With interest rates in a higher-for-longer environment, mortgage and real estate companies have realized that long-term survival requires market share growth via M&A.

ICE says Q1 2026 equity withdrawals hit $47B, second liens pulled $25B and refinance-incentivized buyers fell to 1.8 million in May.

First-time homebuyers are being structurally locked out of the market by soaring income requirements and moving-target down payments. Because real estate operates as a chain of sequential transactions, this missing entry-level buyer is the root cause of today's frozen inventory and stalled volume.

In the secondary market, investors and credit rating agencies are awaiting additional performance data while developing workarounds to keep loans moving through the system.

Achieve raised its fixed-rate HELOC cap to $700,000 and lowered the starting APR to 5.5%, with up to 90% LTV and 50% DTI.

Newfi integrates Prudent AI to deliver non-QM income analysis, cutting bank-statement turn times from 72 hours to as little as three.

Better and Coinbase funded a first Fannie Mae-backed mortgage using bitcoin as collateral, with a nationwide rollout planned by summer 2026.

May HECM endorsements fell to 1,967, down 4.7% from April. Mutual of Omaha Mortgage led with 423 and a 21.5% market share.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s acquisition of Taylor Morrison Home Corp. is more than just a homebuilder buyout — it brings two mortgage operations under one umbrella.

Lenders often mistakenly treat loan officer productivity as an individual trait, overpaying for top producers while ignoring the structural and operational factors that actually drive those results. By redefining productivity as an outcome of market alignment and investing in mid-tier originators, institutions can reduce costly turnover and achieve more sustainable, long-term growth.

Rocket Mortgage and Rocket Pro provided additional details this week on their rollout of VantageScore 4.0 in mortgage lending after officially announcing last week that they have started using VantageScore 4.0 alongside Classic FICO scores.

Researchers propose a slight bump to upfront mortgage insurance premiums to offset the risks of a zero-down FHA product.

MBA’s April 2026 PAPI shows homebuyer affordability slipped month over month as median payments rose to $2,152.

Many professionals experience "AI paralysis" from being overwhelmed rather than skeptical of the technology's potential. To overcome this barrier, individuals should ignore large-scale transformation and simply start by using AI to solve immediate, everyday friction points in their workflows.

The ever-popular anime series Aria celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2025 and continues to be loved to this day. A second installment of vinyl soundtrack releases for Aria has been announced. The soundtracks for the second and third parts of the series, Aria The Natural and Aria The Origination, are scheduled to be released September [...]

The post Aria the Natural and Aria The Origination OSTs…

MISMO’s new white paper explains how standardized consumer-facing fee naming can cut TRID cure costs and improve mortgage fee transparency.

While the mortgage industry has long celebrated having endless software integrations, these complex connections often create hidden dependencies and inefficient workflows. The future of mortgage technology relies not on duct-taping more systems together, but on building a single, coherent platform based on true partnerships.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill that increases benefits for veterans and their surviving families, offsetting the cost by raising fees on VA refinance transactions.

As Florida homeowners face an escalating property insurance and affordability crisis, access to accessible financing like R-PACE is essential for funding critical, storm-resilient home upgrades. Federal regulators must roll back restrictive red tape to preserve these low-risk financial tools, ensuring families have the resources they need to protect and keep their homes.

Rocket began using VantageScore 4.0 with Classic FICO, as FHFA pilots the model and lenders delivered $10 million in loans to Freddie Mac.

Mortgage lenders are getting creative to combat the housing affordability crisis fueled by rising interest rates, rolling out novel products and blending existing options to keep borrowers in the market.

Mortgage lenders are currently wrestling with a high-stakes puzzle: how to accurately compare the new credit score models hitting the market. The differences are significant and carry major implications for risk assessment, loan pricing and secondary market returns.

MortgageOne TPO integrated with ARIVE and launched Pathway CDFI with 620 minimum credit scores, up to $2.5 million and no income documentation.

FHA signals push to repeal its 90-day anti-flipping rule and update AVMs, while new loss-mitigation rules are tied to $2 billion in savings.

Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) president and CEO Bob Broeksmit said regulators should prioritize rolling back rules that raise costs as mortgage rates are likely to stay “stubbornly high” for the foreseeable future.

Las Vegas-based Panorama Mortgage Group has unified its multiple brands under a single banner — SimplyPMG — and appointed Fernando Ospina as chief production officer to oversee all channels.

Loan officers are shifting their playbooks to keep deals alive as mortgage rates climb north of 6.6%.

Analysts at KBW kept UWM at market perform and $4.50, citing 9% share in Q1 2026, 45% broker share, and in-house servicing by October.

Linkhome will acquire Mortgage One Group to integrate AI into origination, adding 18-state licenses, eight branches and an $18 million warehouse line of credit.

At a time when some reverse mortgage lenders are struggling to bring new business through the door, Movement Mortgage is an example of a company that’s posting modest growth through organic lead generation and purpose-driven leadership.