It was late 2022 and Mike was feeling the pressure. Mortgage rates had climbed close to the 7% range and he was determined to remain competitive on pricing with rival loan officers in North Carolina. But there was a problem: pricing exceptions, in which the lender takes the hit, were becoming scarce

Did today’s existing home sales report give us a playbook for housing in 2024? I would argue yes, and the housing market today looks a lot like what we saw in late 2022. However, this time around, the Federal Reserve rate hike cycle is over, and we don’t need to worry about Fed presidents going on C

Keller Williams (KW) has appointed Wendi Harrelson as president of KWRI-owned regions and John Clidy as vice president of growth, the company announced on Wednesday. The appointments were effective as of Dec. 12.“Well-known across our ecosystem as servant leaders, Wendi and John will act as growth p

The three remaining defendants in the Moehrl commission lawsuit filed a joint motion for summary judgement on Tuesday. The National Association of Realtors, Keller Williams and HomeServices of America, have asked judge Andrea Wood to rule on the suit based on the evidence that has been presented dur

Sales of existing-homes inched up in November, breaking a streak of five consecutive monthly declines. While sales are still tracking below last year’s levels, the gap between 2022 and 2023 has narrowed considerably.Existing-home sales grew 0.8% in November from the prior month, reaching a seasonall

Title premium volume continued to drop during the third quarter of 2023, as limited housing supply and high interest rates took their toll on home sales.During the third quarter of 2023, the title industry generated $4.1 billion in title insurance premiums, down 24% year over year, according to the

Last week’s DataDigest offered readers a host of housing forecasts from industry experts at banks, trade associations and more, the thrust of which was housing professionals should expect a modestly better year of sales thanks to retreating mortgage rates in the year to come.A day after publication,

CoreLogic’s AutomatIQ Borrower Income Analysis solution is now integrated with Fannie Mae’s Income Calculator, the company announced last week.With this integration, mortgage lenders will be able to calculate borrowers’ income according to the standards described in Fannie Mae’s Selling Guide. Lende

Real estate agents and brokers, are you relying solely on that buyer drip you set up for your motivated and qualified clients? Has the drip run dry? It’s time to get more creative, aggressive and profitable with your MLS searches. Today we’ll show you how to deploy 6 creative ways to get more from y

After a multi-year decline in agent movement between brokerages, Relitix’s Agent Movement Index suggests that this trend may be reversing. The index shows that, measured on a trailing 12-month basis, the amount of agent recruitment bottomed out in October of 2023 and has begun to increase.“After see

Boom! Housing starts had an epic beat Tuesday, which usually means the data will get revised lower at some point, but one thing is for sure: the housing starts and new home sales sector came to throw shade at the 2023 recession crowd. Many say housing leads the economy into a recession, which has be

Even though Jerome Powell announced three rate cuts in 2024, Fannie Mae Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) group continues to forecast a modest downturn in 2024. The group projects a return to growth in 2025.“Last week’s comments by Chairman Powell, as well as the Federal Reserve’s updated Summar

Big Four title firm Fidelity National Financial and its subsidiary mortgage subservicer Loancare are facing a class action lawsuit alleging that they were negligent with customer data and that they breached their contract, after the firm was the victim of a cyber security attack in late-November.The

Housing starts rose in November, significantly beating expectations.New construction rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,560,000, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau data. It’s 14.8% above the revised October estimate of 1,359,000 and 9

The defining characteristic of the 2023 housing market has been dramatically fewer home sellers than any recent year. That’s one reason total sales volume has been so low, but it looks now like that’s starting to change.In this week’s Altos Research video, I look at how home sellers and sales are up

The home seller plaintiffs and MLS Property Information Network’s (MLS PIN) efforts to address the Department of Justice’s “significant concerns” about their proposed settlement agreement in the Nosalek commission lawsuit were not enough.In a letter filed on Monday, the DOJ told Judge Patti Saris th

The landscape of real estate is undergoing significant transformations in 2024, driven by a confluence of technological advancements, shifting market dynamics and evolving consumer behaviors. 1. Technology 2024: Proptech challenges and profitability pursuitThe proptech sector, a technological corner

High-profile government actions against some of the nation’s largest financial firms for alleged violations of fair lending laws and loan servicing principles have sent a sobering message to industry CEOs and their boards: the buck stops at the top.We have entered a new regulatory era, one filled wi

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last week released a new order amending its “express consent” rules for the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which closes the “lead generator loophole” used by mortgage professionals to connect with potential business leads.The loophole allowed th