AI’s housing impact is strong — but highly localized

Artificial intelligence (AI) and broader tech investment is reshaping broad swaths of the U.S. economy, but its impact on housing is proving far from uniform. HousingWire Data updated July 25 shows a growing divide between markets where AI wealth is supporting demand and those where even strong tech

Green Brick seizes a margin edge as a land and product outlier

While many homebuilders battle a gross margin slippery slope from the 20s into the mid-teens, Green Brick Partners is fairly striding against the tide.  During the company’s Q2 earnings call on Thursday, executives said its gross profit margin expanded to 29.8% in Q2, down 150 basis points from a ye

Regulators move to narrow CRA, drawing fire from advocates

Federal banking regulators released a Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) proposal Friday that narrows how banks earn credit for community development while raising asset thresholds for small and midsized institutions. The plan drew immediate criticism from consumer and housing advocates. The Federal D

Retired judges challenge Tuccori opt-in commission suit settlements

Although a date has been set for a final approval hearing, the real estate brokerages and associations that settled the homebuyer commission lawsuits through the Tuccori suit’s opt-in settlement may still face some challenges.  The latest of these challenges is that earlier this week by four retired

Who decides where listings show up, Zillow, Compass or the MLS?

The briefs are in. The witnesses are done. A federal judge in Chicago now holds the question the whole industry keeps asking: who controls where a listing gets seen? Here is the part no ruling will answer for you. Zillow, Compass and Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) spent the first half of July tradi

Fed hawks are on the war path, sending mortgage rates higher

Today the 10-year yield hit a yearly high of 4.74% and mortgage rates rose six basis points to 6.83% (as of this writing), as all the Federal Reserve hawks came out to play, and they were not taking a page from Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s playbook. They want their voices heard loud and clear — and they

Unsustainable US construction demand is impeding housing market success

The AI boom over the last few years has created a new class of exceedingly wealthy technology innovators, investors and employees. Compounded with a bullish stock market and IPOs like SpaceX sending employees into affluence within days, it comes as no surprise there’s increasing demand for complex,

Proprietary reverse mortgages are outpacing HECMs. It’s time to raise the bar on fee transparency. 

Recently, a woman contacted me after her daughter encouraged her to get a second opinion before closing on a reverse mortgage. She had already chosen a lender, attended reverse mortgage counseling, completed her application and was ready to move forward. She simply wanted someone to review the numbe

The mortgage industry has been focusing on only half the market

For decades, the mortgage industry has focused on helping consumers buy and refinance homes. It’s where lenders have built their businesses, where technology has evolved and where most originators have spent their careers. But that’s only half the market. Every day, homeowners move into a new phase

FirstTeam and Purlin on avoiding AI mistakes: ‘Some stuff actually creates more work’

FirstTeam Real Estate, a California powerhouse that reported $6.12 billion in 2025 volume across 5,978 transactions — good enough for national ranks of No. 34 and No. 67, respectively — has partnered with Purlin to deploy an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered operating system across the brokerage.

Medicare Part D support cut amid rising retiree costs

As older Americans continue to grapple with escalating housing expenses, a higher overall cost of living and growing health care costs, new Medicare Part D figures for 2027 could further influence household budgets. Adding to that financial picture, the Trump administration announced it will end a t

LPT Realty set to go public after parent files IPO paperwork

LPT Aperture Holdings, the parent company of LPT Realty and Aperture Global Real Estate, has confidentially submitted a draft registration statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a proposed initial public offering (IPO) of its common stock, the company announced on Thursday. Th

Chris Gallo enters guilty plea in federal mortgage fraud case

Christopher Gallo, once one of the nation’s top mortgage loan officers, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud in a federal court in New Jersey, according to court filings reviewed by HousingWire. Gallo entered the guilty plea to count one of the indictment — conspiracy to commit bank

Optimal Blue integrates VantageScore 4.0 into pricing, hedging and trading workflows

VantageScore 4.0, the credit scoring model that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are transitioning to for agency mortgages, is now integrated into Optimal Blue’s end-to-end capital markets platform, the companies announced Thursday. The integration makes VantageScore 4.0 available across Optimal Blue’s pr

You can recruit talent, but you have to build culture

People matter in the title and real estate settlement service business. Relationships matter. Experience matters. A strong escrow officer or title professional can move revenue and change how a customer feels about the most important transaction of their life.So, the competition for talent is fierce

The hidden housing multiplier: Why one better buyer match can unlock the next listing

Everyone agrees that housing has a supply problem. But the industry measures supply mainly by counting units and listings, while nearly everyone surrounding a housing transaction earns revenue from movement: applications, showings, contracts, loans, inspections, appraisals, title orders and closings

Pennymac profit drops in Q2 as rates bite, layoffs follow

PennyMac Financial Services on Wednesday reported second-quarter 2026 net income of $22 million, down 84% from a year earlier and sharply lower than its first-quarter net income of $82.3 million, as higher interest rates reduced mortgage production volume and weighed on profitability. The company’s

Hawks Lorie Logan and Beth Hammack run the Fed for now 

Today the Federal Reserve decided not to hike rates, but the hawks have moved their chess pieces: three Fed members wanted to hike rates at this meeting, which means September is in play for the first rate hike after the cut cycle ended. However, the long end of the bond market has already done the

Homes.com helps drive CoStar to first profitable residential quarter

CoStar Group reported an 18% year-over-year revenue increase for the second quarter ended June 30 — reaching $925 million compared to $781 million in the same period last year. Leaders said growth was driven by major technological expansions, increased platform engagement and significant operational

Cloze unveils app to capture, organize open house leads

Cloze has introduced an Open House app for its Enterprise customers that automatically captures visitor information at property showings and feeds it into the company’s customer relationship management system, aiming to simplify follow-up with prospective buyers. The app replaces traditional paper s