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Arkansas, Idaho metros lead the pack for new-home construction

Arkansas, Construction, Data & Visuals, Homebuilders, Housing Market, HWmember, Idaho, New Home Sales, Realtor.com /

Realtor.com has released a report that ranks the leading U.S. metropolitan areas for new residential construction as the country faces an estimated shortage of 4 million homes. The analysis examined the 100 largest metros based on the new-home share of listings, pricing compared to existing homes, climate risk and buyer demand. Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Arkansas, topped the […]

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How to guide real estate buyers through mortgage rate changes

Contributors, HWmember, Mortgage Rates, Real Estate, Real Estate Agents, Residential Real Estate /

Mortgage rates are a crucial factor in any real estate purchase, particularly given the significant rise in rates over the past few years. With the Fed meeting coming up in September, there is anticipation that they will drop, but rates are constantly shifting, presenting some potential difficulties for clients shopping near the top end of

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Alanna.ai wants to help title agents with the new FinCEN rules

Artificial Intelligence, Department of the Treasury, FinCEN, HWmember, Real Estate, Scott Bessent, Technology, Title, Title insurance, U.S. Department of the Treasury /

The title agent-focused artificial Intelligence technology firm Alanna.ai has launched a digital signing capability to help title agents and companies comply with Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s (FinCEN) new reporting requirements. In an announcement on Friday, the firm stated that it has made enhancements to its Smart Forms offering, which the company said will help users

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Income eligibility defects drive mortgage quality decline

ACES Quality Management, Appraisals, HWmember, Income verification, LendingLife, Mortgage, Origination, quality control, Underwriting /

Loan quality risks amid ongoing mortgage market challenges are continuing to emerge, according to the newest QC Industry Trends Report from ACES Quality Management, which tracks post-closing quality control data from its platform. The overall critical defect rate in the first quarter of 2025 climbed to 1.31%, ending two straight quarters of improvement and up

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Mortgage applications shrink as VA loan demand declines

FHA loan, HWmember, Joel Kan, LendingLife, Mortgage, Mortgage applications, Mortgage Bankers Association, Mortgage Rates, Origination, Purchase Applications, VA Loan /

Mortgage applications decreased 1.4% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)’s weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending Aug. 15. Without taking seasonal adjustments into account, the index decreased 2% compared with the previous week. The refinance index decreased 3% from the previous week but was 23% higher

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Why saying “I tried” keeps you stuck in your career

Agent, Brokerage, Contributors, HWmember, Opinion, Real Estate /

1. Understand where you “stack” If you have 10 people in any organization, you’re almost always going to have 2-3 that consistently are at the top, 4-5 that stay in the middle and 2-3 who end up not working out. If you find yourself stuck in the middle 4-5, ask yourself why. You can’t judge

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Michigan cities, lawmakers seek $800M for housing incentives

Affordability, Construction, First-Time Homebuyers, homebuilder, Homebuilder Confidence, Homebuilders, Homebuyers, Housing Inventory, Housing Market, HWmember, Michigan, Real Estate /

Michigan cities and a bipartisan group of state lawmakers are backing a $160 million annual budget proposal aimed at increasing housing construction and rehabilitation through local zoning changes and financial incentives. Officials say it could spur 10,000 new homes over five years — or about 2,000 a year — at a total cost of $800

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Bonus Homes lands in Phoenix, unveils home equity release option

Arizona, Funding, Home Equity, HWmember, Mortgage, Phoenix, Venture Capital /

Bonus Homes, a real estate technology and investment firm, announced on Tuesday plans to open its headquarters in the Greater Phoenix area after raising $65.5 million in seed funding. A press release from the company said that the seed funding is from Solyco Capital, Redwood Trust, Nextview Ventures, Operate Ventures and Alpaca VC. With the

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NAR faces new antitrust suit over alleged steering

Florida, HWmember, Legal, MLS, NAR Lawsuit Settlement, National Association of Realtors, Real Estate /

A broker in Florida is suing the National Association of Realtors (NAR), along with state and local associations and MLSs, for alleged antitrust violations and steering homebuyers into using buyer’s agents.  Filed late last week by Jorge A. Zea in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida’s West Palm Beach Division, the

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Ex-GSE risk chief makes case for Fannie-Freddie merger

Conservatorship, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Government-Sponsored Enterprise, GSE Reform, GSEs, HWmember, LendingLife, Mortgage, private-label securities, Regulatory, Secondary market /

Clifford Rossi speaks from the vantage point of someone who has been inside the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs). In different periods during the 1990s and 2000s, he served as a senior financial economist at Fannie Mae and as senior director of single-family risk management at Freddie Mac. Rossi was among the earliest advocates of merging the

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