Housing Wire

MARCH 15, 2024

The National Association of Realtors has agreed to pay $418 million in damages to settle the commission lawsuits. The story was first reported by the New York Times. NAR’s legal counsel approved the settlement agreement early Friday morning. It has yet to be filed in court. Lawyers for the trade organization told the Times that they anticipate the settlement will be filed in the coming weeks, however it will still be subject to court approval.

Legal 539

Legal Agents Realtors Real Property 539

Appraisal Buzz

MARCH 26, 2024

Mortgage rates will likely remain “higher for longer” than previously forecast, according to Fannie Mae’s Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) Group. Because the job market remains strong and inflation continues to rise faster than expected, the number of rate cuts by the Federal Reserve could be curtailed later this year. As a result, Fannie Mae has downgraded its expectations for total home sales and mortgage originations in 2024.

Mortgage 396

Mortgage Housing Market Marketing Appraisal 396

Real Estate News

MARCH 15, 2024

As a part of its proposed settlement, NAR agreed to significant policy changes that will impact how all agents do business — and how buyer agents get paid.

Agents 358

Agents Buyers Business 358

Inman

MARCH 29, 2024

The Council of Multiple Listing Services, a trade group of about 225 MLSs, united with Northwest MLS on Wednesday to pen amicus briefs exposing alleged flaws in the DOJ's statement of interest.

Agents 193

Agents 193

Eyes on Housing

MARCH 20, 2024

Continuing NAHB’s commitment to be at the forefront of research on home buyer preferences, the 2024 edition of What Home Buyers Really Want was recently released at the International Builders’ Show. The primary objective of the study is to provide builders, manufacturers, architects, and the general residential construction industry with a thorough analysis of what.

Buyers 187

Buyers Construction 187

BiggerPockets

MARCH 4, 2024

Another bill is targeting real estate investors—this time, with a goal to “help Main Street compete with Wall Street.” What's in the bill? And what are the consequences for investors if passed?

Real Estate 91

Real Estate Investors 91

Mortgagebroker News

MARCH 15, 2024

Projections indicate a budget deficit surpassing government’s aim of $40 billion annually

Government 81

Government 81

Real Estate News

MARCH 28, 2024

NAR this week sent letters asking government lending agencies to allow buyers to finance agent compensation. Thursday, it started getting answers.

Lending 353

Lending Government Finance Agents 353

Inman

MARCH 29, 2024

Corcoran told Yahoo! Finance she doesn't believe the effects of the settlement will be as earth-shattering as many make them out to be, but that "the confusion it's causing is amazing.

Finance 193

Finance Buyers Inventory Realtors 193

Appraisal Buzz

MARCH 25, 2024

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) fourth-quarter 2023 Foreclosure Prevention and Refinance Report shows that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed 43,903 foreclosure prevention actions during the last three months of 2023, raising the total number of homeowners who have been helped to 6,905,703 since the start of conservatorships in September 2008.

Inventory 397

Inventory Finance Business Appraisal 397

BiggerPockets

MARCH 22, 2024

“I always thought stealing was wrong,” real estate investor and developer George McCleary remarks at the end of a viral video posted on social media last month, “But turns out, if you steal a […]

Landlords 84

Landlords Real Estate Investors Development 84

Housing Wire

MARCH 23, 2024

Mortgage rates had a chance to break to new highs this year, but the Federal Reserve took a moderate tone at the last Fed meeting. We saw the benefit of lower mortgage rates with the last two existing home sales reports, which showed growth. Then mortgage rates rose, facilitating five weeks of negative purchase application data. As rates were hitting year-to-date highs, the fear was that the Fed would go hawkish in their March meeting, which could push mortgage rates toward 8% and tank 2024 dema

Mortgage 506

Mortgage Inventory New Listings Housing Market 506

Mortgagebroker News

MARCH 19, 2024

He has over 20 years of experience in residential and commercial mortgage lending in Canada

Mortgage 76

Mortgage Lending 76

Real Estate News

MARCH 15, 2024

Top companies and MLSs outside the settlement can take part in a streamlined process to pay into a fund — but it could cost millions.

Brokerage 354

Brokerage 354

Inman

MARCH 15, 2024

NextHome CEO James Dwiggins, Strategic Officer Keith Robinson and Ed Zorn, the California Regional MLS general counsel, tackle NAR's big settlement. Stream it live, exclusively at Inman.

Realtors 195

Realtors Brokerage Agents 195

Housing Wire

MARCH 26, 2024

Three agents formerly affiliated with Keller Williams Realty — Jerri L. Moulder, David L. Bueker and Robert E. Hill — have taken legal action against the real estate brokerage by filing three separate class-action lawsuits, Inman first reported on Tuesday. The lawsuits contest alterations made to Keller Williams’ profit-sharing program, with one of them seeking a court order to halt further payouts until the case concludes.

Brokerage 491

Brokerage Legal Agents Realty 491

Housing Wire

MARCH 15, 2024

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) settlement of commission lawsuits nationwide is expected to force mortgage lenders and loan officers to find new ways of approaching listing agents and borrowers, give LOs a more significant role in the home-buying process, and encourage housing professionals to pursue dual-licensing, industry experts told HousingWire.

Buyers 498

Buyers Agents Mortgage Real Estate Agent 498

Housing Wire

MARCH 28, 2024

Florida is reckoning with a severe homeowners insurance crisis. The recent surge in both the frequency and intensity of hurricanes that have battered the state has prompted numerous insurers and reinsurers to exit the market , leaving Florida homeowners grappling with skyrocketing premiums and limited coverage options. According to the Insurance Information Institute , this exodus has resulted in Florida homeowners paying an average of nearly $4,000 a year in insurance , which is nearly three ti

Insurance 481

Insurance Design Marketing Legal 481

Housing Wire

MARCH 3, 2024

First-time homebuyers made up 55% of agency purchase mortgages in 2023, according to Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) eMBS data, the highest such share in the 10 years ICE has been tracking the metric. A record 47% of government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) purchase loans in 2023 came from first-time homebuyers, a number that’s been trending gradually higher throughout the past decade.

Lending 493

Lending Mortgage Buyers Government 493

Housing Wire

MARCH 20, 2024

Those too young to remember the wild west of real estate believe that real estate commissions have always been evenly split between seller’s and buyer’s agents, with each receiving a portion of the sale price. This misconception obscures the reality that, historically, buyers lacked formal representation. Initially, the entire commission percentage was pocketed by the listing agent, who solely represented the seller’s interests.

Real Estate 471

Real Estate Buyers Agents Sellers 471

Housing Wire

MARCH 8, 2024

Everyone was waiting to see if this week’s jobs report would send mortgage rates higher, which is what happened last month. Instead, the 10-year yield had a muted response after the headline number beat estimates, but we have negative job revisions from previous months. The Federal Reserve ’s fear of wage growth spiraling out of control hasn’t materialized for over two years now and the unemployment rate ticked up to 3.9%.

Marketing 482

Marketing Mortgage Transportation Insurance 482

Housing Wire

MARCH 22, 2024

There is no doubt that the cooperative compensation structure changes outlined in the National Association of Realtors’ commission lawsuits settlement agreement will generate massive changes in the real estate industry, but those are not the only changes mandated by the terms of the agreement. Based on NAR’s settlement, agents working with buyers will need a signed buyer representation agreement starting in mid-July, pending final court approval of the settlement.

Buyers 464

Buyers Contracts Real Estate Agents 464

Housing Wire

MARCH 27, 2024

With its supercharged growth over the past two years, it is no surprise that The Real Brokerage topped the 2024 RealTrends 500 Top Movers list for both transaction side count and sales volume. In 2023, Real recorded 48,905 sides, up 14,721 sides from 2022, and a sales volume of $21.2 billion, up $6.80 billion over the prior year. Not only were these figures good enough for the top mover spot, but Real ranked at No. 6 and No. 10 nationwide for transaction sides and sales volume, respectively.

Brokerage 450

Brokerage Agents Training Business 450

Housing Wire

MARCH 4, 2024

At HousingWire , we have a debate about whether home sellers will freeze up again this year as mortgage rates stay stubbornly high. We’ve had seller growth for 18 weeks in a row. I’ve previously been confident that trend will continue. A couple months ago, when rates were in the 6s still, I suggested that we could see 15% home sales growth this year.

Inventory 471

Inventory Sellers Buyers Real Estate 471

Housing Wire

MARCH 27, 2024

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) urged the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) to revise its policies that ban veterans from paying broker commissions, an issue that is gaining attention following the NAR’s landmark $418 million settlement. Earlier this month, the NAR announced the settlement of various lawsuits filed by home sellers, which allege that the real estate industry colluded to keep agent commissions artificially high at 5% to 6% of a home’s sale price.

Buyers 441

Buyers Real Estate Agent Inventory Real Estate 441

Housing Wire

MARCH 14, 2024

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is being sued in federal court over accusations that it failed to refund nearly $385 million in mortgage insurance premiums (MIP) to borrowers over a period of more than two decades. The lawsuit was previously reported by National Mortgage News and Law360. The proposed class-action lawsuit brought by Florida resident Tricia Sarmiento claims that HUD has failed to issue refunds tied to MIP payments on mortgages backed by the Federal Housi

Insurance 451

Insurance Mortgage Development Legal 451

Housing Wire

MARCH 22, 2024

In real estate brokerage, growth is the name of the game and for 2024 (based on 2023 data), The Real Brokerage and The Agency are winning that game. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices RW Towne Realty also had a strong showing. The 2023 housing market was a period of uncertainty with low inventory and industry challenges. For all of 2023, the Relitix Agent Movement Index , showed a marked decrease in agent movement.

Brokerage 442

Brokerage Real Estate Agents Realty 442

Housing Wire

MARCH 20, 2024

The Federal Reserve ’s Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) held its short-term policy interest rate steady at a range of 5.25% to 5.5% for a fifth straight meeting on Wednesday. “The Committee does not expect it will be appropriate to reduce the target range until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%,” according to the FOMC statement. “In addition, the Committee will continue reducing its holdings of Treasury securities and agency de

Investors 441

Investors Mortgage Marketing Finance 441

Housing Wire

MARCH 9, 2024

We survived jobs week and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell talking to Congress, with mortgage rates ending the week below 7%. But will mortgage rates keep heading lower? If so, what will this do to inventory levels? Let’s look at this week’s tracker data to get clues for the future. Mortgage rates and the 10-year yield The 10-year yield is the key for all my housing work, so I focus on it religiously.

Mortgage 449

Mortgage Inventory New Listings Housing Market 449

Housing Wire

MARCH 16, 2024

It’s spring 2024 and we have a Federal Reserve meeting this week. The 10-year yield is at the same critical point as last year before the Fed went hawkish and sent mortgage rates to 8% and the 10-year yield to 5%. Could this happen again? This is the week the balls are all in the Federal Reserve ’s court. I believe it is in the Fed’s interest to keep existing home sales depressed.

Housing Market 443

Housing Market Inventory New Listings Marketing 443

Housing Wire

MARCH 8, 2024

In remarks made Thursday to the Senate Banking Committee this week, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said he expects some U.S. banks to fail in the coming months because of declining values and defaults in their commercial real estate loan portfolios. According to reporting by multiple outlets, including The Hill , Powell indicated that the risk is tied to small and midsized banks, and there is no systemic risk to the banking sector posed by the potential collapse of major institutions.

Real Estate 447

Real Estate Insurance Lending Retail 447

Housing Wire

MARCH 12, 2024

Despite elevated interest rates and tight inventory, the national Hispanic homeownership rate reached 49.5% in 2023, with a net gain of 377,000 Hispanic owner households from the previous year. In total, more than 9.5 million Hispanic households own their home, the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals ( NAHREP ) said in its 2023 State of Hispanic Homeownership Report released on Tuesday.

Real Estate Agent 443

Real Estate Agent Real Estate Buyers Realty 443

Housing Wire

MARCH 12, 2024

If a couple decides to dissolve their marriage, something that is often described as a “third character” in the proceedings is the couples’ home. Finding a way to divide a home can be financially and emotionally fraught. And it often takes on more significance than other items due to the home typically being a couple’s most valuable asset — and because of the complex emotions often intertwined with it.

Business 442

Business Mortgage Clients Finance 442

Housing Wire

MARCH 28, 2024

Pending home sales increased modestly in February despite rising mortgage rates , growing 1.6% month over month, according to the newest data released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index increased to 75.6 in February, up from 74.3 in January. On a year-over-year basis, pending sales were down 7%. For comparison, the index is benchmarked at a reading of 100 based on 2001 contract activity.

Inventory 426

Inventory Realtors Contracts Sellers 426