Scaling from Freelancer to Business Owner

Contract closings rose 5.1% to a 4.35 million annualized pace last month, the highest since February 2023, according to figures released Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors. View the full article

A handful of former Fed officials noted that the markets' measured response to a probe into Fed Chair Jerome Powell was a result of pushback from The President allies. View the full article

As the Federal Open Market Committee announces its near-term interest rate plans Wednesday, market watchers expect the central bank to hold interest rates steady as policymakers seek greater clarity on the health of the economy. View the full article

Michael Strauss faces massive Sprout liabilities as his wife and a former associate launch a new mortgage firm, raising questions about ties to the fallen lender. View the full article

Shaw, which was part of last year's standstill agreement with Third Point, said it will support shareholder-driven change on Costar's board. View the full article

The St. Petersburg, Florida-based company plans to market 18.4 million shares for $18 to $20 each, according to its Securities and Exchange Commission filing. View the full article

The retail giant, in asking a court to dismiss the case, said its deal with a North Carolina brokerage was within the law's carve-out for such agreements. View the full article

A South Carolina resident said she received multiple calls from Freedom loan officers this summer despite registering her number on the do-not-call-registry. View the full article

The average starter home was sold for more than $206,000 in August, yet sales increased by nearly 4% from last year, according to a Redfin report. View the full article

The contract rate on a 30-year mortgage climbed 12 basis points to 6.46% in the week ended Sept. 26, according to Mortgage Bankers Association data released Wednesday. View the full article

The shutdown started with a flight into treasury bonds, putting downward pressure on financing costs, but several other developments slowed mortgage activity. View the full article

House Financial Services Committee ranking member Maxine Waters, D-Calif., asked bank regulators to give banks the supervisory clearance to extend lines of credit and modify loan terms for federal employees furloughed after the government shut down last week. View the full article

Applications for mortgages to buy a home or refinance both fell for a second week, marking a swift reversal of what had been a hopeful sign of a revival in the US housing market. View the full article

Roughly 100,000 properties in the United States had a foreclosure filed in the third quarter this year, an increase on a quarterly and yearly basis, ATTOM said.

A lapse in the National Flood Insurance Program because of the US government shutdown threatens to snarl home sales in the nation's riskiest floodplains and leave some homeowners without coverage in the middle of hurricane season.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged skepticism around the central banks large-scale asset purchases during the pandemic, noting the Fed likely "should have stopped" sooner, but fell short of admitting that the purchase of MBS' contributed to housing disparities. View the full article

America's second-largest bank revised its net interest income target upward after what analysts called a "clean" third quarter. View the full article

Karsten Giesecke and Michael Karol join Morriello to represent clients such as lenders and private equity funds in transactions including RMBS, CMBS, franchise loans and esoteric assets. View the full article

Mortgage Bankers Association economist Marina Walsh said lenders could be failing to close more loans as more consumers apply with multiple originators. View the full article

Forbearance or refinancing may help some, workarounds can keep many mainstream loans moving and one type of uncertainty does have an upside for rates. View the full article

The Long Island-based bank hasn't been profitable in eight quarters, but executives maintain that it's on the right path, citing more loan book diversity, lower expenses and an improved margin. View the full article

The mortgage unit of Hilltop Holdings lost $7.2 million pretax in the third quarter with lower volume, following making a small profit three months prior. View the full article

The influential nonbank mortgage company is calling for a "do no harm" approach to housing and finds comfort in officials' stated guardrails to that end. View the full article

A national measure of prices rose 1.5% from a year earlier, according to data from S&P Cotality Case-Shiller. It was the smallest gain since mid-2023 and followed a 1.6% increase in July. View the full article

The deal will help drive development at Mortgage Cadence, which had been a unit of Accenture, and enable new integrations and automation, according to leaders. View the full article