2026

Ten years after: Schaefer Homes revs up its engines for growth

After spending much of its first decade laying the groundwork for growth, Maryland-based Schaefer Homes emerged as the eighth-fastest-growing homebuilder by residential sales volume in HousingWire’s inaugural HousingWire Homebuilder Rankings.  Jim Schaefer, CEO of Schaefer Homes, founded the company in 2016 after several years in finance. Schaefer, a third-generation builder, initially operated the...

Berkshire Taylor Morrison deal puts vertical integration in focus

Berkshire Hathaway’s planned acquisition of Taylor Morrison has opened the door for us to explore a set of uber-themed questions: about homebuilders’ present and future valuations, leadership and scale, and to the question that public homebuilder boards may now be asking: whether to build toward greater scale or join it. A related question may be harder to answer, because it dwells in an...

Achieve expands fixed-rate HELOC with $700,000 cap

Achieve has expanded its fixed-rate home equity line of credit (HELOC) program, raising the maximum loan amount to $700,000 and lowering its lowest available annual percentage rate to 5.5% for qualified borrowers, the digital personal finance company said Wednesday. The changes, which took effect June 2, also increase borrowing flexibility by allowing qualified homeowners to access up to 90% of their...

Secondary mortgage market waits for data, creates workarounds amid shift to alternative credit scores

Mortgage lenders are rolling out new credit scoring models, but in the secondary market, investors and credit rating agencies are awaiting additional performance data while developing workarounds to keep loans moving through the system. Susan Hosterman, senior director for North America RMBS and covered bonds at Fitch Ratings, said the company can currently rate securitizations that feature the new...

NALHFA: HUD cuts would worsen housing affordability challenges

Affordable housing advocates are warning that proposed reductions to several key U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs could make it harder for communities to address persistent affordability challenges and expand housing supply. The National Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies (NALHFA), which represents state and local agencies that finance affordable housing...

What $3.6M gets you just outside Boston: A pool, basketball court, and a mini mansion for guests

Every now and then, a property comes along that feels like somebody made a list of luxury-home wish-list items and simply checked all of them off. Swimming pool? Check. Movie theater? Check. Basketball court? Check. Guest house? Absolutely. And not just any guest house. The detached residence at 7 Freeman Street is so substantial that in many parts of the country, it would qualify as a perfectly...

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