April 2025

Experts weigh usefulness of exclusive listings

Office exclusives are becoming an increasingly significant segment of the Bright MLS marketplace, according to a recent Bright MLS study examining their impact on the broader housing market. While they previously accounted for only 2% to 4% of listings, that share surged to nearly 8% of new listings by February 2025. This shift is prompting real estate professionals and consumers alike to reevaluate...

Longbridge has a new addition to its proprietary reverse mortgage suite

Following other recent proprietary product development news, Longbridge Financial announced on Friday the launch of a new variation for its private fixed-rate reverse mortgage offering. The Platinum Peak product suite aims to offer higher available loan-to-value (LTV) ratios, which are designed to translate into higher loan proceeds for borrowers, according to the announcement. The Peak variation also...

The lean, mean (illegal?) 1099 LO machine

An illustration of a mortgage executive losing a top-producing LO who wishes to become a 1099 LO. Illustration made with ChatGPT A source called with what sounded like big news. One of the bigger players in the wholesale space was soon going to require that all broker LOs be paid as W2s. Doing so would close what he described as the “1099 loophole.”It turned out not to be true (nothing has changed...

U.S. Mortgage Rates Tick Down Post Trump Tariffs Commencement

According to the latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey from Freddie Mac, the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage in the U.S. currently stands at 6.64% as of April 3, 2025. Sam Khater "Over the past month, the 30-year fixed-rate has remained relatively stable, with only minor fluctuations. This consistency is encouraging, and we're seeing a corresponding increase in purchase application...

Trump spares homebuilders on Canadian and Mexican imports, but China’s tariff hits hard

President Donald Trump ended months of suspense on Wednesday by announcing his long-awaited new tariff regime, and the result is mixed for homebuilders. The good news is Trump didn’t place any new tariffs on goods from Canada or Mexico. He’s also allowing the one-month pause on tariffs for some goods from those countries to continue, with an unspecified end date. The bad news for homebuilders is...

Judge rules in favor of Ginnie Mae in lawsuit brought by Texas Capital Bank

A lawsuit over rights to reverse mortgage-backed collateral stemming from the collapse of a major industry lender has been brought to an end with a summary judgment, but the plaintiffs in the case have vowed to appeal the decision. The suit was filed by Texas Capital Bank (TCB) against Ginnie Mae in late 2023. The bank alleged that Ginnie Mae had “extinguished, in return for no consideration, TCB’s...

FOA enlists new marketing agency in renewed push

Top-five reverse mortgage lender Finance of America (FOA) has enlisted creative advertising agency David&Goliath (D&G) to serve as its new creative agency of record (AOR), following a competitive process including several other candidate agencies. The company — which formally announced the arrangement on Thursday — includes business and brand strategy, creative development and industry...

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