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August 2025

Powell’s Jackson Hole speech stirs cautious optimism for housing

Federal Open Market Committee, Federal Reserve, HWmember, Jerome Powell, LendingLife, Mortgage, Mortgage Rates, Mortgage Rates Center, Origination, Regulatory /

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s speech on Friday at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium left real estate and mortgage professionals cautiously optimistic. While expectations are building for lower interest rates, volatility remains a concern. In his final address as Fed chair at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s annual conference, Powell signaled the possibility […]

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USDA is automating its loan application uploading

Housing Market, HWmember, Mortgage, Underwriting, USDA /

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced this week that it has awarded technology services firm Phoenixteam a $49 million contract to modernize its mortgage underwriting platform, the Guaranteed Underwriting System (GUS). The Arlington, V.A.-based company will overhaul GUS, which supports USDA’s guaranteed loan program for rural and farming communities. Phoenixteam said the updates will

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Mortgage rates hit year-to-date lows after Powell comments

Federal Reserve, Housing Demand, Housing Market, HWmember, Jerome Powell, Mortgage Rates, Purchase Applications /

We’ve reached fresh new year-to-date lows in mortgage rates after Jerome Powell, speaking at the Jackson Hole Economic Summit on Friday, suggested that the labor market may be more important than inflation for the time being. If only someone had been saying that for a few years! All jokes aside, mortgage rates have been trending

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Home purchase cancellations hit 8-year high

Florida, Home Sales, Housing Inventory, HWmember, Pending Home Sales, Real Estate, Redfin, Texas /

Nearly 58,000 U.S. home-purchase agreements were canceled in July, equal to 15.3% of homes that went under contract during the month, according to a Redfin analysis of MLS data. That marks the highest July cancellation rate since the company began tracking the metric in 2017 — and up from 14.5% a year ago. Analysts point

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Maryland community bank bucks trend, pins hopes on mortgages

Community banking, Housing markets, M&A /

Glen Burnie Bancorp When Mark Hanna told his banker friends that the Maryland-based community bank he leads was planning to buy a mortgage lender, they “looked at me as if I had five eyes,” he recalled this week. The underwhelming reaction came as little surprise, said Hanna, who is the president and CEO of Glen

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Lisa Cook

Trump says he will fire Fed Gov. Cook ‘if she doesn’t resign’

Economy, Monetary policy, Politics and policy, Trump administration /

Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook.Bloomberg News President Donald Trump said Friday morning that he would terminate Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook from her post “if she doesn’t resign” over allegations that she claimed a secondary home was her primary residence in a 2021 mortgage application. “Yeah, I’ll fire her if she doesn’t resign, yeah,” Trump

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Homebuyers in the US canceled contracts at record rate for July

Housing Inventory, Housing markets /

Home-purchase contracts in the US were canceled at a record rate for July as jittery buyers got cold feet.  About 58,000 agreements fell through last month, equivalent to 15.3% of homes that went under contract, according to Redfin. It was the highest cancellation rate for a July in data going back to 2017, the brokerage

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Rocket Cos. president, ex-mortgage chief Emerson to retire

Career moves, Industry News /

Rocket Cos. President Bill Emerson will retire at the end of the year, the company announced.  The longtime executive and CEO of Rocket Mortgage from 2002 to 2017 will retire but remain on the Board of Directors, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing this week. Emerson helped lead the lender and servicer through

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What Mamdani gets wrong about “affordable housing”

Multifamily, Politics and policy /

Enjoy complimentary access to top ideas and insights — selected by our editors. With democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani likely to be the next Mayor of New York City, it seems safe to predict the end of the great progressive experiment in public housing that began during the New Deal. Tenants in city-owned apartments pay less

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