DOJ requests information on Alexander brothers from Douglas Elliman

The downfall of the Alexander brothers has become a drag on their former brokerage. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has requested information from Douglas Elliman about Oren and Tal Alexander’s time there, when the pair became star luxury real estate brokers. As reported by Bloomberg News, Douglas E
Read MoreTrump’s search for watchdog chiefs could be complicated by promises of regulatory cuts

President-elect Donald Trump announced a flurry of nominees to his new administration leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday, but notably absent from these announcements were picks to lead various financial regulators, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). This is according to r
Read MoreHome sales poised to increase next year, if rates cooperate

Fix-and-flip profits fell in Q3 2024. Are investors leaving the market?

Fix-and-flip investors took a hit in the third quarter of 2024 as flipped properties accounted for a smaller share of U.S. home sales compared to the previous quarter. Short-term real estate investors saw a 28.7% return on investment (ROI), down from 31.2% in Q2 2024, according to an Attom report re
Read MoreHousing demand resilient even with higher mortgage rates
The holiday season is here, and despite higher mortgage rates last week, housing demand is displaying some festive resilience. Typically, we expect a decrease in activity with elevated rates, but a seasonal boost is helping the purchase application data over the last month. Additionally, our pending
Read MoreGuild Mortgage CEO Terry Schmidt on adopting a ‘customer-for-life’ strategy

In this week’s episode of the Power House podcast, HousingWire President Diego Sanchez sits down with Terry Schmidt, CEO of San Diego-based Guild Mortgage, to discuss the company’s recent acquisitions, reverse mortgages and the use of artificial intelligence for mortgage originators.This interview h
Read MoreHow to get a real estate license in Massachusetts

Looking to for a career change in 2025? In this article, we’ll show you how to get a real estate license in Massachusetts, walking you through the steps you’ll need to take, the costs involved, and the best schools to help you prepare for the Massachusetts real estate exam. To begin, you’ll need to
Read MoreNew MBA securities proposal mentions HMBS 2.0 as ‘logistical template’

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) this week published a proposal for Ginnie Mae to develop a new mortgage securitization product that could boost the availability of private capital liquidity sources into the market, particularly in periods of stress for the U.S. economy.Importantly, the associ
Read MoreLutz homebuyer commission lawsuit adds over 30 new plaintiffs

The Batton homebuyer commission lawsuits are not the only ones getting updated complaints. On Thursday, James Lutz, the lead plaintiff in the Lutz homebuyer commission suit in Florida, filed a second amended complaint.This updated complaint adds 31 new plaintiffs to the suit, including many familiar
Read MoreToday’s sellers don’t have to worry about underwater mortgages
The recent CoreLogic Homeowner Equity Insights report for Q3 shows a continued positive trend of a lack of underwater mortgages in America today. Underwater mortgages — where borrowers owe more on their home than what it is worth — pose a risk of foreclosure and hinder people from selling their home
Read MoreSue Yannaccone says Anywhere is looking to raise the bar in 2025

Given the Department of Justice’s ongoing legal battle with the National Association of Realtors (NAR), Sue Yannaccone — the president and CEO of Anywhere Brands and Anywhere Advisors — knows that the legal landscape for real estate in 2025 will continue to be a challenge. But that isn’t what she wa
Read MoreCBO report shows GSEs have better conditions to repay Treasury by recapitalizing

While the mortgage industry debates the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under the incoming Trump administration, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a study on Friday suggesting that a recapitalization of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) could benefit the U.S. Department o
Read MoreSenate approves modernized version of the Older Americans Act

A reauthorized version of the Older Americans Act (OAA), originally passed by Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965, has passed the Senate and is now making its way to the House of Representatives.This is according to announcements by Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pe
Read MoreCFPB reports ‘significant’ drop in mortgage applications, originations in 2023

Mortgage application and origination activity dropped by roughly one-third from 2022 to 2023 as high interest rates depressed broader industry activity. That’s according to Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data published by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in a report released Frid
Read MorePlanet Financial Group raises $475M in unsecured debt offering

Planet Financial Group, the parent company of Planet Home Lending, completed the issuance of $475 million in senior unsecured notes this week, the latest mortgage company to raise debt in an oversubscribed transaction. The company’s initial target for the offering was $400 million. The notes, which
Read MoreFrench Hill will chair the powerful House Financial Services Committee

The Republican steering committee in the U.S. House of Representatives has selected Rep. French Hill to chair the powerful House Financial Services Committee, which oversees the entirety of the U.S. financial services industry including the housing, insurance, securities and banking sectors.The comm
Read MoreVeterans United foresees 2025 housing market recovery, with a few caveats

Some housing professionals believe the market could normalize in 2025 after years of changes. Veterans United Home Loans — the nation’s largest producer of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) loans — thinks that mortgage rates and home-price growth could subside, but affordability issues may pe
Read MoreCoreLogic: Mortgage delinquencies kept climbing in September

September signified a steady decline in mortgage performance since the end of third-quarter 2023. About 3% of all mortgages were in some form of delinquency in September 2024 — up 20 basis points year over year, according to a CoreLogic report released this week. This is the fourth consecutive month
Read MoreAARP assesses aging in place, role for reverse mortgages

Influential senior advocacy group AARP has released a new report assessing the prospects for aging in place in the U.S., finding that despite seniors’ overwhelming desires to remain in their own homes as they get older, there is a lot of policy work to do nationwide and inside individual communities
Read MoreSide goes back to grassroots to move forward in 2025

Many in the real estate industry are looking at 2025 as a year to get back to the basics of the business, but Side is taking it one step further.This year, as the real estate industry looked to navigate numerous challenges, from the commission lawsuits to the continued housing market slowdown, Hilar
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