Housing Wire

OCTOBER 31, 2023

A Kansas City jury has found the National Association of Realtors , HomeServices of America and Keller Williams guilty of colluding to inflate or maintain high commission rates through NAR’s Clear Cooperation Rule, in the Sitzer/Burnett buyer broker commission lawsuit. The defendants have been ordered to pay damages of $1.78 billion. The jury reached its verdict after a little over two weeks of testimony from the plaintiffs and defendants.

Brokerage 545

Brokerage Realtors Sellers Buyers 545

Real Estate News

OCTOBER 31, 2023

After less than three hours of deliberation, the jury ruled for the plaintiffs in the landmark Sitzer/Burnett trial, awarding nearly $1.8 billion.

Sellers 363

Sellers 363

Inman

OCTOBER 16, 2023

The long-awaited Sitzer | Burnett commission trial is underway in Kansas City, Missouri, and Inman is covering it all live as it unfolds. Check back early and often for news, views, schedules and more.

Buyers 217

Buyers Agents Realtors Real Estate 217

Eyes on Housing

OCTOBER 5, 2023

NAHB analysis of the 2022 American Community Survey data shows that New Jersey leads the nation with the highest average annual real estate tax (RET) bill ($9,285)—$8,425 more than yearly property taxes paid by Alabama’s homeowners ($860). The size of this disparity grew 1.1% in 2022 and has increased 9.3% since 2017. Vermont was the only state for which the.

Property Taxes 216

Property Taxes Real Estate 216

Realtor

OCTOBER 16, 2023

Getty Images While buying a home has always been a challenging milestone, today’s high interest rates have made this dream even harder to achieve. Over the past two years, interest rates on home loans have nearly doubled from the 3% range to around 7% today. This tacks many hundreds extra onto the monthly expense of housing, stretching some homebuyers’ budgets to the breaking point.

Mortgage 190

Mortgage Real Estate Agent Real Estate Buyers 190

BiggerPockets

OCTOBER 31, 2023

Renting properties to tenants is a great way to earn passive income, but you must follow many laws and rules, including collecting security deposits. Before you begin renting to tenants, it’s important to understand the answer to what is a security deposit and all the factors that go into it.

Tenants 85

Tenants Law Landlords 85

Real Estate News

OCTOBER 6, 2023

The brokerage giants have agreed to significant policy changes as part of their settlement agreements in the Sitzer/Burnett and Moehrl commissions cases.

Buyers 322

Buyers Brokerage 322

Inman

OCTOBER 9, 2023

Owning multiple properties is relatively common with ultra-high-net-worth individuals. Agents should be well-versed in helping them identify and acquire secondary homes that fulfill their needs and goals.

Agents 206

Agents 206

Mortgagebroker News

OCTOBER 25, 2023

Nearly two out of three working Canadians said that they are "concerned" about housing costs, according to the National Payroll Institute

81

81

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 21, 2023

The haunted house ride with the bond market and mortgage rates continued this week, but one housing data line hasn’t been spooked. New listing data appears unafraid of the mortgage rate ghost story over the last few months. Unlike last year, when new listings data had a noticeable move lower once mortgage rates reached 6%, 8% mortgage rates haven’t had any noticeable impact on the latest new listings data.

New Listings 536

New Listings Mortgage Inventory Housing Market 536

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 18, 2023

For years broker channel evangelists told me that a down market would give them an edge on their retail brethren. Well, it’s certainly been a down market. How has the broker channel fared in the wake of the Fed rate hikes ? I asked the good folks at mortgage data technology firm InGenius to run the numbers. Take a look. “From the first six months of 2022 to first six months of 2023, brokers have increased their percentage from 23% to 28% while retail has decreased by that same percen

Retail 512

Retail Loan Officers Brokerage Mortgage 512

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 28, 2023

If I had told you on Dec. 31, 2022, that mortgage rates would hit 8% in 2023, you would reasonably assume housing inventory would sky rocket higher, home prices would fall noticeably, and the number of price cuts would be higher year over year. Instead, the opposite has happened: home prices nationally hit an all-time high, inventory is still down year over year and the percentage of price cuts is 4% below last year’s level.

Inventory 505

Inventory Mortgage New Listings Marketing 505

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 9, 2023

Elevated mortgage rates continue to dampen already-pessimistic consumer housing sentiment and create affordability woes for both homebuyers and sellers. That feeling is underscored in Fannie Mae ’s latest Home Price Sentiment Index (HPSI), which decreased by 2.4 points in September to 64.5. The index tracks the housing market and consumer confidence to sell or buy a home.

Mortgage 508

Mortgage Housing Market Sellers Marketing 508

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 27, 2023

To many, homebuying is a daunting, often confusing process. Admittedly, the myriad of documents requiring signatures can be overwhelming, especially for first-time homebuyers. Thankfully, there are a number of online resources that can help homebuyers navigate the process. The American Land Title Association, alongside our real estate industry partners, are committed to making transactions easier for everyone through consumer education efforts.

Insurance 497

Insurance Real Estate Buyers Real Estate Agent 497

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 20, 2023

The last two years of soaring mortgage rates and rising home prices have brought the fastest erosion in housing market affordability in modern history, and it’s hurt first-time homebuyers the most. A homebuyer must earn $114,627 to afford the median-priced U.S. home, up 15% ($15,285) from a year ago and up more than 50% since the start of the pandemic in early 2022.

Housing Market 497

Housing Market Marketing Buyers Modernization 497

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 6, 2023

In a surprising twist, the National Association of Realtors has announced a change in how interprets its Participation Rule, which requires listing brokers to provide buyer brokers an offer of compensation in order to list on the multiple listing service (MLS). While previously NAR has stated that the offer of compensation could be as little as a penny or a dollar, in a reversal of this stance, NAR is now saying that listing brokers can offer nothing and still comply with the rule, as first repo

Brokerage 497

Brokerage Agents Buyers Clients 497

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 16, 2023

The trough for the mortgage origination market is nearing an end point and 2024 is shaping up to be a better year for the industry, economists of the the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said at the 2023 Annual Convention & Expo in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The MBA doesn’t expect the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates further this year as real rates – which are inflation-adjusted– are 2%.

Mortgage 491

Mortgage Marketing Inventory Technology 491

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 3, 2023

Mortgage rates and bond yields kept rising Tuesday as the job openings unexpectedly increased more than anticipated. But is that job openings data legit today? And will job openings continue higher, pushing mortgage rates even higher in the future? I believe today’s job openings data needs some context, but it didn’t matter to bond traders as bond yields shot up after the report.

Mortgage 487

Mortgage Marketing Business Housing Market 487

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 6, 2023

Like Anywhere Real Estate Friday morning, the terms of RE/MAX’s $55 million settlement with plaintiffs in two bombshell buyer commission lawsuits have been made public. Similar to Anywhere’s deal, the RE/MAX agreement stipulates that the firm make significant changes to what it requires of its agents and franchisees. Final court approval of the settlement is expected in early 2024.

Agents 481

Agents Real Estate Buyers Brokerage 481

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 31, 2023

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — After 11 days of testimony , the eight-person jury here took just a little over two hours to decide its verdict in the Sitzer/Burnett commission lawsuit trial. It found the National Association of Realtors , HomeServices of America and Keller Williams guilty of collusion to maintain high commission rates. Despite the guilty verdict, other than having to pay nearly $1.8 billion in damages, many questions still remain about what this means for the real estate industry, a

Real Estate 474

Real Estate Landlords Law Design 474

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 31, 2023

Following July’s mini rally , home prices posted a 2.6% annual gain in August, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index. Month-over-month, the U.S. National Index posted a seasonally adjusted increase of 0.9%, while the 10-City and 20-City Composites posted a 1% increase each. The August level was the highest recorded since the index began in 1987.

Inventory 473

Inventory Housing Market Contracts Realtors 473

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 4, 2023

Mortgage applications ground to a halt for the week ending Sept. 29, falling 6% from the week prior as mortgage rates jumped to a 23-year high of 7.53%, according to new weekly data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Mortgage application activity is now at its lowest level since 1996, the MBA reported. Purchase mortgage application volume, in particular, slowed considerably for the week ending Sept. 29, down 22% from a year ago, according to unadjusted data.

Mortgage 481

Mortgage Contracts Marketing 481

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 19, 2023

In late August, when mortgage rates were well over 7% and beginning their climb toward 8%, Jeff Anderson had a client do what few other homeowners are willing to do: She gave up her 4% mortgage rate. You’re probably thinking, “Uh, why on earth would she do that?” The client wanted to pay off $30,000 in consumer debt, handle home improvement projects and help her daughter start college, said Anderson, a longtime mortgage advisor in Southern California.

Mortgage 475

Mortgage Clients Lending Home Improvement 475

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 13, 2023

It’s a weird time to be a real estate agent , and I see it all around me here in the Denver metro. Brokers who rode the proverbial wave of real estate during the pandemic and have now had to reroute or pivot to figure out how to navigate a market that was once boasting the lowest rates in decades are disoriented. For those of us who have spent most of our careers in real estate, we know what it’s like to be part of a feast or famine industry.

Real Estate Agent 475

Real Estate Agent Real Estate Agents Marketing 475

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 11, 2023

In less than a week, the first of two class action lawsuits that take aim at the NAR ’s commission rules will kick off. These lawsuits threaten to radically reshape the residential brokerage landscape, and could be the catalyst for a fat decline in the annual commission pool as well as the industry shedding as many as 80% of agents, according to a team of analysts at Keefe Bruyette Woods.

Real Estate Agent 475

Real Estate Agent Real Estate Agents Brokerage 475

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 30, 2023

loanDepot has rolled out a new down payment assistance program for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan borrowers that enables them to put zero money down upfront. In loanDepot’s program, dubbed AccessZERO, the down payment assistance is structured as a 10-year fully amortized repayable second mortgage. Borrowers must have a minimum credit score of 600 to qualify for the down payment assistance, which can be as much as 5% of the home purchase price or appraised value, whichever is less.

Lending 469

Lending Retail Finance Insurance 469

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 13, 2023

Two top-20 mortgage lenders in the United States may combine forces amid the most challenging market in decades. CrossCountry Mortgage is in talks to acquire Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. , nine industry sources told HousingWire. The talks remain ongoing and are not believed to be in the late stages, sources said. If the deal is completed, it will catapult CrossCountry to becoming the fourth-largest mortgage lender in the country, behind United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), Pennymac Financial a

Loan Officers 469

Loan Officers Mortgage Finance Business 469

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 6, 2023

Mortgage lenders are betting on down-payment assistance programs, buy-down options and renovation products to provide brokers opportunities to win in a market with mortgage rates nearing 8%, a lack of inventory and high home prices. Meanwhile, in addition to diversifying their portfolios, brokerage firm owners are keeping their cost structure under control to be profitable in a shrinking market.

Mortgage 469

Mortgage Real Estate Agent Renovations Finance 469

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 6, 2023

With 30-year fixed mortgage rates climbing to a 23-year high, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) called on the Federal Reserve to bring some certainty to financial markets. “It is time, and very important for the Fed to make clear two statements — the Fed is at the end of its rate hikes; the Fed will not consider selling its mortgage-backed securities (MBS) holdings until and unless the housing finance market has stabilized and mortgage-to-Treasury spreads have normalized,” MBA president and

Government 469

Government Mortgage Investors Marketing 469

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 11, 2023

CEDAR CREEK, Texas — Real estate investment trust Rithm Capital Corp.’s $720 million acquisition of Computershare Mortgage Services Inc. allows the company to improve its fee-based income as the deal includes the purchase of Specialized Loan Servicing LLC (SLS). “The SLS platform for us is very much the focus as to how we think about fee-based income and third-party business,” Baron Silverstein, president at NewRez , a subsidiary of Rithm, said on Wednesday afternoon during the HousingWire

Retail 452

Retail Business Real Estate Investors 452

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 27, 2023

As the trial of Burnett v. the National Association of Realtors (NAR), et al kicked off this week in a Kansas City, Missouri, federal courtroom, there is a lot at stake for consumers and business competition. Class action attorneys allege real estate commission rates are too high and buyer brokers are being paid too much due to NAR rules. In reality, consumers are better off and business competition thrives very much because of NAR’s rules and how well local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) broker

Real Estate Agent 462

Real Estate Agent Real Estate Realtors Buyers 462

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 11, 2023

In its 9th year, the HousingWire Vanguards award offers a definitive list of the top leaders in housing who are shaping the housing economy for the better. The forward-thinkers and trailblazers who are shaping the industry through their unwavering commitment, transformative ideas and steadfast dedication to driving growth and positive change. This year, 100 honorees were selected for their outstanding leadership in the midst of market volatility.

Realty 462

Realty Real Estate Technology Lending 462

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 16, 2023

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has tremendous potential to cut costs and improve customer experience, but regulation has not caught up to develop a governance program, industry pros said of AI’s implementation in mortgage lending. Bias, discrimination, privacy and security concerns related to consumer information are some of the biggest risks in implementing generative AI, noted Brian Stucky, lead at Rocket Ethical AI at Rocket Mortgage. “We still do not have AI-specific regulati

Technology 437

Technology Lending Government Legal 437

Housing Wire

OCTOBER 23, 2023

While the mortgage delinquency rate remains low compared to pre-pandemic levels , the number of delinquent loans ticked up in September, according to the ICE Mortgage Monitor report. The national delinquency rate climbed to 3.29% in September, which is up 12 basis points from August and up 13 basis points from September 2022. This makes it the second and largest annual increase in the last 2.5 years, however, the delinquency rate remains 71 basis points below the pre-pandemic level of September

Mortgage 444

Mortgage Technology 444