Stable mortgage rate environment reshapes how LOs engage with borrowers

Analysts, economists and mortgage professionals are coining this quarter’s activity as one of the most “calm” periods for mortgage rates in recent memory. It follows nearly three years of borrowers being sidelined by higher rates or “stuck” in loans with historically low rates.BTIG analysts said Wed

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate expands in California

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Haven Properties has opened a new office in Monterey, California — extending its reach to a 175-mile coastal service area across the state’s central region. The firm — which already operates offices in San Luis Obispo, Morro Bay, Pismo Beach, Santa Maria and Paso

HouseSavings.com launches flat-fee, low-commission listing platform

HouseSavings.com — a real estate brokerage based in central Pennsylvania — has introduced a digital-first platform that offers flat-fee and low-commission listing services with the goal of reducing costs for home sellers.The company’s model features three residential listing packages — two flat-fee

Longbridge’s Melissa Macerato on how the latest proprietary reverse product came to be

In May, Longbridge Financial debuted Platinum Preserve, a new proprietary reverse mortgage product that aims to help borrowers preserve home equity for their heirs.RMD spoke to Longbridge co-founder Melissa Macerato about the product’s origins, how industry pros have received it thus far, and how it

New Florida condo laws aim to add transparency for buyers

Come July 1, those working and transacting in Florida’s condo market will have some new requirements to deal with. On Monday, Florida Governor Ron Desantis signed both HB 913 and HB 393 into law. Many of the changes outlined in the bills were championed by Florida Realtors. These changes include thi

Lone Wolf Technologies releases Deal Tracker dashboard

Lone Wolf Technologies has released Deal Tracker, a new pipeline dashboard designed to give real estate agents a centralized, real-time view of the home transaction process from initial contact through closing.The dashboard is now available as the default homepage for users of Lone Wolf’s Transact p

Trump initiates plan to install a shadow Fed president

President Trump has started Operation Shadow Fed President, with news breaking Wednesday night that he has identified several candidates for the next Federal Reserve chairman. Under this strategy, the president selects a new Federal Reserve chair well before they can officially assume the role and t

Here are the three metros where homeownership is still affordable

The rapid rise in home prices and housing costs over the past five years has strained affordability in every part of the country, but a new study seeks to put a finer point on which metropolitan areas are getting hit the hardest.Realtor.com calculated the share of income a typical household spends o

Dermot Buffini discusses brokerage leadership, real estate market shifts

Dermot Buffini, the CEO of Buffini & Co., joined this week’s episode of the RealTrending podcast for a conversation on the evolving challenges for real estate leaders.Speaking with host Tracey Velt at HousingWire’s The Gathering, Buffini addressed the pressures that brokers and team leaders face ami

Aspiring buyers turn to Realtors first in their home searches: survey

A national survey released by NeighborWorks America found that prospective homebuyers overwhelmingly turn to Realtors first when seeking information about the homebuying process — outpacing friends, family and online searches.According to the poll, 41% of respondents who plan to buy a home in the ne

New Home Co. acquires Landsea, forming a top 25 homebuilder

New Home Co. has completed a previously announced acquisition of Landsea Homes, the companies announced Wednesday. The deal creates a top-25 national homebuilder based on the number of new homes sold in 2024.Matthew Zaist, who currently serves as president and CEO of New Home, will led the combined

Survey shows buyers gaining leverage as real estate market slows

The housing market continued to cool in May, with buyer leverage increasing across many regions of the country, according to a new survey from The Real Brokerage.Real’s May 2025 Agent Survey — which polled more than 260 real estate professionals across the U.S. and Canada — points to softening trans

More pets than kids: The increased role of animals in real estate

As American demographics shift, so do the priorities of homebuyers, and pets are playing an increased role in real estate decisions.“Did you know there are more households with pets than children?” Jessica Lautz, deputy chief economist and vice president of research at the National Association of Re

Bill White Jr. returns to Baird & Warner as VP of broker relations

Baird & Warner has named Bill White Jr. as its new vice president of broker relations for mortgage and title services, marking his return to the firm after several years at Compass. In his new role, White will act as the primary liaison between real estate agents, attorneys and loan officers to supp

Powell: Fed is reviewing Basel III, supplemental leverage ratio rules

During a second straight day of testimony on Capitol Hill, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank is reviewing the Basel III rules (also known as the “Basel Endgame”), which would significantly increase bank capital requirements and could impact the mortgage industry, if implement

Beeline Title completes milestone crypto real estate deal

Beeline Title Holdings, a subsidiary of Beeline Holdings Inc., has closed what it says is one of the first residential real estate transactions funded through the sale of a cryptocurrency token backed by real property.The company described the deal as a milestone in merging decentralized finance wit

Homebuyers finally catch a break with more inventory

Homebuyers in 2025 are finally getting some good news. Active housing inventory is returning to the levels we experienced before the pandemic, which means the chaotic and unhealthy housing market of the last several years is finally a thing of the past. As someone who was concerned about home prices

15 commission lawsuit settlements gain final approval

In a move that’s unsurprising, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Bough has granted final approval to 15 more commission lawsuit settlement agreements.Bough granted final approval to settlements negotiated in the Gibson and Keel suits during a joint hearing on Tuesday afternoon. The settling defendan

Record-high home equity provides opportunity for the reverse mortgage industry

Soaring prices and increasingly strained affordability have made things difficult for prospective buyers shopping for their first home. But for households that own their home already, rising prices have been a wealth bonanza.That’s evident in data from the annual State of the Nation’s Housing Report

Home prices are still climbing, but the pace is slowing

Home prices continue to outpace last year, but at a pace that’s slowing down.The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index for April rose 2.7% year over year, a deceleration from 3.37% in March, 3.9% in February and 4.1% in January. It’s the first data for the Case-Shiller that includes the period