May 2025

Confidence among U.S. homebuilders took a significant hit in May 2025 as ongoing economic headwinds -- including high interest rates, trade policy uncertainty, and volatile material costs -- continue to dampen sentiment across the residential construction industry. According to the latest National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) released today, builder sentiment...

Butterfly bushes do attract pollinators but they also have some big...

Want to get away in the garden without feeling completely cut off? Voluminous plantings are your ticket. Billowy grasses, bushy foliage and well-placed trees can hide seating from the street and neighbors’ eyes as well as other parts of the yard, creating luxurious-feeling escapes in not much...

One of the lesser known storylines in housing economics is that the improvement in mortgage spreads since 2023 has contributed to a noticeable trend in purchase application data for 2025, which is now showing 15 consecutive weeks of positive year-over-year growth.  Mortgage spreads recently turned negative due to market volatility, which resulted in an increase of 20 to 25 basis points in mortgage...

Mortgage professionals are navigating one of the most challenging origination markets in recent history. Still, cutting mortgage rates would not be the end-all solution to pacify markets that many claim it to be. While lower rates might temporarily ease borrower costs or support home purchases, they would also expose the housing industry to further risk without meaningfully addressing core issues, like...

While cross-country skiing in the 1940s, a group of idealistic young architects working with modernist Walter Gropius at The Architects Collaborative (TAC) came across a hilly, rocky undeveloped piece of land. Once a farm, the Lexington, Massachusetts, property had a barn with six cars made by...

Reverse mortgage originators often remain a key point of contact for their clients from initial consultation to long after the loan closes. But getting to the closing table can come with its own set of unique challenges, whether it comes from rules that govern the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program or the potential bias of an appraiser. This message was shared by a panel of reverse mortgage...

After an initial rejection and amendment of its required Hurricane Helene recovery plan as it seeks more than $200 million in federal funds, the City of Asheville, North Carolina’s revised plan has received approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In March, HUD rejected Asheville’s initial draft action plan, a required step to access the $225 million in Community...

Lone Wolf Technologies is reportedly discontinuing LionDesk, the customer relationship management (CRM) platform it acquired in 2021. LionDesk will remain operational through September, giving users time to migrate their data and transition to Lone Wolf’s new CRM known as Relationships. Customers will be able to transfer their contacts and are being offered accounts with full migration support,...

Social Security benefits are often a key for older Americans as they seek to determine how much money they will be able to live on in retirement. But the program has been a source of stress in the federal government for years, exacerbated by the unwillingness of lawmakers to make any major changes to the highly popular — and very expensive — social safety net. But the discussion taking place...