Congress has a chance to expand affordable homeownership. It shouldn’t waste it.

America’s housing affordability crisis has reached a breaking point. Home prices remain out of reach for millions of families, apartment rents continue to climb and the dream of homeownership is slipping further away for first-time buyers, working families, seniors and young Americans. Manufactured

San Diego to get more transit housing density as SB 79 row settles

San Diego has spent recent years earning a reputation as one of California’s most aggressive housing builders, streamlining permits citywide. But city leaders hesitated when state law required them to draw boundaries for new housing near neighborhood bus stops. San Diego officials proposed a far tig

$95M funding, USLBM deal back Higharc AI push in homebuilding

Artificial intelligence has reached homebuilding’s proving ground. Not the proving ground for a demo or a pitch deck, nor the conference-stage jumbo-screen promise that technology will transform an industry whose complexity has humbled generations of would-be transformers. It’s the real sniff test.

ONE Sotheby’s International Realty adds sales director

ONE Sotheby’s International Realty has appointed Shelley Figueroa as sales director in its development division, where she will oversee sales for Anantara Miami Resort & Residences. Figueroa brings more than 15 years of experience in luxury residential real estate development. According to the broke

TitleEase integrates with Contract2Close platform

TitleEase has launched a software integration with transaction management platform Contract2Close.com that allows real estate agents and mortgage loan officers to order title services from within the platform. The integration is designed to incorporate title ordering into the existing transaction ma

NAR tells members to report Realtor brand misuse

As part of its three year strategic plan, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) promised members the trade group would work to “elevate” the Realtor brand. For the first half of the year, NAR’s vision for exactly what this effort would look like remained a bit unclear but at the association’s l

The Agency’s Zane Burnett: AI success starts with clean data, not hype

For Zane Burnett, technology isn’t about chasing the next shiny object — it’s about building a foundation first. As he oversees technology, digital strategy and innovation at The Agency, Burnett brings a career’s worth of perspective from leadership roles at proptech companies, luxury real estate br

NRMLA urges HUD to loosen FHA property rules

The National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) is urging the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to overhaul several single-family property standards, arguing that current rules under the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)’s minimum property requirements are creating

The IDX debate: Is it time to do away with the Internet Data Exchange?

A question is starting to circulate among brokerage leaders and at industry tables: Is it time to do away with IDX? On the surface it sounds like a housekeeping matter, a debate about website feeds and display rules. It is not. The IDX question is one of the most important structural questions our i

UWM likely better off after losing Two Harbors deal, KBW says

Analysts from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW) say that United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) may be better off after losing its bid for Two Harbors Investment Corp. They argue that the failed acquisition removes leverage risk and increases the likelihood of a dividend cut that could strengthen the company’s

Third time’s the charm: Arizona’s new special  district opportunity 

John McManus: Carter, Arizona just passed House Bill 2999, which creates State Affordability Infrastructure Districts (“SAID” or “Districts”).  Why does this matter to builders and developers? Carter Froelich: What matters most is that Arizona finally has a district financing tool that is built for

Turning insight to action for real estate pros

The real estate industry isn’t short on data or knowledge. The housing market has never been better documented. The gap is translation, turning insight into action. Real-time inventory, weekly market reports, rate analysis, transaction trends. The intelligence available to housing professionals toda

Better mortgage spreads are still keeping home sales positive

Existing home sales were still positive year over year last week, with our weekly pending home sales data holding steady even with elevated mortgage rates. While people are frustrated that lower oil prices haven’t brought rates down, they should be deeply grateful that improved mortgage spreads have

Reffkin takes the stand, MRED CEO says Zillow threatened litigation over listing policy dispute

The second and final day of the hearing regarding Zillow’s preliminary injunction motion in its ongoing antitrust lawsuit against Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) and Compass International Holdings featured testimony from two key witnesses for the defense, Compass CEO Robert Reffkin and MRED CEO Rebe

Government-backed modular housing trend arrives in Cleveland

Earlier this week, the City of Cleveland and Cleveland’s Site Readiness for Good Jobs Fund announced that UK-based MMY was selected as the City’s preferred modular housing manufacturer, following the award of $2.56 million to support the construction of a new modular housing factory. The news mirror

Will the ROAD Act change what pencils for multifamily rentals?

While the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act remains in Oval Office big yawn limbo, its game-changing relevance to multifamily developers, apartment builders, rental housing investors and capital providers is clear. The bill has passed both chambers of Congress by historic bipartisan margins. What it

First MLS names Jenni Bonura chief growth officer

Jenni Bonura has joined Georgia-based First Multiple Listing Service (FMLS) as chief growth officer after more than 20 years in senior leadership roles at Harry Norman, REALTORS, including serving as president and CEO of brokerage, according to an announcement on Wednesday. At Harry Norman, Bonura h

RealTrends Verified The Craig Tann Group continues decade of growth

Consistent growth and disciplined hiring have helped The Craig Tann Group become one of the nation’s highest-performing real estate teams. Based in Las Vegas, the team closed just under $486 million in sales volume across 877 transaction sides last year — earning the No. 10 national ranking for sale

MISMO updates mortgage insurance data guide for VantageScore 4.0 and FICO 10T

The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO) has updated its Mortgage Insurance Implementation Guide to incorporate data requirements for VantageScore 4.0 and FICO 10T, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) subsidiary announced Thursday. The guide provides a standardized data fr

America 250 is a turning point for American homeownership

When Americans think about infrastructure, they think about roads, bridges and broadband. But they should also think about housing. A home is the foundation from which families build their lives: where children grow up, neighbors become communities and one generation creates new opportunities for th