydowns, a tool more widely used by builders since their business is selling homes and clearing inventory. Resear

Wells Fargo, once the largest mortgage lender in America, was accused of discrimination through the common industry practice of offering mortgage loan discounts to select borrowers, CNBC reported.The bank received Matter Requiring Attention (MRA) notice from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

After a successful launch of its new agent pay structure in Los Angeles and San Francisco in late October, Redfin announced Monday that it was expanding the new pay structure to its San Diego and Orange County markets.The pay plan now known as Redfin Next, after rebranding from its original launch n

After hitting a 23-year high of 8% in October, mortgage rates have cooled down to the lowest levels since July. Some borrowers are even getting quoted in the 6% range.A top-tier borrower with a 780 FICO score and a 25-30% down payment for a single-family vanilla 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was quote

Cleveland, Ohio-based fintech Upright has launched a debt service coverage ratio (DSCR) rental loan to investors, the company announced on Monday. DSCR rental loans are non-qualifying mortgages (non-QMs) used by real estate investors to qualify for a loan based on their property’s cash flow without

A few months ago I published a video where we asked, “How much will home prices gain by the end of the year?” Using a headline like that should come with a trigger warning. We could see that home prices were inching up, but there are many who think that home prices are currently falling. Even this w

A former account executive is accusing United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), the top mortgage lender in the country, of racial discrimination, hostile workplace environment, harassment and retaliation, according to a lawsuit filed on Dec. 8 in a district court in Michigan.  Corey Tucker, a Black man who

RE/MAX has seen a steady stream of agents and new franchisees over the past three weeks.In late November, the firm announced that Elizabeth Ruehrwein, a top agent in the Rehoboth, Massachusetts area joined RE/MAX Integrity, leaving Lamacchia Realty, previously known as Keystone Property Group.Ruehrw

Residential sale-leaseback platform EasyKnock is under fire from the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office.In a news release last Tuesday, Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell announced that she had entered into a settlement with EasyKnock for what her office alleged was deceptive practices that s

Despite rising housing unaffordability, we in the real estate business know that homeownership is still a fantastic way to build generational wealth. Not surprisingly, affordability is inextricably linked to fair housing, as fair housing (and lending) for all is foundational to affordability for all