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Optimal Blue’s Mike Vough on borrowers staying rate anchored into 2026

Adjustable-Rate Mortgage, HWmember, Mortgage, Mortgage Rates, MSRs, Optimal Blue, Origination, Refinancing, Servicing /

Borrowers are still anchored to ultra-low, pandemic-era mortgage rates, a mindset that is influencing both purchase and refinance trends as the market heads into 2026. That’s according to Mike Vough, Optimal Blue‘s senior vice president of corporate strategy, who highlighted the company’s latest Market Advantage report in a conversation this week with HousingWire at the […]

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President Donald Trump: I have an idea to help first-time homebuyers

Contributors, Donald Trump, First-Time Homebuyers, Government Lending, Homebuyers, Housing Market, HWmember, Mortgage, Opinion, Origination /

Over the past several months, former President Donald Trump has floated a number of ideas aimed at helping Americans buy homes again. Among them are proposals such as 50-year mortgages and other creative financing tools intended to lower monthly payments for buyers struggling with today’s interest rates. The intention behind these ideas are novel and

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CrossCountry Mortgage to strengthen footprint with Summit M&A deal

CrossCountry Mortgage, HWmember, LendingLife, Mergers and Acquisitions, Mortgage, Origination, Retail Lending /

Cleveland-based CrossCountry Mortgage (CCM) has struck a deal to acquire Summit Funding, broadening its geographic reach, the companies announced Wednesday. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. “In 2025, we financed 1 in 35 homes sold nationwide, ranking as the No. 1 retail mortgage lender,” Ron Leonhardt, founder and CEO, told HousingWire. “This acquisition

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Trump’s mortgage order sets stage for regulatory shift, draws consumer backlash

Community Bank, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, HWmember, IMBs, LendingLife, Mortgage, Origination, Regulatory, Regulatory Compliance, Trump administration /

President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting mortgages addresses several concerns raised by banks and nonbanks, which have largely welcomed it as a road map for regulatory change. But it’s also receiving pushback from consumer advocates. Friday’s order on “promoting access to mortgage credit” aims to boost lending by community banks (with less than $30 billion

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Banks eye bigger role in mortgages as regulators reconsider capital rules

AmeriHome, Bank of America, Banking, HWmember, LendingLife, Mortgage, Mortgage Servicing, MSRs, Origination, Regulatory, U.S. Bank /

Top banks in the mortgage space, which have relied on a similar playbook for years, say they could become more active if upcoming changes to capital rules provide more flexibility, several industry executives told HousingWire. But any shift in strategy is expected to take time. Depositories typically focus on their existing customer base, ranging from

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MBA’s Broeksmit on Trump orders, AI and mortgage affordability at ICE X26

Bob Broeksmit, HWmember, ICE Mortgage Technology, Intercontinental Exchange, LendingLife, Mortgage, Mortgage Bankers Association, Origination, Trump administration /

“Just when I think things are falling in place, another wild card arrives,” Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) president and CEO Bob Broeksmit said Tuesday morning at ICE Experience’s X26 annual mortgage conference.  In a conversation with ICE Mortgage Technology President Bob Hart that spanned recent executive orders, mergers and acquisitions, and artificial intelligence, Broeksmit admitted

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Is Opendoor playing the builder rate buydown game?

Affordability, Home Prices, HWmember, LendingLife, Mortgage, Mortgage Rates, Opendoor, Origination /

iBuyer Opendoor’s recently launched mortgage product — which promises below-market interest rates after the company removed its markup — has sparked debate across the industry about who absorbs the cost and whether the model is sustainable. Some industry professionals view the offering as similar to the strategy many homebuilders use — providing below-market mortgage rates

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NFM Lending adds South Carolina producer Phil Crescenzo Jr.

HWmember, Lenders, LendingLife, Loan Officer, Mortgage, Origination, People Movers, South Carolina, Team Leaders /

Phil Crescenzo Jr., a high-producing loan officer in South Carolina, is joining NFM Lending. The move was announced Friday on social media by NFM managing director Greg Sher. Crescenzo comes to NFM after a two-year stint as Southeast division manager for Nation One Mortgage Corp. His prior experience also includes roles as a producing branch

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Newrez is waiving lender title insurance on some refis

HWmember, LendingLife, Mortgage, Mortgage Broker, NewRez, Origination, Refinancing, Title insurance, Wholesale Lending /

Multichannel mortgage lender Newrez has launched Newrez TitlePass for use in its wholesale channel, giving mortgage brokers a way to waive the lender title insurance requirement on certain refinance loans. This could potentially save borrowers hundreds or thousands of dollars in closing costs, the company said Monday. The program is offered exclusively through Newrez’s affiliated

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Logan Finance rolls out new product tier for high-balance non-QMs

HWmember, Lenders, Mortgage, Non-QM, Origination, Real Estate Investing /

Logan Finance Corp. announced Monday that it has launched a new premium tier within its Open Road product series aimed at borrowers seeking higher loan amounts than those typically offered through conventional or standard non-QM programs. The new offering, called Open Road Elevated, provides loan amounts of up to $5 million across four programs designed

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