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 […]
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 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 […]
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 […]
Once again, servicers’ forbearance portfolio volume fell — this time dipping seven basis points to 3.40% for the week ending Aug. 1, according to a survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Per MBA’s estimate, 1.7 million homeowners are still in forbearance plans. The share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance also decreased, falling five basis points to 1.74%, and Ginnie […]
Home purchase sentiment dropped 3.9 points to 75.8 in July as concerns about high home prices continued to scare off prospective homebuyers. Fannie Mae‘s Home Purchase Sentiment Index (HPSI) found that 66% of respondents said that due to high housing prices, it’s a bad time to buy a home, up from 64% last month. Only […]
Summary List Placement The pandemic has kicked the car market into overdrive. And it’s not just run-of-the-mill crossovers and SUVs that are selling like hotcakes. Amid shortages on dealer lots and a voracious appetite for cars, vehicles once considered niche are entering the mainstream. At Lifted Trucks, which modifies used pickups and SUVs with taller […]
Summary List Placement Elite colleges are throwing money and incentives at a very large problem: overcrowded dorms. Packed with students returning from studying remotely and incoming students who took a gap year during the pandemic, universities are running out of housing for the Fall 2021 semester, Bloomberg’s Maria Heeter reported. It’s a particular problem, she […]
It was a sunny and extremely humid Thursday morning. Of course, that’s almost standard for Dallas, and it wasn’t going to prevent these three women from showing up to the magazine cover shoot with an energy and excitement that couldn’t be stopped. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I’d say this […]
Summary List Placement Michigan real-estate agent Eric Brown wanted to show his client Roy Thorne, and Thorne’s 15-year-old son, a house on August 1. All three of them are Black. The showing ended with all of them in handcuffs, with guns pointed at them, Grand Rapids’ WOOD-TV reported. A neighbor had called the police to […]
Summary List Placement Senate Democrats introduced a $3.5 trillion budget blueprint on Monday that would raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans and large corporations in order to fund a massive expansion of the social safety net, fulfilling a key part of President Joe Biden’s economic agenda. The $3.5 trillion spending plan would expand Medicare so […]
Summary List Placement Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Monday warned congressional leaders that a failure to raise the federal debt ceiling will cause “irreparable harm” as Congress barrels towards the deadline to fund the government. “In recent years Congress has addressed the debt limit through regular order, with broad bipartisan support,” Yellen said in an […]
Refinances are flowing once again, according to July mortgage origination figures in a report from Black Knight, and early data from August suggests more are on the way. For the first time since February, refinance activity accounted for half of all origination activity, according to a report by Black Knight. Rate and term refinances rose […]
Summary List Placement For months, many Democrats and advocates have been pushing President Joe Biden to extend the pause on student-loan payments beyond its expiration in October, given that borrowers are still reeling financially from the pandemic. Biden answered their calls on Friday by giving borrowers an additional four months of relief, but the Democrats […]
Summary List Placement Gold and silver prices on Monday recovered slightly from a sharp slide at the start of Asian trading, but were weighed down by rising expectations that the US Federal Reserve will cut back on its bond buying sooner than expected. Spot gold prices declined 4% to $1,707 per ounce late Sunday, while […]
Summary List Placement Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and progressive House Democrats on Sunday pushed back against “concerns” raised by their moderate colleagues over the proposed $3.5 trillion reconciliation package that President Joe Biden and Democratic leaders want to pass in conjunction with a bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill. In a letter addressed to House Speaker Nancy […]
Summary List Placement As a bipartisan Senate moved toward a vote on President Joe Biden’s infrastructure package, a chorus of leaders from Silicon Valley and Washington raised concerns about a provision that would add new taxes on crypto. “The infrastructure deal contains DANGEROUS provisions that would devastate crypto and blockchain innovation,” Sen. Ted Cruz said […]
Summary List Placement An Arizona restaurant boss scrapped a taco item from his menu because it was a “pain in the a–” to prepare for his kitchen staff — and he wanted to stop them from leaving during a severe labor shortage. Skyler Reeves, owner of Vivili Hospitality Group, which runs five dining spots in […]
Summary List Placement The White House on Friday said expiring state unemployment benefits haven’t been a driving force in job growth. “We don’t see any evidence in the available data that some states ending unemployment benefits early had any impact on today’s incredibly strong numbers,” Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during a press briefing. Payroll […]
Summary List Placement Six years ago, Dan Price, the founder and CEO of credit-card processing company Gravity Payments made waves when he announced that he was raising the firm’s minimum salary to $70,000 for his 120 employees. To accommodate the change, Price slashed his own $1 million salary. In the following years, revenue soared, and staff […]
Summary List Placement Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia indicated on Saturday he would not back including an extension of federal aid for gig workers and long-term unemployed Americans past Labor Day in a Democrat-only package. “I’m done with extensions,” he told Insider. “The economy is coming back.” Manchin went on: “Look guys, read your […]
Summary List Placement The Senate advanced a bipartisan infrastructure bill on Saturday, bringing it another step closer to final passage sometime over the weekend. It cleared the upper chamber in a 67-27 vote on Saturday afternoon. 18 Republicans joined 49 Senate Democrats to break the filibuster. Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia was absent. Those […]
Summary List Placement Former President Donald Trump on Saturday blasted the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package that Senate negotiators have spent months delicately putting together. Hours ahead of an expected vote to advance the bill, Trump called the legislation a “disgrace” and asked GOP Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky to push for a better […]
Summary List Placement The July jobs report should finally put to rest the idea that there’s a labor shortage, a former Obama administration economist told Insider. Heidi Shierholz, who is currently the director of policy at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, said the employment and wages figures unveiled in Friday’s data show that reports of […]
Summary List Placement July’s jobs report brought more jobs than expected, with the US adding 943,000 nonfarm payrolls. The unemployment rate also dropped down to 5.4%, a bigger dip than anticipated. All told, the report shows signs of more robust recovery. In fact, Insider’s Ben Winck and Andy Kiersz report that July’s numbers were so good […]
Summary List Placement Nearly two months before the pause on student-loan payments was set to lift, the Biden administration extended the student loan freeze through January 2022. On Friday, the administration renewed the pause on payments, along with waived interest, to give borrowers more time to financially prepare to restart their payments. This decision answers […]