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Fairway Home Mortgage announces educational partnership for home equity adviser credential

Fairway Home Mortgage on Tuesday announced a partnership with the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) to unveil a new educational credential for NAIFA members. The Certified Home Equity Advisor (CHEA) credential aims to help financial and insurance professionals “responsibly integrate home equity into comprehensive retirement planning,” Fairway explained in a press release. […]

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How upfront income accuracy transforms lending

Mortgage lending has a Day 28 problem. Borrowers engage with lenders on Day Zero. Expectations get set. Loan options get discussed. Confidence gets built. Then income finally receives scrutiny on Day 28—deep in underwriting, after time, money, and operational effort have already been spent. The result? Income surprises kill deals. Borrowers wait, frustrated. Lenders scramble

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Exclusive: Mike Fawaz announces departure from Rocket Pro

Mike Fawaz said Monday that he’s departing Rocket Pro after roughly 15 years with the company and plans to announce his next steps in March. “After nearly 15 years, I have made the thoughtful decision to step away from Rocket,” Fawaz said in a statement given to HousingWire. “After significant reflection, I believe this is

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Home equity props up retirees as savings fall short

More than one-third of working-age Americans lack access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan, and those who do have median balances of just $40,000, according to a new study from the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS). The analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data from December 2022 paints a stark picture of retirement preparedness for the

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PropLogix launches FinCEN reporting service for title agents

PropLogix has launched a reporting service through the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), offering help for title agents to comply with new federal rules. The Department of the Treasury’s Residential Real Estate Reporting Rule mandates reporting on certain residential property purchases made on or after March 1, 2026, when entities or trusts buy them without

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Basel capital rules may be revised to boost bank mortgage lending

Michelle Bowman, the Federal Reserve‘s vice chair for supervision, used a major industry forum to argue that Basel capital rules have helped to drive mortgage lending and servicing away from banks — and that it’s time to reconsider that approach. Addressing the American Bankers Association (ABA)’s 2026 Conference for Community Bankers on Monday, Bowman described

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The loan originator’s biggest challenge in 2026

Mortgage lenders have been here before. It’s a cyclical business, and most of the executives who are running firms in this industry have been through a cycle or two. The industry experiences a downturn, during which rates rise, affordability falls, and borrowers back away from the market. Eventually, rates fall. Buyers re-enter the market. Pipelines

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How off-market deals and investor demand are reshaping residential real estate

Converging forces reshape the industry The real estate market is experiencing a once-in-a-generation disruption, driven by forces that are fundamentally reshaping the role of agents and brokers. Semi-private deal networks, a growing class of small investors, legal and regulatory shifts, and intensifying competition among online portals are creating an unfamiliar landscape  High mortgage rates and

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When cheaper rates make homes less affordable: What Zillow, Redfin, and Realtor.com data reveals

Most buyers are conditioned to believe: wait for interest rates to fall and homes will finally be affordable again. It sounds logical; that lower rates should mean lower monthly payments and that is affordability, right? Except history shows something very different, something counter to what we have been led to believe; that when interest rates

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Housing demand snaps back as mortgage rates near 6%

With mortgage rates near 6% and the snow effect fading away, we got a rebound in the weekly housing demand last week. For me, this is more about the snow impact fading from the data line, as we also saw a pickup in new listings. Housing inventory picked up a smidge, and the year-over-year price

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