By JARED WHITLEY
Leaders at a mortgage broker caught up in litigation over United Wholesale Mortgage’s “All In” ultimatum say they never agreed to be in an exclusive relationship with Mat Ishbia’s company.
Lawyers for UWM filed suit against Atlantic Trust Mortgage Corporation in January, claiming they submitted at least 71 mortgages to rivals Rocket Mortgage or Fairway Independent Mortgage, causing about $355,000 in damages.
If Atlantic Trust wanted to work with other lenders, they argued, it needed to submit written notice that it was terminating its business with UWM. That is standard under Ishbia’s ultimatum, which has been controversial since it was introduced in March 2021 because it forces brokers to stop sending loans to Rocket and Fairway if…
By NICOLE MURRAY
People who make their living helping homebuyers and sellers have spent the last two weeks figuring out what the $418 million settlement deal announced by the National Association of Realtors means for them and their clients.
If approved by a judge, under the settlement buyers will be expected to enter into written compensation agreements with their real estate agents starting in mid-July. Sellers may pay a buyer’s agent commission as part of the negotiation process.
They can also opt to pay just their agent. This represents a departure from the current model, where sellers typically pay for their agent, as well as the buyer’s agent, through cooperative compensation.
The Mortgage Note spoke with real estate industry professionals…
Spring is here and the home selling season is getting underway. Writer Nicole Murray spoke with real estate professionals and recent buyers to see what they think about the current market for our latest podcast.
If you would like to participate in future episodes, please email us at [email protected].
Read articles featuring the guests:
To Buy Or Not To Buy? Homeowners Offer Insights
Avoid The Doom And Gloom: How To Survive To 2025
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By ERIN FLYNN JAY
Homeownership rates for Black Americans are lagging and leaders in some cities are taking action to turn that around.
According to a report released by the National Association of Realtors last month, minority groups saw increased homeownership rates in 2022. While Asian and Hispanic homeownership rates registered all-time highs at 63.3% and 51.1%, the Black homeownership rate was 44.1%.
The homeownership rate for white Americans was at 72.3% in 2022.
Jessica Lautz, NAR deputy chief economist and vice president of research, said in a statement that the impacts of overall housing affordability affect minority buyers more than white buyers. Minority buyers often pay more of their monthly income in rent, making it harder to save for…
Americans are aware of the risks to coastal communities posed by climate change but keep flocking there anyway, proving lifestyle outweighs the future value of their homes — for now.
In a survey of 2,000 consumers, 51% of homeowners said they are worried about how increasing global temperatures will impact their homes.
Though drought and fire concerned homeowners, the most distressing possibilities were water damage. Severe storms were the most common concern, followed by hurricanes and flooding.
When it comes to coastal properties, a whopping 38% are convinced they will become uninhabitable. An additional 47% think they will be “liveable but less valuable.”
But Americans are still moving to sunny, storm-prone Florida in droves, even though they claim to understand…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
Foreclosure starts are up nationally and some industry leaders say that better financial literacy could help prevent homeowners from becoming distressed.
Lenders started the foreclosure process on 22,575 properties last month. That’s up 11% from a year ago, according to the February 2024 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report by ATTOM.
There were a total of 32,938 properties with foreclosure filings – default notices, scheduled auctions, or bank repossessions – according to the report, and lenders repossessed 3,397 properties through completed foreclosures last month.
Donna Schmidt, managing director and owner of DLS Servicing in Grand Rapids, Michigan, said in a recent interview with The Mortgage Note that the people most likely to be foreclosed on this year are people…
By KIMBERLEY HAAS
In a move that was not surprising, members of the Federal Open Market Committee held the target range for the federal funds rate steady at 5.25% to 5.5% at their meeting this week.
Inflation has eased over the past year but committee members do not believe it will be appropriate to reduce rates until they have gained more confidence inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%, which has been their goal.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon that inflation may not reach 2% until 2026 but it is likely rates have hit their peak and the committee plans to start dialing them back at some point this year.
Powell did not…
Huge changes to Realtors’ commission structures may disadvantage VA buyers, at least in the short term.
A $418 million settlement announced by the National Association of Realtors last week is set to have sweeping implications for the housing industry in general. If approved by a federal judge, it would undo NAR’s commission structure, which is typically between 5.5% and 6% and split between buyer’s and seller’s agents.
Under the terms of the settlement, moving forward sellers will be expected to negotiate with real estate professionals, and buyers will have to enter into agreements with, and pay for, their own realtors.
For some buyers, this may translate into a cheaper overall experience, depending on what is negotiated for as part of…
By PATRICK LAVERY
Kicking the can down the road, moving the goalposts – whatever idiom you want to use – such an expression will likely be appropriate for this week’s meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, which appears poised to hold the target range for the federal funds rate steady at 5.25% to 5.5%.
While that margin has not been raised since last summer, there has been hope that at some point in 2024, Federal Reserve Board chairman Jerome Powell will come to the microphone at the conclusion of one of the FOMC’s two-day summits and announce the beginning of a rollback of the series of rate hikes that steadily climbed from near-zero in early 2022 to their current…
By CHUCK GREEN
In upcoming decades, U.S. homeowners in areas along coastlines could be up the proverbial creek.
Sea level rise, along with changing storm patterns, could result in flooding that severely damages homes in many coastal areas. Especially vulnerable, according to estimates, are the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Carolinas, and the Washington, DC, area.
In 2018, the Union of Concerned Scientists hoisted warning flags when it released an interactive map that showed the estimated number of homes at risk for chronic flooding in the coming decades due to sea level rise.
That year, the group reported that burgeoning sea level rise – fueled mainly by climate change – was projected to exacerbate tidal flooding in the country. Within…
