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...

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...

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...

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...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), under the leadership of acting director Russell Vought, is continuing to assess regulations it deems outdated or unnecessary. To that end, the bureau published a notice in the Federal Register this week that seeks to rescind a 2021 rule which “temporarily permitted mortgage servicers to offer certain loan modifications made available to borrowers...

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,...

Dare we say it? Wallpaper borders are in style...

We love that they’re motion-activated,...