A firefighter and his pregnant wife were unable to buy a two-bedroom home in the neighborhood where they grew up; two teachers had dashed dreams of owning their bungalow near the school where they work. These are just two examples of the heartbreaking scenarios you hear about in the real estate business. It’s no secret […]
Below is a timeline of the actions or reports related to Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte that have impacted the regulator or the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since Pulte was announced as President Donald Trump’s nominee for the role in January and took office in March. January/February Trump
Updated list of Bill Pulte’s actions that impact FHFA, GSEs Read More »
The dedicated reverse mortgage development workgroup inside the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO) has been working diligently for much of the past year to develop holistic support for reverse programs across new and existing MISMO subscribers. It’s also working to publish data in an industry-standard format to increase efficiency among stakeholders. George Morales, the
MISMO reverse mortgage workgroup chair on ‘building a bridge to the mainland’ Read More »
Roughly 56% of professional home remodelers in the U.S. reported taking on projects to facilitate a customer’s aging-in-place goals, according to findings from the National Association of Home Builders‘ (NAHB) Q1 2025 Remodeling Market Index (RMI). The survey first added questions related to aging in place beginning in 2004. The first-quarter 2025 results are the
NAHB: Remodeling for aging in place fell in Q1 but receptivity remains high Read More »
Welcome to Tech Pulse — a new weekly series rounding up the latest in technology, including tools, integrations and trends impacting mortgage and real estate. Here’s what happened this week: Fannie Mae partners with Palantir to detect, prevent mortgage fraud Fannie Mae has teamed up with Palantir Technologies to crack down on mortgage fraud. The
Tech Pulse: Fannie Mae targets fraud, DirectOffer launches AI assistant Read More »
Following the wildfires that devastated the Los Angeles area at the start of the year, a new study has emerged that suggests banks with physical locations are less likely to extend mortgages to impacted residents, while online lenders are continuing to be active. First reported by the The Washington Post, the study — published on
Study suggests banks are avoiding mortgages in California wildfire zones Read More »
The good news is the preferred measure of inflation for the Federal Reserve keeps trending downward. The bad news is that the economic backdrop that could lead to lower rates keeps getting more complicated. According to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index for April rose
Inflation is almost at 2%. Will that prompt a Fed rate cut? Read More »
Zown, a real estate platform that offers upfront financial help to homebuyers, is expanding into California with a goal to ease the burden of down payments and elevated home prices. The service has launched in the Golden State after gaining traction in Canada, where it supported more than 250 homebuyers and facilitated $300 million-plus in
New platform aims to ease California down payment burden Read More »
The U.S. housing market is telling two very different stories as pandemic-era boomtowns are cooling rapidly while the Sun Belt’s long-term growth outlook remains strong, according to John Burns Research & Consulting. A surge in available homes is reshaping the market in regions that saw the fastest growth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nationally, the number
Sun Belt holds long-term housing edge even as pandemic boomtowns struggle Read More »
A key decision maker in the federal housing apparatus, the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) oversees the regulator of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) and the Federal Home Loan Banks. But Bill Pulte has been anything but a conventional FHFA director (pardon the term, since we’re not talking about conforming loan limits just
How Bill Pulte has reshaped FHFA and the GSEs Read More »