Wells Fargo Wells Fargo announced late Thursday it plans to appoint President and CEO Charlie Scharf chairman of its board of directors and award him a special equity grant of $30 million in restricted share rights along with more than a million stock options. The San Francisco-based banking giant said in a press release it […]
Wells Fargo to name Scharf chairman Read More »
Every month, we offer the same old warning/reminder ahead of the big jobs report–something to the effect of “no other economic report has as much power to cause volatility in rates, for better or worse.” Days like today are the reason for that reminder. Thankfully, it was the “better” end of the spectrum. Rates tend
Mortgage Rates Instantly Drop to 4 Month Lows After Jobs Report Read More »
The impact on housing of President Trump’s latest set of tariff announcements, including a 35% levy on goods from Canada not covered under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, is either mildly disruptive or significant, depending on who you ask. This comes from a series of executive orders signed by the President on July 31. A particular change
Fresh tariffs from Trump target homebuilding costs Read More »
Lawmakers from two wildfire-stricken states put forth a new Senate bill that would mandate mortgage relief for homeowners in the aftermath of natural disasters. Sens. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. and Michael Bennet, D-Colo. introduced the Mortgage Relief for Disaster Survivors Act this week aimed at alleviating homeowners’ financial hardship after an extreme weather event. The bill
Senators propose natural-disaster mortgage relief bill Read More »
Lenders sprinting to adopt artificial intelligence solutions could be opening the door to increasingly damaging cybersecurity incidents. Nearly all types of companies who suffered hacks involving their AI models or applications in the past year lacked proper access controls, according to IBM’s annual Cost of a Data Breach report. Although just 13% of the 600
How AI is changing the cost of a data breach Read More »
Overall employment numbers fell below what the market anticipated, with 73,000 July job additions compared to estimates for 104,000, making it more likely that a mortgage rate drop is nigh and that industry hiring may escalate. Bond market reaction to the Bureau of Labor Statistics data could lower long-term mortgage rates near term, according to
Weak jobs data boosts odds of mortgage rate drop Read More »
President Donald Trump appears to be taking another step to bring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of conservatorship, according to reporting by Bloomberg on Thursday. The president has invited the leaders of some of the country’s biggest banks, including JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Goldman Sachs Group CEO David Solomon, and Bank of
Trump meets with big bank CEOs to talk about taking the GSEs public: Bloomberg Read More »
Rocket Companies, the parent of Rocket Mortgage, has returned to profitability despite a challenging second quarter for the mortgage industry, marked by economic uncertainties in the U.S. The company is now focusing on integrating the recently acquired real estate brokerage firm Redfin, which has already shown early benefits. In the second quarter, Rocket reported a
Rocket returns to profitability in Q2, yields early benefits from Redfin deal Read More »
The second quarter of 2025 may not have shaken out exactly as the leaders of eXp World Holdings would have liked, but one bright spot was agent count at eXp Realty. Although agent count was down 5% annually to 82,704 agents, Q2 2025 marked the first time in a year that eXp recorded sequential quarter-over-quarter
Agent count a bright spot for eXp in Q2 2025 Read More »
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Gaetano Marra Homes and Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Bannon & Hebert have merged operations — expanding their presence across Connecticut and consolidating under the Gaetano Marra Homes name. The merger brings together approximately 150 affiliated sales associates across four offices in Monroe, Bridgeport, Newtown and Middlebury, Connecticut.
Connecticut firms merge under Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate brand Read More »