Housing Wire

JANUARY 3, 2025

The California Department of Insurance unveiled a new regulation this week that aims to increase homeowners insurance coverage in areas prone to wildfires , a response to the recent pullback in policies by several major insurers. Announced by California insurance commissioner Ricardo Lara on Monday, the regulation is under administrative review and is set to take effect by the end of January, according to reporting by The Associated Press (AP).

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Housing Wire

MARCH 24, 2025

Home sellers who did not list their properties on the MLS lost out on more than $1 billion in sale proceeds over the past two years, according to a study published Monday by Zillow. The study also found that these losses were deepest in communities of color. Zillow defined communities of color as ZIP codes where a majority of households are headed by Blacks , Hispanics , Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders or Native Americans.

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Housing Wire

JANUARY 9, 2025

Several fires burning more than 45 square miles in the Los Angeles area have forced more than 100,000 residents from their homes and killed five people, The Associated Press reported on Thursday. Nearly 2,000 homes, businesses and other structures have been destroyed, with many displaced residents scouting for rental properties and temporary shelter.

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Housing Wire

MARCH 15, 2025

Earlier this year, when mortgage rates soared to 7.26%, a cloud of worry hung over the housing market many feared that home sales would tumble in 2025, fueled by concerns about inflation and tariffs. But when it seemed doom and gloom would prevail, the 10-year yield dropped, pulling mortgage rates lower in a lovely slow dance. This unexpected turn of events breathed new life into the market, pushing purchase application data into positive territory for the year.

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Mortgages Sales Marketing As-is 536

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Development

Housing Wire

MARCH 30, 2025

Homeowner delinquency rates are rising from record low levels but arent even back to pre-COVID-19 levels yet. This weekend, there has been a lot of discussion on social media surrounding homeowners’ delinquency data. This situation has prompted me to write this article and bring some reality into this discussion because the narrative being pushed is simply not true.

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Housing Wire

MARCH 31, 2025

Rocket Companies is buying Mr. Cooper , America’s largest mortgage servicer, in a market-shattering deal that could reshape the mortgage industry for years to come. The Detroit-based fintech , which is also in the midst of acquiring real estate brokerage and home search portal Redfin for $1.75 billion , is paying an equity value of $9.4 billion in stock, the companies said in a statement early Monday morning.

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Housing Wire

MARCH 17, 2025

Not wasting any time following his Senate confirmation last week, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte made a series of major changes to the boards of government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The news was first reported by Inside Mortgage Finance.

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Finance Development Mortgages As-is 511

Housing Wire

MARCH 12, 2025

Mortgage applications increased 11.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from last week, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Associations (MBA) weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending March 7, 2025. On an unadjusted basis, the index increased 12% compared to last week. The refinance index saw a 16% uptick from the previous week and was 90% higher than the same week one year ago, largely driven by a dip in the 30-year fixed rate observed by the MBA.

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Fixed-rate mortgage Mortgages Loans Marketing 435

Housing Wire

JANUARY 16, 2025

The 10-year yield and mortgage rates have been on a wild ride lately, even testing my top-end forecast at 7.25%, but today, the 10-year yield fell after remarks by Fed President Chris Waller about whether the Fed would do even more rate cuts than the market was anticipating. His statement on this, in a CNBC interview : If inflation continues on this path through the beginning of 2025, it’s reasonable to think that possibly rate cuts could happen in the first half of the year.” This w

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Mortgages Residential Construction Marketing 511

Speaker: Abdi Ali, Sr. Lease Accounting Consultant

Join this insightful webinar with industry expert Abdi Ali, who will discuss the challenges that can arise from managing lease accounting with spreadsheets! He will share real-world examples of errors, compliance issues, and risks that may be present within your spreadsheets. Learn how these tools, while useful, can sometimes lead to inefficiencies that affect your time, resources, and peace of mind.

Industrial

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 17, 2025

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that he wants to eliminate property taxes in the state. In a post on X, the governor said that taxing land/property “is the more oppressive and ineffective” form of taxation. “Property taxes are local, not state. So wed need to do a constitutional amendment (requires 60% of voters to approve) to eliminate them (which I would support) or even to reform/lower them We should put the boldest amendment on the ballot that has a chance of getting that 60

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Housing Wire

JANUARY 27, 2025

Todays new home sales report beat market expectations, just like last weeks existing home sales report. However, a detailed analysis of the data explains why housing permits continue to remain at recession-level figures. Builders are struggling to get clarity on how many homes they can sell in this rate environment in the future. Without more clarity on mortgage rates , substantial growth in housing permits is unlikely.

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Sales Construction Mortgages Residential 490

Housing Wire

JANUARY 17, 2025

Todays housing starts data exceeded estimates; however, a closer examination of the report with the builder confidence reveals that the recent rise in mortgage rates , approaching 7.25%, has negatively affected builder sentiment. Since late 2022, our analysis indicates that mortgage rates in the 6%-6.5% range are positive to grow sales, whereas rates at 7% and above especially 7.50% or higher significantly impact the builder data.

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Mortgages Construction Sales As-is 488

Housing Wire

JANUARY 22, 2025

Single-family rental ( SFR ) homes are now priced 20% higher than the typical apartment, according to Zillow s rental market report for December 2024. This is the largest difference ever recorded by the real estate portal as the pricing gap has grown considerably from pre-pandemic levels. Zillow analyzed the 50 largest U.S. metro areas and found that the typical asking rent for a single-family home reached $2,174 per month in December.

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Construction Mortgages Sales Marketing 448

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As the real estate market evolves, technology has become essential for success. According to NAR, only 26% of agents feel their brokerage provides the necessary tech tools and, as a result, agents seek teams and brokerages who prioritize technology investments! Whether you manage an established team or are forming a new one, this guide outlines key considerations and necessary applications to thrive.

Agents

Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 5, 2025

Today, the Census Bureau reported the homeownership rate at 65.7%. Are we becoming a renter nation like many people are saying? Lets look at the data. Household formation Let’s first talk about household formation. I have a simple model (even more appropriate before Valentines Day). My American housing demographic model shows that Americans: Rent Date Mate Get married 3.5 years after marriage, we have kids and dual-income households buy bigger homes to live in.

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Loans Mortgages Marketing As-is 478

Housing Wire

MARCH 5, 2025

Mortgage applications increased 20.4% from one week earlier on a seasonally adjusted basis as buyers pounced on lower rates , according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Associations (MBA) weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending Feb. 28, 2025. On an unadjusted basis, applications increased 22% compared with the previous week. The refinance index increased 37% from the previous week and was 83% higher than the same week one year ago.

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Fixed-rate mortgage VA loan Mortgages Loans 505

Housing Wire

MARCH 4, 2025

March figures to be a crucial month for gauging consumer interest in the 2025 housing market. The pace of home sales remains near a 30-year low point as home prices and mortgage rates keep potential borrowers in wait-and-see mode. But mortgage rates have posted an unusually large decline in the past week. On Tuesday, HousingWires Mortgage Rates Center showed that the average 30-year conforming rate was 6.89%, down 12 basis points (bps) from a week ago.

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Mortgages Sales Finance Closing 484

Housing Wire

JANUARY 27, 2025

New home sales continue to be a bright spot in a dismal housing market. The December report from the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development shows new-home sales registering at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 698,000, good for a 6.7% rise year over year and 3.6% higher than November. Even better, new home sales for the calendar year 2024 are estimated at 683,000, which is 2.5% more than 2023 and the highest sales have been since 2021.

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Sales New Construction MLS Mortgages 476

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Sales

Housing Wire

JANUARY 10, 2025

Real estate and mortgage firms are stepping up to help housing professionals and the Southern California community as wildfires ravage the area. Here’s a roundup of the companies and people offering help, which will be updated with new information as it becomes available. Help for those in the community Coldwell Banker Realty in Southern California, which is affiliated with Anywhere , created a Facebook group page for its network to coordinate a wide variety of needs from short- and long-t

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Housing Wire

MARCH 3, 2025

Keller Williams has entered into a strategic partnership with private equity firm Stone Point Capital , according to an announcement on Monday. Stone Point is no stranger to the real estate industry, as it also holds strategic investments in Lone Wolf Technologies , Homepoint , CoreLogic and Meridian. This is an exciting milestone for all Keller Williams agents and franchisees, Gary Keller, the co-founder and executive chairman of Keller Williams, said in a prepared statement.

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Technology Residential Commercial Brokerage 448

Housing Wire

JANUARY 24, 2025

Existing home sales ended the year on a positive note , which aligns with our weekly Housing Market Tracker data, but something surprising is that home prices firmed up late in the year as well. We observed a shift in the forward-looking data starting in the summer, which continued throughout the year. Notably, we compared the data from 2022 and 2023 and noticed positive year-over-year data starting in October 2024, which you can see in the chart below.

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Sales Mortgages As-is Marketing 482

Housing Wire

JANUARY 9, 2025

This week, the Seattle City Council had its first meeting of 2025 and housing was a key topic of discussion. But if the meeting itself was any indication, determining a path forward for the citys severe housing shortage will be a struggle as elected leaders attempt to ascertain a sustainable plan for the next decade, according to reporting by The Seattle Times.

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Construction Commercial Land Development 448

Speaker: Sarah Santa Ana, Real Estate Coach, Move4Free Realty

Networking is one of the crucial elements in every real estate organization's success. Both agents and real estate companies need to maintain robust networking links. This is why social media is essential for any real estate professional! Social media enables you to stay in touch with your present clients, maintain connections with your past clients, and engage potential customers and investors.

Agents

Housing Wire

MARCH 18, 2025

Todays new construction report from the Census Bureau showed month-to-month growth in housing starts, but falling housing permits. Both of these data lines are currently still at the levels we saw in the early part of the COVID-19 recession. However, employment for residential construction workers hasnt fallen at all, even with the decline in housing starts and permits.

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Construction Residential Sales New Construction 436

Housing Wire

JANUARY 8, 2025

As wildfires tear through Southern California and firefighters battle winds up to 100 mph, tens of thousands of residents have evacuated. The looming impacts on real estate and insurance are also at the forefront of Californians minds. According to Anthony Marrone, the fire chief for Los Angeles County , the wildfires have torched more than 1,000 structures, killing at least two people and injuring several more.

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Banks As-is Development Closing 418

Housing Wire

JANUARY 23, 2025

Fannie Mae s title insurance pilot program could save borrowers up to $2.19 billion. This is according to a study released in January by Legal Economics Andrew Rodrigo Nigrinisand Todd Zywicki of the George Mason Universitys Antonin Scalia School of Law.Nigrinis is a former enforcement economist at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). In their analysis, Nigrinis and Zywicki found that borrowers refinancing their mortgage could save an estimated $2.19 billion in total or as much as $1

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Housing Wire

FEBRUARY 27, 2025

Homebuyers faced worsening affordability conditions in January as the median monthly mortgage payment for purchase applicants increased to $2,205, a 3.7% jump from Decembers $2,127, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The findings, drawn from MBAs Purchase Applications Payment Index (PAPI), reflect the growing strain on borrowers amid persistent high home prices and fluctuating mortgage rates.

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Mortgages FHA loan Loans As-is 410

Speaker: Trey Willard, Realtor/Team Leader at Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

In order to create continued success in today’s real estate market, realtors need to utilize an arsenal of technology that will increase their efficiency and presence on social media. Using technology to manage your prospects and tap into their needs through websites, social media, and other channels is critical for real estate success in 2022 and beyond.

Agents