Fri.Apr 12, 2024

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Low-rate mortgages are making a dent in job recruitment efforts 

Housing Wire

Job recruiters in the South are facing hurdles to attract skilled professionals from the Midwest despite offering competitive compensation packages, according to a Bloomberg report published Friday. That’s because many of these potential hires are locked into super-low 30-year mortgages. During the fourth quarter of 2023, the proportion of job seekers in the U.S. who relocated for employment dwindled to a mere 1.5%.

Mortgage 386
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FHFA Names Tracy Stephan Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer

Appraisal Buzz

Tracy Stephan has been named chief artificial intelligence officer (CAIO) of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). Stephan will continue in her role leading the FHFA Office of Financial Technology. Stephan is a 25-year veteran in mortgage technology. Stephan came to FHFA from Fannie Mae where she served in a variety of positions overseeing enterprise innovation, data, software engineering, and product management.

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Dream of homeownership feels unattainable to many Americans: Redfin

Housing Wire

The ongoing lack of housing affordability is prompting more renters to doubt their ability to become homeowners. According to a recent Redfin survey , nearly 40% of U.S. renters don’t believe in their ability to ever own a home, up from roughly 27% less than a year ago. While lack of affordability is the dominant reason for renters to believe they’re unlikely to become homeowners, nearly half of renters feel that available homes are too expensive.

Mortgage 385
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Judges rule against merging commissions copycats — for now

Real Estate News

The ruling leaves open the possibility of consolidation after settlements have concluded. But in the meantime, cases that had been on pause can move forward.

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Mortgage volumes remain under pressure at Wells Fargo, JPMorgan

Housing Wire

Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase usually open the quarterly earnings seasons in the mortgage space, giving analysts something to chew on before nonbanks release their financial reports. In the first quarter of 2024, the big banks showed a challenging reality for originations. The banks’ Q1 2024 earnings, released on Friday, showed declining home loan volumes compared to the prior quarter — and executives believe that the macroeconomic landscape will remain tough in the months to come.

Mortgage 382
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NAR deal and DOJ ruling give pocket listing case new life

Real Estate News

Top Agent Network is asking for an October 2025 trial date in the dispute over the National Association of Realtors’ Clear Cooperation policy.

Realtors 208

More Trending

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Sitzer/Burnett plaintiffs push for steep judgment — plus interest

Real Estate News

Attorneys argued that the home sellers “should not have to wait indefinitely to defend their verdict on appeal” and provided details about the case’s timeline.

Sellers 193
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Industry experts detail the benefits, challenges of AI

Housing Wire

As artificial intelligence continues to grow in prominence, mortgage professionals “must carefully evaluate and manage” their use of AI and “focus on deriving the benefits while avoiding potentially catastrophic risks.” That’s one of the key conclusions reached by the BlackFin Group in a recently published white paper, “Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Mortgage Banking.

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Tech Bytes: News from Stellar MLS, NorthstarMLS and T3 Sixty

Real Estate News

Stellar MLS expands voice search capabilities; NorthstarMLS launches RESO web API; T3 Sixty announces Tech Summit plans.

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Stellar MLS extends its partnership with AI provider Lundy

Housing Wire

Stellar MLS , the third-largest MLS in the country, has expanded its partnership with artificial intelligence company Lundy Inc. , Stellar announced on Thursday. Powered by Amazon’s Alexa products, Lundy offers a voice-activated property search engine, allowing real estate professionals and homebuyers to navigate home listings using their voice. Lundy’s “Finding Homes” feature will be accessible to all Stellar MLS customers, including those in Florida and Puerto Rico, where Stellar serves as the

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BoomTown is dealing with a service outage. Now agents want answers

Inman

Real estate professionals have been seeking answers since Wednesday, when many lost access to their personal websites, lead services and other tools provided by Boomtown, agents told Inman.

Agents 164
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Judges deny plaintiffs’ request to consolidate commission lawsuits

Housing Wire

The Multidistrict Litigation panel has denied a motion for nine of the commission lawsuits to consolidate. In a decision filed on Friday, Judge Karen Caldwell, who is the chair of the MDL panel, wrote that after hearing arguments from all parties involved, the panel concluded that “centralization is not necessary at this time for the convenience of the parties and witnesses or to further the just and efficient conduct of the litigation.

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Conquer the 2024 housing market: Expert insights at your fingertips

Inman

Tune in for an engaging discussion surrounding the latest trends, predictions and insider knowledge on the 2024 housing market to help you make informed decisions with confidence.

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Three Awesome Things You Can Do With GoFormz and Your Cloud Storage

GoForrmz

Connect GoFormz to your Cloud storage platform to simplify and automate record-keeping Did you know that GoFormz connects with Cloud storage platforms? By integrating your GoFormz and Cloud storage accounts you can automate processes commonly associated with paperwork, like form delivery and record-keeping. Digitizing and automating these traditionally manual tasks not only saves your team significant time but also: Eliminates opportunities for missing, damaged, or delayed documents Enforces rec

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Judges decline to ‘centralize’ commission lawsuits for now

Inman

A panel of judges considering whether to consolidate real estate commission lawsuits into one cited the recent NAR settlement as a reason to deny the request.

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BiggerPockets Investigates: Did Western Wealth Capital Cost Investors Thousands of Dollars?

BiggerPockets

How did this syndicator, with all of its promise and potential, fall from grace after several investors claimed they were burned? BiggerPockets set out to find out what went wrong, how it went wrong, and what it means to other investors.

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More and more renters believe they will never own a home

Inman

Thirty-eight percent of renters don't believe they will ever own a home — up from 27 percent less than a year ago, according to Redfin.

Marketing 163
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These 10 Markets Are Great Places to Find Fixer-Upper Properties—Here’s What You Need to Know

BiggerPockets

With home prices and interest rates still at record highs and inventory squeezed, homebuyers and real estate investors may be better off purchasing a fixer-upper in some cities.

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Max Azria’s former estate heads to auction 9 years after first listing

Inman

The estate is being listed by Branden and Rayni Williams of The Beverly Hills Estates for $55 million as it simultaneously prepares to head to a no-reserve auction with Concierge Auctions from May 9 through May 23.

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How Moving Overseas Made Me a Better Real Estate Investor

BiggerPockets

Whenever I hop on a conference call, someone asks, “Where are you located?” And then their eyes widen when I respond, “Lima, Peru.

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RE/MAX’s Motto Mortgage out to re-up original franchise owners

Inman

Most new franchisees signing up for Motto's "mortgage brokerage-in-a-box" solution are real estate brokerages and teams that aren't affiliated with RE/MAX.

Brokerage 143
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Lamacchia Realty Lists Iconic Restaurant in Fall River, MA

Lamacchia Realty

Lamacchia Realty REALTOR®, John Viveiros recently listed 1819 South Main Street in Fall River, Massachusetts, a well-known Chinese Restaurant called Mee Sum. Described by the community as iconic, Mee Sum has been a Fall River staple since its opening in 1950. The building, along with all of its restaurant equipment is up for sale, and the restaurant will remain open throughout.

Realty 57
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DOJ vs. NAR, UWM vs. Rocket, and more: Inman Top 5 stories

Inman

Looking for a quick catch-up on the buzziest stories of the week? Here’s Inman Top 5, the most essential stories, according to Inman readers.

Brokerage 132
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Ontario regulator revokes 29 mortgage broker licenses for non-compliance

Mortgagebroker News

FSRA says brokerages failed to appoint principal and file required annual returns

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Maximizing Your Home Equity: Investing in Additional Properties

Eppraisal

Unlocking the potential of your home equity can be a strategic move for savvy investors looking to expand their real estate portfolio. As property values rise, so does the equity in your home, presenting opportunities for investment. Let's explore how you can leverage the equity in your current home to invest in additional properties, maximizing your financial potential.

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Real estate sector major contributor to Canada's money laundering

Mortgagebroker News

Most real estate firms fail to meet anti-money laundering standards, audit says

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Home Buying 101: Understanding How Long It Takes To Buy A House

Movoto

If you’re thinking about buying a home , knowing the answer to the question of “how long does it take to buy a house?” could be a crucial factor in your trek to home ownership. In addition to establishing a reasonable home buying budget – feel free to use our mortgage payment calculator for help – knowing how long before you have keys in hand will help new home buyers better plan and prepare.

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BMO sued for alleged failure to prevent frauds totalling $1.5m

Mortgagebroker News

Lawsuit targets bank after clients lose millions in cyber fraud

Clients 73
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Louisiana’s housing market has an insurance problem

Housing Wire

After heating up like the rest of the country, the Louisiana housing market has continued to cool since interest rates began to rise in the second half of 2022. While the slowdown has resulted in a return to pre-pandemic levels of market activity, real estate agents across the state believe that an issue far greater than 7% mortgage rates may cause the housing market to slow further.

Insurance 397
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Canada needs 1.3m new homes by 2030, PBO says

Mortgagebroker News

Current construction rates insufficient to meet the demands of a booming population

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Foreclosures are rising, but it’s not yet alarming

Housing Wire

The real estate market is experiencing a slight rise in foreclosure activity following an extended period of moratoria that paused any foreclosures during the pandemic. The uptick in foreclosures could signal homeowner distress due to recent difficult economic circumstances but also account for foreclosures that were in the pipeline prior to the pandemic.

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Bank of Canada decision: Did we learn anything new?

Mortgagebroker News

CEO on key takeaways from April announcement

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USA Mortgage’s Chelsea Vonder Haar on staying agile to meet loan officer needs

Housing Wire

The HousingWire award spotlight series highlights the individuals and organizations that have been recognized through our Editors’ Choice Awards. Nominations for HousingWire’s 2024 Marketing Leaders are open until April 30, 2024. Click here to nominate someone from your organization today. If there’s one word to describe today’s successful marketers in mortgage and real estate it’s “adaptable.

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Trudeau unveils new national housing plan

Mortgagebroker News

Prime minister bids to tackle crisis

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