Mortgage rates fall to 3.05% amid Omicron fears

The average 30-year-fixed rate mortgage dropped to 3.05% during the week ending Dec. 23, after achieving 3.12% the week prior, according to the latest Freddie Mac PMMS Mortgage Survey. A year ago, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.66%. The 15-year-fixed-rate mortgage averaged 2.30% last week, declining from 2.34% the week

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Existing home sales data continues to outperform

The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales for November came in hot at 6.46 million. This number is above my sales trend peak of 6.2 million, which means we have now had three straight months of sales of over 6.2 million. Early in the year, I wrote

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HW+ Member Spotlight: Shant Banosian

This week’s HW+ member spotlight features Shant Banosian, executive vice president of sales at Guaranteed Rate. Banosian broke a new record this year, topping his record-setting 2020 and funding a whopping $2 billion in total origination volume, which is believed to be a record for a retail loan originator. According

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Homeowners gain $9.1 trillion in housing value in 2021

U.S. homeowners gained a whopping $9.1 trillion of housing value over the last year, according to a report published by Redfin this week. The report noted that home-price growth and a severe shortage of inventory worked in tandem to push housing values to record highs in 2021. As a result,

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Stewart Title buys largest title company in Illinois

Just days after announcing its acquisition of Michigan-based Devon Title Agency, Stewart Title is back at it, announcing its acquisition of Greater Illinois Title Co. and subsidiaries on Tuesday. Chicago-based GITC is the largest title company in Illinois. Its subsidiaries include Greater Indiana Title, GIT Michigan, Greater Wisconsin Title, Greater

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