The GPS for equity: Building the industry’s first true navigation infrastructure

As automation reshapes mortgage operations, the industry’s next challenge is to help borrowers navigate the complex decisions that shape their lives—not just to close the loan faster.   For the better part of a decade, the mortgage industry has been obsessed with a single metric:  speed. We have pou

Home inspection trends reshaping the 2026 housing market

The home inspection industry is undergoing a quiet shift that directly impacts mortgage origination timelines, closing procedures, and lender risk assessment. As the owner of an inspection company, with over 3,000 inspections completed across Texas’s fastest-growing markets, I’m seeing trends that f

Weekly pending home sales show yearly growth as mortgage rates fall

A ton of housing data snapped back last week as it should have from the holiday-impacted week before: active inventory, new listings and weekly pending home sales all grew above trend. This usually happens when we have a major holiday the previous week that slows data, but mortgage rates have also f

Three lessons for mortgage leaders right now

I became a grandma recently, which has been equal parts magical … and also mildly humiliating. Because apparently, everything we did thirty years ago is now wrong. Like, way wrong. I marvel that my daughter survived to age one. Put the baby on their stomach? Wrong. Kiss that baby on the face? Not ye

RealTrends Verified top performers prove there’s no one way to scale

While many of the same real estate firms may grace the top echelons of the RealTrends Verified Rankings year after year, that is where, at least for many of these firms, the similarities between them end. From cloud-based to franchise networks, specializations and network approaches the top performi

Real estate tech shifting from Swiss Army knives to scalpels

For nearly two decades, real estate technology followed a predictable playbook: Build an all-in-one platform that does everything, with the CRM, dialer, transaction management and nurture campaigns all under one roof. But a quiet reversal is underway. A growing number of agents, teams and brokerages

Tri Pointe Homes shareholders approve merger with Sumitomo Forestry

Tri Pointe Homes shareholders overwhelmingly voted to approved the previously announced merger with Japanese firm Sumitomo Forestry during a special meeting of stockholders held on Thursday.  While the deal is not yet finalized, the acquisition is expected to close sometime during the second quarter

HOA liens climb 8.6% nationwide in 2025, with Sun Belt states feeling the most heat

Homeowners associations (HOAs) filed 284,933 liens against U.S. homeowners in 2025 — an 8.6% increase from the 262,446 filings in 2024 and the equivalent of roughly one lien recorded every 90 seconds — according to property records compiled by Benutech. An HOA lien is a legal claim placed on a prope

Portable credit reports spark debate over costs, feasibility

While the mortgage industry lobbies to reduce credit report costs, the idea of allowing borrowers to use the same file across multiple lenders has slowly emerged. In this consumer-controlled portable credit report model, borrowers would authorize the use of a single credit report during their mortga

Virginia governor’s amendments keep Faith in Housing Act in limbo

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger left in limbo legislation that would let faith-based organizations build affordable housing on their land without rezoning. Instead of vetoing or signing the Faith in Housing Act, Spanberger recommended changes. The recommendations keep the bill’s core intact but mak

America’s housing shortage stems from more than overregulation, Fed report finds

The U.S. housing market is chronically underbuilt, resulting in a decades-long shortage. Burdensome regulations take part of the blame, but they are not the only cause. A new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis indicates that regulations are just one piece of the puzzle. Labor shortage

Dark Matter’s Vikas Rao on the nature of shifting mortgage work in the era of AI

On Thursday, Dark Matter Technologies announced the promotion of Vikas Rao from chief technology officer to CEO, with Rao replacing Sean Dugan. At the same time, the Florida-headquartered company announced layoffs impacting 5% of its workforce. The roles affected were not immediately announced. Rao,

Maine becomes first state to impose consumer safeguards on home equity investments

Maine Gov. Janet Mills this week signed LD 1901, making Maine the first state to enact comprehensive consumer protections for home equity investments (HEIs), which the new law defines as “shared appreciation mortgage loans.” The bill, titled “An Act to Regulate Shared Appreciation Agreements Relatin

Culture isn’t what you say. It’s what you do

Culture isn’t something you define once. It’s something you prove every day through what you reward, what you allow, and what you model when no one’s watching. That distinction matters because most organizations treat culture as a document. They write the values, post them on the wall, and move on.

The rise of HELOCs: What it means for originators in today’s market

As interest rates remain elevated compared to historic, pandemic-era lows, many homeowners are rethinking how to access cash without giving up the favorable rates they locked in just a few years ago. For originators, that shift is creating a clear opportunity. Demand for home equity lines of credit

Chain reaction: A framework for America’s housing and retirement crises

The American Dream has a math problem. Millions can’t afford homes. Those who can, can’t find them. And many who already own don’t have enough saved to retire. It’s gridlock, compounding and dangerous enough to stifle homeownership as a pathway to stability, wealth creation, and retirement longevity

MBA chief economist says mortgage rates, inflation will stay elevated through 2026

Mortgage rates and inflation are expected to remain elevated through 2026 as pressures tied to geopolitical tensions keep Federal Reserve rate cuts on hold. That’s according to Mike Fratantoni, chief economist and senior vice president of research and business development at the Mortgage Bankers Ass

California lawmakers weigh state-backed loans for downtown housing towers

California lawmakers are weighing yet another tool in the housing toolbox to jumpstart high-rise construction in the state’s largest downtown areas. Assembly Bill 2074, dubbed the Downtown Revitalization Act, would ease approvals and offer state-backed, low-interest financing near major transit hubs

White House backs deregulation as it looks to address estimated 10M housing deficit

The White House estimates that the U.S. has a housing shortage of 10 million single-family homes, according to the annual Economic Report of the President released on Monday. This shortage is largely a product of overregulation, the report claims. To combat the housing deficit, White House economist

Brynn Carmody’s burnout as a real estate agent sparked an AI platform for the entire industry

In the male-dominated space of real estate tech companies, 26-year-old Brynn Carmody stands out.  “It is definitely hard walking into serious spaces like AI and being taken seriously,” Carmody said. “I’m young, I’m a woman and it’s a bootstrapped company, so I don’t have those typical signals people