HUD reinstates nonprofit’s affordable housing grants after appeal

Nonprofit housing organization Enterprise Community Partners announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has reversed a decision to terminate nearly $10 million in technical assistance funding, reinstating two key federal agreements tied to affordable housing efforts.Th

The nation’s largest mortgage lenders are only getting bigger

Home purchase and refinance activity hasn’t exactly been brisk in the opening months of 2025 as prospective borrowers contend with a variety of headwinds. But mortgage origination volumes among the country’s largest lenders are mostly up in the past year.Inside Mortgage Finance (IMF) data for the fi

Augmented reality mobile app could assist with aging in place

As technology becomes an increasingly important part of life for people across the spectrum of age, a new mobile application being developed by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison aims to add “augmented reality” to the tools for those seeking to age in place.Augmented reality technolo

Acting HUD watchdog’s memo targets fraud, tech and safety issues

The acting head of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has issued an updated memorandum of open priority recommendations that aim to increase the department’s efficiency and address key management challenges.The memo, issued this week by S

Experts analyze growth strategies of eXp and Compass

With eXp Realty and Compass Real Estate sitting atop RealTrends Verified’s 2025 Brokerage Rankings in terms of increases in volume and transaction side growth, fast-growing new models are knocking at the door.“There are a lot of new models out there,” said Steve Murray, a senior advisor to HousingWi

HUD adds $2.2M to VASH program for Native American veterans

Following a tour of the Oneida Tribe reservation in Wisconsin this week, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner announced that the department will be adding $2.2 million to the Tribal HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) program.Turner toured the rese

Why the housing market is actually much healthier in 2025

After years of identifying the housing market as unhealthy — culminating in a savagely unhealthy housing market in early 2022 — I can confidently assert that the housing market in 2024 and 2025 is on better footing. This transformation sets an extremely positive foundation for what’s to come. Some r

DC’s housing market is shifting rapidly. Are federal layoffs driving it?

President Donald Trump has shifted federal economic policy in a big way since his inauguration on Jan. 20. Housing markets across the country will no doubt be impacted in some way, but one city is a special case — Washington, D.C.That’s because the Trump administration made reductions to the federal

Reverse mortgage conversion software adds Smartfi proprietary product

The HECM Tool — a software platform designed to serve as a reverse mortgage sales conversion tool — announced this week that it has integrated the proprietary reverse mortgage offering from Smartfi Home Loans into the platform’s existing visualization and comparison capabilities.The platform was dev

Real Brokerage fires CFO, names Ravi Jani as successor

The Real Brokerage has named Ravi Jani as its new chief financial officer. His appointment is effective immediately and follows the departure of former CFO Michelle Ressler, who was terminated amid an ongoing internal investigation.Jani, who joined Real in September 2023 as vice president of investo

Keller Williams lands new affiliate in Illinois

Keller Williams is continuing to expand its network. On Thursday, the firm announced the affiliation of Illinois-based PRG Group with KW Premiere Properties.PRG Group, which was doing business as Realty Executives Premiere, was a franchisee of Wheaton, Illinois-based Realty Executives International.

Democratic senator open to working with HUD on federal land for housing

One Democratic senator is reaching across the aisle on a key housing agenda item for the Trump administration: developing housing on federal land. Semafor reported that Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, who sits on the powerful Senate Banking Committee, submitted a letter to both HUD Secretary Scott Turne

Celink parent adds former Ginnie Mae exec to its board of directors

Lansing, Michigan-based Peer Advisors, the parent company of reverse mortgage servicer Celink, announced on Thursday the appointment of Leslie Meaux Pordzik as an “independent representative” on the company’s board of directors.Pordzik most recently served as senior vice president for the Office of

Court dismisses majority of claims made in discrimination suit against NAR

Four of the five claims made by former National Association of Realtors (NAR) project manager Roshani Sheth in her June 2024 lawsuit have been dismissed. Chicago-based U.S. District Court Judge Georgia N. Alexakis ruled on Tuesday that Sheth’s claims — including those of alleged retaliation under fe

Mortgage industry reacts to pending shutdown of VA servicing program

Following news earlier this month that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is moving to end the Veteran Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program, the agency this week published a circular to outline the timeline for its closure.It features additional information about the planned end to VA

These states received top marks on their housing affordability report cards

A new report released Thursday by Realtor.com ranks every state on their performance for housing affordability and homebuilding. It exposes significant regional disparities amid a nationwide shortage of more than 4 million homes.The report evaluates each state using weighted criteria tied to afforda

Economic jitters are stressing out LOs and their clients

Jordan Bernbaum has been feeling anxious these last few weeks.“On the client end, they’re seeing the news and understanding the situation pretty well,” the NEXA Mortgage senior loan officer said. “On my end, it’s a stress-inducing emotional roller coaster of always worrying when I should be locking.

Pennymac’s profits shrink, but its servicing portfolio now stands at a massive $680B

PennyMac Financial Services Inc. (PFSI) on Tuesday reported net income of $76.3 million for the first quarter of 2025 after it posted revenue of $430.9 million.These numbers were down from the previous quarter’s figures of $104.5 million and $470.1 million, respectively.The California-based lender’s

FOA debuts new marketing campaign tying home equity to life’s ‘next chapter’

As it aims to appeal to potential clients who may be taking a closer look at tapping into home equity, reverse mortgage lender Finance of America (FOA) has debuted a new marketing campaign in concert with its new creative agency to illustrate the lifestyle impacts of its products.The campaign, calle

Baby boomers and millennials are playing a housing crisis blame game

When assessing the landscape of housing affordability today, conversations between members of the millennial and baby boomer generations can often devolve into finger pointing over which of them is to “blame” for the high costs of housing.New survey data from Clever Real Estate indicates that while