Newrez servicing arm sued in New Jersey over alleged RESPA violations

A New Jersey homeowner has filed a lawsuit against Newrez LLC, dba Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing, alleging the company engaged in years of unfair mortgage servicing practices that deprived her of a meaningful opportunity to avoid foreclosure. The complaint, filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey,

Why Aaron Kirman is betting on AI, crypto and new development

According to Aaron Kirman, much of his success in the real estate industry first as a solo agent, then as a team leader and now as a brokerage CEO, has come from keeping his finger on the pulse of the industry and taking a critical approach to his business.  “Life is always an evolution and you don’

June housing starts jump 19%, fueled by strong multifamily gains

Residential construction activity picked up in June, but the gains were concentrated in multifamily, and future supply indicators softened, according to newly released U.S. Census Bureau data.  Privately owned housing starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of roughly 1.3 million units in J

UHM acquires AmeriTrust assets, expands non-QM footprint

Union Home Mortgage Corp. (UHM) has acquired AmeriTrust Mortgage Corp. in an asset deal that closed in 45 days, boosting UHM’s exposure to the nonqualified mortgage (non-QM) market. Financial terms were not disclosed. “There have been long-term relationships between some of the senior executives on

Housing permits near cycle lows even as housing starts beat estimates

Housing starts beating estimates while housing permits are near cycle lows is an odd situation, but I am here to make sense of it and explain where exactly we are in the housing construction cycle. First, we have to always remember that housing starts are a very volatile number with a lot of revisio

RiskSpan releases credit risk model built for non-QM loans

RiskSpan has launched a new credit risk model designed for the expanding nonqualified mortgage (non-QM) market, adding to its existing prepayment modeling tools as investors seek more specialized analytics for the asset class. The company announced Friday the general availability of Credit Model 7.1

Stanley Martin buying Holiday Builders highlights hyper-scale shift

Homebuilding scale is arriving at the midway point through a structural inflection. The latest evidence arrived Thursday, as Stanley Martin Homes announced it had entered an agreement to acquire Florida-based Holiday Builders, a transaction that will add approximately 1,050 annual home closings, mor

Greystone’s new $137M fund lands as LIHTC investment rises

Eight months ago, Greystone Real Estate Capital was just getting started raising money for affordable housing projects. It has now closed its second fund in less than a year, drawing three existing institutional investors and five new ones. Greystone’s latest fund brought in $137 million, pushing th

loanDepot asks judge to toss West Capital Lending complaint

loanDepot has asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit accusing the lender of violating federal loan originator compensation rules, arguing that mortgage brokerage West Capital Lending (WCL) lacks standing to sue and is improperly trying to use consumer protection laws to pursue a competitive busi

Awaiting the CFPB’s next act ahead of Vought’s departure

Nearly 15 years after opening its doors in the wake of the financial crisis, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is operating in a markedly different form than it did just a year ago. Since the Trump administration took over at the start of 2025, the agency’s operations have been in limb

Cody Pearce returns to YES Communities as president

Cody Pearce has returned to YES Communities, one of the nation’s largest manufactured housing community operators, as president, effective July 13, 2026, the company announced. Pearce will oversee day-to-day operations at one of the nation’s largest owners and operators of manufactured housing commu

Beshara Real Estate Team joins Compass Atlanta

The Beshara Real Estate Team, a RealTrends Verified-ranked team in Marrietta, Georgia, led by principal agent Brenda Beshara, has joined Compass Atlanta after 19 years with Keller Williams, the company announced on Wednesday. Based in East Cobb, the seven-person team serves buyers and sellers across

Builder confidence falls in July as affordability pressures persist

Homebuilder confidence fell again in July as affordability pressures and economic uncertainty continued to weigh on demand, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released on Thursday.  According to the index, homebuilder confidence in Ju

Despite ROAD Act passing, no construction boom is coming

The recently passed 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act got a lot of love and attention, as it is supposed to be the first step toward building a lot more homes in America. But as is often the case, what politicians promise can be more hype than reality, and I believe this is another example. My bias i

Atlantic Avenue posts 25% monthly gain, leads HECM broker endorsements in April

Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) endorsements for April showed that the nation’s top brokerages continued to originate federally insured reverse mortgages at higher or similar levels to their pace over the past year. That’s according to data released this week by Reverse Market Insight (RMI) a

Foreclosures climb 21% in first half of 2026, pushed by higher stress in FHA, VA mortgages

U.S. foreclosure activity rose again in the first half of 2026, with 227,548 properties receiving filings, up 21% from the same period in 2025, according to ATTOM’s midyear foreclosure report released Thursday. The report — which tracks default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — sh

Compass files ethics complaints against Zillow in 26 states

Compass International Holdings has filed Code of Ethics complaints against Zillow, the brokerage firm confirmed to HousingWire on Tuesday.  According to a Compass spokesperson the complaints, which allege that Zillow has made false advertising claims, spans 26 states, 55 MLSs and 30 Realtor associat

NTREIS names Joey Bandemer VP of data governance

North Texas Real Estate Information Systems, Inc. (NTREIS) has named Joey Bandemer vice president of data governance and customer experience, the MLS said in an announcement on Tuesday. The MLS said the hire is the latest step in a broad modernization effort at NTREIS under CEO Chris Carrillo, who t

UWM broker ultimatum tied to 5 bps price drop at rivals

United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM)’s 2021 move to bar its broker partners from also sending loans to Rocket Mortgage drove an average price decrease of 5 basis points per loan at companies not targeted by the policy, according to a new academic paper. The analysis, conducted by Spencer Stone of the Uni

Zillow says conspiracy, MRED and Compass say Zillow did this to itself

After exchanging post-hearing briefs late last week in their ongoing antitrust dispute, Zillow, Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) and Compass filed replies to each others’ briefs on Monday.  In briefs filed last Thursday, Zillow alleged an “unlawful conspiracy” to cut off its access to Chicagoland lis