Lower has hired Paul Zinn as executive vice president of retail lending and divisional manager, adding a veteran mortgage executive to steer the company’s national retail expansion. Zinn will report to Craig Montgomery, Lower’s chief strategy officer and head of retail lending, the company said in an announcement last week. In the new role, Zinn […]
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced last week that it will continue requiring tri-merge credit reports to maintain “prudent risk management” as it transitions to new credit scoring models. This move follows a signal in late April from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner. Aligning with a similar shift by […]
The housing market has spent three years talking about one number: the mortgage rate. That makes sense. The mortgage rate matters. It decides the monthly payment. It decides who can buy, who can refinance, who can move and who has to wait. But the lock-in has lasted long enough that the rate is no longer […]
Like other segments of the broader housing industry, the appraisal space is rapidly evolving through consolidation, technology adoption and federal policy shifts. Reverse mortgage professionals should be mindful of these factors as they work with appraisers to close deals. Erik Morin, CEO of Miami-based Atlas VMS, a Miami-based appraisal management company (AMC) and technology platform, […]
For years, the mortgage industry wore integrations like a badge of honor. Legacy loan origination systems have hundreds of them, connecting to every vendor, service provider and data source imaginable. The more, the merrier. Sounds impressive? Look closer. Think about the incentives. For a service provider, being integrated into an LOS means easier access to […]
As states take varying approaches to regulating home equity investment (HEI) products, the industry faces an increasingly fragmented legal landscape shaped by consumer protection concerns and uncertainty over whether the products should be treated as mortgage loans. Under an HEI, homeowners receive upfront cash in exchange for a share of the home’s future value, typically […]
National mortgage banking company All Western Mortgage (AWM) announced on Thursday that HouseAmerica Financial has joined the company as it continues its national expansion. HouseAmerica Financial, based in La Cañada, California, produces about $500 million annually in mortgage volume, according to the announcement. The company is led by mortgage executive Alan Pezeshkian, who has more […]
More than 82,000 Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-backed mortgages originated in 2023 – about 17% of the total – carry at least one small subordinate lien, layering roughly $880 million of additional obligations on borrowers who already entered homeownership with thinner financial cushions, according to a new Benutech analysis. Benutech attributes most of the liens to […]
Raena Pinchuk has joined CrossCountry Mortgage (CCM) as sales manager for the Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and broader Pacific Northwest markets, the company announced on Thursday. Pinchuk moves to CCM with more than 15 years of mortgage industry experience at companies including loanDepot and Wells Fargo. In 2025, Pinchuk produced a volume of $93.30 million across […]
U.S. mortgage insurer Radian Group Inc. said Thursday that CEO Rick Thornberry plans to retire at the end of 2026 after nearly a decade of leading the company through a major strategic expansion, including its recent move into specialty insurance. The company said Mike Weinbach, former president of Mr. Cooper Group, has been named CEO-elect […]
Homeowners are facing a crisis. A crisis in property insurance. A crisis in affordability. And with hurricane season fast approaching, a growing sense of anxiety across the Southeast about what comes next. We have seen this before. Hurricanes Helene and Milton caused more than $100 billion in damage across Florida alone, according to the National […]
Americans may need roughly $2.57 million to retire comfortably by 2043, up sharply from the $1.75 million projected for 2033, according to a 2025 Goldman Sachs retirement survey. The increase reflects years of inflation that have driven up the costs of housing, health care and daily expenses. Households headed by someone 65 or older now […]
Rocket Mortgage and Rocket Pro announced Thursday that they have begun using VantageScore 4.0 alongside Classic FICO scores in the mortgage qualification process, a move the company said is aimed at expanding access to home financing. Rocket’s crosstown rival, United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) began allowing its brokers to access both FICO and VantageScore credit scoring models for conventional loans […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) could finalize changes to its Regulation X servicing rules while creating a regulatory pathway for streamlined refinances through the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) by the end of this year, mortgage industry sources told HousingWire. Meanwhile, prospects for changes to the loan originator compensation rule (LO Comp Rule) — particularly revisions […]
Mortgage vendors are entering a new phase of consolidation as they respond to rising regulatory and cybersecurity pressures, according to a white paper released this week by investment banking firm Houlihan Lokey. Scale is also becoming a decisive advantage for companies that sell mortgage technology and services, a trend that follows a mergers-and-acquisition wave among […]
Southern Land Company has launched an in-house mortgage division, SLC Lending, as the Nashville-based developer looks to tighten control of the homebuying process across its master-planned and single-family communities. The move, announced by the company, extends Southern Land’s vertically integrated model beyond land planning, development, construction and property management into mortgage origination. It comes as […]
NEXA Lending announced Thursday that it has entered into a strategic investment and phased acquisition agreement with Copper Ridge Ventures, cementing a growth and scaling strategy for both companies. Copper Ridge is a mortgage joint venture holding company founded by Tim Owens, a longtime industry executive with past tenures at loanDepot, CrossCountry Mortgage and Cardinal […]
Mortgage lenders are getting creative to combat the housing affordability crisis fueled by rising interest rates, rolling out novel products and blending existing options to keep borrowers in the market. Bayview Asset Management — which closed its acquisition of Guild Mortgage in November — rolled out a new program on Monday. Partnering with real estate […]
Mortgage lenders are currently wrestling with a high-stakes puzzle: how to accurately compare the new credit score models hitting the market. The differences are significant and carry major implications for risk assessment, loan pricing and secondary market returns. In late April, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) rolled out a program allowing the exclusive use […]
MortgageOne TPO, a wholesale mortgage lender and Department of the Treasury-certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), has integrated with the ARIVE platform and launched Pathway, a flagship CDFI loan program aimed at borrowers underserved by traditional mortgage guidelines, the company announced. The dual rollout is being led by MortgageOne TPO managing directors Rich Phillips and […]
A federal judge has granted final approval to a $110 million shareholder derivative settlement resolving claims that Wells Fargo directors and senior executives failed to properly oversee the bank’s mortgage lending practices. The final approval, announced May 15, paves the way for expanded mortgage assistance programs for low- and moderate-income borrowers in more than 50 […]
Mortgage applications fell last week as rising Treasury yields pushed mortgage rates to their highest level in nearly two months, dampening demand for home purchases, according to data released Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Total application volume decreased 2.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending May 15. On an unadjusted basis, […]
Mortgage quality control defects declined sharply in the fourth quarter of 2025, even as lenders continued to grapple with a rise in eligibility-related issues tied to affordability pressures and increased refinance activity, according to a new report released Wednesday by ACES Quality Management. In its quarterly Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report, the company found that […]
A high-profile proposal to borrow $1.5 trillion and invest the money in stocks to salvage Social Security’s finances would likely leave taxpayers saddled with enormous debt, even under optimistic market conditions, according to a new analysis from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. The brief is critical of a plan championed by Sens. […]
Mortgage rates continued to move higher in the past week as geopolitical turmoil caused the 10-year Treasury yield to soar, although mortgage spreads remain well below their levels of 2024 and 2025. At HousingWire‘s Mortgage Rates Center, rates for 30-year conforming loans were at 6.77%, their highest point of the year. Rates for 30-year loans […]
Mortgage applications for new home purchases fell 2.4% in April 2026 compared to a year earlier, the first annual decline since October 2025, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Builder Application Survey released this week. Applications also dropped 10% from March 2026 on an unadjusted basis, MBA reported. The monthly numbers are not adjusted for […]
Rocket Mortgage and Redfin, both part of Rocket Companies, on Tuesday announced an incentive program that offers eligible home buyers and sellers up to $20,000 in combined savings when using Redfin agents and financing through Rocket Mortgage. The program combines lender-paid credits from Rocket Mortgage with commission discounts from Redfin. The companies said the offering […]
Point on Tuesday announced the launch of a third-party origination (TPO) channel for its home equity investment (HEI) product, expanding distribution through mortgage brokers as the company looks to broaden access to home equity without traditional monthly payments. The new channel will be led by Samuel Bjelac, a mortgage industry executive with more than 20 […]
Our elected leaders have a unique opportunity to strengthen small businesses, sustain critical industries, combat inflation in the housing market and make homeownership more accessible for millions of Americans. Today’s housing market remains trapped in a cycle of limited supply and elevated costs. A central challenge is homeowners’ reluctance to sell—driven largely by the financial […]
Ginnie Mae President Joseph Gormley, who is also serving as acting commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), said the counterparties participating in Ginnie Mae’s program have evolved significantly since the Great Financial Crisis, with greater exposure to independent mortgage banks (IMBs) that have invested heavily in governance and risk management. Still, he cautioned that […]
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) would like to review its anti-flipping rule and reforms to automated valuation models (AVMs), according to Matt Jones, deputy assistant secretary for the FHA’s Office of Single-Family Housing. “We think our AVM, our valuation technology, has improved significantly since that rule was put in place a couple decades ago,” Jones […]
The forecast for the 2027 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for Social Security benefits has risen sharply to 3.9%, driven by persistent inflation in housing, utilities and energy, according to new data released by The Senior Citizens League. The projection — up from a steady 2.8% estimate just one month ago — would raise the average monthly […]
Rate has added Scottsdale, Arizona-based loan originator Kelsey Marquardt to the company, the Chicago-based national mortgage lender announced Friday, as competition for high-producing loan officers continues across the mortgage industry. Marquardt, who has generated more than $85 million in loan production, joins Rate after a three-month stint at Universal Lending Corp. She previously built her […]
Brody Gapp LLP launched a mortgage AI governance audit practice and set a third-quarter 2026 publication date for “The Mortgage Bankers AI Governance Guide,” the firm announced Friday in conjunction with the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)’s Secondary & Capital Markets Conference in New York. The national mortgage banking compliance, litigation and AI governance law firm […]
Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) president and CEO Bob Broeksmit said regulators should prioritize rolling back rules that raise costs as mortgage rates are likely to stay “stubbornly high” for the foreseeable future. “A lot of burdensome regulations need to change,” Broeksmit said Monday at the MBA Secondary and Capital Markets Conference in New York. “Especially […]
Las Vegas-based Panorama Mortgage Group has unified its multiple brands under a single banner — SimplyPMG — and appointed Fernando Ospina as chief production officer to oversee all channels. The strategic rebrand aims to simplify operations, expand market reach and eliminate brand confusion among consumers, secondary market investors and warehouse lenders. Historically, the company operated […]
Reverse mortgage professionals are navigating a “more labored current reality” marked by high interest rates, rising upfront costs and longer loan processing times, even as optimism grows around product innovation and technology adoption. That’s according to Steve Irwin, president of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA), who sat down with HousingWire‘s Reverse Mortgage Daily […]
Loan officers are shifting their playbooks to keep deals alive as mortgage rates climb north of 6.6%. Originators are encouraging borrowers to ask for more seller credits, recalibrate their home search criteria and rush to close deals as quickly as possible. Rates for 30-year fixed mortgages reached 6.62% on Friday afternoon, up 5 basis points […]
Analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW) said UWM Holdings Corp., the publicly traded parent company of United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), is positioned for continued growth despite elevated interest rates. It points to expanded broker market share, in-house technology investments and a push to bring mortgage servicing operations fully in-house. In a research note published […]
AD Mortgage has launched a $407 million non-QM securitization, its fourth deal of 2026, as the company continues to diversify collateral beyond its home base in Florida and deepen its national origination footprint, the company announced on Thursday. AD Mortgage Trust 2026-NQM4 is backed by 979 loans that are primarily fixed rate. Florida properties account […]
A Two Harbors Investment Corp. stockholder has sued the company and its directors in federal court over allegedly misleading proxy disclosures, seeking a restraining order to delay the May 19 special meeting regarding its proposed merger with CrossCountry Intermediate Holdco LLC. George Assad filed the lawsuit and related emergency motions Wednesday in the U.S. District […]
Cryptocurrency is no longer a peripheral line item in borrower financial profiles. Approximately 30% of American adults now own it. Global ownership has surpassed an estimated 500 million people. The total housing market has crossed the $1 trillion mark multiple times in recent years. These numbers mean that lenders, originators and the regulators overseeing them […]
The Senate’s confirmation of Kevin Warsh as chairman of the Federal Reserve is already reshaping conversations across the housing industry — particularly among real estate agents watching mortgage rates, affordability and transaction volume. Warsh is set to officially succeed Jerome Powell after a contentious confirmation process held against a backdrop of elevated inflation, geopolitical instability […]
Since 2012, every year we have heard that it’s about to be 2008 all over again for the housing market, as people try to get attention by implying home prices are going to crash like they did starting in 2007 and ending in 2011. However, the housing credit markets have changed in such a fashion […]
Artificial intelligence is reshaping nearly every corner of the mortgage business at United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), where chief technology officer Jason Bressler said the company is betting on AI agents to automate underwriting support and servicing operations at a massive scale. Speaking with HousingWire at the UWM Live! event in Detroit, Bressler said the company’s […]