HOME launches bilingual learning system and AI-powered wholesale search tool

The Hispanic Organization of Mortgage Experts (HOME) on Tuesday announced the launch of what it claims to be the mortgage industry’s first bilingual learning management system (LMS), HOME Certified, powered by Twiz.io. The organization also introduced Wholesale Search, an AI-powered tool built on Ch

US land market cools as demand, deals dry up

The U.S. land market is rapidly losing momentum, with demand falling to levels not seen since late 2022, according to Q2 2025 data from John Burns Research & Consulting. Only 28% of land brokers describe demand as strong, down sharply from 76% a year ago. The pullback marks a steep reversal after tw

Michigan judge strikes down Rocket Mortgage noncompete provisions

A Michigan judge ruled on Friday that Rocket Mortgage’s noncompete provisions are void and unenforceable, dealing a blow to the lender in its long-running legal battle with Swift Home Loans, its founder Andi Numan and several former employees. The decision, issued by Judge Brian R. Sullivan of the T

Fed’s Lisa Cook to sue Trump over attempted firing tied to mortgage fraud claims

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook plans to sue President Donald Trump after he attempted to fire her on Monday, citing allegations of mortgage fraud. The case has renewed concerns over the Fed’s independence and added fresh volatility to financial markets. “President Trump has no authority to remov

Planet Financial announces 64% annual growth in residential originations

Planet Financial Group LLC, the parent of national mortgage lender Planet Home Lending, on Tuesday reported strong growth across its servicing, origination and asset management channels in the second quarter of 2025. The company — which also does business under the name Planet Loan Servicing and ass

Trump fires Lisa Cook in latest move to pack Federal Reserve with supporters

President Donald Trump fired Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook Monday evening after calling for her resignation last week over allegations of mortgage fraud. The move further consolidates Trump’s power at the Fed, which has traditionally been an independent organization shielded from overtly politi

Beyond Redfin: Zown bets on AI, salaried agents and buyer rebates

When Rishard Rameez, co-founder and CEO of Canadian-based real estate brokerage Zown, bought and sold a home within the same year, the inefficiencies of the process left him frustrated. “I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that I had to pay [almost] all of my down payment towards covering the re

Rent collections improve slightly, but late payments signal strain

On-time rent payments improved in August 2025, offering a rare positive note in a year marked by declining performance, according to new data from Chandan Economics. Preliminary estimates for August show that 83.2% of tenants at independently operated units paid their rent on time — up 34 basis poin

Rocktop’s Cade Thompson on targeting inefficiencies in mortgage lending

Fannie Mae‘s latest Mortgage Lender Sentiment Survey points to a growing trend of lenders that want to make the mortgage process and its various components as efficient as possible. In 2025, lenders ranked streamlined business processes, reduced costs and consumer-facing technology as their leading

eXp welcomes back The Victorica Group in San Antonio

The nation’s top brokerage by transaction side count continues to expand. On Monday, eXp Realty announced that it was welcoming back San Antonio-based The Victorica Group.  The group was formed at eXp, but went on to briefly operate as an independent brokerage. It ultimately decided to return to eXp

Reverse mortgage lenders log Q2 profits amid home equity, AI push

The publicly traded companies in the reverse mortgage space were largely profitable in the second quarter of 2025, despite a challenging macroeconomic backdrop.  As a group, they posted $1.2 billion in originations in Q2 2025, compared to $1 billion in the first quarter. Executives pointed to strong

Realtor.com names Janakiraman Karthikeyan as CTO

Realtor.com is welcoming a new executive to its C-suite. On Monday, the company announced that it had appointed Janakiraman Karthikeyan as its new chief technology officer. This role will see Karthikeyan lead Realtor.com’s technology strategy as the company looks to achieve its long-term growth goal

Have lower mortgage rates already boosted the homebuilders?

New home sales followed the existing home sales market by beating sales estimates and having positive revisions in today’s report, which suggests that we are already seeing some benefits of lower mortgage rates. While it’s not a spectacular number by any means, if mortgage rates can get toward 6% an

Schemmel Soda Group joins Douglas Elliman in Florida

Top-producing residential real estate team Schemmel Soda Group has left Premier Sotheby’s International Realty to join Douglas Elliman’s Sarasota, Florida, office. The group is led by cofounders Joel Schemmel and Donna Soda, along with agents Sharon Chiodi and Patti Tebo. Marketing Director Katie Ku

Evergreen Home Loans continues expansion tear, adding 11 new states

To continue its goal of national expansion, Evergreen Home Loans announced on Monday that it has entered 11 new states: Texas, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Wyoming, Nebraska, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Ohio and New Mexico. To support this growth, the Bellevue, Washington-based com

Where do mortgage rates go from here?

Mortgage rates reached a new year-to-date low Friday after Fed Chair Jerome Powell, during his speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Summit, finally acknowledged that he was concerned about the labor market. Does that mean mortgage rates can go lower from here? It’s complicated. Since the last jobs re

How McLaughlin v. McKesson will implicate lender operations

Stripping away decades of precedence and standardized regulation makes compliance a moving target — especially for lenders whose operations span state borders — yet this is exactly what happened earlier this summer. SCOTUS’ impact on the lending landscape The Supreme Court’s June 20th decision in Mc

Older adults support many types of housing regulation reform

Older adults support changing zoning laws to make homebuilding easier, according to new surveys by AARP and the Pew Charitable Trusts. Older adults overwhelmingly want to age in place, but their homes are often unsuited to aging, while rising home prices and a shortage of housing inventory makes it

Tech Pulse: eXp’s digital twin trend; lenders urged to build AI compliance

Welcome back to Tech Pulse — HousingWire‘s weekly series rounding up the latest in technology news, including tools, integrations and trends that impact mortgage and real estate. Here’s what happened this week: eXp Realty embraces digital twin tech to transform workflows eXp Realty isn’t dabbling in

What to expect next from The Builder’s Daily

No one in the homebuilding business I know is sitting around waiting for things to get easier. That’s not how this works. Not in 2025. Not when mortgage rates, insurance shocks, permitting delays, capital costs and housing politics are all pulling in different directions. Not when builders are expec