2025

Reston, Virginia-based mortgage software company RETR announced this week that it has hired two new senior leaders to guide the company’s growth efforts. Heidi Iverson is the company’s new vice president of growth and Anthony Savala is the new vice president of sales. Both are joining the firm effective April 7, RETR co-founder and CEO Steven Wynands said. “We feel so lucky that Heidi and...

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...

Industry pros say these kitchen updates have the biggest return on...

This Trending Now story features the most-saved home office photos uploaded to Houzz between Dec. 15, 2024, and March 15, 2025.Whether working remotely or managing household tasks, everyone needs a quiet spot to concentrate at home. But while individual needs may...

Image Lodging/resorts REITs specialize in the ownership of hospitality properties, including hotels, resorts, and vacation...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Mark Fleming, chief economist at First American, argues that failing to account for the growing number of U.S. households gives a misleading impression of housing market strength. “If we look at existing-home sales as a percentage of the total number of households over time, we see that sales are down to the same levels as the early 1990s, just above 3%, and well below the long-run average of 4.1%,”...