General World News

America is the land of unequal opportunity. These 13 maps show how class, education, and health inequities all intersect — with nonwhite, rural areas hit especially hard.

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Summary List Placement At Insider, we make a lot of maps. And in my years of making dozens upon dozens of maps illustrating different aspects of American economic, social, and political life, I’ve noticed that many of them look strikingly similar. Maybe you’ve seen the pattern, too. The coasts and other big cities are wealthy, […]

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Reñe Rodriguez to headline Engage Marketing June 17

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Renowned speaker coach Reñe Rodriguez will headline HousingWire’s virtual Engage Marketing event on June 17. Rodriguez, CEO of Volentum and creator of the AMPLIFII Influencer events, has researched and applied behavioral neuroscience for the last 20 years as a speaker, leadership advisor and sales expert. For Engage Marketing’s keynote, he’ll lead a hands-on workshop on […]

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Biden won’t get all his tax increases through Congress. Here’s what Morgan Stanley thinks is possible.

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Summary List Placement President Joe Biden wants to increase taxes on some of the country’s highest earners to pay for affordable childcare,  paid family leave, and free community college.  But how much will taxes actually go up? Morgan Stanley thinks Biden will only get some of what he’s asking for. The investment bank cited comments […]

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Mortgage rates rise, but remain under 3%

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For the second consecutive week, mortgage rates managed to hold steady below 3%, rising one basis point last week to 2.98%, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. In light of the rising COVID-19 caseloads globally, U.S. Treasury yields stopped moving up a month ago and have remained within a narrow range as the market responds to […]

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US weekly jobless claims dip to new pandemic-era low of 553,000 as recovery pushes forward

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Summary List Placement The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell for a third consecutive week as the labor market’s recovery charged forward. New jobless claims totaled an unadjusted 553,000 last week, according to the Labor Department. The median estimate from economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for 540,000 claims. The previous week’s reading was revised […]

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Veritex buys 49% stake in Thrive Mortgage

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The parent company of Veritex Community Bank will acquire a 49% stake in Texas-based mortgage lender Thrive Mortgage, the firms announced late Tuesday afternoon. Veritex Holdings, which has a long history of making acquisitions, will pay $53.9 million for its piece of Thrive, valuing the Georgetown, Texas-headquartered company at roughly $110 million. The investment is […]

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The Fed isn’t going to stop buying MBS just yet

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The Federal Open Market Committee left future economic policies virtually unchanged at its Wednesday meeting, indicating it has not made any near-term plans to taper its asset purchases of Treasury– and mortgage-backed securities (MBS). The FOMC did alter April’s verbiage of the nation’s larger economic status given positive progress on vaccine distribution, employment and inflation. The committee […]

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The Fed is watching housing ‘carefully’ and hopes builders catch up to the red-hot market, Chair Powell says

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Summary List Placement The housing market boom has caught the Federal Reserve’s attention. By several measures, the US housing market is running at its hottest level since the mid-2000s bubble that nearly crashed the global financial system. Prices have surged at decade-high rates, and homebuying, while slowed from recent highs, remains elevated. What began as […]

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What Biden’s new plan does for direct payments to Americans via tax credits — and what it doesn’t

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Summary List Placement Cornerstones of President Joe Biden’s American Families Plan are helping middle-class families and reshaping the economy. One way he aims to do that is through the expansion of health care and child tax credits.  Ahead of Biden’s $1.8 trillion infrastructure plan unveiling on Wednesday, the White House released a fact sheet detailing […]

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Strengthening tax enforcement on the wealthy could raise $700 billion in 10 years, Treasury says

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Summary List Placement Pouring more money into IRS enforcement could bring in an extra $700 billion in tax revenue over the next decade, according to the Department of the Treasury. The agency was commenting on measures from President Joe Biden’s newly announced American Families Plan, specifically, its investment in the Internal Revenue Service of about […]

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The housing market is the hottest it’s been since right before the 2008 crash — but there’s far less bubble risk this time around

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Summary List Placement Housing data is hitting levels unseen since 2006 in at least three different ways, begging the question of whether this is another bubble. Experts say this isn’t that — it’s economics. Another housing bubble 15 years after the last one would be very bad news, as the epic pop of that market […]

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What Biden’s new $1.8 trillion plan could mean for your education, from universal pre-K to free community college

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Summary List Placement President Joe Biden will unveil a $1.8 trillion plan on Wednesday, the second of his two-part infrastructure package worth about $4 trillion overall. While the first part of the plan included funding for physical infrastructure, the second entirely focuses on care-economy measures, including a national paid leave and four more years of […]

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FHFA releases new refi option for low-income borrowers

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Following an incredible year for refinances that mostly benefited wealthier borrowers, the Federal House Finance Agency announced it is implementing a new refi product that targets low-income borrowers with single-family mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. According to the regulatory agency, this new product will assist borrowers who were less likely to take […]

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Applications drop, despite falling mortgage rates

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Following an almost 9% jump in mortgage applications last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported a 2.5% decrease in applications in its latest report for the week ending April 23, 2021. Mortgage applications decreased despite mortgage rates falling for the third week in a row, indicating high prices and low inventory, said Joel Kan, MBA […]

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Finance of America to acquire Parkside’s wholesale biz

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Finance of America intends to acquire Parkside Lending‘s third-party origination channel operation for $40 million, the publicly traded lender and servicer announced Tuesday. It’s the latest in a string of big M&A deals in the mortgage lending space – and the growing wholesale channel in particular – over the past six months. The deal, which is expected to close […]

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Biden wants to entirely pay for trillions in new spending by raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy

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Summary List Placement The White House’s ambitious plans for more than $4 trillion in new spending on infrastructure, health care, and education will be completely paid for by new taxes on corporations and wealthy investors, President Joe Biden will announce Wednesday, Axios reported. The elements of the plan include nearly doubling the capital gains tax […]

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White House aware of issues over investment properties

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The federal government is well aware that mortgage lenders and industry stakeholders are frustrated by the 7% cap on second homes and investment properties that was implemented as part of a broader series of amendments to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac‘s Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements. In a conversation with Mortgage Bankers Association President Bob Broeksmit last week, […]

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Democrats are pushing Biden at the last minute to put a permanently expanded child tax credit in his latest economic plan

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Summary List Placement As President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion emergency stimulus law was about to clear the House in late February, some Democrats started setting the stage for their next battle: Making the beefed-up child tax credit permanent. Sen. Sherrod Brown told reporters that Democrats would press the Biden administration on the issue as soon […]

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Home prices grew at the fastest-ever rate in February as the market boom charged on, FHFA says

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Summary List Placement Homeowners, rejoice. Potential buyers, lament.  US home prices surged 12.2% year-over-year in February, up 0.9 points from the previous month’s reading, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said on Tuesday. That’s the fastest price appreciation on record and an increase of $35,000 to the median selling price for homes just a year ago. […]

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Broker lawsuit targets UWM’s ultimatum

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The controversial ultimatum United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) issued to brokers in March constituted a violation of the Sherman Act and a series of anti-competition laws in the state of Florida, a St. Augustine-based mortgage broker alleges in a new lawsuit that seeks class-action status. Dan O’Kavage, president and founder of the O’Kavage Group, is the […]

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Suzy Lindblom named COO of Kind Lending

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Wholesale lender Kind Lending has brought on mortgage veteran Suzy Lindblom as its chief operating officer, the company said Tuesday. Lindblom has 40 years of experience in the mortgage space, most recently serving as the COO of Planet Home Lending for three and half years. Prior to that, Lindblom served as the managing director of […]

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Solving for fraud, biometrics are the future of mortgage

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Better, faster, cheaper has long been the promise of technology in the mortgage industry. Some may argue whether today’s technology is that much better than the tools we used in the past, particularly in the servicing business where many still use platforms designed and first built decades ago. Likewise, others will argue over whether today’s […]

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Elizabeth Warren brings back her $700 billion universal childcare plan and wants the wealthy to pay for it

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Summary List Placement Ahead of President Joe Biden’s second infrastructure proposal unveiling on Wednesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts released a plan on Tuesday to help families get quality, affordable child care in the US. CBS News first reported that Warren, alongside Rep. Mondaire Jones of New York, reintroduced a $700 billion Universal Child Care […]

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As exits slow, forbearance trickles down to 4.49%

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The total number of servicers’ loans in forbearance has dropped for two months, however, forbearance portfolio volume fell just one basis point last week to an average of 4.49%, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Last week’s drop paled in comparison to the 40 basis point decline the previous two weeks had seen, and was likely […]

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White House says its capital gains tax hike will only hit those earning above $1 million to fund childcare and education

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Summary List Placement Brian Deese, director of the National Economic Council, said in a White House briefing on Monday that proposed increases to capital gains taxes will only affect taxpayers making over $1 million every year.  “This change will affect taxpayers making more than $1 million a year,” Deese said. “In 2018, three-tenths of 1% […]

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Title tech company Cloudstar names new president

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Cloudstar, a technology company serving title and mortgage origination companies, has shaken up its current executive team with the recent promotion of Christopher Cury to president. It’s the third major personnel move by Cloudstar this year, which named Nancy Allen as director of title services back in January and Roland DuBeau as president of MortgagePhish, […]

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Sen. Josh Hawley wants to send $1,000 monthly checks to families with kids under 13, but cut aid for single parents

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Summary List Placement Sen. Josh Hawley introduced a plan for a “Parent Tax Credit” on Monday aimed at offsetting the high cost of raising a child. It reflects a push among some conservatives to increase federal spending on families. The proposal would establish a new, fully refundable tax credit of $6,000 for singles and $12,000 […]

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New York Community Bank to acquire Flagstar

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New York Community Bank, one of New York City’s largest multifamily lenders, is set to diversify its business strategy with the acquisition of Michigan-based retail bank Flagstar Bancorp. in an all-stock merger valued at $2.6 billion, the companies said Monday. The announcement comes just a few months after Thomas Cangemi took over as CEO at […]