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Study finds Zillow home estimates improve buyer, seller outcomes

Affordability, Artificial Intelligence, Automated Valuation Model, Home Prices, HWmember, Real Estate, Technology, Valuation, Zillow /

A new study found that Zillow’s automated home valuation tool, the Zestimate, improves pricing efficiency in residential real estate transactions and delivers measurable benefits to buyers and sellers like. The research, published in Marketing Science — a peer-reviewed journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences — concluded that Zillow‘s tool reduces […]

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Florida property insurance market is rebounding from 2022 low point

Flood insurance, Florida, Homebuyers, Homeowners insurance, Hurricane, HWmember, Natural Disaster, Real Estate /

ALIRT Insurance Research released a report this week finding that Florida’s homeowners insurance market has stabilized after years of financial strain — following legislative reforms adopted in late 2022 and early 2023. The 2025 Florida Domestic Property Insurer Market Update concludes that the market has rebounded from conditions in 2022, when litigation costs, rising losses

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Opendoor names Lucas Matheson president, Christy Schwartz CFO

HWmember, iBuying, Opendoor, Real Estate, Technology /

The executive team switch-ups at iBuyer Opendoor are continuing. On Monday, the firm announced the appointments of Lucas Matheson as president and Christy Schwartz as chief financial officer.  Matheson most recently served as the CEO of Coinbase Canada. Prior to this, Matheson spent five years in a variety of operational roles at Shopify where he

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Inside Pennymac’s Texas expansion and its push for top mortgage talent

HWmember, Mortgage, PennyMac, Servicing /

Pennymac cut the ribbon on a new facility in Carrollton, Texas, on Friday, which will become the company’s largest corporate office, eventually housing more than 1,800 employees. The move consolidates two offices in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex while also giving the company room to grow. Pennymac is taking full advantage of the bigger space, actively hiring

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MRED challenges Zillow’s claims of imminent listing feed disruptions

Chicago, Clear Cooperation, HWmember, MLS, MLS/Associations, Real Estate Listings, Zillow /

The spat between Zillow and Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) continues on. Over the weekend, the Chicago-based MLS sent an email, obtained by HousingWire, to members warning them that the listing portal’s industry relations team is contacting MRED subscribers and allegedly threatening to contact their home seller clients. MRED stated that it’s anticipating disruptions to

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Google enters portal wars with MLS listings in select cities

Google, HouseCanary, HWmember, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, MLS/Associations, Real Estate Listings, Technology /

The portal wars may have a new entrant — and it isn’t one to shake a stick at. Google has begun testing a new advertising format in select markets that embeds for-sale home listings directly into search results.  Listings are embedded only in mobile searches for listings in select markets, including Chicago, Denver and Austin. 

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Sweeney amends lawsuit against AIME, names UWM

AIME, HWmember, Lawsuit, Legal, Mat Ishbia, Mortgage, United Wholesale Mortgage /

The legal skirmish between Katie Sweeney and the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts (AIME) is continuing to develop with a first amended complaint that officially names United Wholesale Mortgage, AIME’s main sponsor, and Sarah DeCiantis, UWM’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer, as defendants. Sweeney previously filed a motion on Oct. 28 in the

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Social Security faces insolvency risk as Americans doubt its future

HWmember, Retirement, Reverse, Social Security, Social Security Administration /

Most Americans hold a favorable view of Social Security, but about one-third are skeptical the program will still exist when they retire, according to new survey data released by the Cato Institute and YouGov. The survey also found that Americans are broadly misinformed about how Social Security works.  “Many do not understand how the program

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Weekly housing demand reaches multiyear high

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

As mortgage rates stay near 6%, our weekly housing demand data lines have improved so much that we are at multiyear highs in total pending sales and purchase application data combined. This shouldn’t be a shock for our readers because whenever mortgage rates break below 6.64% and head down toward 6%, housing data noticeably improves

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CFPB’s ECOA proposal raises alarms over women’s ability to get a mortgage

CFPB, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, HWmember, Mortgage, National Fair Housing Alliance, Politics /

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is proposing changes to rules under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) to clarify lenders’ responsibilities on issues including disparate impact, discouragement of applicants and special purpose credit programs (SPCPs) that industry leaders say could hurt women’s ability to get a mortgage loan in their own name. The comment

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