Stewart Title NCS appoints Nevada leadership

Stewart Title National Commercial Services (NCS) has added a veteran Nevada title executive to oversee commercial operations in the state. The company announced that Ian Swainston has joined as vice president and operations manager — supporting commercial growth efforts across Nevada. Swainston brin

Old Republic Title shifts direct operations to Qualia

Old Republic Title is moving its direct operations onto Qualia’s cloud-based platform, marking a technology shift for one of the nation’s largest title insurance underwriters. The rollout began with Oregon operations moving to Qualia’s system — with transition expected to continue across western sta

Major mortgage lenders report strong start for 2026 originations activity

Mortgage lenders are entering the 2026 spring homebuying season with strengthening business pipelines, fueled by lower mortgage rates, rising refinance incentives and early signs of improving purchase demand. “We’re off to a great start,” Alex Elezaj, executive vice president and chief strategy offi

Investor share of home purchases holds at 30% in 2025

Cotality reported Thursday that real estate investor activity in the U.S. single-family home market remained stable through 2025, accounting for 30% of all purchases, up slightly from 29% in 2024. Persistent housing unaffordability is keeping many owner-occupant buyers on the sidelines while fueling

Social Security planning could open the door for reverse mortgage conversations

Reverse mortgage professionals struggling with consumer hesitation may find their most effective entry point isn’t home equity, but rather Social Security. That was the message from Thomas Drapala, director of strategic partnerships at the National Association of Registered Social Security Analysts

Taylor Morrison’s 2026 rebalance: romance over discounts

Demand that is awakened — lit by a flame, chasing a well-deserved dream home — is fundamentally different from demand sparked by being a rental refugee, where the walls have closed in and every monthly payment feels like a frittered-away sum that could have done more. Serving both customers today in

Here are the nation’s top reverse mortgage brokers for 2025

Direct retail endorsements for Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs) don’t capture the full picture of origination activity in the federally insured reverse mortgage space. Reverse Market Insight (RMI) and HECMWorld are looking to change that. On Thursday, HECMWorld published an RMI dataset of HE

Tradeweb makes investment in digital mortgage exchange MAXEX

New York-based Tradeweb Markets Inc., operator of electronic trading platforms, has made a strategic investment in and finalized a commercial partnership with digital mortgage exchange MAXEX. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The collaboration is designed to broaden institutiona

What the Housing for the 21st Century Act means for real estate agents, lenders

The Housing for the 21st Century Act — a sweeping housing reform package moving through Congress — is the boldest step yet in a broad federal push to increase housing supply and improve affordability. The legislation directs the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to publish “best

Waterstone Mortgage announces leadership promotions across multiple departments

National mortgage lender Waterstone Mortgage Corp. announced on Thursday the promotion of four employees to leadership roles at its home office, elevating executives in capital markets, human resources, information security and financial planning. The promotions include Casey Seefeldt to vice presid

Court upholds racially targeted SPCP in Washington

A federal judge this week refused to block a special purpose credit program (SPCP) designed to reduce the racial homeownership gap across Washington state, rejecting a constitutional challenge brought by nonprofit Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR). U.S. District Court Judge John H. Ch

Arizona Regional MLS CEO Matthew Consalvo plans 2027 exit

After 14 years at the helm, Matthew Consalvo has announced that he will be retiring from his role as Arizona Regional MLS’s (ARMLS) CEO in the spring of 2027. ARMLS announced Consalvo’s decision to retire earlier this week.  According to the MLS, during his time at ARMLS, Consalvo has helped to mode

WFG National Title launches FinCEN reporting solution

Title agents nationwide are preparing for a sweeping new federal reporting mandate to take effect — and WFG National Title Insurance is rolling out tools to ease the transition. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s (FinCEN) Anti-Money Laundering Regulations for Residential Real Estate Transfer

Multifamily developer moods sink amid high costs, flat rent growth

Multifamily developers share less confidence in the state of their market sector than they did a year ago, a National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) Multifamily Market Survey found. High construction costs, elevated project borrowing and debt expense, stagnant rental growth and shaky consumer

Mutual of Omaha hires veteran Tommy Noyes for reverse wholesale role

Tommy Noyes has joined Mutual of Omaha Mortgage from Liberty Reverse Mortgage as a national wholesale account executive for Mutual’s reverse mortgage business, the company announced Tuesday. In the role, Noyes will focus on deepening customer relationships and supporting the growth of the company’s

Zillow returns to profitability in 2025 as mortgage and rentals drive growth

Despite a challenging legal year, Zillow Group recorded strong financial results in 2025, according to the firm’s full-year and fourth-quarter 2025 earnings report published on Tuesday.  Revenue in Q4 2025 rose 18% annually to $654 million, while revenue for the full year was up 16% compared to 2024

Pennymac leader on policy shifts to ease homeownership barriers

As housing affordability remains strained, policymakers and industry leaders are weighing how regulation, mortgage markets and tax policy shape access to homeownership. Isaac Boltansky, head of public policy at Pennymac, fielded questions on the matter from Robb Van Raaphorst, senior vice president

Why title integrity needs decentralized governance

The primary weakness in the American real estate market isn’t a lack of buyers or inventory, it’s the “trust gap” in our record-keeping. As HousingWire recently reported, the fragmentation across 3,000-plus local registries has created a multibillion-dollar opening for deed fraud. When ownership dat

Barry Habib, Logan Mohtashami say housing market set for pent-up demand surge

The U.S. housing market may be poised for a historic surge as pent-up demand meets a potentially lower rate environment. As part of an expert panel at HousingWire’s 2026 Housing Economic Summit, MBS Highway founder and CEO Barry Habib said the first move downward in mortgage rates could trigger a ru

Brokerage leaders express optimism for 2026 housing market conditions

Real estate brokerage leaders are entering 2026 more confident and optimistic than they have in years, according to Delta Media Group’s Real Estate Leadership Report.  To compile the report, Delta Media Group surveyed more than 100 brokerage leaders representing firms that were collectively responsi