March, 2025

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Lower mortgage rates spark housing demand heading into spring

Housing Wire

Earlier this year, when mortgage rates soared to 7.26%, a cloud of worry hung over the housing market many feared that home sales would tumble in 2025, fueled by concerns about inflation and tariffs. But when it seemed doom and gloom would prevail, the 10-year yield dropped, pulling mortgage rates lower in a lovely slow dance. This unexpected turn of events breathed new life into the market, pushing purchase application data into positive territory for the year.

Mortgage 534
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Gross Profits on Home Flips on the Rise 

Appraisal Buzz

ATTOM has released its year-end 2024 U.S. Home Flipping Report , which finds that 297,885 single-family homes and condos in the U.S. were flipped in 2024down 7.7% from the 322,782 homes and condos flipped in 2023 and 32.4% from a recent peak of nearly 441,000 reached in 2022. The report further reveals that as the number of homes flipped by investors declined, so did flips as a portion of all home sales, from 8.1% in 2023 to 7.6% last year.

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Short sales are BACK (sort of)

Sacramento Appraisal Blog

Wait, are short sales back? Yes, they are. But let’s unpack what this means and sift through the hype. Also, I have some thoughts about comp selection and VA carnage. I’d love to hear your take in the comments. UPCOMING SPEAKING GIGS: 3/20/25 HomeSmart iCare Realty 4/2/25 SAFE Credit Union (RSVP here) 4/10/25 Yuba-Sutter Association […] The post Short sales are BACK (sort of) first appeared on Sacramento Appraisal Blog.

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Home sellers who didn’t list on the MLS lost $1B in sale proceeds: Zillow

Housing Wire

Home sellers who did not list their properties on the MLS lost out on more than $1 billion in sale proceeds over the past two years, according to a study published Monday by Zillow. The study also found that these losses were deepest in communities of color. Zillow defined communities of color as ZIP codes where a majority of households are headed by Blacks , Hispanics , Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders or Native Americans.

Sellers 493
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Leverage Trellis Court Data To Identify More Investment Opportunities

Finance teams find Trellis to be particularly effective in conducting comprehensive due diligence on both individuals and businesses. With our solution, financial experts can access critical litigation insights, making it an invaluable resource for informed decision-making in the financial sector.

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Pulte makes sweeping changes to boards of GSEs

Housing Wire

Not wasting any time following his Senate confirmation last week, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte made a series of major changes to the boards of government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The news was first reported by Inside Mortgage Finance.

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Lowest mortgage rates in months create surge in applications

Housing Wire

Mortgage applications increased 20.4% from one week earlier on a seasonally adjusted basis as buyers pounced on lower rates , according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Associations (MBA) weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending Feb. 28, 2025. On an unadjusted basis, applications increased 22% compared with the previous week. The refinance index increased 37% from the previous week and was 83% higher than the same week one year ago.

Mortgage 505
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Stone Point Capital takes a stake in Keller Williams

Housing Wire

Keller Williams has entered into a strategic partnership with private equity firm Stone Point Capital , according to an announcement on Monday. Stone Point is no stranger to the real estate industry, as it also holds strategic investments in Lone Wolf Technologies , Homepoint , CoreLogic and Meridian. This is an exciting milestone for all Keller Williams agents and franchisees, Gary Keller, the co-founder and executive chairman of Keller Williams, said in a prepared statement.

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Mortgage rates have dropped sharply. How will borrowers respond?

Housing Wire

March figures to be a crucial month for gauging consumer interest in the 2025 housing market. The pace of home sales remains near a 30-year low point as home prices and mortgage rates keep potential borrowers in wait-and-see mode. But mortgage rates have posted an unusually large decline in the past week. On Tuesday, HousingWires Mortgage Rates Center showed that the average 30-year conforming rate was 6.89%, down 12 basis points (bps) from a week ago.

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Survey: Nearly 90% of homeowners are worried about selling

Housing Wire

A large majority of homeowners (88%) have concerns about selling their homes, with financial uncertainty and housing market conditions ranking among their top fears, according to a recent survey by Clever Real Estate. The survey , which polled 1,000 homeowners at the end of 2024, found that the most common concerns include the stress of the sale (42%), the high costs of selling (40%), the inability to afford a new home (32%) and not selling for a high enough price (32%).

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The Constructor's Digital Transformation Playbook: Reducing Risk With Technology

Speaker: Dylan Secrest

Construction projects are high-stakes operations where even minor inefficiencies can lead to costly delays, safety concerns, and budget overruns. Managing risk in construction has always been a challenge, but as projects grow in complexity, traditional methods no longer cut it. Enter Digital Transformation - a game changer approach that replaces inefficiency with AI-powered analytics, real-time monitoring, and automated workflows to proactively manage risk.

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Rocket Companies announces deal to acquire Redfin for $1.75 billion

Housing Wire

Today, Rocket Companies announced it has entered into an agreement to purchase digital real estate brokerage Redfin in an all-stock transaction valued at $1.75 billion in equity. The deal, which has been approved by the boards of directors of both Rocket Companies and Redfin, is expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2025. Rocket’s press release stated that Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman will continue to lead the Redfin business, reporting to Rocket Companies CEO Varun Krishna.

Brokerage 482
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Will home prices fall in 2025 with more inventory?

Housing Wire

Fluctuating interest rates have been a feature of the housing market over the last three years. As mortgage rates rose, homebuyer demand slowed and inventory grew. In 2025, mortgage rates have stayed stubbornly high for yet another spring buying season. Today, home sales still remain super slow. Our 2025 housing market predictions are based on the assumption that lower mortgage rates will spur demand and boost the number of homes sales transactions.

Inventory 412
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Sell more homes: 17 home staging tips for real estate agents

Housing Wire

If you thought winning a listing was challenging, just wait until you have to start telling a homeowner what to do with their home in order to sell it quickly. Home staging is your chance to transform a property into a home that buyers cant wait to get their hands on. Homeowners can be reluctant to make some of these changes, but its your job to guide them through the process.

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What’s keeping homebuilders from large-scale layoffs?

Housing Wire

Todays new construction report from the Census Bureau showed month-to-month growth in housing starts, but falling housing permits. Both of these data lines are currently still at the levels we saw in the early part of the COVID-19 recession. However, employment for residential construction workers hasnt fallen at all, even with the decline in housing starts and permits.

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Need Curated Pre-foreclosure Lists to Generate New Real Estate Leads? Trellis Has the Data!

Trellis is a state trial court research and analytics platform that provides Real Estate Professionals (Buyers, Foreclosure, Loan Modification, etc.) with LEADS on Pre-Foreclosures, Lis Pendes, Distressed Assets and more — to help uncover **new** opportunities and grow their business. The process is quick and easy — and all in real time. Trellis will supply you with a link to the relevant dockets, a Leads sheet and access to its UI where applicable.

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Homebuilders face rising risk unless mortgage rates fall

Housing Wire

At the end of 2024, I wrote that the homebuilding sector could be a potential wildcard for 2025 and that was before the new tariffs on building materials and firing of federal workers. If mortgage rates don’t drop, we may see this sector facing supply issues and shrinking profit margins. Why is this important? To avoid a job loss recession, closely monitoring the homebuilding industry is essential.

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What went wrong at Redfin?

Housing Wire

Glenn Kelman seemed unusually down. The Redfin CEOs playful demeanor and quotable banter was notably absent on the companys fourth-quarter 2024 earnings call at the end of February. There could have been many innocuous reasons for sounding a bit deflated not enough sleep or a bad day at work. But in light of Redfins blockbuster sale to Rocket Mortgage that was announced less than two weeks later, hindsight dictates that Kelman may have known that the end of independence was coming for the compa

Brokerage 360
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CFO optimism falls as tariffs, trade policy remain uncertain

Housing Wire

Economic optimism among chief financial officers dropped in the first quarter of 2025 as a result of tariffs and broader uncertainty. That’s according to the CFO Survey, a collaboration between Duke Universitys Fuqua School of Business and the Federal Reserve Banks of Richmond and Atlanta. The CFO Survey was fielded from Feb. 18 to March 7. The panel includes firms that range from small operations to Fortune 500 companies across all major industries.

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The housing market is ‘failing older adults,’ Urban Institute says

Housing Wire

The state of the U.S. housing market particularly its levels of affordability, available inventory and accessibility for those with mobility or cognitive challenges presents a unique challenge for older Americans on fixed incomes. This has led to a failure to properly serve the senior cohort. These are the assertions of a report published last week by the Urban Institute.

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What comes next for remote online notarization oversight?

Housing Wire

Remote online notarization (RON) continues to stake its claim as a critical innovation for real estate professionals and homebuyers, opening the door for faster closings and largely eliminating the need for in-person meetings. However, enhanced accessibility and improved security has also come with regulatory challenges and risks that every stakeholder in the property transaction process must navigate.

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Summertime Sales Fare Better for Homebuyers & Sellers 

Appraisal Buzz

Last year, spring home sellers who put their house up for sale in the second half of May were able to get the most money for it. Homes listed in the final two weeks of May sold for 1.6% more, or $5,600 more than the average U.S. home, according to a recent Zillow report. As buyers become serious about property looking before their summer vacation and the start of the new school year in the fall, search traffic usually peaks before Memorial Day.

Sellers 393
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Have lower mortgage rates boosted housing demand yet?

Housing Wire

Mortgage rates are declining, and recent purchase application data shows a promising 9% week-to-week increase and a 2% rise compared to the previous year. Does this indicate that the housing market is beginning to wake up just in time for spring? While I wouldn’t say we’re experiencing a full revival just yet, the latest data suggests a stabilization.

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Navigating movement in the mortgage industry series: Post-closing matters are important too

Housing Wire

Introduction As part of our ongoing discussion on the concept of movement in the mortgage industry, it is readily apparent that the failure of mortgage companies to pivot or tweak their business models to satisfy changing market and other conditions has resulted in consolidation based on liquidity, buyback, financial and other concerns. Regardless of whether you are on the buy or sell side for a mortgage lender and/or servicer in a M&A transaction, it is critical to focus on post-closing mat

Mortgage 409
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Which U.S. Housing Markets Are Most At-Risk?

Appraisal Buzz

ATTOM has released its latest Special Housing Risk Report , spotlighting county-level housing markets around the nation that are more or less vulnerable to declines, based on home affordability, equity, and other measures in Q4 2024. ATTOMs report shows that California, Illinois, and the New York City area had high concentrations of the most-at-risk markets in the country, with parts of Florida also in that mix.

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The End of the Fixer-Upper?

Appraisal Buzz

Sorry, Home Depot, we have entered the age of move-in ready. Buyers are willing to pay nearly 4% more than expected for a home that is already remodeled (3.7%)an additional $13,194 on a typical U.S. home. Thats the highest sale price premium of all 359 listing keywords in a new study by Zillow , which looked at more than two million homes listed for sale on their site in 2024.

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Homeowners Have Gained Nearly $300B in Home Equity

Appraisal Buzz

CoreLogic has issued its Homeowner Equity Report (HER) for Q4 of 2024 which found that nationwide, borrower equity increased by $281.9 billion, or 1.7% year-over-year. CoreLogics HER shows that U.S. homeowners with mortgages (which account for roughly 61% of all properties) saw home equity increase by about $4,100 between Q4 2023 and Q4 2024, which is less than the gain of $6,000 in Q3 2023.

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Midwest, Northeast housing markets stay hot amid national cooldown

Housing Wire

While the U.S. housing market has shown signs of slowing, demand remains strong in key Midwest and Northeast cities, where homes are selling weeks faster than the national average, according to Realtor.com s Hottest Markets Report for February. In the most in-demand markets, homes sold in 33 to 51 days, significantly below the national median of 66 days.

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Rocket’s Varun Krishna thinks Redfin deal can expand opportunities for broker network

Housing Wire

Monday’s breaking news that Rocket Companies is set to acquire online real estate brokerage Redfin shed light on the changing landscape of the homebuying marketplace. In an exclusive interview with HousingWire , Rocket CEO Varun Krishna said that having a hand in the entire real estate funnel gives Rocket’s broker network “a bigger piece of the pie.” “We think about it more like opportunity. … So when you look at Rocket’s strength in mortgage with Redfin

Brokerage 418
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Could homebuyers find bargains this spring?

Housing Wire

The spring housing market is still trying to spring. Pending home sales inched up for the week with small gains but remained below numbers seen at this time last year. New listings volume is trying to grow with its biggest week since September. List prices inched up for the week, though sales prices did not advance. There are plenty of weak signals in the housing market, of course.

Inventory 390
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Disaster recovery for mortgage servicers: Navigating crisis with compliance & resilience

Housing Wire

Lessons from California wildfires and other natural disasters Californias wildfires highlighted the chaos that natural disasters continue to unleash not just on homeowners, but also on the mortgage servicers tasked with supporting them and the insurance industry that covers the cost of rebuilding. From wildfires to hurricanes, floods and earthquakes, each crisis tests a servicers ability to manage compliance, borrower support and investor expectations.

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Consumers Delay Life Plans Amid Inflation Pressures

Appraisal Buzz

As inflation continues to shape consumer behavior, Americans are adjusting their financial habits, delaying major life plans, and seeking new ways to manage their money. According to the second annual Wells Fargo Money Study , 76% of Americans have cut back on spending, a notable increase from 67% in 2024. The impact is even more pronounced among younger generations, with 82% of Gen Z adults and 79% of Millennials reporting reduced spending.

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Wealthy Renters More Common as Homebuying Costs Hinder Americans 

Appraisal Buzz

With all the revolving housing market trends going around, whats the new symbol of status? A lease. More affluent Americans are choosing to rent rather than buy a home, particularly in Sun Belt cities that saw a sharp rise in population during the pandemic. A new Redfin report showed that in recent years, wealthy renters have increased their share of the rental market in over three-quarters of the most populated U.S. metropolitan areas (35 out of 50), with Raleigh, NC, and Orlando, FL,leading th

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Will rates allow for ‘peak’ homebuying season?

Housing Wire

Over the last two months with economic uncertainty, the bond market has responded and the yield for the 10-year treasury has declined by 60 basis points from 4.8% to 4.2%. The 30-year fixed mortgage has followed suit, recently falling as low as 6.75%, the lowest level since mid-December. Its quite obvious that stubbornly high mortgage rates slowed down early season homebuyers in the first quarter of 2025.