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

Are big Wall Street investors really buying 44% of homes this year? The answer is no — not even close. Housing inventory is near all-time lows, but big institutional investors like Invitation Homes or BlackRock aren’t to blame.The 44% claim was made in the headline for a Medium article last week and

The most underreported housing story I’ve seen this year is that even with mortgage rates rising to 8%, the number of homes that took price cuts before they sold was 4% below 2022 levels. This happened even with higher home prices and higher mortgage rates in 2023.Weekly housing inventory dataWe wil

A former mortgage consultant who worked for Wells Fargo and ultimately brought a case against the company in a Southern California court over allegedly being fired for complaining about discriminatory lending practices has settled with the company, according to reporting from Los Angeles-based radio

High mortgage rates, a lack of inventory and elevated home prices have turned 2023 into the least affordable year for homebuyers on record. Luckily, economists are projecting some improvements for next year, according to a Redfin analysis released on Thursday.For an American earning $78,642, the cou

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) believes housing has a role to play in combating the opioid overdose epidemic.On Friday, HUD issued a joint letter co-written with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the White House Office of National Drug Control Pol