Propy secures $100 million for AI-powered closing platform

Propy — a tech company using artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain to automate real estate closings — announced it has secured a $100 million credit facility from Metropolitan Partners Group. Financing will be used to consolidate title and escrow companies into an AI-powered, end-to-end closin

Paul Fiore on making HighTechLending a bigger mortgage player

Paul Fiore enjoys taking on new challenges, something he’s done before during a lengthy stint at American Advisors Group (AAG) and pit stops at Finance of America and Smartfi Home Loans. Fiore’s reverse mortgage industry journey took another turn recently after he joined California-headquartered Hig

Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group names Robyn Zacharias as CMO

Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group on Thursday announced the appointment of Robyn Zacharias as chief marketing officer. Zacharias, who brings 30-plus years of marketing and advertising leadership to the company, will oversee the company’s marketing, brand and communications strategy. “Robyn is a proven lea

IMBs originate 84% of residential mortgages in 2025

The Community Home Lenders of America (CHLA) on Thursday released its 2025 report on independent mortgage banks (IMBs), highlighting these companies as the “dominant” force in mortgage lending as they originated 84.1% of all U.S. single-family mortgages last year. CHLA cited data from the Urban Inst

Tapping investments for homeownership down payments

Reports before Davos suggested that President Trump would announce an initiative to spur homeownership by allowing individuals to withdraw funds from their 401(k) accounts to make a down payment on a home purchase without incurring a10% early withdrawal penalty. Davos has come and gone, and we are n

Foreclosure auction volume reaches highest level since Q2 2020

Foreclosure auction volume in the fourth quarter of 2025 rose 48% from a year ago, reaching the highest level since the second quarter of 2020, according to Auction.com‘s Q4 2025 Auction Market Dispatch report. Volume remained 39% below the level seen in Q1 2020, just before the start of the COVID-1

Gen X investors are confident, but they often lack formal retirement plans

A new study commissioned by Equitable and conducted by The Wall Street Journal’s Intelligence Unit examines how Gen X is approaching investing and retirement planning. The research is based on a survey of 500 retail investors — primarily Gen X — with millennials and pre-retiree baby boomers included

Louisville, Ky., joins municipalities piloting AI to fast-track permits

Earlier this month, the City of Louisville, Ky., announced a partnership with Govstream.ai, a technology company that utilizes AI to speed up the permitting process, reflecting a broader national push to utilize AI to accelerate permitting and approvals.  Municipalities are increasingly under pressu

Jim Park on appraisal workforce shortage and regulatory shifts

The U.S. appraisal industry is facing a myriad of issues: a workforce shortage, rising regulatory scrutiny and new technology requirements that could reshape the profession altogether. Jim Park, the president and CEO of Collateral Risk Network and a certified general appraiser, spoke with HousingWir

Indiana bill targets housing affordability with state zoning changes

Another state vs. local jurisdiction showdown is brewing up in Indiana. Lawmakers there are poised to strip cities of much of their power over where and how new housing is built, setting up a clash over who holds the reins of local growth and – critically – housing development. Indiana’s proposed bi

NAR, .RealEstate helping Realtors build online presence

.RealEstate — an official partner of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) — has launched a unified digital platform designed to help real estate professionals build and manage their online presence. The launch follows the company’s rebrand from Get.Realtor in August 2025 and marks a shift from

SoftPro releases FinCEN anti-money laundering data solutions

SoftPro has released new integrated software tools designed to help title companies comply with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s (FinCEN) new anti-money laundering rule. The company said its Buyer and Seller Collection Forms are available to help users gather required data under the rule —

Cardinal Financial launches nondelegated correspondent program

Cardinal Financial‘s third-party origination division announced Wednesday the launch of its nondelegated correspondent program that targets independent mortgage lenders. The program allows approved nondelegated correspondents to originate loans in their own name while using Cardinal Financial’s loan

Long & Foster taps Lacey Conway as new president

Lacey Conway is leaving Compass to serve as the president of Long & Foster Real Estate. HomeServices of America, as announced by the parent company of Long & Foster’s on Wednesday.  In this role Conway will work closely with Patrick Bain, the CEO and president of The Long & Foster Companies, and she

Rocket Companies hit with class-action lawsuit alleging steering, home-price inflation

Detroit-based Rocket Companies was hit with a class-action lawsuit on Monday that accuses one of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders of steering consumers to their loan products, “even though Rocket Mortgage‘s terms are disadvantageous to the clients.” The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court

Policy clash: how two housing policies blend to price out millions

It goes with the insanity of today’s U.S. housing affordability crisis that two rights can make a wrong. Two federal policies — each designed to lower the lifetime operating cost of owning a home — can instead combine to raise the barrier to entry so high that millions of households never get throug

Jason Mitchell Group adds LitFinancial to referral network

The Jason Mitchell Group (JMG) said it has added mortgage brokerage LitFinancial to its network of business-to-business partners. LitFinancial was founded in 2024 and has closed more than $1 billion in client volume since launching — providing mortgage services and working with homebuyers nationwide

HUD orders housing agencies to verify tenant eligibility

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has ordered public housing authorities and property owners participating in federal housing programs to verify tenant eligibility as it relates issues including undocumented immigration. HUD Secretary Scott Turner said the directive is part of a

New real estate certification spotlights agents committed to consumer protection

Transparency is sweeping the housing industry with everyone from trade associations and brokerage leaders to agents and consumers claiming they want more transparency in the home buying and selling process.  For agents looking to up their commitment to transparency, Housing Rebel by Selling Later, a

Onity targets $150M debt raise via PHH subsidiaries

Onity Group — the parent company of PHH Mortgage Corp. and its subsidiary, Liberty Reverse Mortgage — plans to raise $150 million through a debt offering to qualified investors via two of its subsidiaries, the company announced Monday. PHH Corp. and PHH Escrow Issuer LLC are offering senior notes du