HousingWire's Rising Stars represent the best young leaders in the mortgage industry – in lending, servicing, investing and real estate. Nominate yours before it’s too late!

In what can only be categorized as a shocking development, Zillow Group announced Thursday that Spencer Rascoff is stepping down as the company’s CEO, a position he’s held since 2010. Rascoff, who helped found Zillow, took over as CEO in 2010 for Rich Barton, who served as the company’s first CEO and is also a co-founder. And Zillow isn’t looking too far to find Rascoff’s replacement, as the online real estate giant announced that Barton is returning to serve as CEO again.

It's been said, "success leaves clues." If we want to achieve a goal, there are others who've likely already achieved what we want and we can learn from them. In 2016, I began a journey to deconstruct the habits, routines and daily rituals of the country’s top performing mortgage loan originators. I discovered consistent attributes common among many of them, leading me to create this roadmap for success as a mortgage originator.

Are we headed for the dreaded R-word? First American Chief Economist Mark Fleming talks to HousingWire's Jacob Gaffney to discuss the potential of a future recession. Watch the video to see Fleming's take on all of the speculation.

The investors in digital mortgage company and 2018 HW Tech100 winner Better Mortgage are a veritable who’s who of the finance space. And there's a new big name joining that list. Better announced Thursday that Citigroup is investing in the company, joining Goldman Sachs and American Express among Better's backers.

Just over 18 months ago, TIAA was finalizing its $2.5 billion acquisition of EverBank, touting the deal as a “significant” expansion of its retail footprint and an extension of its existing retirement, investment and advisory services. Then, in July 2018, the company rebranded TIAA Direct and EverBank to TIAA Bank. But now, just a few months later, TIAA Bank is moving to get out of retail mortgage lending and will shift its focus to digital mortgages.

Technology represents the greatest opportunity for growth in the multifamily sector, according to PeerStreet Underwriting Manager Nia Patel, a 2018 HousingWire Rising Star. We sat down with our previous Rising Star winner to get some insight on the housing industry today.

Well before Amazon announced its plans to pursue a second headquarters in Long Island City, the Queens neighborhood was among the fast-growing real estate markets of NYC. Major players in the real estate industry set their foot on the once-crumbling industrial neighborhood and secured millions of dollars to finance massive commercial and industrial projects. Yet, Amazon’s snafu announced last week still stunned the LIC real estate market.