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Justin Demola joins Equifax as SVP of mortgage and housing

Altisource, Equifax, HWmember, Lenders One, Mortgage, People Movers, Team Leaders /

Justin Demola announced via social media on Monday that he’s joining consumer credit reporting agency Equifax as its senior vice president of mortgage and housing. Demola, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s resident Certified Mortgage Banker instructor, shared the career move on LinkedIn. He also serves on the board of directors for the Mortgage Bankers Association of […]

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Shake it off! NAR looks to dismiss Taylor Swift copyright claim

HWmember, Kansas City, Legal, Missouri, MLS/Associations, Move, National Association of Realtors, Real Estate, Realtor.com /

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) is hoping to shake off a copyright lawsuit involving photos of an estate belonging to Travis Kelce, Taylor Swift’s fiancé. The trade association filed a motion to dismiss the copyright lawsuit on Friday.  Originally filed in U.S. District Court in Missouri in October by photographer Brynn Burns, the lawsuit

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Meet MVRK Real Estate, the latest brokerage launched by a mortgage executive

Brokerage, Florida, HWmember, LPT Realty, Real Estate, real estate brokerages /

Florida’s real estate brokerage scene has a new face. Earlier this month, John Motowidlak, the founder and CEO of national mortgage firm Mpire Financial, announced the launch of a new brokerage firm MVRK Real Estate. Headquartered in Orlando, Fla., as of Monday, Motowidlak said the firm had 10 agents, which is the equivalent of roughly

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The $2–4% mortgage trap is freezing housing: Defeasance may be the way out

Contributors, Housing Crisis, Housing Market, Housing Market Data, HWmember, Mortgage, Opinion, Real Estate /

For the past several years, the U.S. housing market has faced an unusual constraint: not a lack of  buyers, but a lack of sellers willing — or able — to move. Millions of homeowners remain “rate-locked,” holding mortgages originated in 2020–2022 at  interest rates between 2% and 4% (Federal Housing Finance Agency; Freddie Mac Primary 

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DOJ opens criminal investigation into Federal Reserve and Powell

Donald Trump, Federal Reserve, HWmember, Jerome Powell, Mortgage Rates, Politics /

The Department of Justice served the Federal Reserve with grand jury subpoenas on Friday, threatening a criminal indictment over Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s Congressional testimony last summer, Powell said Sunday. The testimony was about the Fed’s $2.5 billion renovation of its D.C. headquarters, but Powell said in a video released on the Federal Reserve website

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The impact of lower mortgage rates on housing inventory

Housing Inventory, Housing Market, Housing Market Tracker, HWmember, Mortgage Rates, Purchase Applications /

Year-over-year housing inventory growth has slowed to single digits, from 33% at one point last year to 9.99%. 2026 is off and running, and we had another crazy week of housing headlines, from Trump announcing a ban on Wall Street investors buying single-family homes to directing the GSEs to buy mortgage-backed securities. But what caught

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December jobs data continues to support lower mortgage rates

Housing Market, Housing Starts, HWmember, Jobs Report, Mortgage, Mortgage Rates /

Jobs Friday came and went without much reaction in bond yields because the labor market isn’t breaking, nor is it getting stronger. Mortgage rates dropped into the 5s for a short time on Friday as a result of Trump’s earlier announcement directing the GSEs to buy $200 billion in mortgage backed securities. The 10-year yield

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WSJ: DOJ leadership halted antitrust review of Compass–Anywhere deal

Anywhere, Brokerage, Compass, Department of Justice, Elizabeth Warren, Federal Trade Commission, HWmember, Real Estate, Regulatory, Robert Reffkin /

News that the proposed merger between Compass and Anywhere would close this week came as a surprise to many in the industry, especially those who were anticipating a robust antitrust review of the deal. Several news outlets are reporting that antitrust regulators were blocked from a deeper investigation into the deal by officials higher up in

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Real estate leaders weigh in on potential ban on large investors

Affordability, Anthony Lamacchia, Brokerage, eXp Realty, Homebuyers, Housing Inventory, HWmember, Institutional investors, Real Estate, Steve Murray /

President Donald Trump announced plans to ban large institutional investors from buying single-family homes earlier this week, arguing the move would ease competition for families and improve housing affordability. The proposal has reignited a long-running debate over the role Wall Street-backed landlords play in the housing market — and whether restricting them would meaningfully lower

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Sharp decline in mortgage rates revives hopes of a refi surge, LOs say

HWmember, LendingLife, Loan Officer, Mortgage, Mortgage Rates, Origination, Refinancing /

Mortgage rates briefly fell below 6% on Friday for the first time in nearly three years — driven by President Donald Trump’s proposed $200 billion push in the secondary market. If they stay that low, they are expected to spur refinance activity.  Historically, a 22–basis-point decline in the 30-year fixed mortgage rate, such as the

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