In just a few months’ time, COVID-19 accelerated the digital shift era to forever change the way consumers approach home buying. This tipping point came after several years of rapid technology growth in our industry. In February 2019, we wrote an article predicting this seismic shift, detailing how mortgage lenders could and should prepare to […]
Summary List Placement Most of America’s metro areas grew over the last decade, with especially big gains in southern and western cities. The US Census Bureau released the first detailed results from the 2020 Census count on Thursday that give states the tools they need to begin the contentious process of drawing new congressional districts. […]
Summary List Placement A federal judge refused to block the CDC’s moratorium on evictions on Friday. But U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich made it clear she believes the ban is illegal, writing in her opinion that the court’s “hands are tied” by a higher court’s ruling keeping the ban in place. An Alabama landlord group […]
Summary List Placement New Mexico could become the second state to implement a statewide universal basic income program. The city of Santa Fe is testing out universal basic income, or guaranteed monthly payments, for 100 parents under the age of 30 who attend Santa Fe Community College. They’ll get $400 monthly payments, also known as a […]
Summary List Placement Nine moderate House Democrats are threatening to block the passage of a $3.5 trillion social-spending package until the infrastructure bill gets through the House and is signed into law, The New York Times reported. They plan on sending a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday, warning they will oppose a […]
Summary List Placement The sneaker resale industry is bigger than ever, valued at some $60 million, and experts say it’s only getting bigger. Sneakerheads looking to score rare and exclusive heat turn to platforms like StockX which serves as a guiding light for original pricing, resale value, and price volatility. StockX works as a middle […]
Rocket Companies CEO Jay Farner Rocket Companies is not content with merely being America’s largest lender. Its ambitions are far outsized, even for a firm with a reputation for taking moonshots. In its quarterly earnings call on Thursday, CEO Jay Farner and CFO Julie Booth described a sophisticated company that has developed a product solution […]
Summary List Placement New demographic data from the 2020 Census was released on Thursday, revealing how the makeup of The United States has changed in the last 10 years. The long-awaited Census information is usually released by March 30 but was held up by coronavirus-related delays. Here are five of the biggest takeaways from the […]
Summary List Placement A map released Thursday by the US Census Bureau shows how widespread the population declines in rural areas have become over the last decade. Massive swaths of Middle America have seen a decrease in population growth since 2010, according to results from the 2020 Census. The areas — including large sections of […]
Summary List Placement The United Nations on Monday released a harrowing report saying some of global warming’s effects will be “irreversible for centuries to millennia.” Two days later, President Joe Biden called for an increase in the production of fossil fuels to help with the economic recovery. During a Wednesday speech at the White House, […]
Summary List Placement As the Delta variant continues to surge across the US, jobseekers may need to add something else to their resume: COVID-19 vaccination. That’s according to a new analysis by economist AnnElizabeth Konkel for Indeed Hiring Lab, who delved into the job site’s postings in the week leading up to August 7. The share […]
Summary List Placement Many Americans didn’t waste any time putting their first child tax credit payment to use. Millions of eligible families started receiving the first monthly child tax credit payment of up to $300 per child on July 15. The American Rescue Plan expanded the child tax credit temporarily, and families can receive advance […]
Summary List Placement Last month, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi broke with many of her Democratic colleagues when she told reporters that President Joe Biden does not have the power to cancel student debt. “People think that the president of the United States has the power for debt forgiveness. He does not,” Pelosi said. […]
The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 2.87% for the week ending in August 12, according to mortgage rates data released Thursday by Freddie Mac‘s PMMS. The increase follows six consecutive weeks of mortgage rate declines. The week prior, mortgage rates slipped down to 2.77%, as the 10-year Treasury yields declined and fears over the […]
Summary List Placement Hot dog prices soared in July, even as inflation eased off overall. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index, the price of frankfurters — the sausage used in a hot dog — jumped by 4.8% in July, the highest price increase among all meat products. Pork steaks and ribs […]
Summary List Placement Billionaires around the world added around $5.5 trillion to their wealth during the pandemic — and a 99% tax on those gains could help vaccinate the world. That’s according to a new report from Oxfam, the Fight Inequality Alliance, and the left-leaning Institute for Policy Studies and Patriotic Millionaires. The analysis looks […]
Summary List Placement China issued a five-year blueprint on Wednesday that suggests its crackdown on the tech sector isn’t subsiding anytime soon. It also signalled that new laws will be drafted for other key industries. Authorities said they would actively work on legislation for national security, tech innovation, monopolies, and education, indicating that the recent […]
Summary List Placement The UK economy grew at a rate of 4.8% in the second quarter after shrinking 1.6% in the first, as the easing of COVID-19 restrictions and a rapid vaccine rollout powered a solid economic rebound. Gross domestic product increased more than expected in June, rising 1% month-on-month, the Office for National Statistics […]
Summary List Placement President Joe Biden dismissed threats from Republicans who say they won’t strike a deal on raising the debt ceiling, a fresh sign that both parties are on the verge of a major clash that raises the threat of default. “Nope, they’re not going to let us default,” he told reporters. “$8 trillion […]
Summary List Placement Democrats advanced a $3.5 trillion spending blueprint on Wednesday, laying the foundation for a major anti-poverty push aimed at locking down a key part of President Joe Biden’s agenda in the months ahead. But the image of all 50 Senate Democrats supporting the budget resolution quickly gave way to fresh disagreements within […]
Summary List Placement After months of negotiations, the Senate passed President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure bill on Tuesday. A day later, the president made sure Americans knew his economic agenda would represent a sharp break from President Donald Trump. “This isn’t going to be anything like my predecessor, whose unpaid tax cuts and other […]
Summary List Placement In June, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren was responsible for holding up the confirmation of a top Education Department nominee to push for reforms to student debt. Last week, she lifted her hold, citing his commitment to reform. A source familiar with the matter told Insider in June that Warren was stalling James […]
Rocket Homes has plans to start iBuying – and discount real estate. The Detroit-based company – and no. 1 mortgage lender in the U.S. by volume – fired off a 1,490-word press release Tuesday declaring its intention to “combine every aspect of home selling and buying into one simple, customizable platform.” Such are the ambitions […]
Summary List Placement Inflation has been on the rise, but so are wages, especially in the leisure and hospitality industry. Looking back over the course of the pandemic, wage growth has outpaced the rate of inflation. The higher inflation seen through the summer, which some economists have cited in saying that American workers are seeing […]
On-time rental payments will now factor in to Fannie Mae underwriting calculations, and missed rental payments won’t keep borrowers from getting a mortgage. The Federal Housing Finance Agency today announced that positive rental payment history will be taken into account in the government sponsored entity’s underwriting system. The change is effective immediately, through a change […]
Summary List Placement Prices of used cars and trucks skyrocketed as the economy reopened and powered much of the US’s stronger inflation over the last few months. It’s the latest development in a debate engulfing economists over whether strong inflation will stick around and endanger the recovery, or fade away as the economy normalizes. Soaring […]
Summary List Placement Most people around the world don’t think their country’s economy will recover from the pandemic in the next year. A recent global survey from Ipsos for the World Economic Forum surveyed around 21,500 adults spanning 29 different countries, including the US, India, and Japan, to learn about when people think recovery will […]
Summary List Placement Inflation slowed from its rapid pace in July, signaling faster price growth might prove temporary as most economists expect. The Consumer Price Index — among the most popular US inflation yardsticks — rose 0.5% last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday. The gauge tracks the prices of various goods and […]
Mortgage applications increased 2.8% for the week ending Aug. 6, and there are signs that at least some first-time homebuyers are finding opportunities despite high home prices. Ten-year Treasury yields rose slightly at the end of last week after the July jobs report exceeded expectations. That was enough to drive mortgage rates up slightly to […]
Summary List Placement Walmart won widespread applause last month for requiring its employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine. But its announcement came with a twist: The mandate applied only to its corporate staff, not to the bulk of its 1.6 million employees who work in its stores and distribution centers. From a public-health perspective, the […]
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is fulfilling its promise to scrutinize mortgage servicers, and some servicers are riding the forbearance exit wave better than others. In a new report, which drew on data from 16 mortgage servicers from December 2020 to April 2021, the CFPB found a marked increase in the share of borrowers […]
Summary List Placement Nearly all Republican Senators have agreed Democrats will have to find a way to raise the debt ceiling without any GOP help, according to The Wall Street Journal. Forty-six of the fifty Republican Senators have reportedly signed on to a pledge agreeing that they will not help their political counterparts raise the […]
It had to happen eventually. For the first time since December 2019, purchase mortgages represented a higher percentage of closed mortgages than refinances. Purchase mortgages rose to 51% of closed mortgages in June, up from 47% in May, according to the latest origination report from ICE Mortgage Technology (formerly Ellie Mae). Refinances represented 48% of […]
Summary List Placement President Joe Biden celebrated the Senate’s passage of a $1 trillion infrastructure package on Tuesday, a move that brings him one step closer to achieving a major part of his domestic agenda. Biden hailed the bipartisan nature of the bill and thanked the group of Republican and Democratic senators who led the […]
Summary List Placement America is still in the midst of a housing crisis, and it’s not just because of record-high housing prices. It also has a lot do with a lack of millennials on the move. US mobility has been down since the Great Recession, according to a recent study by the University of Southern […]
Summary List Placement Despite millions losing their jobs and hundreds of thousands dying from COVID-19, it was individuals and community-run mutual aid groups stepping up to help —not the government. The classic mutual aid slogan “we keep us safe” was never more true than during the height of the pandemic, and this type of work […]
Weeks after announcing a round of layoffs, wholesale lender Homepoint disclosed a $73 million net loss in the second quarter of 2021. Homepoint, based out of Ann Arbor, Michigan, originated $25.5 billion worth of mortgages in the second quarter, according to its quarterly earnings statement. That’s more than double what it did a year ago, […]
Summary List Placement Senate Democrats voted to begin taking up a $3.5 trillion budget resolution on Tuesday, starting what will likely be a months-long effort to sidestep Republicans on a follow-up spending plan that’s poised to raise taxes on wealthy Americans and prompt a major expansion of the social safety net. All 50 Senate Democrats […]
Summary List Placement The Senate approved a $1 trillion infrastructure bill on Tuesday, securing a major bipartisan victory for President Joe Biden and bringing him another step closer to achieving a key part of his economic agenda. The 69-30 vote included 19 Republicans joining every Senate Democrat in support, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. […]
Summary List Placement Mutations of the coronavirus have sparked mutations in economic life. The economy is so adaptable that experts widely expect the economic fallout from the Delta variant to be a fraction of the historic recession in early 2020. The new strain of COVID-19 is powering a fourth wave of cases across the US, […]
Summary List Placement If borrowers want to get rid of their student loans through bankruptcy, they have to prove an extreme circumstance to qualify, which is rare and difficult. A senior Democrat and Republican want to change that. Last week, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin and Sen. John Cornyn of Texas introduced the FRESH START […]
Summary List Placement A pizza chain franchisee told Bloomberg that he’s asking general managers to poach workers from rival restaurants as the hospitality industry continues to struggle finding enough staff. “Everything is fair game,” Dan Sacco, who owns Your Pie restaurants in Iowa, told the publication. He said he’d managed to poach some workers from […]
Summary List Placement The world’s second-largest meat processor says it will keep raising its prices. In its third quarter, which runs to July 3, Tyson Foods hiked up its average price for pork by 39%, beef by 12%, and chicken by 16%, it said Monday. CEO Donnie King said during an earnings call that the […]
Summary List Placement Over the past five decades, CEO pay has skyrocketed — but the average wage for workers hasn’t. A new report from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, authored by Lawrence Mishel and Jori Kandra, finds that CEO compensation has grown by 1,322% between 1978 and 2020. In contrast, the report finds that the […]
Summary List Placement A tax on the profits of the nation’s wealthiest corporations was a key element of Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign. She wants it to become reality in the Democrats’ $3.5 trillion reconciliation package. On Monday, Warren and Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine who caucuses with the Democrats, announced in […]