Real Estate Broker/Agency News

Mortgage rates climb higher to 2.97%

The average mortgage rate for a 30-year fixed loan is now just 3 basis points away from 3%, after a 16 basis point jump last week pushed mortgage rates to 2.97%, according to Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey. The average mortgage rate hasn’t risen this high since the end of July 2020,

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Shellpoint’s Debbie Thayer to speak at Spring Summit

Debbie Thayer, executive vice president of default administration at Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing, will speak on a panel titled Servicing Challenges During a Pandemic Period at HousingWire’s Spring Summit on March 4. Thayer will be joined on the panel by Courtney Thompson to discuss how servicers have scaled staff and operations to make

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Notarize offers free notarizations to fight racist title language

Digital notary startup Notarize is now offering free notarizations in an effort to eliminate racial covenants in title insurance documents. The issue came to light after real estate brokerage Windermere Real Estate earlier this month publicized the existence of title documents with racist language such as “no person or persons of

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Even with high lumber prices, new home sales beat

Extreme increases in lumber prices have caused some people to go bearish on new home sales. Not this one! If we play a version of rock, paper, and scissors with lumber prices and mortgage rates, mortgage rates will win. Mortgage rates have a much more significant influence on the new home

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How homebuilders are competing in this crazy market

New home sales in 2021 picked up right where they left off in 2020, near their highest levels in more than a decade thanks to low inventory. The state of the market means increased competition among homebuilders, who are grappling with how to keep prices affordable as their own costs

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How lenders can greatly reduce borrower income analysis time

As record-low mortgage rates spurred high origination volumes in 2020, lenders across the housing industry looked for ways to fulfill borrowers’ needs in the most efficient, streamlined manner possible.  For many lenders, the past year put a magnifying glass on processes that could not withstand the unparalleled volume. And while

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