Judge rejects bid to cut CFPB funding

A federal judge has ruled that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) must continue getting its funding from the Federal Reserve, dealing a setback to Trump administration efforts to effectively shut down the agency. The ruling Friday by U.S. District Judge Edward Davila in San Jose blocks

Two Harbors postpones vote on UWM merger after quorum miss

A special Two Harbors Investment Corp. (TWO) shareholder meeting to vote on its proposed acquisition by United Holding Corp., the parent of United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), lacked a quorum Monday morning, forcing the company to reschedule the vote for March 24. “The TWO board of directors determined

AI won’t replace real estate agents, but it will widen the gap between average and elite

We’ve all experienced take-it-or-leave-it tech: Systems and platforms that some real estate agents swear by and other agents ignore. Maybe it makes you more productive (if you use it consistently), but it’s no real loss if you don’t. That’s not the case with artificial intelligence. As the consumers

CoStar names tech executive Nana Banerjee to board as independent director

CoStar Group has added a new independent director to its board of directors. On Monday, the Andy Florance-helmed firm announced the appointment of Nana Banerjee to the firm’s board of directors. Banerjee’s appointment expands the board to nine members, including eight independent directors.  “On beh

The hidden tax of being always available in real estate

When every deal feels personal, even winning gets expensive. There is a particular look you start to recognize once you have been around the real estate industry long enough. You know the one. That steely, thousand-yard stare that comes from decades of real estate. It shows up at open houses around

Win the war before you pour the foundation: The strategic power of public financing

In the homebuilding business, the war is often won or lost before a single foundation is poured. The real battle takes place in conference rooms and municipal offices, where the language of annexation agreements, development agreements and special district financing documents gets hammered out. Smar

Why most brokerages scale for revenue but fail to profit

In real estate, growth is often measured by one number. Volume. More agents.More transactions.More gross commission income (GCI). On paper, it looks impressive. The brokerage is “scaling.” But behind the scenes? Profit margins are shrinking. This is one of the most common and costly mistakes for Bro

From loan pools to consumer wallets: The ripple effects of credit score lender choice

On January 15, 2026, the FHFA provided documentation to the Housing Policy Council (HPC) in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made in July of 2023.  Those documents, though redacted, clearly indicated that the GSEs did not recommend approving two scores as was directed by the F

Housing demand still positive, but for how long with rising rates?

Lower mortgage rates and less volatility have been one of the key positive stories in 2026 for the housing market. Until last week, rates were under 6.25% all year and we didn’t see much volatility, which is a key variable for a healthy housing market. However, a lot of that changed last week as the

Local investors outpace builders in delivering starter homes

New Western released a new report examining the role of real estate investors in supplying entry-level housing. It found that small investors added far more homes in the starter-home price range than homebuilders in 2025. The company’s 2026 Flip Side Report on residential real estate investing trend

Trump executive orders target housing supply and mortgage credit

President Donald Trump on Friday announced two executive orders that aim to increase the U.S. housing supply and consumer access to mortgage credit. One of the orders directs various federal agencies — including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Federal Housing Finan

Trump executive order targets regulatory barriers to homebuilding

The White House announced on Friday afternoon its effort to challenge what it calls “unnecessary regulatory barriers” to homebuilding by issuing a broad executive order to reduce environmental, permitting and programmatic restrictions that federal officials say are contributing to the nation’s housi

Realtor.com data challenges effectiveness of Senate ban on big home investors

In the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, overwhelmingly approved by the Senate on Thursday, is a provision titled, “Homes Are for People, Not Corporations.” This provision seeks to impose new restrictions on institutional investors in the single-family housing market. Under the provision, entities o

Federal judge blocks DOJ subpoenas targeting Federal Reserve Chair Powell

A federal judge on Friday blocked subpoenas that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) served the Federal Reserve in a case involving Jerome Powell’s Congressional testimony on the central bank’s headquarters renovation, concluding the effort appeared designed to “harass and pressure” him to lower in

Contrarian Smith Douglas leans into its system, goes for market share

Uncertainty, margin compression and the gut-check math of affordability are the givens of a new-home market impatiently waiting for relief on at least one of those three fronts.  Most public homebuilders – facing this indefinite limbo – are doing the same thing: slowing down. Production starts are t

Is Opendoor playing the builder rate buydown game?

iBuyer Opendoor’s recently launched mortgage product — which promises below-market interest rates after the company removed its markup — has sparked debate across the industry about who absorbs the cost and whether the model is sustainable. Some industry professionals view the offering as similar to

The private listings war is escalating. Here’s the compromise that could save our industry

The private listings debate just got louder. Howard Hanna Real Estate Services has launched HannaList, an internal listing network that allows Howard Hanna agents to share listings exclusively with Howard Hanna buyer agents before those properties ever reach the MLS. Combined with what Compass has b

NFM Lending adds high-producing South Carolina LO Phil Crescenzo Jr.

Phil Crescenzo Jr., a high-producing loan officer in South Carolina, is joining NFM Lending. The move was announced Friday on social media by NFM managing director Greg Sher. Crescenzo comes to NFM after a two-year stint as Southeast division manager for Nation One Mortgage Corp. His prior experienc

Compass names Shay Artzi CTO to unify agent technology platform

With the closure of its merger with Anywhere Real Estate now in the rearview mirror, Compass International Holdings (CIH) is looking to get all 340,000 real estate professionals under its all-in-one technology platform. On Friday, the firm announced that Shay Artzi will spearhead this effort in his

The senior housing bottleneck is a mortgage market issue hiding in plain sight

For years, the housing industry anticipated that the aging demographic would steadily release inventory into the resale market. Instead, many older homeowners are remaining in place longer than expected — and the reasons go far beyond sentiment. As someone who began my career building a mortgage len