Offerpad announced on Tuesday the expansion of its Real Estate Solutions Center into Port St. Lucie, Florida, as the first iBuyer in the region. The company resumed making cash offers in different parts of the country on May 8. Through the Real Estate Solutions Center, a home is evaluated by the company’s real estate experts…
Mortgage applications were back up 6.8% last week, according to a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association, further evidence that, thanks to the pandemic, August is the new May for home-buying. Consumers responded to mortgage rates that fell to new low last week, with the refinance index jumping 9% from the previous week to its…
Last week, HousingWire reported surging mortgage volume and record low interest rates are putting excess pressure on appraisal turn times. This week, appraisal experts said those same variables are having a profound impact on an age-old conflict of appraisal reports versus what the market believes the home is worth. In an accelerated environment with homes…
This article was written for FinLedger, HW Media’s new fintech-focused news brand designed specifically for financial services professionals in banking, insurance and real estate. Stay tuned for updates. Till, a startup that aims to help renters set up customized payment schedules, has raised $8 million in a seed funding round. Route 66 Ventures, MetaProp and NextGen Venture Partners participated…
United Wholesale Mortgage announced Tuesday it is offering conventional mortgage rates as low as 1.99%, but brokers warn there’s a catch. UWM’s rate represents one of the lowest interest rates in the U.S. HousingWire spoke to brokers that said this is the lowest rate they have seen among other wholesale lenders to date. However, they…
There is a 30-point difference between white and Black homeownership rates in the U.S. today. Shockingly, the gap is wider than it was in 1968, when the federal government first outlawed racially based housing discrimination. Sadly, the pandemic, which is wreaking disproportionate financial havoc on minority communities, may expand the chasm. This makes it more…
Three years after enacting one of the country’s most exacting cybersecurity regulations, the New York State Department of Financial Services recently filed its first cybersecurity enforcement action. In its July 21, 2020, statement of charges, NYDFS alleged that First American Financial, one of the country’s largest title insurers, failed to properly respond to a security…
When housing advocates were pressuring Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to extend her COVID-19 eviction moratorium and landlords were saying it would result in their financial ruin, the only Midwesterner on former Vice President Joe Biden’s whittled-down VP shortlist came up with a middle way. At the end of June, Whitmer extended her initial moratorium through July…
Rather than a typically busy spring home-buying season, the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the bulk of home-buying this year into the summer months, and real estate agents are busier than ever. According to the National Association of Realtors, contract signings kicked off strong in August, with the most contract signings last week in the Midwest, at…
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson announced Monday the allocation of $472 million to be used for low income families during the coronavirus pandemic. HUD made the funding available to Public Housing Authorities as part of the CARES Act to assist families utilizing Housing Choice Vouchers and Mainstream vouchers. “This funding…