Lower’s John Berkowitz on building lead generation certainty with Movoto Advantage

After being acquired by mortgage lender Lower in May 2025, executives at real estate listing portal Movoto said they hoped to use Lower’s network to connect more consumers with top local real estate agents and mortgage professionals. This vision — which was first explained to HousingWire by John Ber

New Cheval Holdings acquires Surge, appoints Jimmy Gillespie as CEO

Surge, a partner intelligence platform for wholesale mortgage lenders, has been acquired by New Cheval Holdings as the wholesale channel faces tighter scrutiny on broker oversight and market share pressure from retail and direct-to-consumer lenders. The transaction brings dedicated ownership and ins

loanDepot, Figure team up on streamlined home loan and equity products

loanDepot announced Thursday that it has formed a strategic partnership with Figure Technology Solutions to power a new “express-path” home loan product through loanDepot’s mello platform. Under the agreement, loanDepot will integrate Figure’s proprietary credit and loan underwriting engine into its

Remodeler confidence slips but remains positive, NAHB reports

On Thursday, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) released its NAHB/Westlake Royal Remodeling Market Index (RMI) for the first quarter of 2026. The index reading of 62 was down two points from the previous quarter but remains firmly in positive territory. The NAHB/Westlake Royal RMI asks

Proprietary reverse mortgage volume eclipses HECM production for the first time

New View Advisors this week released its Proprietary Reverse Mortgage Production Index for the first quarter of 2026, with the data showing that private-label loan products have grown to new heights. The quarterly index provides an estimated dollar volume for newly originated proprietary reverse mor

Judge denies eXp bid to dismiss fraud claims in sexual misconduct case

A federal judge has denied eXp Realty’s request to dismiss a fraud claim brought by four women who say the company lied about investigating their allegations of sexual assault by two former agents. U.S. District Court Judge André Birotte Jr. ruled this week that the fraudulent misrepresentation clai

Milwaukee’s Luvene Realty Group moves to Compass from Keller Williams

Luvene Realty Group, a nine-person real estate team led by Shauny Luvene, has moved to Compass from Keller Williams and will be based out of Compass’s Bayside office in the Milwaukee metro area, the company announced on Thursday. The move comes as Compass International Holdings executives focus on i

Why real estate investors are done waiting

Picture this: a real estate investor has spent months trying to source the perfect fix and flip deal. The numbers work, the timing is right, and they’re ready to move, now they just need a lender to take them across the finish line. They find a lender offering slightly lower rates, which is appealin

Minimum residential lot size dispute heats up in a Texas county

A battle has brewed over residential lot sizes in Texas after Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law last year reducing them in the state’s biggest cities. Since the law didn’t apply statewide, Montgomery County, which abuts Houston, is trying again to increase its lot sizes after doing so last March. County

Tri Pointe Homes unveils its new wellness models in Utah

Tri Pointe Homes recently announced the launch of LivingWell, a new wellness concept that expands on its LivingSmart program. The initiative is part of a multilayered strategy to enhance mental and physical health through innovative design focused on performance and human-centered approaches.  The b

FNF adds nine senior title and agency professionals across New England

FNF Family of Companies has hired nine experienced professionals across its New England agency operations during the first quarter of 2026, adding senior underwriting and sales capacity in Massachusetts and the broader region, according to an announcement earlier this week. The additions, announced

Recruiting Insight launches agent persona framework for brokerage hiring

Recruiting Insight has released a new strategic guide, “Real Estate Personas and Avatars,” designed to help brokerage leaders diagnose agent motivations and tailor recruiting pitches to specific career stages, the company announced Monday. The framework, built from findings in the firm’s 2026 Agent

AI killed the real estate agent personal brand — now what?

Visibility used to win. Now it’s just noise. For the past 20 years, real estate agents have been told the same thing: build your personal brand. Post consistently. Shoot video. Be everywhere. The belief was simple — if people saw you often enough, they would eventually do business with you. And for

REMAX merger creates 400-agent firm in Arizona

REMAX Fine Properties and REMAX Solutions have merged to form a single brokerage operating across Arizona — combining more than 400 agents and 10 offices statewide. The unified company will operate under the REMAX Fine Properties name with offices in Avondale, Flagstaff Glendale, Munds Park, Peoria

Errol Samuelson: Zillow retools for AI-driven home search — and the agent stays central

Artificial intelligence is not only changing the way people search for and find information online, but it is also changing how they are searching for products and services, including their new home. Founded in 2006, Zillow has witnessed the housing industry develop from its early embrace of the int

Rocktop Technologies forms Rocktop Digital, names Brett Benson CEO

Rocktop Technologies has launched Rocktop Digital, a new business focused on digitizing and tokenizing mortgage and private credit assets to modernize how the assets are financed, owned and traded, the company announced Wednesday. As part of the launch, Dallas-based Rocktop Technologies promoted Bre

Housing market update: Regional fragmentation grows as rates pressure demand

The housing market update still looks relatively stable on the surface. Inventory rose to 723,460 single-family homes in the week ending April 3, while 34.44% of listings had price cuts and the weekly absorption rate came in at 10.49%. At the national level, the baseline is still holding. As Housing

Borrowers have a new agent. Is your organization built for it?

AI is shifting negotiating power from lenders to borrowers at scale. The institutions that restructure their workflows and tools to meet that reality will grow. The ones that don’t will feel it in pull-through rates before they understand why. For most of mortgage’s recent history, information asymm

Auction.com’s 2026 outlook reveals bearish home price expectations

Even though homebuying conditions have improved, the real estate investors closest to distressed housing are increasingly pessimistic about where home prices are headed next. That’s according to Auction.com‘s 2026 Buyer Outlook Report that was released Wednesday. The report is based on a survey of m

True Footage lands $40M Series C as appraisal industry hits ‘critical’ AI phase

True Footage has raised a $40 million Series C round led by Cox Enterprises’ Socium Ventures that will fund expansion of its staff appraiser model and its data and analytics platform for lenders and consumers. True Footage launched in 2021 with a thesis that appraisal quality and turn times could be