Latest Industry News

 Mortgage rates dropped sharply lower today relative to the amount of movement in the underlying bond market with the average lender right in line with the lowest levels since late 2022. Because rates are directly tied to the prices of those bonds, the correlation tends to be almost perfect over time. 

 Mortgage applications decreased modestly last week, with overall volume slipping 1.2%. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly survey showed a decline in the seasonally adjusted Composite Index for the week ending August 29, 2025. 

 Both the FHFA and the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller indices published updated home-price data this week. The takeaway remains the same: prices are rising year-over-year, but at an increasingly slow rate. Case Shiller--the more volatile index--is at the lowest pace in more than 2 years while the broader FHFA index is the lowest since 2012 in year-over-year terms.   

After a disappointing spring and summer, the housing market could start to heat up as fall approaches with the latest plunge in mortgage rates.

Bond yields tumbled on Friday as the weaker-than-expected jobs report raised expectations for rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. The 10-year Treasury yield dived 10 basis points to 4.076%, the lowest since April.

Meanwhile, the average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage sank 16 basis points to 6.29%, according to Mortgage Daily News. That marked the biggest single-day decline since August 2024 and the lowest level since Oct. 3 2024.

After years of affordability challenges for buyers in the U.S., the housing market is “finally starting to listen,” according to Fortune 500 financial services firm First American.

High mortgage rates and home prices sidelined homebuyers for years, especially in the aftermath of the pandemic housing market that saw sub-3% mortgage rates and more affordable home prices. But ever since then, mortgage rates spiked, peaking at 8% in late 2023. 

Now that mortgage rates are trending slightly lower during the past few months—currently hovering around 6.5%—some buyers have at least a little bit of breathing room. Meanwhile, home price growth is mostly flat or slightly declining because of decreasing demand and increasing supply, according to the National Association of Home Builders.  

For many Hispanics the road to homeownership is filled with obstacles, including loan officers who don’t speak Spanish or aren’t familiar with buyers who may not fit the boxes of a traditional mortgage applicant.

Some mortgage experts are turning to artificial intelligence to bridge the gap. They want AI to help loan officers find the best lender for a potential homeowner’s specific situation, while explaining the process clearly and navigating residency, visa or income requirements.

This new use of a bilingual AI has the potential to better serve homebuyers in Hispanic and other underrepresented communities. And it’s launching as federal housing agencies have begun to switch to English-only services, part of President Donald Trump’s push to make it the official language of the United States. 

 Donald Trump fired Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook late Monday, all but guaranteeing a replacement that would back the president's calls to slash interest rates.

The move is a sharp escalation in his battle to exert greater control over what has long been considered an institution independent from day-to-day politics.

Trump has been pushing Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell to cut the central bank's short-term interest rate. Firing Cook will clear the path for Trump to appoint a MAGA acolyte who can help him assert control over the institution.

Trump said in a letter posted on his Truth Social platform that he is firing Cook because of allegations that she committed mortgage fraud. 

Following four straight weeks of declines, mortgage rates remained at 10-month lows.

The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage (FRM) held at 6.58% on Aug. 21 from Aug. 14, according to Freddie Mac. That marks 31 consecutive weeks below 7% for the average 30-year FRM.

“Over the summer, rates have come down and purchase applications are outpacing 2024, though a number of homebuyers continue waiting on the sideline for rates to further decrease,” said Sam Khater, chief economist at Freddie Mac.

 Though lagging, the most recent weekly mortgage application report from the Mortgage Bankers Association showed a seasonally adjusted 1.4% decrease for the seven days ending Aug. 15. The refinance index fell 3% and the purchase index rose 0.1% week-over-week. 

Purchasing your own home, perhaps the largest part of “the American Dream,” has become an unwieldy endeavor for many.

The last few decades gradually pushed back the goal posts of home buying through inequitable price growth rates compared to household income (and that’s before including the overall cost-of-living disparity). At the onset of 1984, the median home price-to-income ratio was 1.3x. That jumped to 5.2x by the end of 2023, based on Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development data.

But even in this landscape, people are still buying homes, albeit at a slower pace. As house hunters grapple with these dynamics, successful buyers have adapted to the environment by adopting new strategies, according to The Mortgage Reports’ Summer 2025 First-Time Home Buyer Survey.

Heading into the week, Fed Chair Powell's speech at the Fed's annual Jackson Hole Symposium was only event on the calendar that held much promise for motivating any major movement in mortgage rates. Not only did it deliver on that promise, but it did so in everyone's favorite direction.

Powell didn't pivot too much from his last major speech on July 30th. But in light of the weak jobs numbers that came out 2 days later, he understandably called out a shift in the balance of risk between inflation and employment.

 In not so many words, like several other Fed members have pointed out in recent weeks, Powell essentially said the labor market is looking weak enough to entertain a rate cut in the near future, even as the inflation outlook remains somewhat uncertain.  

After last week's Jackson Hole speech from Fed Chair Powell, rates fell to their lowest levels since October 3rd, 2024, narrowly surpassing the recent long-term low seen on August 13th. Powell tacitly suggested a stronger possibility of a September Fed rate cut due to growing concerns about the labor market.

Now today, the market corrected mildly back in the other direction.  The average lender's conventional 30yr fixed rates moved back up ever-so-slightly (roughly 0.02%), but remain essentially in line with 10-month lows. 

It always bears repeating that mortgage rates have much more in common with Fed rate EXPECTATIONS in the marketplace than with the Fed Funds Rate itself. Specifically, if expectations for rate cuts are increasing, mortgage rates tend to fall at the same time.

 Maybe it feels like a glacial change that is barely noticeable, but believe it or not, the housing market is improving for buyers. There are more homes for sale, more price discounts, and easing credit conditions. Considering all of the factors that exist in the 2025 housing market — is it a good time to buy a house? 

 There is some good news, and we'll take it when we can. According to the Realtor.com June 2025 Housing Market Trends Report, there are some important signs that the real estate market is "normalizing. " 

 More homes are on the market. The supply of houses for sale has grown to a post-pandemic peak. For the second month in a row, active listings exceeded 1 million in June 2025. 

 In June, more than 20% of listings featured price reductions. That's the highest percentage of price cuts for any June since 2016. It's also the sixth month in a row of growing sale price reductions. 

Yesterday, President Trump signed H.R. 1815, the VA Home Loan Reform Act, into law, which aims to make permanent the VA's temporary policy allowing veterans to directly compensate their real estate agents, ensuring they can participate in the housing market on equal footing with other homebuyers.

NAR has championed efforts to ensure veterans can access professional real estate representation, securing a 2024 temporary suspension of a VA policy that barred them from paying for such services. Since then, NAR has worked with the VA and Congress to permanently eliminate the outdated rule that had blocked veterans from having representation in transactions involving seller-paid commissions.

   A  few years ago, Brian Boero and his wife decided to buy a vacation home in Tuscany. They envisioned owning an apartment in a medieval Italian city, the ideal splurge for a couple of empty nesters after the height of the pandemic. It was also "kind of a 'YOLO' thing," says Boero, the CEO of 1000Watt, a real estate consulting firm. Once he started hunting for a place, though, his European dream turned into a total nightmare. 

 It didn't take long for Boero to realize he'd been spoiled by the American market. That may sound strange given the country's housing woes, but even Americans who've never bought a house have probably enjoyed the quirks that make our setup the envy of the rest of the world. When you want to get a sense of all the homes for sale in your area, you can easily cruise over to Zillow or the website of one of its competitors.  

   Ayanna Gay was in her 30s and had been married for three years before she and her husband, Nakhaz, began seriously thinking about having a baby. A slew of considerations kept them on the fence, including not just the astronomical cost of childcare and fears about bringing a kid into a world in political and economic turmoil, but also a prohibitive mortgage.

Finally, they decided to take the leap. Gay is due to have her first child in mid-August. "We got to a point where we were like, we can afford this more than we could have afforded it before," Gay tells me. "But it was never, like 'Oh, yeah, we're going to be smooth sailing.'"

 The Gays are far from alone. While there are myriad reasons the birth rate in America has been falling since 2008, surveys have found the rising cost of having a kid is at the top of the list. 

 As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes an integral part of business operations, organizations face the challenge of managing change effectively. Steve Rudolph, founder of Steve Rudolph Coaching, recently shared insights on leading teams through AI-driven transitions.  With experience advising companies like Fidelity National Title Group, Novo Nordisk and Amway, Rudolph emphasized that successfully navigating AI adoption requires strong leadership, strategic planning and a culture of adaptability.  

     The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) released its NAHB/Westlake Royal Remodeling Market Index (RMI) for the second quarter, posting a reading of 59, down four points compared to the previous quarter. While the reading of 59 is still in positive territory, this is only the second time the RMI has dipped below 60 since the survey was revised in the first quarter of 2020.  The NAHB/Westlake Royal RMI survey asks remodelers to rate five components of the remodeling market as "good," "fair" or "poor."  

   The U.S. Federal Reserve sets borrowing costs for shorter-term loans by changing its federal funds rate. This rate dictates how much banks pay each other in interest to borrow funds from their reserves, kept at the Fed on an overnight basis. While this rate isn’t the same as the rate you’ll pay for your mortgage, they are related. As the cost for banks to borrow increases or decreases, the cost for you to borrow tends to follow suit. And when the Fed doesn’t change the federal funds rate, it generally encourages lenders to maintain mortgage rates in the current range. 

 Most people assume forged deeds are worthless legal documents that could never support valid property claims. The recent Arizona Supreme Court case Estate of Dominguez v. Dominguez undercuts that assumption, holding that even completely forged deeds can provide the foundation for acquiring property ownership under certain circumstances. 

    Industry experts predict a moderate increase in U.S. home prices, with projections ranging from 2% to 4.5% in 2025. This growth is attributed to factors such as limited housing inventory, sustained demand, and the gradual easing of mortgage rates. While affordability remains a concern, especially for first-time buyers, the market is expected to stabilize, offering opportunities for both buyers and investors to navigate the changing landscape. 

 Home equity contracts—often called home equity “investments”—are relatively new financial products in which homeowners get an upfront payment from a company and, in exchange, must make a single lump sum repayment in the future that is based, in part, on the home’s value. 

 Depending on the buyer and the market, a home in need of TLC can be an appealing purchase, one that first-time buyers and investors alike are willing to pay for. However, a recent study by Zillow1 shows that the opposite is true in today’s climate.  

    Industry experts predict a moderate increase in U.S. home prices, with projections ranging from 2% to 4.5% in 2025. This growth is attributed to factors such as limited housing inventory, sustained demand, and the gradual easing of mortgage rates. While affordability remains a concern, especially for first-time buyers, the market is expected to stabilize, offering opportunities for both buyers and investors to navigate the changing landscape. 

 Orphe Divounguy, a senior economist at Zillow, shares his personal struggles in purchasing a home in Raleigh, North Carolina. Despite his expertise, he faced intense competition, losing multiple bids before securing a home through a direct arrangement with the seller. His experience underscores the importance of understanding local market dynamics and the emotional toll of homebuying, even for seasoned professionals.  

  Paying down your mortgage helps build equity in your home, but you don’t have to wait until you completely repay your loan — or sell the property outright — to access that equity. Instead, you can convert the equity you have into ready money, and continue paying off your mortgage, with a cash-out refinance. 

   Mortgage demand from homebuyers rose for the second straight week, suggesting that potential buyers are now more enticed by the increasing supply of houses for sale than they are dissuaded by recent economic uncertainty and concern over tariffs. 

 In a sign of continued bipartisan cooperation to address issues related to housing costs and supply, Sen. Ruben Gallego of (D-Arizona) and Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pennsylvania) have introduced a bill that’s designed to better facilitate interagency coordination on housing issues. 

  The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties increased to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.04 percent of all loans outstanding at the end of the first quarter of 2025, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) National Delinquency Survey. 

  Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs) are often overlooked in equity discussions because of the model minority myth, which paints a misleading picture of uniform success.

 Coming up with enough cash for a down payment to buy a house can be the single biggest roadblock for prospective home buyers. But how much of a down payment do you really need? That depends on the type of loan, your lender and your priorities. . 

 Digital closings have shifted from a nice-to-have to a vital part of mortgage lending strategy. With investment in eClosing technology at nearly ubiquitous levels, the focus is shifting from whether lenders will adopt eClosing to how deeply it’s integrated into their daily operations—and whether they’re fully leveraging its potential. 

  AnnieMac Home Mortgage is a rapidly growing lender that remains committed to a close-knit, family-oriented culture. Embracing technology to streamline operations, AnnieMac enhances the mortgage process for both lending teams and borrowers to ensure exceptional service and lasting relationships. 

  In an industry built on customer loyalty, understanding what truly matters to borrowers is a top priority. But, what do borrowers actually want? To answer this question, Snapdocs surveyed over 2,000 borrowers about their recent homebuying experience—and the factors that help (or hurt) customer satisfaction. 

National Mortgage News is an award-winning comprehensive digital information resource serving the entire residential mortgage industry, including depositories, nonbank lenders and servicers, brokerage firms, vendors and regulators. In addition to providing news analysis and perspective, NMN convenes industry participants to provide insight on topics including regulation, compliance, technology and loss mitigation. 

 As the leading advocate for the real estate finance industry, the MBA represents and serves its members through a comprehensive array of capabilities and tools that enable members to successfully deliver fair, sustainable and responsible real estate financing within ever-changing business environments.

 Covers mortgage lending, real estate, and housing market trends with in-depth reports.  brings together original data, analytics, technology, media and events to support informed leaders. 

 Mortgage Rates Edge Slightly Higher, But Tomorrow is Anyone's Guess

Mortgage rates didn't move much today, which is pretty crazy considering the volatility present in financial markets in the afternoon.  

After creeping up over the past few days, mortgage rates all came down this morning.

Hopefully for borrowers, this rolls forward as most of today’s economic indicators point to downward pressure on interest rates.

Most mortgage interest rates have decreased today. According to Zillow data, the average 30-year fixed rate is down five basis points, finally back down to 6.50%.

Mortgage rates opened 10 basis points worse than Friday’s close. Jobs and manufacturing data may move rates, but Trump’s tariffs will have a bigger impact.  For insights on how these changes affect homebuyers and mortgage strategies, Connor Bloskas from West Way Mortgage is available to provide expert guidance. Reach out for personalized solutions in today’s shifting rate environment.

Washington, D.C. summits discuss how Notaries can help fight real estate fraud

NNA representatives recently met with industry leaders and government officials to discuss the Notary community's role in preventing real estate scams.

A website that provides up-to-date news, analysis, and data on mortgage rates, the housing market, and the broader financial landscape. It offers real-time mortgage rate tracking, market commentary, economic reports, and insights for industry professionals, homebuyers, and investors. 

Source of Title has become the premier resource for locating independent title professionals and is, by far, the most active community of it kind.  With more than 12,000 registered users generating approximately 150,000 page views each month.

 The American Land Title Association, founded in 1907, is the national trade association representing more than 6,200 title insurance companies, title and settlement agents, independent abstracters, title searchers and real estate attorneys. 

 The American Land Title Association, founded in 1907, is the national trade association representing more than 6,200 title insurance companies, title and settlement agents, independent abstracters, title searchers and real estate attorneys.