Good Morning! Today is Thursday, August 4. The Senate ratified adding Finland and Sweden to NATO, 95 to 1. Indiana Representative Jackie Walorski and two of her aids were killed in a car crash. Taiwan canceled airline flights as China fired missiles near the island in retaliation for Nancy Pelosi’s visit.
The Mortgage Note Reports
We’re Equity-Rich!: Nearly half of all mortgaged homes in the U.S. were equity-rich in Q2 2022, with the most equity gains concentrated in the South.
Radius Mortgage: Real estate tech brokerage Radius has launched an in-house mortgage brokerage in California.
Cracking Down: Officials at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are cracking down on a mortgage company that allegedly discriminated against minority families and a bank that is accused of pressuring employees into unlawfully accessing the credit reports of customers. Editor Kimberley Haas explains what will happen next.
And in other mortgage and housing news…
Gen Z Flunks: Less than a quarter of Gen Z respondents could pass a quiz on common homebuying terms, and their parents and grandparents didn’t fare much better.
Zoomtowns: In hotspots like Boise, income growth is double the nationwide average of 6.8% due to remote workers moving from pricey coastal job centers during the pandemic.
WF’s At It Again: Wells Fargo will instate newly-reviewed guidelines to interview diverse candidates following their suspension in the wake of discrimination claims.
Buying Tool: Realtor.com introduced a new tool that uses buyers’ financial info to see whether a specific home is “affordable,” “a stretch,” “difficult” or “out of reach.”
Movement Team Expands: Movement Mortgage has hired Sarah Middleton as chief growth officer and Kevin McGovern as director of coaching.
Economic Review: Mark Paoletti released his Mortgage Economic Review – a summary and review of key economic data – for August 2022.
Two Harbors: Two Harbors Investment will acquire RoundPoint Mortgage Servicing Corporation from Freedom Mortgage Corporation.
“How Is This OK?”: Airbnb publicly apologized after it allowed a property owner to list an “1830s slave cabin” for rent in Greenville, Mississippi.