Bonus Homes lands in Phoenix, unveils home equity release option

Bonus Homes, a real estate technology and investment firm, announced on Tuesday plans to open its headquarters in the Greater Phoenix area after raising $65.5 million in seed funding. A press release from the company said that the seed funding is from Solyco Capital, Redwood Trust, Nextview Ventures

NAR faces new antitrust suit over alleged steering

A broker in Florida is suing the National Association of Realtors (NAR), along with state and local associations and MLSs, for alleged antitrust violations and steering homebuyers into using buyer’s agents.  Filed late last week by Jorge A. Zea in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of

Ex-GSE risk chief makes case for Fannie-Freddie merger

Clifford Rossi speaks from the vantage point of someone who has been inside the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs). In different periods during the 1990s and 2000s, he served as a senior financial economist at Fannie Mae and as senior director of single-family risk management at Freddie Mac. Ro

First American launches monthly rent automated valuation model

First American Data & Analytics has released an automated valuation model that estimates monthly rent for residential properties nationwide. The product — called Procision Rental AVM — updates daily on roughly 100 million properties, including single-family homes, condominiums and homes in planned-u

Mortgage rates continue their slow march toward 6%

Housing market dynamics have grown more favorable for buyers and sellers in August, and it’s possible that the fall of 2025 could see even better conditions if mortgage rates return to 6%. But they haven’t approached that level in nearly a year and haven’t been consistently below that threshold sinc

NAR faces appeal of Eytalis antitrust suit

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) must face yet another appeal of a suit it was dismissed from earlier this summer. On Monday, plaintiff Luz de Amor Eytalis filed an appeal of the dismissal of her lawsuit against NAR, Paragon MLS Connect, Wichita Falls Association of Realtors and Texas Asso

Forged deed and mortgage fraud cost Georgia couple their home

A Georgia couple lost their longtime family home after a forged deed led to a reverse mortgage they claimed they never signed, according to reporting from WSB-TV. James and Lucretia Klucken said they began receiving notices in 2019 about repayment on a $50,000 reverse mortgage tied to James’ family

Why are some vendors dragging their feet on the ICE SDK transition?

It isn’t news that ICE Mortgage Technology had planned to shut down some of its older tech systems — mainly the Encompass SDK — by Oct. 31, 2025. Users were supposed to switch to newer, API-based technology called Encompass Partner Connect (EPC) by that deadline. Now, the Halloween deadline has been

IMBs swing back to profitability in Q2 with $950 per-loan gain

Independent mortgage banks (IMBs) delivered a pretax net production profit of $950 per loan in the second quarter of 2025, rebounding from a $28 loss in the prior quarter. The improvement was fueled by seasonality, cost reductions and higher average loan balances. The data, released on Tuesday, come

As reverse mortgage demand grows, lenders may need more personnel

Consumer demand for reverse mortgage products is expected to rise as the population ages more quickly. According to estimates from Business Research Insights, the global market is currently valued at $2 billion and could reach $3.2 billion by 2033. More business is likely to push reverse mortgage co

Inside Real Estate puts forth AI-powered home search platform

Inside Real Estate has released HomeSearch AI — a new search and client engagement platform designed to let users input natural language to find listings and help real estate professionals reengage dormant leads. The platform incorporates technology from ListAssist — a company Inside Real Estate acq

RE/MAX turns to Vic Lombardo to scale Motto Mortgage, wemlo

RE/MAX Holdings has appointed Vic Lombardo as its president of mortgage services. Lombardo will succeed Ward Morrison to oversee mortgage brokerage franchise brand Motto Mortgage and third-party processing solution wemlo, the company announced on Monday. Lombardo brings more than two decades of expe

Caliber Home Loans fined $2.3M for overcharging California borrowers

The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) confirmed on Monday that it has reached a $2.3 million settlement with former mortgage lender and servicer Caliber Home Loans Inc. California regulators found that in 2016, Caliber overcharged borrowers per diem interest and lat

Greystone’s $103M affordable housing fund to support rental units in six states

New York-based Greystone Real Estate Capital has closed its first affordable housing fund, raising $103 million to finance nearly 1,000 rental units across six states. The fund — called Greystone Affordable Housing Fund I LP — will support a total of 11 developments in Louisiana, Massachusetts, Miss

VA loan homebuyers navigate NAR settlement with ease

As the real estate industry prepared for the business practice changes outlined in the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) nationwide commission lawsuit settlement agreement, one of the biggest questions was how the changes would impact veteran homebuyers wishing to use their loan benefit from t

WFG National Title launches Agent 3.0 with AI, automation focus

WFG National Title Insurance Co. has introduced Agent 3.0, which will offer users expanded options for artificial intelligence (AI) and automation. The program follows rollout of Agent 2.0 earlier this year, which emphasized personalized support and growth tools for title agents. Leaders said Agent

HUD’s English-only policy slams the door on the American Dream

“One voice” or no voice at all? As of August 2025, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is officially enforcing an English-only policy across its operations. Under direction from the Trump administration’s executive order that declared English the “official language” of the Uni

Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett bets big on homebuilders

Businessman and investment icon Warren Buffett is making waves in the housing industry. Documents filed last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed that Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has made major investments in homebuilders Lennar and D.R. Horton.  According to the filing,

New-home purchase mortgage demand kept growing in July

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)’s Builder Application Survey data for July 2025, released on Monday, shows that mortgage applications for new-home purchases increased 6.8% compared from a year ago. Compared to June 2025, applications increased by 7%. This change does not include any adjustmen

Mortgage spreads cushion mortgage rates against warm inflation data

Inflation data was warm last week, but mortgage rates remain near their lowest levels for 2025 because mortgage spreads continue to outperform. Last week featured a hot Producer Price Index (PPI) report and a core Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate of 3.1% year-over-year, and still — mortgage