What a visit to NAR revealed about leadership change

I’ll be honest with you — I’m not always the most charitable voice when it comes to the National Association of Realtors. Those of you who follow me know I say what’s on my mind, and for a while, my mind hasn’t been particularly generous toward NAR leadership. So, when I received an invitation to vi

Built-for-rent multifamily starts jump 18% in Q4 2025

Built-for-rent multifamily construction surged at the end of 2025, extending the cycle’s heavy tilt toward rentals and keeping average apartment sizes below pre-Great Recession levels, according to a National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) analysis of Census Bureau data. NAHB Chief Economist Ro

Mortgage rates are breaking higher — and things can get worse with Iran conflict

The Iran conflict finally pushed the 10-year yield above a key level on Friday morning and if this move sticks and the conflict escalates further, mortgage rates are at risk of heading much higher during the spring season, something that wasn’t the case even a few weeks ago. Even some doves at the F

Judge denies NWMLS bid to dismiss Compass antitrust suit

Compass’s antitrust lawsuit against Northwest MLS (NWMLS) is that much closer to heading to court.  On Thursday, Judge Jamal Whitehead of U.S. District Court in Seattle denied NWMLS’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit for failure to state a claim. Originally filed in late April 2025, the lawsuit centers

Ex-employees accuse Stockton Mortgage of accessing personal email accounts

Two former loan officers have sued Stockton Mortgage Corp., alleging the company illegally accessed their personal email accounts and used private messages in separate litigation against them. Christopher Hoehn and Ashley Hoehn filed the complaint on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Nort

FinCEN anti-money laundering rule struck down in court

A federal judge in Texas has vacated the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s (FinCEN) nationwide anti-money laundering rule requiring title insurance companies to report details of millions of residential real estate transactions. U.S. District Judge Jeremy Kernodle of the Eastern District of Tex

Austin housing reforms could influence Michigan legislation

Michigan housing advocates are pointing to Austin, Texas, as they try to build support for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s “grand bargain” housing affordability agenda in the state Legislature. Advocates say a multi-year set of zoning, permitting and code reforms in Austin helped drive a surge in homebuildi

Why policy looks different from the business side — And why advocacy is strategy

If you work in mortgage banking long enough, you learn to watch the signals. Rates move.Consumers react.The agencies adjust.And the industry pivots. We watch these indicators because they tell us where the market is going. But there’s one signal the industry often overlooks — and ironically, it migh

Lower rates aren’t enough: What mortgage lenders and servicers must do to set spring homebuyers up for long-term success

As the spring homebuying season approaches, mortgage lenders and servicers are watching closely for signs of a long‑awaited inflection point. Interest rates have begun to ease, buyer sentiment is improving, and some sidelined demand is cautiously reentering the market. Lower rates will matter. But t

January new home sales fall 17.6%, weather and rates in focus

After seeing an uptick in sales last year, the nationwide new home market experienced a sharp drop in new home sales activity in January, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s New Residential Sales report released on Thursday. Economists say that this could be a momentary drop due to extreme weather

How policy uncertainty is reshaping senior retirement plans

Growing uncertainty over Social Security, Medicare and fiscal policy has left many older Americans more concerned about their financial futures — with some delaying retirement and shifting to more conservative investment strategies. Findings from a new survey analysis by the Center for Retirement Re

BFS CEO Jackson maps a bigger role in homebuilding workflows

Builders FirstSource‘s decade-long strategic jag has expanded the construction giant beyond its traditional role as a building materials supplier, pitching itself as a full-service partner that can support homebuilders with planning, procurement, delivery, installation and digital project management

The ground just shifted: coming soon listings are taking over real estate

At a time when real estate industry leaders seem to be more conflicted than ever, one idea has emerged that everyone from Homes.com to Zillow, to eXp Realty and Compass can agree on: pre-marketing coming soon listings. What does that mean for the MLSs and will it invite more federal scrutiny? The re

Optimal Blue’s Mike Vough on borrowers staying rate anchored into 2026

Borrowers are still anchored to ultra-low, pandemic-era mortgage rates, a mindset that is influencing both purchase and refinance trends as the market heads into 2026. That’s according to Mike Vough, Optimal Blue‘s senior vice president of corporate strategy, who highlighted the company’s latest Mar

NAREB president calls for ‘optimistic underwriting’ to expand homeownership

Ashley Thomas III has assumed the presidency of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) — the nation’s oldest and largest Black real estate organization — with an agenda focused on expanding homeownership access. Thomas, a housing policy and wealth equity strategist with more than 25

Bank regulators unveil capital reforms to boost mortgage lending

Federal bank regulators on Thursday introduced proposals to overhaul capital rules, affecting how depositories treat mortgage assets. The package includes three measures: revisions to the Basel III framework for large, internationally active banks; changes to the Global Systemically Important Bank (

Home flipping volume falls to 5-year low as profit margins hit 2008 levels

Home flipping activity slipped again in 2025 as investors completed 297,045 single-family home and condominium flips nationwide. That was the lowest annual total since 2020 and down 3.9% from 309,050 flips in 2024, according to ATTOM’s 2025 year-end U.S. Home Flipping Report. Flips made up 7.4% of a

President Donald Trump: I have an idea to help first-time homebuyers

Over the past several months, former President Donald Trump has floated a number of ideas aimed at helping Americans buy homes again. Among them are proposals such as 50-year mortgages and other creative financing tools intended to lower monthly payments for buyers struggling with today’s interest r

Midwest Real Estate Data moves to abandon NAR membership requirement

Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) moved Monday to formally separate access to its multiple listing service (MLS) from mandatory membership with the National Association of Realtors (NAR) — a change the organization’s leader said is aimed at expansion and risk management. MRED offers wholesale listing

Atlantic Avenue Mortgage leads HECM broker endorsement activity in January

Following in the footsteps of an initial dataset for 2025, Reverse Market Insight (RMI) and HECMWorld published updated numbers this week for reverse mortgage broker and third-party originator activity. While the top Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) originators for January 2026 did not vary fr