Even as higher material costs, labor constraints, economic uncertainty, and spottier consumer spending trends weigh on current renovation and remodeling projects, home improvement contractors remain optimistic. The Q4 Contractor Activity Tracker, released by The Farnsworth Group and Home Improvement

Boarding and lodging houses played an important role during American industrialization.​ Could they make a come-back? Rural people and immigrants relied on them when they sought jobs in rapidly urbanizing cities and affordable housing was scarce. Cities zoned them largely out of existence over the p

Co-living marketplace PadSplit is expanding into four new U.S. markets: Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Sacramento and Nashville. Founded in 2017, PadSplit operates in more than 35 markets and has listed more than 28,000 rooms, housing 65,000-plus people. The company said it focuses on access and flexibi

A new study found that Zillow’s automated home valuation tool, the Zestimate, improves pricing efficiency in residential real estate transactions and delivers measurable benefits to buyers and sellers like. The research, published in Marketing Science — a peer-reviewed journal of the Institute for O

ALIRT Insurance Research released a report this week finding that Florida’s homeowners insurance market has stabilized after years of financial strain — following legislative reforms adopted in late 2022 and early 2023. The 2025 Florida Domestic Property Insurer Market Update concludes that the mark

The executive team switch-ups at iBuyer Opendoor are continuing. On Monday, the firm announced the appointments of Lucas Matheson as president and Christy Schwartz as chief financial officer.  Matheson most recently served as the CEO of Coinbase Canada. Prior to this, Matheson spent five years in a

Homebuilding executives remain downbeat, citing a range of current conditions marked by buyer hesitancy, economic uncertainty, shrinking profit margins, increased use of incentives, and high costs. However, homebuilders whose primary focus is the strained entry-level buyer segment face the biggest h

Pennymac cut the ribbon on a new facility in Carrollton, Texas, on Friday, which will become the company’s largest corporate office, eventually housing more than 1,800 employees. The move consolidates two offices in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex while also giving the company room to grow. Pennymac

The spat between Zillow and Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) continues on. Over the weekend, the Chicago-based MLS sent an email, obtained by HousingWire, to members warning them that the listing portal’s industry relations team is contacting MRED subscribers and allegedly threatening to contact thei

The portal wars may have a new entrant — and it isn’t one to shake a stick at. Google has begun testing a new advertising format in select markets that embeds for-sale home listings directly into search results.  Listings are embedded only in mobile searches for listings in select markets, including

The legal skirmish between Katie Sweeney and the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts (AIME) is continuing to develop with a first amended complaint that officially names United Wholesale Mortgage, AIME’s main sponsor, and Sarah DeCiantis, UWM’s executive vice president and chief marketing of

Most Americans hold a favorable view of Social Security, but about one-third are skeptical the program will still exist when they retire, according to new survey data released by the Cato Institute and YouGov. The survey also found that Americans are broadly misinformed about how Social Security wor

As mortgage rates stay near 6%, our weekly housing demand data lines have improved so much that we are at multiyear highs in total pending sales and purchase application data combined. This shouldn’t be a shock for our readers because whenever mortgage rates break below 6.64% and head down toward 6%

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is proposing changes to rules under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) to clarify lenders’ responsibilities on issues including disparate impact, discouragement of applicants and special purpose credit programs (SPCPs) that industry leaders say co

Ideas for reshaping the federally insured reverse mortgage program and its avenue for secondary market issuance is the hot topic of conversation for industry professionals in late 2025. And New View Advisors added to the discussion last week with a host of comments submitted to the U.S. Department o

Title and settlement services technology provider Settlor has introduced a new integration with DataTrace. The connection allows Settlor’s users to access DataTrace tools directly within Settlor’s title production system — eliminating the need to switch between platforms. Integration gives users the

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced Thursday that it is opening an investigation into the city of Boston’s housing policies, examining perceived discrimination against white residents. In a letter to Mayor Michelle Wu, Craig Trainor — HUD’s assistant secretary for fair ho

Don Goettling, a nearly 40-year veteran of the mortgage and real estate industry, announced last week that he’s committing full time to his role as CEO of Momentum Builder, the company he co-founded in 2018. The organization, which provides resources for housing professionals — including coaching, w