Chew also touches on how Consolidated Analytics maintains relationships with originators and stands ready to assist with heavy workloads. He believes that originators should seek outsourcing opportunities before the refinance wave hits in 2025.

How Outsourcing Can Help Originators in 2025

HousingWire: How do you advise loan originators to explore outsourcing to handle capacity fluctuations in a volatile market?

Michael Chew: Start by tapping into your network. Many of us have heard the same projections from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) about a potential refinance surge by mid-2025 and significant rate reductions. 

At Consolidated Analytics, our experienced team experienced these cycles before, and we're already reconnecting with past clients and contacts. Our clients know they can count on our stability and familiarity as a reliable partner.

Offloading backend operations to skilled external teams grants flexibility to choose onshore, offshore or hybrid options. This can boost turnaround times and efficiency. Tapping into different time zones can create nearly 24-hour operations. It's a win-win that helps reduce the impact of local disruptions and keeps things running smoothly. 

Things to Consider When Outsourcing Origination Tasks

HW: What are some pros and cons that loan originators should be aware of when outsourcing underwriting or post-closing services?

MC: One of the biggest advantages is scalability—outsourcing allows originators to quickly adjust staffing levels to match market demand without the delays and costs of hiring in-house. Plus, with offshore options, originators can access skilled professionals at a lower cost. Consolidated Analytics offers hybrid models, combining offshore labor with onshore management to balance savings and quality.

However, onboarding takes time and can’t be rushed without risking quality and security. Aligning workflows can also be tricky. Lastly, quality control needs close attention, so setting clear KPIs and monitoring performance is vital to maintain high standards and avoid potential issues.

Providing scalability without compromising compliance

HW: How does Consolidated Analytics provide scalability while maintaining compliance?

MC: We offer a flexible workforce model, rigorous compliance protocols, and industry expertise. Our outsourcing model allows lenders to utilize onshore, offshore, or combined teams to quickly scale operations during peak periods. Offshore teams create an extended work cycle, accelerating loan processing to meet fluctuating demands.

Our operations team ensures teams are well-trained in U.S. regulatory requirements, which helps minimize compliance risks during high-volume periods. Robust data security protocols also safeguard sensitive borrower information.

Consolidated Analytics tailors performance standards to match client expectations. We ensure that outsourced work meets the same quality benchmarks as in-house teams. Real-time reporting keeps oversight constant, adapting as needed. A phased onboarding approach helps ensure a smooth transition, beginning with low-risk tasks to fine-tune processes. Dedicated client experience managers provide ongoing support throughout the integration.

Seamless long-term integration with your team

HW: Can you elaborate on your relationship philosophy with lenders? How does Consolidated Analytics build and maintain long-term partnerships, particularly with mid-tier originators?

MC: At Consolidated Analytics, it all starts with partnership. We strive to be a seamless extension of your team, embracing a collaborative and client-centric approach. We focus on building trust, transparency, and flexibility, offering customized outsourcing solutions that match each lender's unique size, volume, and strategic goals. With our support, lenders can efficiently scale operations without overextending resources. The goal is to maintain consistent workflows and use the client's email domain for communications, fostering a unified experience that builds confidence.

Consolidated Analytics is committed to building long-term relationships by delivering consistent, high-quality service to clients of all sizes and volumes. We believe every client deserves the same level of attention and dedication. We tailor our approach to meet their specific needs while upholding our high standards. This commitment to personalized, reliable service helps foster trust and lasting partnerships. We provide ongoing strategic guidance to identify operational efficiencies and growth opportunities, building enduring partnerships that evolve with the lender's needs in a competitive market. 

Equipped to integrate with lenders of all sizes

HousingWire: What are some of the challenges mid-size lenders face when trying to implement outsourced solutions, and how does Consolidated Analytics tailor services for them?

MC: A primary challenge for mid-size lenders is often the limited resources and time needed for a smooth onboarding process. Consolidated Analytics has extensive experience onboarding mid-size clients. We're well-equipped to support lenders throughout this crucial phase. Our expertise ensures the onboarding process is efficient, minimizing disruptions and ensuring each step is done right the first time. Lenders can focus on their core operations with our support while seamlessly integrating outsourced services.

Prepare for the upcoming market shifts by outsourcing

HW: What advice do you have for lenders preparing for upcoming shifts in the market?

MC: Start planning early for scalability. Don't wait for the refinance wave to hit, as that can lead to rushed hiring and potential bottlenecks. Instead, explore outsourcing solutions now to quickly ramp up operations when needed, all without sacrificing quality.

Next, identify resource-heavy tasks like loan setup and underwriting that can be outsourced.

Following that, compliance and data security are non-negotiable. Find an outsourcing partner with solid compliance frameworks to ensure alignment with U.S. regulations while protecting borrower information.

Also remember that offshore teams can help create a nearly continuous work cycle. Plus, utilizing technology for real-time reporting allows you to track performance and compliance easily. Lastly, align with a strategic partner that feels like an extension of your team. 

By following these steps, lenders can boost efficiency, maintain compliance, and deliver an exceptional customer experience.

Pulte is a regular and frequent poster on the social media platform X, having used the platform as the source of philanthropic giving to other platform users. He is also a vocal supporter of President-elect Donald Trump who lambasted the housing proposals of Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 election campaign.

The Post reported that unnamed sources close to the situation claim that key transition figures are “loudly” advocating on his behalf. Additionally, they claim that Pulte has already had some conversations with members of the Trump transition team.

The report also noted that Ben Carson, the HUD secretary during Trump's first term in office, is not interested in returning to the role. Instead, he is reportedly jockeying to become secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

“Bill comes from a prominent family and is probably best qualified, probably overqualified,” the source said, according to the Post.

Pulte has also posted photos of himself on X in close proximity to Trump and high-profile figures of the 2024 campaign — including former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Vice President-elect JD Vance and Trump himself.

Pulte said Tuesday in a post on X that Trump “is the only builder who has ever been elected president,” adding that he can take action on the federal lands owned by the government.

Following prior presidential elections that have resulted in a new occupant in the White House, the nominee for HUD secretary is typically a post that is announced within the first two weeks of December.

In 2008, following the victory of Barack Obama, Shaun Donovan was named the nominee-designate for HUD secretary on Dec. 13. In 2016, Carson was announced as the selection for the role on Dec. 5, roughly a month after Trump’s first election win. In 2020, Marcia Fudge was announced as the nominee on Dec. 8 for the Biden administration.

Pulte is no longer involved with PulteGroup. He sued leaders at the company in 2022 for allegedly harassing him on X, then known as Twitter.

The weather in Tampa on Tuesday morning could not have been better — temperatures in the low 80s and partly cloudy skies. But it’s not going to stay that way.

Hurricane Milton — currently a Category 4 storm — is scheduled to make landfall in Tampa late Wednesday or early Thursday. The strength of the storm has prompted officials to call for an evacuation, one that has already had a stark impact on the city’s housing market.

Data from Altos Research shows that new listings and pending home sales have fallen off a cliff since the storm’s formation. 

New listings in Tampa were at 775 on Sept. 27, but they’ve since dropped to 555. Pending sales have experienced a similar pullback, from 741 to 561.

The lower level of activity makes sense. People trying to get out of the way of a major hurricane aren’t overly concerned with putting their house on the market. Additionally, the storm has prompted buyers and home insurers to hit pause.

Tampa-area agent Jeff Borham of eXp Realty said that protocols for insurance are having an impact. According to him, you can’t bind insurance once a storm is named, but if insurance was bound before the storm was named, homebuyers can still close.

The trend is even more dramatic when considering that the Tampa market — which had slowed considerably over the past year — was starting to gain steam.

“Two weekends ago, even right after [Hurricane] Helena, my team had our busiest showing weekend of the year,” Borham said. “Right now we have zero scheduled showings because everybody's stressed out over the storm. People are evacuating. We're still getting plywood up, cleaning up their house, getting ready for the storm. There’s literally zero activity right now.”

Borham said that during situations like this, his team transitions from being real estate agents to being members of the community who are helping their neighbors brace for the storm.

“You step up and be a leader, because if you're a high-producing Realtor, you know a lot of people and have a lot of connections in the trades community and different things,” he said. “Our connections and our leadership ability can really help after a natural disaster.”

HousingWire: How has the current market affected the way lenders approach customer relationships?

Dustin Gray: You don’t have to be an economist to know it’s a challenging time to buy a home or get a loan. Home prices and interest rates are high, and most Americans are financially stretched thin. This means that people will probably stay parked in their homes for longer, and transactions will drop by at least 20-30% in the next year — maybe more.

Another way to think about it is there are 110 million homes in the US – and 106 million of them won’t transact in the next year. So if you’re a lender, the question you should be asking is — how can I engage those 106 million households tomorrow? What seeds can I plant now that will grow in the near future?

From our perspective, it’s time to get busy investing in relationships and playing the long game, while weathering the storm. If you’re an LO, you need to offer your clients something that fits today’s narrative — making the most of the home that you’ve got, while being on-call to help when someone needs to borrow money or move. This is where Milestones fits in.

HW: What types of technology can lenders use to improve the borrower experience? 

DG: For the past few years, homeowner engagement has been pretty basic — mostly apps focused on home value, home equity and market reports. This was fun to look at when home values were skyrocketing but is kind of depressing when the market starts to flatten or decline. Milestones takes a much more holistic and comprehensive approach to homeownership — it’s about providing clients with solutions for all things home-related. Consumers don’t want a dozen apps to accomplish a dozen different things — they want an experience that’s in one place, and simple.

Lenders need to be focused on anything that meets customer expectations for speed, convenience, collaboration, transparency, certainty and personalization. In other words, experiences that mirror the rest of their digital lives.

They need to be focused on experiences that are on par with any national portal or direct-to-consumer lender, which I consider table stakes nowadays (website, LOS, CRM, etc.). However, what we typically see is that the focus (albeit important) is primarily on the “lead-gen-to-closing-table” part of the borrower experience. In this market, when transactions are few and far between, lenders need another set of tools that extend that value proposition well-beyond the closing table.

They need technology that creates experiences borrowers actually want to keep coming back to on a regular basis in between transactions. The experience needs to foster a sense of education, showcasing equity options, wealth management and growth, and overall financial wellbeing associated with homeownership. In doing so, they will be positioned to capture that borrower when they are ready to transact again (or refi when rates drop).

Technology that creates stronger relationships with real estate agents/professionals is also critical, as these relationships typically provide the lion’s share of a lender’s borrower leads/opportunities.

HW: What makes borrower relationships so crucial to the mortgage business?

DG: In short: the relationship is everything.

There’s a McKinsey study from a few years back that says borrowers consider exceptional customer experience to be almost as critical as getting the best rate and knowing that a lender provided an amazing customer experience (via word of mouth, referral, etc.) was the most important factor in choosing a lender. So, if you think about it, in this current market where rates are much higher than they’ve been in years, lenders need to focus on building relationships that drive this critical word of mouth/referral behavior (all while streamlining operations and reducing costs).

It starts with lenders redefining their value proposition. In our mind, the narrative goes something like this:

• I’m more than your loan officer – I’m your adviser that can help you make smarter decisions and build wealth from your home.
• When we fund your loan, I’m going to give you a homeowner portal. It’s going to show you how to take care of your home, troubleshoot problems, make improvements and educate you to avoid common pitfalls.
• At some point in your journey, you’re probably going to need money — to improve your home, get another home or pay for something else in your life. When that day comes, I’m available to discuss your options at the push of a button.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the D2C lending brands (with very deep pockets) are aggressively targeting consumers. These national players are bundling services and cross-marketing their portfolio of companies as well. Knowing that loyalty in the mortgage industry (i.e. repeat business) is dismally low, maintaining borrower relationships in between transactions is critical to ensuring that consumers don’t get swept up in these D2C marketing/advertising campaigns and funneled into their ecosystems when they are ready to transact again.

HW: How does Milestones Labs help mortgage professionals build strong relationships with their borrowers?

DG: Lending is an infrequent, big ticket transaction — which for lenders historically has meant high customer acquisition costs and low repeat business. On the surface of things, that’s a difficult business model to execute — and especially vulnerable to things outside the lender’s control.

Milestones helps mortgage professionals build trust, solve problems and provide value to homeowners at scale. The technology gives homeowners an all-inclusive homeownership experience including: home value and equity monitoring, home maintenance reminders and how-to articles, cloud-based document storage, one-click access to hire professionals for various projects around the home and much more. Borrowers actually want to come back into the Milestones platform, as opposed to a typical CRM-type experience that is merely pushing messaging one-way at a consumer. Ergo, borrowers regularly interact with and get value from Milestones and associate the experience with their lender, which builds inherent trust.

Milestones exists to help lenders increase loyalty — because most consumers transact with a lender once, and then never again. By filling the years-long gap between originations, lenders never lose touch with their clients.

HW: How does Milestones Labs help mortgage professionals build strong relationships with real estate agents to increase borrower referrals?

DG: While it’s paramount that today’s mortgage pros focus on providing an amazing experience for the borrower, they still can’t lose sight of the fact that a majority of their purchase business is going to come from real estate agents. Having technology in place that continues to bolster those relationships and provides value to real estate partners is critical.

Today, a mortgage professional can seamlessly bring their real estate agent partners into Milestones — at no cost to the agent — and allow them to provide the same toolset to their respective homeowners and prospects. It creates an ecosystem, or a “home team,” where the homeowner is getting exponentially more value.

Thus, agents get a more engaged database, increasing their repeat and referral business, and the mortgage professional is alongside these clients every step of the way.

A happy and productive real estate agent is definitely going to remember who helped them build their business. It’s a win for everyone involved.

To learn more about how Milestones can secure your future revenue by fostering your current clients, schedule a demo with their team.

Congratulations to the 2022 HousingWire Vanguards who continue to improve and shape the housing landscape. Take look through the list below to see this year's winners.

The Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill, which was lumped in with five other bills, would set aside $73 billion in gross appropriations for the department. That is $12.6 billion more than the department's 2022 final budget, and $1.1 billion more than President Joe Biden requested for 2023.

The measure passed in a 220 to 207 vote Wednesday afternoon. Further negotiations in Congress, however, will likely eat away at that figure. The U.S. Senate is set to deliberate its version of an appropriations bill in the weeks to come.

The House bill would allocate $383 million for HUD’s information technology fund, an increase of $60 million from 2022. The bill would set aside $16.7 million specifically for "development, modernization, and enhancement projects.”

The FHA has made an effort in recent years to update its decades-old single-family IT infrastructure. The Mortgage Bankers Association, in a letter to lawmakers ahead of the vote, argued that the bill should designate part of that $16.7 million for FHA Catalyst, FHA's flagship IT modernization project.

The MBA wrote that FHA Catalyst is a "crucial project" to modernize FHA's IT infrastructure, and "provide cloud-based platforms to reduce costs, risk, and fraud."

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The Federal Housing Administration, the office within HUD that oversees the $1.2 trillion single-family portfolio, would see no increase in its budget. The House proposal would give the FHA $150 million.

The appropriations bill would allocate $1.09 billion for salaries and expenses for HUD’s programs, a year-over-year increase of $125 million. Of that amount, $488 million would go to the Office of Housing and $286 million to the Office of Public and Indian Housing.

A Congressional watchdog in June recommended Ginnie Mae address "staffing-related challenges," including its heavy reliance on contractors for many functions. But lawmakers decided not to increase Ginnie Mae's $33.5 million budget for salaries and expenses. Salaries and expenses for HUD's Office of Inspector General would also remain unchanged from 2022, at $140 million.

Lawmakers would put $31.03 billion toward the housing choice voucher program, which pays rental assistance to landlords. That funding would renew existing assistance and expand the program's reach to an additional 140,000 vouchers.

The House proposal also looks to increase funding for homeless assistance grants from 2022 levels by more than $361 million to $3.6 billion. According to HUD's annual count, just before the pandemic, 580,000 people experienced homelessness on a given night. The department's 2021 count dwindled to just 326,000, in part due to "pandemic-related disruptions to counts of unsheltered homeless people."

The House bill would also give $5.3 billion in grants to states, counties and cities for a range of community development activities, an increase of $458 million. A program that distributes grants to build, buy or rehabilitate affordable housing for rent or homeownership would see a $175 million increase to $1.67 billion.

Fair housing programs would see a modest $1 million increase from 2022 to $86 million. The House bill would allocate $160 million to policy and research, a $15 million increase from 2022.

Additionally, the bill includes $70 million for housing counseling, $12.5 million more than the prior year, and $4 million more than Biden requested.

In April, HUD signaled it would take on the issue. But a senior HUD official in mid-July stated the obstacles to providing small-dollar mortgages, instead of giving solutions.

"It's hard to get lenders to make small mortgages, because quite honestly the economics of the whole business depends on percentages," the HUD official said.

HUD did not respond to a request seeking clarity on their plan to boost small-dollar mortgages.

Industry practitioners have some ideas for how HUD might make financing such loans more feasible.

Small-dollar mortgages, typically with balances less than $200,000, are hard to find. Lenders avoid them, because originating a small-balance loan is as expensive as a larger loan, but the compensation, which is about 1% of the loan balance, is lower.

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Michael Loftin, CEO of Homewise, whose work revolves around sustainable homeownership, suggested HUD take a cue from the government-sponsored enterprises. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, although they rarely back small-dollar loans, subsidize lenders for originating them.

“Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae give [lenders] a little bump on their origination fee to encourage small-dollar lending,” said Loftin. “It’s an acknowledgement that you’re making less on a small-dollar loan.”

He added that non-traditional lenders, such as Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI's) and credit unions, should be key players in any plan by the federal government to make small-dollar mortgage loans more accessible.

“There are CDFI’s and credit unions that want to do this work, but maybe they need an operating subsidy or cheaper capital to make this work,” said Loftin. “Having a product alone will not address the problem — you still don’t have people doing the work on the ground.”

Loftin also suggested a subsidy for real estate agents, because “they can’t make a living selling $40,000 homes."

A recent report from researchers at The Pew Charitable Trusts underscored the challenges of small-balance mortgage lending. The report found that fixed mortgage origination costs lead lenders to "focus on higher-balance loans." Small mortgages are less profitable, because lender compensation is commission-based, but they come with the same regulatory and compliance risks, the researchers wrote.

Tara Roche, who co-authored the report, said that making small-dollar loans more accessible would help curb buyers' reliance on riskier and costlier alternative financing.

Instead of mortgages, borrowers looking to finance more modest properties turn to land contracts, seller-financed mortgages, lease-purchase agreements, and personal property loans. That financing is often more expensive and lacks the consumer protections that come with mortgages, Roche said.

"In some arrangements, the deed or the title to the property isn't handed over until much later in the transaction, sometimes not until final payment is made," Roche said. Those borrowers "have the responsibilities of homeownership but not all of the benefits."

The use of alternative financing is also not equitably distributed. Hispanic borrowers are almost twice as likely to use alternative financing than any other race or ethnicity, Pew researchers found.

Roche said that small-dollar lending is an overlooked area for mortgage lending, but that it has a lot of potential. Although it's not yet clear how HUD will tackle the issue, Roche said she is encouraged that HUD is focused on the problem.

"In order to really get at the challenges in the smaller mortgage space, whether that's lenders' difficulty originating these profitably or the ability for buyers to access them, it's going to take a multi-pronged effort," said Roche. "HUD even identifying this as challenge is an important step."

The VA also faces challenges unrelated to the pandemic. The cost of credit for its borrowers is set by Congress, not the department. The perception of VA loans as risky and logistically complicated — even if an outdated view — continues to impact the competitiveness of the borrowers it serves.

But the VA is hoping to change that.

John Bell, deputy director at the VA, said the agency has made strides in recent years to get loans processed and out the door in a timely manner.

HousingWire sat down with Bell to learn about how the VA is working to revamp the image of the loans it offers, how it plans to modernize its appraisal processes, how it coordinates with other agencies, and whether its COVID-19 partial claim program will get an extension.

Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

Maria Volkova: There are some negative perceptions that the VA product is more cumbersome to deal with and riskier than a conventional loan. How is the VA addressing this?

John Bell: We have been trying to get the word out about improvements to our program and trying to get this message to the right people at the right time. Our borrowers are the cream of the crop. They’ve got 722 credit scores, they’ve got 40% debt ratios, they’ve got average reserves in the bank of $54,000. These are great borrowers, and they need to be given a chance.

We have done a lot of work reducing the time that it takes for certificates of eligibility to be issued. When I started 12 years ago, the average time was 20 business days. That is now 48 hours for 92% of all our requests. We’ve also done a lot of work in appraisals and trying to reduce the time that it takes not only to assign an appraisal to an appraiser, but also the time an appraisal is delivered to us.

MV: How is the VA educating stakeholders in the industry about improvements made to the program?

JB: We just approved a brand new training department for VA. We now will have our first training group that will be intensely focused on just spreading the word, getting information out to lenders, veterans and real estate agents. We’re really excited about building this training team out and hiring a contractor to help us put together the materials.

MV: VA’s appraisal process is criticized for being lengthy and costly. Legislation is making its way through the Senate that will modernize appraisals, in part by allowing desktop appraisals. How will this benefit borrowers? Is this a positive development for the VA?

JB: We are thinking about how to best serve the industry in providing desktop appraisals. But remember, we are still a high LTV program and lenders own 75% of the risk in that delegated authority that we’ve given them. Even if we have a desktop program, that doesn’t necessarily mean that a lender wants to use the desktop program, because there is a lot of risk.

It's really about putting options out there and then letting lenders determine what best suits their needs as well as keeping the veteran competitive. I would love to broad stroke say, 'Hey, you have this ability,' but unfortunately it really must be thought out. Procedural information comes out very soon on what we can and can’t do, so that’s even before any legislative changes that would come out this year.

There are also things that we can do right now at the VA without legislative help. Last year the Assisted Appraisal Processing Program launched. The program allows appraisers to utilize any tools or resources at their disposal to put together an appraisal and to sign off and certify a house's value. Our problem is getting appraisers and lenders to want to use it. Right now, we only have a 14% usage rate. We’re trying to find out why that is.

MV: Approximately 200,000 VA and FHA borrowers are currently in forbearance. What is the VA doing to help veteran's whose financial wherewithal continues to be impacted by the pandemic?

JB: There are a little less than 100,000 veterans that are still in forbearance or some type of modification mitigation program. We have the partial claim program that sunsets in October, but we also have other tools that veterans can utilize such as COVID refund modifications and loan deferment. These options are available through July of 2023.

MV: Stakeholders in the mortgage industry have been calling for the VA to extend the deadline for the partial claim program and possibly make it a permanent fixture. Why is the VA moving to sunset the partial claim program in October?

JB: Just because the partial claim program is sun setting on October 28, that's not the end of the story. We are working on other permanent options for our veteran borrowers.

This was a regulation that we put together in six months that normally would take three years. Whenever you do things like that, there are things you miss. There are things you wish you had done differently. As we have gone through this program over the past six, eight months, we've seen some of those holes and where we could have done things a little bit better to tie some loose ends together. That would make it easier for servicers, easier for veterans and easier for our staff to be able to maneuver.

We're currently trying to solve what we should permanently do. You'll see this from us shortly.

MV: In recent years the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the VA have cracked down on deceptive ads targeting veteran borrowers. Why do you think that veteran borrowers have been targeted by these types of campaigns and what is the VA doing to educate borrowers about these types of schemes?

JB: A lot of it had to do with our interest rate reduction refinance loan. It's a rate and term loan where you're just signing your name, there's no appraisal, they're not underwritten. So they really were easy pickings because you didn't have to go through that approval.

We have a lot of veterans that work for our program and a lot of veterans that have utilized the program that are getting those same marketing materials. As we receive those marketing materials ourselves, we are [spreading the word to veterans and lenders].

We partnered and we continue to partner with the CFPB to try to crack down and monitor those those type of ads. And it's not just for the interest rate refi program, it's also for cash-out refinances. It wasn't just a one time thing, every month we're having discussions and sending [the CFPB] materials that we see in the industry.

MV: Certain legislation is in part funded by increasing the cost of credit for VA borrowers. What is the decision process behind adding funding fees to legislation, which inevitably impacts veteran borrowers?

JB: We have zero input when it comes to the funding fee and we basically do what Congress requires us to do. They set the funding fee rates, they set the length of the funding fee they set, who is responsible, or who is required to pay. And then we follow whatever that guidance is.

I understand the frustration. We just don't have a say in that.

In the plans, both government-sponsored enterprises explain how they will provide financing for manufactured and rural housing, and support affordable housing preservation.

Although the lesser of the two government-sponsored enterprises by size, Freddie Mac was alone in committing to purchasing manufactured homes not titled as real property, or chattel loans, a key item affordable housing advocates had sought.

Chattel loans, which make up 42% of the manufactured housing market, have higher interest rates and fewer consumer protections than mortgages. They are also disproportionately used by minorities, a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report found. Freddie Mac also recently preempted its larger counterpart on targeted lending programs.

According to Fannie Mae’s duty to serve plan, talks to develop pilot programs for purchasing chattel loans are ongoing with FHFA. But it has not yet committed to purchasing them.

“We continue to work with our regulator to understand safety and soundness considerations and the viability of a chattel loan pilot program,” Fannie Mae’s plan reads.

Freddie Mac said it plans to purchase at least 1,500 loans titled as personal property in 2024, although it does not yet have a product to do so, and any product would need approval from FHFA.

“Purchasing 1,500-2,500 loans will be a challenge, given that we are new to the market and will have to establish a risk structure and operational processes to support the loan volume,” the plan states.

Freddie Mac also plans to purchase 6,300-7,500 manufactured housing loans titled as real property in its duty to serve plan.

By 2024, Fannie Mae plans to increase its yearly purchase of conventional manufactured home loans to 10,000, a 16% increase over its current baseline of 8,196.

Fannie Mae plans to reduce its purchases of Section 8 loans from 2020 levels, which it says were abnormally high because of market distortions. Its Section 8 loan target purchase will be 159, although it said it “would embrace purchasing additional Section 8 loans if subsidy resources increase during this plan cycle.”

Fannie Mae’s initial targets for its rural multifamily loans will also be lower than 2020 levels. By 2024, Fannie Mae plans to purchase 52 loans annually on multifamily properties in high-needs rural regions. That’s a 21% increase over the baseline of 43, but little more than the 50 such loans it purchased in 2020.

"Fannie Mae's commitment to serve the needs of homeowners and renters in underserved markets has never been stronger," Fannie Mae chief administrative officer Jeffery Hayward said. He added that he looks forward to working with the FHFA, industry stakeholders, and business partners to "knock down barriers in these underserved markets across the country and help more families have an affordable place to call home."

In a statement, Mike Hutchins, president of Freddie Mac, said the GSE's plan expands upon past efforts.

“This comprehensive and sustainable plan is in large part possible due to the long-term commitment and partnership of organizations nationwide,” Hutchins said. “We welcome the opportunity to do more.”

Jim Gray, a nonresident senior fellow at the Lincoln Institute, said that the Lincoln Institute would in the coming weeks evaluate the duty to serve plans and issue a blueprint scorecard of how these plans measure up to the plans the Underserved Mortgage Markets Coalition suggested in January.

“We also continue to seek the release of the Equitable Housing Finance plans,” Gray said, which have been delayed since their planned release at the beginning of the year.

Earlier this year, the FHFA sent Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac back to the drawing board on their duty to serve plans. The two mortgage finance giants submitted the initial plans to the FHFA while it was still under Mark Calabria’s leadership, before the Biden administration removed him and appointed Sandra Thompson acting director.

Affordable housing trade groups, under the umbrella of the Underserved Mortgage Markets Coalition, spearheaded by the Lincoln Institute, had earlier urged FHFA to reject the initial plans. 

The coalition said the initial plans fell short, in part because they did not allow for equity investments targeted to underserved markets, and they did not encourage pilot programs for underserved markets.

Antony Jenkins, who is currently vice chair of the board’s nominating and corporate governance committee, will also resign May 1.

Fannie Mae’s president, David Benson, will serve as interim CEO and board member, starting May 1, although that decision is subject to approval by Fannie Mae’s conservator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Fannie Mae said it plans to conduct a national search for a permanent CEO.

Fannie Mae’s board also elected Michael Heid, who currently chairs the community responsibility and sustainability committee, to succeed Bair as chair of the board.

Fannie Mae did not respond to requests seeking comment.

In a statement, FHFA Acting Director Sandra Thompson said the changes will "assure the continuity and stability necessary for meeting their mission responsibilities in a safe and sound manner."

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FHFA also said that Diane Nordin would be vice chairman of the board. Nordin currently chairs Fannie Mae's compensation and human capital committee.

"Fannie Mae will continue to thrive under the experienced leadership team of Mike Heid as Chairman of the Board, Diane Nordin as Vice Chairman, and Dave Benson as Interim CEO in addition to his current duties as President," said Thompson. "Their deep knowledge of the GSEs and the broader mortgage system will ensure Fannie Mae continues to deliver solutions in response to the challenges facing borrowers in today’s mortgage market."

In a prepared statement, Bair praised the GSE's employees for their performance during the pandemic and a change in presidential administration.

“Unfortunately, I have found it difficult to meet the substantial time demands of this position while fulfilling my other Board and advisory responsibilities,” Bair said. “I am very proud of this organization’s many innovations to promote sustainable homeownership, including streamlined refinancings for low-income households, use of rental data in underwriting, and a more progressive fee structure.”

She also said that her successor, Heid, is “the right person to continue and build on our mission work.”

Bair served as the chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation during the second Bush administration, while FHFA Acting Director Sandra Thompson was FDIC director of supervision and consumer protection. Bair has chaired Fannie Mae’s board since November 2020, the first woman to serve in that role.

Frater has been CEO since March 2019. Prior to that, he was Fannie Mae’s interim CEO. He was previously CEO of Berkadia Commercial Mortgage, which provided advisory and research services for multifamily and commercial properties. Frater was also one of the founders of asset manager BlackRock Inc.

Frater, in a prepared statement, said that he committed to serving three years as CEO when he assumed the role in 2019.

“Given the strides we have made on so many fronts, this is the right time to transition to a new CEO,” said Frater. “Dave knows this company better than anyone else and will provide outstanding leadership, together with our new Board Chair Mike Heid, as the entire enterprise works together to build a more sustainable housing finance market that better serves people across America.”

Heid, the new chair of Fannie Mae’s board, thanked Bair and Frater for their leadership in “unprecedented times.”

“This is a pivotal time for Fannie Mae, and I look forward to working with [Benson], the exceptional Fannie Mae team, and with my colleagues on the Board in service of homeowners and renters across the country,” said Heid.

The leadership shakeup at the GSE follows several waves of high-level departures. Fannie Mae indicated in a disclosure that Kimberly Johnson, its COO, would depart the enterprise in April.

Numerous executives left the enterprise in 2020 and 2021. Sources at Fannie Mae cited a stifling work environment, reduced chances of leaving conservatorship and better pay in the private sector as factors that led to the departures.

Pink slips will arrive for 236 employees at six different offices in five California cities, with the expected date of separation on May 6, the Worker Adjustment Retraining Notifications show. According to the company, bumping rights do not exist for these positions, and a union does not represent employees.

In January, the company said it had 2 million customers and over 7,000 employees in 16 locations. Pennymac did not respond to a request for a comment.

Two offices in Westlake Village will have a reduction of 96 jobs. Most of the positions to be eliminated are home loan specialists, including those with expertise in refinancing. But the company will also reduce top management jobs, such as VPs for risk and project management. 

In Roseville, where the company has a consumer-direct business and information technology organization, Pennymac will eliminate 81 positions. These layoffs were first reported in the Sacramento Business Journal. 

The company will also lay off 24 employees in Pasadena, 19 in Agoura Hills, and 16 in Moorpark.

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Pennymac has said it is making an effort to boost its consumer direct lending business. In January, the company announced it would invest $3.9 million to open a new mortgage origination center in Franklin, Tennessee, creating 325 jobs in Williamson County.  

Doug Jones, president and chief mortgage banking officer at Pennymac, said at the time the new facility would boost Pennymac’s operations coast-to-coast “while supporting the organization’s overall growth initiatives.”

The company estimates its market share in the consumer direct channel was 1.4% in 2021, compared to 2.3% in the broker channel and 16.8% in correspondent production, where it is the market leader. In loan service, it is at 4.1% of the market.

Last year, Pennymac Financial Services posted record loan production but had a significant decline in net profits, as other top publicly traded originators saw their profits shrink, too.  

The nonbank reported a record $234.5 billion in unpaid principal balance in 2021, up 19% from 2020, its latest earnings report showed. The company reported a net income of $1 billion in 2021, down from its high of $1.6 billion the previous year.

Lorelei Salas, assistant director for supervision policy at the CFPB, wrote in a blog post that the CFPB will be closely monitoring complaints of servicers not giving borrowers the option or time to apply for the Homeowners Assistance Fund (HAF).

The CFPB did not immediately comment.

In the blog post published on Monday, the bureau listed out expectations of servicers, one of which is strongly encouraging servicers to participate in HAF programs. Participating in HAF programs is voluntary, the bureau added.

Per the blog, the watchdog said that servicers should provide borrowers with sufficient time to move through the HAF application process prior to proceeding with foreclosures and that foreclosing on a homeowner while a HAF application is pending will “merit increased scrutiny.”

As of March 1, 2022, 768,000 mortgage borrowers remain in active forbearance, the CFPB wrote. Many of these consumers are seriously delinquent and at risk of foreclosure, the CFPB said.  

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The bureau said that funds from HAF — a federal program that provides money to states, tribes and territories to assist homeowners — can be used as a tool to help these homeowners avoid foreclosures.

For example, the funds can be used to pay down the amount consumers owe on their mortgage, allowing for consumers to enter loan modification with lower payments, the CFPB said.

The bureau also said it expects servicers to train and equip service representatives to help borrowers access the HAF program.

The bureau wrote that servicers must provide borrowers accurate information about the loss mitigation process, including accurate information about the servicer’s participation in the HAF program. The CFPB did not list what the penalties could be for not providing accurate information about the loss mitigation process.

It's at least the fifth time the CFPB has issued a similar warning to servicers as they navigate the end of forbearance, loss mitigation and the HAF. However, it's not clear if any enforcement actions have resulted from the promise of increased scrutiny.

In January 2021, the bureau put the industry on alert, warning that it would direct its attention to how mortgage servicers were helping borrowers with COVID-19 forbearance.  At the time, the bureau promised aggressive action. Soon after, it told servicers that "unprepared was unacceptable," as the end of forbearance approached.

In four bulletins, the government watchdog warned borrowers of loan modification and foreclosure schemes, outlined scams that could impact reverse mortgage borrowers and said that renters, too, can be targeted by nefarious players.

According to a HUD OIG spokesperson, their goal in publishing these bulletins is to make sure that borrowers are aware of the most common fraud schemes, both as it relates to the pandemic and other common fraud schemes.

The IG did not explain in its multiple bulletins whether these schemes have been on the rise, but urged borrowers to reach out if they have fallen prey to any fraudulent activity. But a spokesperson said the frequency of schemes is enough for the public to be alerted.

"The prevalence of these schemes happen often enough that we believe the public should be made aware of them," the IG spokesperson said.

The fraud-prevention outreach comes as the Biden administration intensifies its efforts to curb pandemic-related fraud. In May 2021, the U.S. Attorney General announced the creation of a COVID-19 fraud enforcement task force. President Biden said during his state of the union address that a chief prosecutor would be appointed to lead a group of specialized prosecutors and agents focused on pandemic fraud.

The White House also plans to provide more resources for the DOJ task force to prosecute egregious pandemic fraud.

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In one of the bulletins, the watchdog listed seven potential schemes that a borrower in financial distress could fall victim to, including a fake government modification scheme, rent-to-own scheme, and foreclosure and bankruptcy schemes.

Per the inspector general’s bulletin, borrowers should be wary of fraudsters offering to negotiate a refinance for an upfront fee.

The bulletin explains that fraudsters will typically pocket the fee and file a bankruptcy in the borrower’s name without their knowledge. The IG said that one indicator of this scheme is a sharp decline in calls from creditors.

HUD’s watchdog also warned of phony foreclosure-rescue schemes where a fraudster advises a borrower to make mortgage payments directly to them and promises to negotiate with a lender on the borrower’s behalf.

In another bulletin, the IG warned borrowers that HUD does not initiate contact with individuals about its assistance. The watchdog urged borrowers to be wary of someone who promises to stop an eviction for a fee.

The inspector general also listed out common schemes that could impact reverse mortgage borrowers, and said that older adults should not sign anything they do not understand. HUD's home equity conversion mortgage program accounts for most of the reverse mortgage market.

The IG issued these bulletins a few days after the Federal Housing Administration released its January 2022 credit risk report, which showed that 58,512 FHA properties were in foreclosure.  

Though the report shows that FHA properties in foreclosure have declined from a high of 132,560 in December 2021, foreclosures continue to be at higher levels than when the foreclosure moratorium was in place. In July 2020 there were a mere 20,737 properties in foreclosure. And many in the industry believe that this number will continue to rise.

The rate of seriously delinquent loans also fell in the month of January 2022 to a non-seasonally adjusted rate of 6.81%, down from 7.28% in December 2021.

The IG also advised borrowers to use caution when discussing loan rescue plans offered by individuals, especially when they appear too good to be true. The watchdog urged borrowers to not pay upfront fees, sign any documents giving up the title to a property or pay for a forensic audit.  

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), within the department of Housing and Urban Development, provides mortgage financing for borrowers the conventional market doesn't serve, yet it has been understaffed for over a decade.

The department’s leadership is now fighting for resources to address the issue, and HUD appears poised to receive a lifeline. A House-approved omnibus spending bill includes $431 million for FHA payroll and expenses — nearly $30 million more than it got last year.

But former FHA and HUD employees question whether a cash injection is enough to solve systemic problems, including uncompetitive pay, a lengthy hiring process and an imminent wave of retirements. Nearly two-thirds of career staff are nearing retirement age, which could deepen an institutional brain drain.

Each of FHA’s counterparts in the conventional mortgage market have about three times as many full-time employees. A 2022 HUD budget report said that the Office of Housing—which includes FHA—had 2,470 employees. Fannie Mae had 7,400 full-time employees as of Dec. 18, 2021, while Freddie Mac had 7,284 at the end of January.

Meg Burns, executive vice president at the Housing Policy Council and former director of single-family program development at the FHA, said that during her time at the administration more than a decade ago, the employee shortage severely limited work the FHA could do.

“Of course [Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac] can provide better program guidance, of course they can provide training to the marketplace and hold the hands of lending institutions who are trying to operate their programs,” Burns said. “They’ve got 25 people and we’ve got half a person.”

A spokesperson for HUD said the department’s leadership is working to address staffing shortages, and is already making progress.

“The impact of Secretary [Marcia] Fudge’s commitment to increasing staffing levels is already being realized in her first year,” the HUD spokesperson said.

A solution presents itself

HUD’s staff shortage has been brewing for a long time, but it’s now directly threatening the agency’s mission.

A November 2021 HUD inspector general report charted a 30% staffing decline from 2012 to 2019, which it said “significantly eroded” HUD’s ability to carry out its mission.

But the department may now finally be getting the resources it requires to tackle the issue. If passed by the Senate and signed into law, the Office of Housing would receive $431 million for salaries and expenses this year. That’s just shy of the $452.3 million HUD requested, and an increase from the $404.2 million it received for salaries and expenses in 2021. 

Part of this budget will go to hiring an additional 125 employees, raising the Office of Housing headcount to 2,595 full-time employees.

Dana Wade, chief production officer at Walker & Dunlop and former FHA commissioner during the Trump administration, said that there are steps HUD could take to broaden its recruitment. She highlighted the “presidential management fellows program,” and said that some of FHA’s best leaders came up through the program.

“But there’s more that HUD should do,” Wade said. “I really think that the FHA should do more to connect with universities to do direct recruiting.”

To tackle budget issues in the long term, former employees have suggested that the FHA should go around Congress altogether, and fund itself.

Burns said that the HPC put together a proposal a few years ago to make FHA into a government corporation, but the proposal never went anywhere. 

“It takes a lot in Washington to move that kind of idea along,” she said. “You have to line up the right people to support it, but I will tell you, that concept has been around for decades.”

“It’s designed to give FHA access to its own revenue to support its operations, and to give FHA a little bit of autonomy so that they can have the kind of staff that they need.

Ted Tozer, former Ginnie Mae president, said that it’s only fair the FHA should have access to the money it brings in.

“FHA is a moneymaker, not an entity that is costing the government money and they should have access to it,” said Tozer.

Stick to the plan

HUD’s Office of Housing plans to hire at least as many employees this year as last, but a slow hiring process and uncompetitive pay stand in the way. 

Last year, the Office of Housing’s headcount increased by a little over 100 employees to 2,470, per HUD’s budget in brief report.  The Office of Housing also outlined plans to hire an additional 125 employees in 2022.

Currently, the FHA has three dozen open career staff vacancies via USAJOBS and nine out of 16 positions are vacant in FHA’s assistant secretary for housing office.

However, despite the need to bring new employees on board, HUD has struggled to fill vacancies in a timely manner.

A HUD IG report from August 2021 found that the department’s average time to hire an employee was 141 days, 38 days longer than the department’s self-imposed goal of 103 days.

The watchdog said that HUD’s failure to hire staff in a timely manner stems from the Office of Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO) not putting into place mechanisms that would reduce the length of the hiring process. The IG also found that training for the hiring process was inconsistent, and hiring roles and responsibilities were unclear.

In light of record numbers of workers quitting — 48 million workers quit last year — finding talent and retaining poses a challenge. Wade said that the bureaucratic hiring process keeps the FHA from bringing in top talent in the first place.

“Right now, there is a war for talent. We spent just about all our time trying to recruit talented people [when I was at the FHA],” Wade said. “FHA needs to hire qualified people who can manage the risk and understand finance and understand how to run the business.”

But beyond an unwieldy hiring process, the administration cannot pay at the same level that a private sector company can, Wade said. Even when compared to other federal housing agencies, FHA falls short.

“FHA loses people to the regulator across the street, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, because they can pay on an independent pay scale, so they can pay more money than HUD can,” she said.

Tozer said that because FHA’s pay scale is not as competitive as Fannie Mae’s or Freddie Mac’s, the administration struggles to replace talent that leaves.

“The career staff that is retiring believed in the mission, but now you’re trying to recruit new people who don’t have the same kind of ties to the program and it’s going to be tougher to recruit at the same pay scale,” Tozer added.

Short-handed

Former HUD officials say that apart from staffing shortages, another issue affecting morale and the direction of the administration is the leadership vacuum at the top of FHA.

Julia Gordon’s confirmation as FHA commissioner has been in limbo since last year, bogged down in part by a tweet that Gordon made criticizing the police. In January 2022, after the Senate returned it, the White House again submitted Julia Gordon’s nomination.

But the stalemate has continued. To move forward, Senate Maj. Leader Chuck Schumer, of New York, would have to devote floor time to debate her nomination.

Edward Golding, former principal deputy assistant secretary for housing, views this as the most pressing issue for the FHA. Golding said that confirming Gordon as the commissioner would be a good first step in beginning to address the staff shortage at the FHA.

“You need a strong leader [at FHA] to push issues that impact the FHA,” said Golding. “We have a secretary who has some good ideas, but you just need more execution, and you need more people.”

A HUD spokesperson said in a statement that the department “looks forward to the swift confirmation of [Gordon], so that our department can continue to deliver for the American people.”

One former HUD official who requested anonymity said that Lopa Kolluri, principal deputy assistant secretary at the FHA, should get some recognition for running the administration without a commissioner.

“She has been doing the job of an FHA commissioner for over a year and she’s not even Senate confirmed,” the former HUD official said.

The former HUD official said that FHA’s reluctance to lower mortgage premiums is a reflection of Kolluri’s leadership. At the end of last year, FHA said 7.28% of its loans were seriously delinquent, down from a seasonally adjusted high of 12.04% in March 2021.

“I have been pleased that [Kolluri] has been cautious in running the FHA,” the former official said.

The trade group noted that the survey results showed the slowest annual pace since July 2021.

However, from December 2021 to January, purchase applications grew, with a 10% month-over-month gain recorded by MBA’s survey. On an unadjusted basis, the MBA estimates there were 66,000 new home sales in January 2022, an increase from 60,000 new home sales recorded in December. 

Joel Kan, associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting at the MBA, said in a statement that building delays continue to impact the emergence of additional housing supply.

“While homebuyer demand remains strong, purchase activity is being constrained by higher prices and building delays due to supply-chain pressures and building materials shortages,” Kan said.

He also noted that purchase activity for new homes continues to be concentrated in the higher end of the market and that sales prices are continuing to grow with the average loan size coming in at $427,000 in January, another record.  

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The average loan size for new homes in December was $423,102, the trade group noted.

Throughout 2021, there were an estimated 1,595,100 housing starts, a 15.6% increase from 2020, a report released last month by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau said.

Per the MBA report, new single-family home sales slumped in January, with a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 821,000 units, a 7.4% decrease from the month prior. In December, home sales were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 887,000 units, the report said.

By loan type, conventional loans made up 77% of loan application volume, while FHA loans composed 13% of the applications. VA loans made up 9.5% of applications and USDA loans made up 0.5%.

Starting Feb. 16, the public can submit petitions for rule making directly to the agency, the CFPB announced today.

According to the government watchdog, members of the public can now submit their opinions on matters pertaining to regulations, whether that be a request for the agency to pursue a new rule, amend an existing one or repeal a rule. The petitions will be automatically posted on public dockets for review and comment.

However, feedback from former government employees and lobbyists will now be subject to public review, the CFPB said.

In its announcement, the CFPB said that "former government employees and other individuals who are paid to influence the agency’s rulemaking agenda behind the scenes will be asked to submit their petition for public inspection instead."

“Americans should be able to easily exercise their Constitutional rights without hiring a high-priced lawyer or lobbyist,” said CFPB Director Rohit Chopra. “Our new program will broaden access to the agency’s rulemaking process.”

In November 2021, Chopra said that he would not tolerate a "revolving door" culture at the agency.

In a bulletin, Chopra raised concerns that former employees may "have a financial incentive to exploit confidential information to which they may have had access," potentially in violation of criminal law, he said.

Chopra said at the time that agency alumni would not receive special treatment. The CFPB director said that heightened scrutiny would be applied to matters and decisions "where a party has employed or retained the services of a former employee."

The bureau also said in their announcement this week that the public petition process is in line with recommendations issued by the Administrative Conference of the United States.

In 2014, the conference recommended agencies improve their procedures and practices with respect to petitions for rulemaking, because “few agencies have in place official procedures for accepting, processing, and responding to petitions for rulemaking.”

The CFPB added that they are committed to listening to the public that it serves and that “the public’s petitions will help the CFPB identify consumer protection issues worthy of reform, rulemaking, or in need of further clarification.”

Agencies in the housing space including the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Housing Finance Agency, and the Department of Veterans Affairs do not have a dedicated page for the public to file petitions for rulemaking.

Per a mortgagee letter published on Tuesday, the deadline to onboard for lenders has been moved to March 14, 2023. The previous deadline, announced in mid- 2021, was March 14, 2022.

The administration pushed the timeline for an additional year because stakeholders "expressed concern with the existing timeline," the ML said.

A HUD spokesperson said the timeline was extended following feedback from lenders about the transition timeline and their need for more time to adequately onboard to the new module and operationalize its use with their staffs.

"We do believe that this additional time will allow lenders to successfully migrate to the new technology," the HUD spokesperson said.

The letter noted that during this period mortgagees and technology service providers are encouraged to continue their integration with and usage of the module for all forward and HECM origination electronic appraisal deliveries.

Once the deadline arrives, it will be mandatory for lenders to use FHA Catalyst for submitting appraisals, unless a previous appraisal version was submitted to the legacy EAD, the administration said.

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The roll-out of FHA Catalyst—which has been touted as a success during Trump’s administration—hit a snag last year.

According to a report published by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s inspector general last year, momentum around the project stalled in the first part of 2021.

The reason for the stall stemmed from staff vacancies and employee turnover, which were exacerbated during the presidential transition, the report said, so the initiative hit a standstill.

“We found a lack of staffing capacity, implementation of effective coordination and communication practices, and effective oversight of management controls over acquisition processing,” the report read.

HUD also delayed a migration planned for December 2021 — to move its single-family default monitoring to FHA Catalyst — until March 1, 2022, when mortgagees must submit all default data to the FHA Catalyst system.

In February, Lopa Kolluri, principal deputy assistant secretary at the FHA, acknowledged the delays, but said that the administration is back on track with their modernization initiative.  

“I feel really good about where we are with FHA Catalyst,” she told HousingWire.

The IG report said that as of August 2021, HUD had resumed FHA Catalyst development work at limited capacity and as of October 2021, HUD estimated that it would complete FHA Catalyst development in March 2025.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to include comments from HUD.

In a settlement with the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI), Maryland’s Office of the Commissioner of Financial Regulation and the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation, Danny Yen, the owner of Carlsbad, California-based mortgage education course provider Real Estate Educational Services, also agreed to a lifetime ban on teaching any mortgage-related content.

Additionally, the Yen family will fully cooperate in any state investigations — including by giving depositions — of mortgage loan originators. Yen also agreed to provide signed declarations “reciting the facts relating to their interactions with MLOs, completion of PE and CE courses, and provision of banked credit hours,” the suit said.

According to the settlement, Yen’s family must pay a civil monetary penalty of $75,000, divided between state financial regulators in California, Maryland and Oregon. Previously, state regulators had said the fines would be as much as $3.4 million.

If the Yen family violates the terms of the settlement, the family would have to pay a $15 million non-compliance penalty that will be distributed equally among the participating states, the settlement said.

In mid-January, a 26-state investigation led by DFPI picked up on discrepancies while using a tool to investigate fulfillment of National Mortgage Licensing System requirements. (The NMLS requires that every LO spends an average of eight hours on an annual basis to recertify their national license.)

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The investigation found that over 600 LOs, that all paid for education programs from REES, failed to fulfill the CE requirement to recertify.

Regulators accused Yen and his family members of taking classes for LOs in exchange for compensation or giving LOs class credit without requiring them to show up to class. Part of the penalty stems from REES offering online courses — like a three-hour one on fair housing and discrimination laws — but only being licensed to give in-person classes.

LOs in 42 states who settled with state regulators will have to pay an average of about $2,700 each — $1,000 for each state they are licensed in — for skipping the annual eight-hour course. They must also surrender their licenses for three months and take additional educational programs.

For now, only 441 LOs have entered into a settlement with state regulators out of the 608 LOs found to not have completed their requirements. However, state regulators are still pursuing actions against 167 LOs who have not settled.

“This settlement will allow California and other regulators to discipline the remaining loan originators, while the lifetime teaching restrictions send a strong message that we will not allow fraud,” said Clothilde Hewlett, commissioner at DFPI, in a statement.

The settlement also said that Yen is fighting a separate Jan. 14 administrative action from California, which seeks injunctive relief as well as money penalties for violations of alw stemming from the education fraud schemes. Yen filed his request for an administrative hearing to contest the action and the five-day trial began in the Los Angeles Office of Administrative Hearings this week.

During oral arguments in Miami before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, Lawrence DeMille-Wagman, CFPB’s attorney, argued that a consent agreement from 2013 did not excuse the mortgage servicer from future violations and that Ocwen is on the hook for alleged wrongdoings.

Last March, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra, in Florida's Southern District in West Palm Beach, ruled that most of the CFPB's claims were blocked because of a 2013 settlement between Ocwen, the bureau, authorities in 49 states, and the District of Columbia.

The CFPB took issue with that ruling, and filed an appeal last October. In a hearing last week, DeMille-Wagman argued that the settlement agreement did not shield Ocwen from all future liability.

“If the regulated party in the post consent period violates the law in a way that also violates the injunctive provisions of the consent, the regulatory agency is free to either pursue a contempt action or to bring a new case alleging the law enforcement violations,” DeMille-Wagman argued.

“It may be now that Ocwen wishes it had negotiated a more thorough, more comprehensive release in [December] 2013, but it did not.”

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The attorney for Ocwen, William Jay, pointed to stipulations in the consent order that the mortgage servicer had a “right to cure” violations without facing penalties.

Jay argued that, in the consent order, the parties agreed to give Ocwen time to make its systems and practices compliant. The order established a system to make sure Ocwen complied with the standards, he said, and gave them time to fix any violations without a penalty.

Per the consent order, if Ocwen didn't resolve violations, Jay argued, the penalty would be "swift."

"It's a $1 million dollar penalty at the drop of a hat," Jay said. "That was the bargain. That's what the bureau is attempting to unwind here.”

In 2017, the agency announced that it was suing Ocwen for “failing borrowers at every stage of the mortgage servicing process.”

The CFPB’s lawsuit alleged that Ocwen cost borrowers money, and in some cases, their homes, as a result of years of “widespread errors, shortcuts, and runarounds” dating back to January 2014.

Specifically, the bureau alleged that Ocwen botched “basic functions like sending accurate monthly statements, properly crediting payments and handling taxes and insurance.”

The CFPB declined to comment. Ocwen did not return a request for comment.

The current dispute stems from now-settled allegations by the CFPB that date to the early days of the watchdog agency.

In 2013, the CFPB accused Ocwen of “engaging in significant and systematic misconduct that occured at every stage of the mortgage servicing process." The CFPB alleged that the mortgage servicer failed to timely and accurately apply payments made by borrowers, and that it charged borrowers authorized fees for default-related services. 

Those accusations were resolved with a consent order issued Dec. 17, 2013, shielding the servicer from future actions arising from the alleged practices up to that point. Ocwen also agreed to pay $2 billion in consumer relief as part of the settlement.

Ocwen, in a Jan. 2021 statement, said that the “CFPB’s claims regarding Ocwen’s past servicing practices are unsubstantiated.”

Ocwen, at the time, said it had set aside an additional $13.1 million as a result of efforts to resolve the matter with the CFPB through mediation, which eventually failed. According to the firm's latest quarterly filing, it has now set aside $44.6 million as of the end of the third quarter of 2021, for legal bills and regulatory matters, including the dispute with the CFPB.

Founded in 2000, Scottsdale, Arizona-based HomeSmart is the seventh largest brokerage in the country by transaction sides, or how many times a HomeSmart agent represented the buyer or seller in a deal, according to RealTrends.

Last Friday, HomeSmart filed an “S-1” with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a document that conveys HomeSmart’s intention to sell company shares to prospective investors and the public.

HomeSmart has yet to give itself a valuation or declare how much money it seeks to raise in a public offering. The company generated $478 million revenue in the first nine months of 2021 – a figure that includes what income is earned by their independent contractor agents, and posted a $2.3 million net loss, according to the filing.

HomeSmart, like Compass, Keller Williams, eXp and other brokerages, states it has unique technology to modernize real estate.

“HomeSmart is a revolutionary real estate enterprise powered by our proprietary end-to-end technology platform,” declared the first page of the voluminous SEC filing, later elaborating: “We have been developing our software in-house over the last 20 years and have a 100% adoption rate across our agents.”

There’s substance to HomeSmart’s claim, argued Steve Murray, senior advisor at RealTrends and longtime real estate industry consultant.

“HomeSmart does have one of the most interesting tech platforms out there as it has been internally built and basically covers all aspects of a brokerage firm’s operations,” Murray said. “The fact that it has been used for years and built upon and it’s a totally cloud-based platform does make it both unique and useful to its own operations.”

And HomeSmart has grown its agent base 30% the last two years from 17,841 agents at the end of 2019 to 23,197 agents as of Sept. 30, who are spread across 47 states. HomeSmart is a “flat fee” brokerage, meanings its agents pay a set transaction fee per deal instead of a commission percentage.

HomeSmart’s revenue soared 74% from the first nine months of 2020, when the company reported $275 million generated. But that growth came with the company veering from the black to the red. HomeSmart posted a $7.1 million profit in the first nine months of 2020, before the $2.3 million loss at 2021’s three quarter mark.

Also, $447 million of HomeSmart’s revenue in the first three quarters of 2021, or 94% of its total revenue, returns to its agents as “commission and other agent-related costs.”

A not insignificant component of HomeSmart’s finances is what is funneled to, and from, Widdows.

The CEO commands a $960,000 salary but has also received multi-million-dollar yearly payments from a “corporate reorganization.” For example, in 2020, an unspecified HomeSmart subsidiary gave Widdows $10.1 million. Widdows, though, also made a $6.5 million “contribution” back to HomeSmart the same year.

Also, HomeSmart entered into two “eight-year note payable agreements” for which Widdows will get $3 million and $7 million each, plus interest. The deal is partly mitigated by a separate $2 million “note receivable agreement” between HomeSmart and Widdows.

Messages left with HomeSmart were not returned.

“He is taking out more money than he is putting in despite the company being barely profitable,” said Lloyd Greif of Greif & Co. investment bank in Los Angeles. “That’s probably not the best practice.”

Greif, a financial adviser for decades, expressed confusion about Widdows putting in, and then taking out, money at the same time. “Why not just take out in a lesser amount?” Greif said.

But Wayne Guay, an expert in executive compensation at the University of Pennsylvania, said these are perhaps not dubious dealings.

“The corporate reorganization may, in fact, have been executed to facilitate the company’s IPO, which may have required various payments to various parties to get everything in order,” Guay said.

One related matter revealed in the filing: Angelique Chambers, described as living with Widdows and working as a loan officer for HomeSmart subsidiary Minute Mortgage, was granted in July restricted stock units worth almost $300,000.

Greif saw the stock options to a personal acquaintance – and workplace subordinate – as ethically questionable. “He can’t run the company as a personal piggy bank,” Greif said.

“Guaranteed Rate will continue to thrive and win market share by having a laser focus on leveraging our industry-leading purchase platform augmented by the best loan officers in the business,” Guaranteed Rate CEO Victor Ciardelli wrote in an email to brokers that HousingWire reviewed.

To ensure success, the company “sometimes makes hard decisions,” but Guaranteed Rate’s leadership is committed to making what is already the best value for its customers, Ciardelli wrote. The email explained that the last day to register a loan is January 12, while the last day for closing a transaction is February 28.

Guaranteed Rate acquired Stearns Holdings in January 2021 for an undisclosed sum from the financial giant Blackstone Group, which also acquired a stake in Guaranteed Rate as part of the transaction. The year prior, Stearns originated $20 billion in loans.

HousingWire reported in 2021 that Stearns’ retail operations would be folded into Guaranteed Rate. Wholesale, JV and partnership businesses remained as stand-alone segments led by Stearns’ CEO David Schneider. Stearns had a sizable partnership business, led by Steve Stein, a more limited retail operation, and a wholesale channel that was the largest in the industry as recently as 2013, but had lost market share to UWM.

Founded in 2000 and known for its robust retail operations, Guaranteed Rate has been growing in stature in recent years. In acquiring Stearns, the company sought to boost retail loan originations, scale its JV platform, and develop new multichannel capabilities. HousingWire reported the acquisition would provide significant revenue for Guaranteed Rate to pursue a potential IPO.

What Pennymac TPO’s rebrand means for the wholesale channel

Pennymac is changing the name of its wholesale division from PennyMac Broker Direct to Pennymac TPO. To learn more about the intention behind the rebrand and Pennymac TPO’s plans for the future, HousingWire sat down with Senior Managing Director Kim Nichols.

Presented by: Pennymac

Guaranteed Rate originated $90 billion from January to September 2021, an 81.8% increase compared to 2020, according to Inside Mortgage Finance. The volume puts the company as number eight among the top mortgage lenders in the country.

The company’s star loan officers have set origination records, explaining in part Ciardelli's promise to invest and focus on the purchase platform its LOs use.

Massachusetts-based Shant Banosian, for example, said he had funded a whopping $2 billion in total origination volume from November 2020 to November 2021. The figure is believed to be a record for a retail loan originator. His colleague Ben Cohen, a loan officer from Illinois, eclipsed the $1 billion threshold in September 2021.

BrokerBot, the artificial intelligence (AI) teammate platform built by Ribera AI, Inc. and a HousingWire 2026 Tech100 Real Estate winner, is changing that math.

The company recently announced the close of its seed funding round, led by Grand Ventures, with participation from Second Century Ventures, the strategic investment arm of the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Since launching in early 2025, BrokerBot has been deployed across 240-plus brokerages and more than 30,000 agent users — helping automate administrative workflows, enforce compliance and answer agent questions instantly using each brokerage's own documents and policies.

Co-founder and CEO Jerimiah Taylor sat down with HousingWire to explain how brokers are benefiting and what comes next.

Editor's note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Jonathan Delozier: What types of agent inquiries are being resolved most frequently, and where are brokers seeing the biggest operational impact?

Jerimiah Taylor: The number one use case is, if you've been a real estate broker for any period of time, you've received a call from your agent that goes something like, "Hey, Jon, it's Jerimiah. Sorry to bother you on a Saturday, but I just got a quick question, you got a minute?" And then that's followed by, "I need a copy of the W-9 to turn into escrow, where do I find that again?" Or it's just some relatively trivial thing that the agent needs support with. They don't know exactly where to find it. We've solved that problem by embedding the entire corpus of knowledge for the brokerage and making it accessible across every channel using our artificial intelligent assistant on behalf of a brokerage.

Jonathan Delozier: How does BrokerBot ensure that answers are based on a brokerage's own policies, compliance concerns and workflows — and what role has that played in achieving the 70% reduction in minor contract corrections?

Jerimiah Taylor: We actually translate all of the compliance documents at the national, state, local, brokerage and even the team or individual level into machine-readable instructions that we create a compliance fence around as skills inside of the machine. One of the biggest things that has been a challenge for us has also been a differentiator — to make it so the BrokerBot knows what it knows, and it knows what it doesn't know and it knows the difference between the two.

When we launch with a brokerage, we do a pretty good job extracting and getting it right out of the gate. Over that first two months that we're live, what will happen is the agents will come to BrokerBot looking for help with things that we won't have the answers to. Unlike ChatGPT and others that just make it up or guess, we either do a live web search, and if there is a resource that the directors pointed us to on the net, we'll pick that up. If we don't have it, we just simply tell the agent, "Hey, we don't have that. We let somebody on your leadership team know," and we fire off an email and a text and then somebody on the brokerage leadership team answers the question. Obviously we save that, so that the next time that question comes up, that's a training moment.

Jonathan Delozier: What patterns have you seen among the top-performing clients, and what separates them from firms where you're not seeing the same kind of adoption?

Jerimiah Taylor:  It's interesting, especially in these franchise companies — because they get the same franchise playbook, but they do very different things with it. You get a Keller Williams that has 2,000 agents [adopting the platform] and one that is struggling to have 25, and a lot of that is about the leadership's ability to communicate and implement. What we found is that a tremendous percentage of these brokerages don't have written [standard operating procedures]. Originally, we built a tool that we handed to the broker and said, "Okay, now you just upload all your stuff, I'm going to learn from it." What we found is about a third of the brokers would just get stuck because they didn't have anything to upload. It all lived in their heads and it was poorly documented. So we've recently built our own interview-based onboarding to where we use a combination of AI agents and in-person Zoom interviews that are recorded to build out their operating playbook.

The key metrics we look at are, 90 days post-launch, can we get 51% of the agents to claim their account? That's based on the reality that we know that about half the agents of a brokerage actively make a living selling real estate. At that 90-day mark, can we get roughly 35% of the activated users to become weekly users of the tool? And of that 35%, we look for roughly 40% of them to be daily users.

Jonathan Delozier: The next phase is moving from answering questions to completing work with agentic AI. Can you share examples of the kinds of tasks BrokerBot will soon be able to do with transaction management, e-signatures the MLS and so on?

Jerimiah Taylor: We already do a lot of that today. We already have the capabilities where they upload their contract, they click the button, it reads all the dates, it sets reminders, it texts them the day before and emails them that their critical dates are due, puts everything in their Follow Up Boss and creates the deal in their pipeline. It uploads the contract to SkySlope for them — that is 100% live.

We can do the administrative work on behalf of the licensee, but we need to firmly understand where regulation stops and starts, because it also changes by jurisdiction. What we can do is take the agent instructions, do internet research and then parse all the contract fields down for them. What we're doing with SkySlope is they're giving us the ability to render their SkySlope signing experience right inside BrokerBot. The agent can call or send a quick text, we can generate the contract based on their brokerage's templates, show it to them, they do a quick review, clean up anything they need to and then hit send. The tool goes out and they're able to do that.

I've been at [NAR’s 2026 Realtors Legislative Meetings] all day today, and people ask me, "What does it do?" And I say, "Can I take a picture of your badge?" I take a picture of their badge, I say, "Hey BrokerBot, go find their name and email.” Then I write a little dossier on them, put them in Follow Up Boss, add a note for next week and send them an email thanking them, saying it was nice to meet them.

Then you just see their eyes go wide open, because they're like, "Wait, how’s it finding my cell phone number and finding my email?" Well, you're a Realtor — it's on the internet. But just the fact that it's able to do that off of a quick picture and a text message, it's really impressive.

A second U.S. President in a row to serve past the age of 80 is in the Oval Office. Whether spoken or not, succession, or rather a sound strategic, operational and organizational cultural plan for it, is on the minds of many.

 It’s the same in homebuilding land. No fewer than a half dozen of America’s highest-profile homebuilding enterprises – including D.R. Horton, NVR, Toll Brothers, Sekisui House (U.S.A), KB Home, Meritage Homes, and more recently, Lennar – have either triggered CEO-level succession plans or put them into greater focus over the past five or six years.

Moreover, among the strategic challenges facing most private homebuilding companies today, succession rarely appears on quarterly business calls, land acquisition maps, sales dashboards, or construction schedules. Yet it ranks right up there with customer focus, capital resiliency, land position, and operational excellence as one of homebuilding’s truly burning – if not existential – strategic issues.

In fact, homebuilding leaders often take pride in having navigated housing downturns, labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, affordability crises, inflation, interest rate shocks, and shifting consumer expectations.

Yet many privately held builders face another challenge that receives far less attention: determining who will lead the enterprise when the founder, owner or longtime chief executive eventually steps aside.

The issue is neither theoretical nor distant.

As noted in a September-October 2025 Harvard Business Review article:

"More than half of all privately held businesses with employees in the United States have owners over age 55," representing "2.9 million businesses, 32.1 million employees, $1.3 trillion in payroll, and $6.5 trillion in revenue."

Homebuilding is hardly exempt. The succession question is central to merger and acquisition valuation analyses prevalent in a rapidly consolidating homebuilding firmament. In a land acquisition, development and construction capital context where terms, finance costs and covenants can make or break lot pipeline resilience in a net-margin-challenged backdrop, succession emerges as an equally compelling determinant for capital providers.

Across the industry, a generation of founders, entrepreneurs, second-generation operators, and long-tenured leaders is approaching the point where the question can no longer be deferred:

What happens next?

Partners in Building – the $410 million, Houston-based custom homebuilding company ranked No. 34 on our HousingWire Homebuilder Rankings and operating in Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Nashville – offers a revealing case study of what a deliberate and replicable answer can look like.

It starts with commitment and investment in succession as an operational and strategic priority.

The company recently announced that President and CEO Jim Lemming will transition to the role of chairman, while his son, Chris Lemming, will assume the presidency.

On its face, it appears to be a straightforward family-business transition. The reality – and the candid insider insight into that reality we gain through our exclusive conversations with both Jim and Chris Lemming – shows this milestone to be anything but.

Our conversations reveal a succession effort years in the making – one involving executive coaching, leadership development, role transitions, operational cross-training, and a highly intentional effort to ensure the company was preparing for leadership continuity rather than reacting to leadership change or, heaven forbid, a reflexive generational family handoff.

Building a plan before it is needed

One of the most striking aspects of Jim Lemming's account is how deliberately the process was designed.

"We began about 18 months ago," Jim said, describing a formalized succession-planning effort that involved the family's leadership team and its executive-coaching partner, Higher Echelon. The process included not only determining future roles but also mapping a specific sequence of transitions, communication plans and operational responsibilities.

"It was a very intentional process," Jim said.

The objective of the commitment and investment in the process was not simply to identify a successor. Rather, it was to ready the organization so that it would be fit for a future full of known and unknown challenges and opportunities.

Jim recalls wanting to avoid the uncertainty that often follows abrupt leadership changes. The company announced Chris's future role well in advance, named Chris's successor in Dallas, arranged months of shadowing and overlap, and provided employees with visibility into the timeline long before the transition became official.

That level of planning stands in notable contrast to the pattern described in recent Harvard Business Review research.

Authors Jeff Rosenthal and Molly Rosen argue that many organizations spend significant time discussing succession while investing far less effort in preparing successors. One executive interviewed for their research put it bluntly:

"It doesn't mean jack s**t if I have a grid full of leaders who are rated. What are we doing about it?"

Partners in Building's approach appears to have focused heavily on the latter.

A successor who grew up around the business

Chris Lemming's path to the presidency was neither genetically pre-determined, immediate nor automatic.

His earliest memories of homebuilding stretch back to childhood weekends spent accompanying his father to model homes and community openings.

"I do remember going to model homes with him on weekends with my brothers," Chris said. "We'd go to a model home grand opening, and watch my dad give a few words."

Yet he did not initially pursue homebuilding as a profession.

After college, Chris attended law school and practiced in finance-related legal work involving infrastructure projects. The experience, he says, proved unexpectedly valuable.

"The critical thinking skill set that you learn in law school and practicing law, to me, it's applicable to any industry," he said. "What's the problem? What do we know about it? Let's analyze it. Let's make a conclusion. Let's execute."

Eventually, however, he found himself drawn toward the operating side of business.

"I always found myself wishing I was on the client side," he said. "The one building the thing, or selling the product."

That shift ultimately brought him to Partners in Building, where he spent the past decade advancing through operational leadership roles before leading the company's expansion into Dallas-Fort Worth.

What gets passed down

Succession stories often focus on titles. More revealing are the leadership habits and cultural principles that get transferred from one generation to the next. Asked what he learned most from his father, Chris immediately pointed to curiosity.

"He is a voracious learner," Chris said. "He's constantly learning stuff, reading things, he's really curious."

That curiosity, Chris believes, extends well beyond homebuilding itself.

"He uses his interest in a lot of other varied subjects" and applies those perspectives to product strategy, marketing, pricing, and customer experience.

But the lesson Chris returned to repeatedly involved people.

"He cares a lot about people," Chris said. "He is a really, really good people developer."

That observation closely aligns with Jim's own description of the culture he hopes will survive beyond his tenure.

"We're a very people-centric company," Jim said. "The team is very well valued. The team is well trained."

Over the years, that commitment has evolved into a structured investment in leadership development through executive coaching and internal training programs. Rather than treating leadership development as an HR function, Partners in Building appears to view it as a competitive strategy.

Chris noted that the company invests heavily in developing managers, construction personnel, and future leaders, describing an organizational commitment to "creating a culture of leadership and resiliency."

Beyond family: Building a leadership bench

Perhaps the least surprising aspect of the Partners in Building story is that the succession plan extends well beyond family members.

Jim repeatedly emphasized the importance of developing entrepreneurial leaders throughout the company.

Reflecting on his years in public homebuilding, he contrasted what he sees as increasingly managerial structures with the entrepreneurial environments that shaped earlier generations of operators. He described a desire to develop leaders capable of thinking and acting like business builders rather than simply administrators.

Chris echoes that philosophy. He described a culture built around teaching people the business, giving them meaningful responsibility, and then trusting them to perform.

"We hire great people, we put them in our culture, teach them as much as we can, and then you've got to let them do their thing," he said.

That idea may prove especially relevant as homebuilding faces a broader generational transition amid a flurry of challenges, ranging from structural household formation and composition changes to AI-powered business economics shifts to seismic new patterns in where developers can build and why.

Succession planning is not merely about replacing a founder. It is about building enough leadership depth that an organization can continue evolving after its founder steps aside.

The next era

Neither Jim nor Chris frames the transition as preserving the company in amber.

Both talk about continuity and evolution.

Jim sees opportunity in technology's ability to improve estimating, purchasing, design, and construction operations while creating greater value for customers.

Chris similarly points toward enterprise software modernization, data capabilities, and AI-assisted financial analytics while emphasizing that technology should enhance—not replace—the company's commitment to human relationships and customer experience.

That balance may ultimately define whether succession efforts succeed.

The challenge is not simply preserving culture. It is enabling a new generation to inherit it, reinterpret it, and adapt it to a different operating environment.

Two takeaways for many organizations on the cusp

The deeper takeaway from Partners in Building's transition is not that a father handed leadership to a son.

It is that succession became a strategic initiative long before it became an event.

The company invested in coaching. It built leadership-development programs. It created overlap periods. It communicated transparently. It developed successors to successors. It spent years preparing people before changing titles.

Those choices required time, money, patience, and organizational discipline.

They also stand as a reminder that succession planning is not fundamentally about retirement.

It is about stewardship.

As the Harvard Business Review observes in The Founder's Final Act, the strongest outcomes emerge from "a structured, intentional approach."

At a moment when thousands of privately held businesses are confronting the realities of generational transition, that may be the most important lesson this story offers.

How it should work

Succession planning has been called "the last act of a great CEO." For founders, owners, and entrepreneurial builders, it may be even more significant: the ultimate test of stewardship. The irony is that when succession is executed exceptionally well, it often seems almost ordinary.

Years ago, after handing the chief executive role at Toll Brothers to Doug Yearley, co-founder Bob Toll greeted questions about the transition with a shrug and a Yiddish phrase: "Vus meer plan?" — what is all the fuss about?

Perhaps that is the highest compliment any succession plan can earn [ … and Doug Yearley more and vindicated Bob’s choice and nonchalance in discussing it.]

Not that it generated attention. Not that it created drama. Not that it became a case study.

But those years of intentional preparation, leadership development, trust-building, coaching, communication, and disciplined execution allowed a company to move confidently from one generation of leadership to the next, with employees focused on serving customers, managers focused on building teams, and the business focused on its future.

If that is the outcome Jim and Chris Lemming have helped create at Partners in Building, then the real story is not that a succession occurred.

It is that such a succession was prepared for. And that may be precisely why, in the years ahead, observers may look back on it and ask the same question Bob Toll did:

What was all the fuss about?

In a new lawsuit filed law Tuesday against Zillow, as well as the firm’s CEO Jeremy Wacksman and CFO Jeremy Hofmann, investor Matt Breidert alleges that Zillow misled investors about its February 2025 agreement with Redfin involving multifamily rental listings. According to the complaint, Zillow described the deal as a "partnership," but Breidert later learned, through the FTC’s lawsuit, that regulators viewed it as something much closer to an acquisition or market-exit agreement that allegedly eliminated a competitor.

The lawsuit claims that Zillow failed to adequately disclose the antitrust risks associated with the agreement and that investors suffered losses when those risks became public.

“Zillow's agreement with Redfin was not a 'partnership,' but rather an acquisition of Redfin's business; as a result of the Redfin Agreement, Zillow faced a materially heightened risk of regulatory scrutiny and liability under federal antitrust laws,” the complaint states. 

In an emailed statement, a Zillow spokesperson wrote that the firm’s  “rental listings partnership with Redfin is pro-competitive and pro-consumer, and we remain confident in that position." 

“We stand by our business model and will vigorously defend against these allegations,” the spokesperson added.

According to the complaint, Zillow’s Class C share price fell 4.33% on September 30, 2025, when the FTC filed its lawsuit, and another 4.63% the following day. Additionally, Class A shares allegedly fell by 4.5% on September 30, and 4.37% the next day. 

The complaint also claims that share prices fell again in February 2026 after Zillow Group’s fourth quarter 2025 earnings call when Hofmann disclosed "ongoing elevated legal expenses" and warned of a roughly 200-basis-point EBITDA-margin headwind, with Class C shares allegedly falling 17.12% and Class A shares allegedly falling 16.5%.

Breidert is seeking class action status for all persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired Class A or Class C Zillow common stock between February 11, 2025 and May 7, 2026, and has demanded damages and a jury trial.

“What we're focused on is 75% of homeowners today with a mortgage have a rate that is still out of the money — and that's material,” Blake Eger, Saluda Grade's head of private credit and senior portfolio manager, said in an interview with HousingWire. “In the near term, I don't see any material changes in rates that would impact borrower behavior in some of these asset classes.”

Eger added that the average rate held by today's homeowner is about 4.5%, but the current rate is near 6.5%. With no incentive to refinance their homes, most of these customers are tapping into their home equity — an asset class that attracts investors like Saluda Grade.

“There's a tremendous amount of equity accumulated in the system today, in particular on the residential side. It's almost $35 trillion of home equity in single-family residential housing in the U.S.. That's a giant asset class. We want to finance that equity, the homeowner who has that equity,” Eger said.

On top of that, there’s a supply shortage of about 3.5 million homes, household formations continue to increase and housing stock across the country is aging rapidly, she added.

Eger said that signals of consumer stress are not apparent in the company’s portfolio. Saluda has a total portfolio of about $4 billion, the majority being residential assets. But it also has fixed-income and growth equity businesses. With the latter, it takes non-controlling, minority stakes in originators of alternative housing assets and fintech platforms.

“We've been comfortable with the level of delinquencies that we're seeing — these assets are performing well,” Eger said. “That said, we're certainly aware of the headlines, and we've seen broader delinquencies certainly pick up in consumer loans. It's something we keep a close eye on.”

Saluda forecasts a market of $150 billion in second-lien production in 2026. Eger said there's no shortage of assets out there; it's a question of finding the right home for them.

Regarding parallels between some of these assets and those created prior to the financial crisis of the late 2000s, Eger said Saluda’s weighted average FICO score is 750 across second liens and residential transition loans (RTLs), meaning that these are prime borrowers.

“Home equity agreements are a different product, and they are designed for someone who cannot access a traditional mortgage, so by nature they're likely to have a lower FICO score,” Eger said. “Ideally, this is used as a credit curing product, and this is a way for a homeowner to use their most valuable asset to pay down expensive debt that's weighing on their own personal balance sheet."

Eger said mortgage credit availability is historically tight — nearing 2009 levels — leaving most borrowers without agency options. Private credit is filling this necessary void rather than driving up rates. Subprime lending is significantly smaller and much better underwritten today compared to the pre-crisis era, she added. 

Private credit

Eger knows about subprime. She began her career at Bear Stearns structuring subprime mortgage-backed securities (MBS) prior to the crisis, then moved to JP Morgan, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch (trading non-agency RMBS), Structured Portfolio Management, Redwood Trust and Paloma Partners before joining Saluda Grade about four and a half years ago.

Saluda Grade, founded in 2019, is broadening its asset-backed credit strategy beyond its traditional residential focus to expand into both commercial and non-housing sectors.

Following its acquisition of Hillcrest Finance in mid-2025, the firm is targeting commercial mortgages, specifically commercial bridge loans. With the recent hire of co-chief investment officer Patrick Lo, formerly of Waterfall Asset Management, Saluda is exploring other opportunities such as home improvement, manufactured housing and solar loans.

Saluda prioritizes asset-backed finance (ABF) — in which loans are secured by specific collateral rather than just a borrower's creditworthiness — over corporate direct lending because it offers better diversification through thousands of smaller, asset-backed loans with contractual cash flows, Eger said.

This "Private Credit 2.0" space has grown significantly as regulatory changes like Dodd-Frank forced banks to retreat, allowing private credit funds to step in and provide broader investor access. Looking ahead, Saluda expects upcoming Basel III regulations to have minimal impact on its specific alternative asset strategies.

“The key theme that we're continuing to hear from allocators over and over again is we have maybe been too focused on one form of private credit,” Eger said. “With today's new definition of private credit that now includes ABF, we're looking to diversify our exposure, and prudently it makes sense.”

Regarding recent stress in the broader private credit market, Eger said the company is making sure it has ”strong third-party vendors” that look at credit compliance and valuation on certain products.

“There's always risks, and if nothing else, putting more eyes on this and having it come to the forefront makes everybody in the space a more prudent investor,” she said.

Disasters such as fires, floods and tornadoes are striking a widening geographic area across our country, and their frequency appears to be rising. The cobbled-together framework of consumers’ hazard insurance policies, state insurance programs, the national flood insurance program, and federal emergency funds falls short of meeting the needs of proactive disaster and recovery planning.   

In the first half of my article, I’ll explain the shortfalls of the current framework and its impact on housing. In the 2nd half, I will propose alternatives supported by my research and 45+ years in housing-related research and thought leadership.

The warning signs are no longer subtle. The hazard insurance and disaster recovery framework is cracking and may curtail home sales.

Across wide swaths of the United States, homeowners and renters are finding that hazard insurance – the often-overlooked prerequisite for every mortgage, lease and property transaction – is harder to obtain, harder to afford or simply unavailable at any price. 

What once seemed a regional issue confined to coastal hurricanes or Western wildfires has become a national stress fracture, affecting housing markets, household and insurance organization balance sheets and state budgets.

If this trajectory continues unchecked, hazard insurance will not only strain household finances. It will increasingly act as a hard constraint on housing supply, homeownership, and economic mobility—especially in regions already grappling with affordability pressures.

Zeroing in

Disaster losses are increasing in frequency, severity, and geographic reach, while the U.S. insurance system, designed to absorb those shocks, remains fragmented, reactive and financially unstable. Homeowners face spiraling premiums or outright non-renewals. Renters absorb rising insurance costs through higher rents. 

Builders and developers face growing uncertainty about insurability, project feasibility, and buyer qualification. Potential resale and new home buyers may scrap purchases when the added insurance cost pushes beyond monthly budgets. The result is a feedback loop that threatens to stall housing markets long before a single foundation is poured or a resale home is listed.

Disaster recovery is no longer a future problem.

Recent data makes the scale of the challenge clear:

• In 2025 alone, the U.S. experienced 23 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, including wildfires, floods, tornadoes, and severe storms according to The Weather Channel.  Billion-Dollar Weather And Climate Disasters Of 2025 | Weather.com
• California’s January 2025 Palisades and Eaton fires damaged or destroyed more than 16,000 structures, with estimated losses exceeding $60 billion.
• Flooding events in Texas Hill Country, Western North Carolina, and Alaska in 2025 underscore that “non-traditional” risk geographies are now firmly in play.
• Tornado activity (1,558 events in 2025) affected 42 states, well above long-term historical averages per the National Center for Environmental Information. 
• Damage from hail, particularly to aging roofs, drives significant insurance claims according to Cotality. In a March 2026 report, Cotality suggested Texas has 7.9 million homes at risk due to the prevalence of severe convection storms and the state’s housing concentrations.  

Most hazard insurance policies don’t cover flooding, yet nearly 96% of U.S. homeowners lack flood insurance according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and many are underinsured relative to replacement costs – leaving families, lenders, and governments exposed to disaster. 

A system stretched past its design limits

Today’s disaster-recovery framework relies on a patchwork of:

• Private hazard insurers, who will stop operating in some states when facing large losses
• The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which has borrowed from the U.S. Treasury since 2004 since policy premiums received no longer cover payouts.  The NFIP owes $25.5 billion to the U.S. Treasury as of March 2026.
• State-level FAIR plans, typically the insurer of “last resort” when residents cannot obtain private insurance. California’s FAIR program is teetering financially while Florida’s program is strained but operational.
• Federal disaster relief, primarily through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which requires funding approved by Congress. FEMA payouts averaged $38 million annually from 2020-2025, jumping notably from prior years.

Each plays a role – but none were built for the scale, frequency, and national scope of today’s risk environment. Disputes over windblown water intrusion versus overland-flooding coverage delay payouts after tropical storms. Many State FAIR plans – state-managed property insurance plans that provide coverage for property owners who can't obtain a policy from private insurers due to high-risk factors – are experiencing increased exposure. Federal relief fills gaps after the fact, often slowly and at great expense, without guidelines to mitigate risks.

The result is a system that relies on less predictive historical data, responds to disasters after the fact rather than proactively managing risk, and increasingly shifts costs downstream to households and taxpayers.

The fork in the road

The direction is clear:

• Option one: continue absorbing higher premiums, shrinking coverage, mounting public liabilities, and growing market distortions—until insurability becomes a barrier for large portions of the U.S. housing market.
• Option two: acknowledge that managing hazard risks has become a national housing and economic issue—and design a system that treats it as such.

Part 2 of this analysis will explore what that second path could look like.

While private-label reverse mortgages offer advantages like lower upfront costs and larger loan amounts, the shrinking market share for HECMs can also be chalked up to the fact that one of its flagship offerings, the HECM for Purchase program, remains underutilized. HECM for Purchase allows a senior homeowner to tap into their existing equity, sell their current property and buy a new one without taking on monthly payments.

Data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for fiscal year 2025 shows that purchase transactions accounted for roughly 5% of all HECM endorsements. That share has never crossed into double digits since the purchase program was created in 2009.

At last week’s Western Regional Meeting of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA), a panel discussion focused on ways to jumpstart HECM for Purchase through educational efforts with consumers, real estate agents and forward lending professionals. The five people on the panel shared their experiences with successfully selling and integrating HECM for Purchase into their businesses.

Given that older Americans are the majority of today’s buyers and sellers, why do you think that HECM for Purchase remains such an underutilized tool for the industry?

Christine Jensen, senior vice president of reverse mortgage lending, Fairway Home Mortgage: It’s largely misunderstood. Too many seniors are stuck in a home that no longer meets their needs, but they don’t take action to move into a home that would be more suitable for them, because they don’t realize that there’s an option out there that doesn’t require a mandatory mortgage payment.

When you’re in retirement, the mindset that these people have is thinking that the only option available to them, if they were going to make a move, is that they would have to harvest enough proceeds from the sale of their current home to pay cash for the replacement home. If only they knew they could get into a more suitable replacement home and not have a mandatory mortgage payment, I think we would have higher adoption.

Priscilla Rael-Albin, broker associate, REMAX: I’m the sandwich generation: I'm worried about my kids and I’m worried about my parents. You sort of need to start there as HECMs need to be looked at as a tool for planning for the future.

We have a lot of seniors who are in large homes and need to go to a smaller home. They can’t do the normal loan qualifications because they’re on a fixed income, so they don’t fit into that bubble of purchasing a property with normal financing. A reverse mortgage for purchase is ideal. They can also take some of that cash and invest it to grow their financial wealth. So it’s just big-picture thinking and looking at as a planning tool versus a situation where they think they’re going to lose their house.

There are misconceptions among consumers, but what are the misconceptions among industry professionals about these products, given that you’re trying to educate forward-centric loan officers and real estate agents who may not have much exposure to them?

Patrick Ortiz, regional vice president for the Reverse One division, CrossCountry Mortgage: When I talk to forward loan officers, I break down the basics and demystify what it is. It’s not some exotic program. It’s an FHA-backed loan or a regulated proprietary loan.

I don’t really like to use the term PLF (principal limit factor), because they don’t know what that is. I talk about LTV (loan-to-value) and DTI (debt-to-income) ratios. The more we educate our forward loan officers on what we can do, the less complicated they think it is. Every LO should be able to have a five- to seven-minute conversation with a borrower about the basics of reverse. The way we’re going to springboard the whole program is to leverage our forward lending colleagues.

Sarah Rowan, vice president of mortgage lending, Rate: I think a lot of originators are afraid to say “reverse,” thinking it’s a dirty little word. Their agents might think, “Oh, we’re going to try to keep them in their home.” But when we say “reverse,” it’s about reversing their current mortgage. They don’t realize it expands the purchasing power of the borrower.

They might have a cash buyer, where they sell one home and have cash to buy another. But is that doing right by the senior? They don’t realize that I’m able to get the client into a much better home by rightsizing, rather than just taking the cash and being really strapped on what they’re able to do.

That piece of education is missing. That’s where a lot of lenders get in their own head about pitching products. You’re not losing the deal by talking to them about reverse. You’re opening up additional options that they didn’t know they have.

Can you share an example where HECM for Purchase changed the equation and allowed a client to buy something new? What was the human impact of the deal on the client’s retirement?

Dan Mudd, producing regional manager for reverse, Rate: My favorite HECM for Purchase story involves a client I worked with about 10 years ago. Their mom and dad were getting older, so the kids reached out to me again at the end of last year and asked, “What are the options to help them do a lateral move?”

We were able to work with a local Realtor and sell their two-story, split-level property. We took their equity and put them into a one-story condominium, allowing them to age in place with no money out of their pocket. They were within five minutes of their grandkids, instead of being an hour away. That, to me, was the best situation, because the kids already believed in the product and understood it, and they knew it was the best option for their parents.

Rael-Albin: I had a widow who’d lost her husband. They were both on Social Security, and unfortunately, when you lose a loved one on Social Security, you get the higher of the two payments, but your expenses don’t cut in half. She owned her home free and clear, but her expenses outpaced her Social Security, so she was really struggling.

We sold her home and got her into a single-story, one-bedroom condo. She was able to put, I think, $60,000 or $80,000 into a savings account for a rainy day. She was able to put food in her pantry, she didn’t have a mortgage payment, and all she had to worry about was taxes and HOA fees, which were $700 a month.

You really need to look at it by advising them on how they can have a better life and not be stressed out. They shouldn’t be stressed at 80 years old on whether or not they can eat that month.

Let’s talk about how to structure a successful and durable referral partnership between real estate agents and loan officers. What communication protocols would you use to ensure a smooth process for these types of transactions?

Ortiz: What I tell people is, this isn’t for every one of your buyers. It’s not for every client that’s going to walk through the door at an open house. But it is for some of them. And if you don’t know the program, you’re not offering it and you’re not even having a conversation about it, I promise you, clients are going to have a conversation about it with somebody else.

You need to play to this enormous, over-62 demographic that has all the housing wealth and is actually buying homes right now. If you’re not collaborating and capitalizing, you’re missing the boat. You’re playing with five sticks in your golf bag, but you could play with all of them. I promise you, the game is more fun.

Jensen: I want to talk about new construction and homebuilders for a moment, and the partnerships that we really need to have with that segment of the industry. Too often, seniors are avoiding new-home subdivision sales offices because they don’t think there’s any way they can afford these beautiful, lower-maintenance, easier-living homes.

I had the privilege of working with some clients not too long ago who were selling their quad-level home in Arvada, Colorado, and moving to a 55-plus community in Broomfield. Based on what they were going to net from the sale of the house in Arvada, they were really going to have to limit what they could purchase in the new-home community.

Fortunately, they heard about HECM for Purchase. We got together and I showed them how friends don’t let friends pay cash for their house. We showed them they could actually afford some of those beautiful features that they longed to have. One of the options that the builder offered was this indoor-outdoor fireplace that would serve both the living room and back deck, and that was one of those features that they dreamed of having.

“My personal rationale for doing this at such a fraught time for the MLSs is exactly that — because it is such a challenging time for the MLSs,” Edgerton said. “I have been working in the real estate space since the start of my legal career in 2004. It has become so clear to me that the United States, Canada and countries that operate with an MLS system provide their consumers with a huge advantage when it comes to transparency and efficiency. Right now, I am worried about our industry floating away from the MLS as an anchor — and I want to stop that.” 

In her most recent role as chief legal officer for global real estate company Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, Edgerton said she has gained a greater appreciation for the MLS system that exists in the U.S. and she is looking forward to working with MLSs to ensure that the industry fully understands benefits of the system it has before it is too late.

“I deeply love our industry and I feel that the MLSs need a very strong voice right now to protect what we have and to educate our consumers about exactly what we do,” Edgerton said. “Overall I really do believe that the industry wants the same thing, whether we are talking about portals, brokerages or MLSs and that is for our consumers to have the best and highest chance for homeownership that they can in a very difficult market right now.” 

A fraught environment

Although the industry may share a common goal, Edgerton acknowledged that not all parties can agree as to what the best course of action is to achieve that goal, which has resulted in a variety of different business models, tensions and even litigation within the industry. Through all of this, Edgerton said she believes the MLSs need to be recognized as a “deeply essential” and “to a certain extent a neutral party that can, regardless of what happens, serve as the foundational infrastructure of our industry.”

Still she believes the competition that is currently evolving in the MLS space right now is very important.

“Coming from the antitrust world that we were in for the last seven years, competition is essential,” Edgerton said. “All of these battles that are happening right now, all of the innovation, ultimately needs to be of benefit for our consumers.” 

Due to this, Edgerton feels that the questions surrounding the future of MLS utility are misguided.

“If these battles play out and the MLS ends up being a victim of those battles, nothing will work as well in whatever new industry environment that is created,” Edgerton said. “The MLS can serve as the foundation — the enduring structure upon which innovation is built.  If we can succeed in protecting what the MLS stands for, which is neutral, complete, real-time, true data, through all of these battles, then all of these competing factions will end up having a better infrastructure to work with when the dust clears.” 

Helping shape the future

Edgerton acknowledged that this will be a challenging task, especially as MLSs, brokers and other industry participants are experimenting with different strategies as they work to stay relevant and competitive in today’s quickly evolving, AI-driven world. 

“As the MLSs innovate and experiment, there will almost certainly be contentious moments. That's the nature of a healthy, competitive ecosystem.” Edgerton said. “We can't shy away from disagreement. Disagreement is how great ideas are often born. For CMLS, our role is going to build on what we have always done — educating and training our members and the industry at large regarding how best to ensure data integrity, serving members and consumers with clean, timely and relevant data.”

However, Edgerton added that she hopes to see the role of CMLS in the MLS ecosystem expand, as the trade group looks to have a bigger voice in some of the current legislative discussions surrounding the marketing of listings. 

“I want CMLS to serve as a louder, stronger advocate as legislatures and attorneys general grapple with these issues around the MLS,” Edgerton said. “I want to be in all of those rooms where there are larger industry discussions because there needs to be a stronger voice for the MLS.” 

Broker relationships

It is no secret that the relationship between brokers and the MLS can be contentious at times. Edgerton is excited to use her experience working in the real estate brokerage space to help her be a better bridge between brokers and MLSs. 

“The conversations that we need to be having right now cannot be siloed. Brokers, agents and their consumers downstream are all dependent on what the MLS is doing and the choices that MLSs are making. I think it is absolutely vital to ensure that brokerages are engaging with the MLSs and vice versa.  MLSs need to have a crystalline understanding of what their brokers need,” Edgerton said. “MLSs won’t survive if they are not listening to their brokers, agents and consumers.  This industry is an ecosystem, and we are all dependent on each other.”

With different brokers and consumers in different markets having different needs, Edgerton said CMLS is not interested in “flattening the landscape,” but instead is focused on continuing to encourage and provide the tools and resources the association’s members need to have these conversations and begin to implement some of the desired changes. 

“Each of our MLSs is going to be making their own decisions, their own innovations, their own mistakes,” she said. “CMLS’s job is, to the extent that we can, to provide resources for ongoing innovation, creativity and development.” 

A path of innovation

Looking ahead at the uncertainty that has gripped much of the housing industry as it works to innovate, Edgerton believes that, at least in the MLS space, the industry needs to focus on the unique value of the MLS — that it's the one true repository of listings that exists without bias or the competitive elements of portals or brokerages. 

“There is no entity that is better situated to be a complete, neutral, timely resource for real estate listing data,” Edgerton said. “All of the innovation that is happening right now depends completely on full, timely real estate data.  Portals are competing with one another. Brokerages are competing with one another. The MLS, as an entity, is situated to be a partner and a resource that can serve and bolster that competition from a neutral standpoint. It can be the resource that every innovation, every other competitor in this industry can rely on."  

That being said, Edgerton said the MLSs must innovate and continue to look to the future. 

“The MLS has spent so much of its lifespan as an institution, perhaps being a bit too comfortable in the guarantee of its eternal relevance,” she said. “Five years from now I would love to look back at this as the moment when we started to see the MLSs innovate as fast as everyone else. We need to be listening to our brokerages, to the industry and get cracking on everything we need to do to thrive.”

Coming midway through a year of dashed expectations, rekindled hopes and an unrelenting trench-warfare-like grind against a vague, know-it-when-you-feel-it force of hesitancy among consumer households weighing whether now's the moment or not to try to buy a home, the June builder sentiment print comes as little surprise.

The path to this point had, by and large, seen homebuilders entering 2026 with guarded optimism.

This presentiment wasn't based on the belief that 2026 would be record-setting. Instead, the hope was that 2025 may have represented the floor of a down cycle and that the industry was poised for a gradual, modest recovery. 

However, this cautiously positive outlook rested on the expectation that no new external headwinds would emerge to disrupt the market. The Iran war, which injected uncertainty into the economy and continues to keep mortgage rates elevated and could do so for the rest of the year, definitely did not play into most outlooks at the start of the year.

Spring selling season, by almost any measure, fell short of expectations. In March, new home sales increased 3.3% year over year, but the median sales price fell 6.2%, indicating that builders ramped up incentives to keep sales activity positive. In their own terms, homebuilders were "buying" sales. In April, new home sales were down 11.3% year over year. May's new home sales data, which comes out next week, may paint a similar picture.

"The latest HMI survey also revealed that 35% of builders cut prices in June, up from 32% in May. The average price reduction was 6% in June, the same rate as the previous month," wrote Robert Dietz, Chief Economist at the National Association of Home Builders. "The use of sales incentives was 62% in June, up slightly from 61% in May, and marking the 15th consecutive month this share has reached 60% or higher."

Of particular concern were confidence declines in two of the more typically prolific new-home construction regions, Dietz wrote, noting, "the South fell two points to 33 and the West dropped one point to 27."

One homebuilding executive who spoke with HousingWire TBD summed up the spring selling season in three words: “Buyers under distress.”

Another executive said that some of their communities could see a $30,000 price drop and still not generate sales. 

Yet another noted that the spring selling season has been inconsistent, with a strong month followed by a much slower month. This uncertainty makes forward planning difficult. 

Other homebuilding leaders contend that there is pent-up demand in the market, but elevated mortgage rates and economic uncertainty are keeping many of those buyers on the sidelines.

Meanwhile, many homebuilders, particularly those that serve entry-level buyers who are sensitive to mortgage rates, still-high asking prices and economic volatility, may need to choose between incentivizing new sales and tapping the brakes – possibly even taking the summer off – until conditions improve. 

Economic anxiety bites

California-based Rurka Homes, ranked 84th in the HousingWire Homebuilder Rankings, operates in a market that many would consider ground zero for the nation’s housing affordability crisis. The San Francisco metro area, with a median home price of more than $1.3 million, is one of the most expensive metro areas in the country, only overshadowed by the adjacent San Jose market, where the median home price is about $2 million. 

Rurka Homes, based in neighboring San Joaquin County, builds homes on the edge of the Bay Area bordering California’s Central Valley, predominantly in a suburban community called Mountain House. The builder’s homes, mostly 4- or 5-bedroom houses that range in size from 2,100 to nearly 4,000 square feet, typically sell for between the $800s and just over $1.3 million. 

Mountain House, located over 50 miles east of San Francisco, is a prototypical upper-middle-class commuter town. Rurka Homes President Nick Arenson told HousingWire TBD that the firm's typical buyer is a family-focused commuter who’s trading in a townhome or smaller house for a larger detached home with a longer commute to major job centers. 

The spring selling season, Arenson acknowledged, has been tough. 

“A lot of buyers were hoping to buy based on the idea of future lower mortgage rates,” Arenson said. “Then, going into this year, people had some hopes that we could see them finally lowering interest rates and that we’d have more certainty, and of course, we've had less certainty and increasing rates. I think that's the primary story,” Arenson said. 

In the Bay Area, a nationwide wave of high-profile tech layoffs and growing concerns about AI-driven job displacement are also weighing on homebuyer confidence. Rurka argued that the job market in San Francisco and Silicon Valley hasn’t been hit as hard by layoffs as other tech-heavy markets like Seattle or Austin. Still, the headlines are giving some buyers jitters. 

“There's the talk of it, which makes people nervous, and the nervousness doesn't help, right? Add in gas prices, the interest rates and everything else, and there is uncertainty,” Rurka said. 

Commuters feel the pinch

Beyond higher rates and lingering economic uncertainty, the high cost of gas, with prices reaching nearly $6 a gallon locally in Northern California, reared up as an unforeseen concern for commuters. 

Data from John Burns Research & Consulting (JBREC) found that, unsurprisingly, high gas prices hampered demand most prominently in peripheral commuter towns, where affordability-driven buyers trade lower prices for longer commute times. 

According to JBREC, the typical new-construction homeowner commutes about 12% more than the average homeowner who commutes by car, because new construction is disproportionately located in outlying areas. 

With the price of gas still averaging about $4 a gallon nationally, the communities hit the hardest are located in peripheral areas, such as the Stockton, CA, market, where Rurka Homes operates. The Stockton market has the largest percentage difference in commute time between new-construction homeowners and all other homeowners. New construction homeowners commute in the Stockton market 41% more, largely due to incoming residents who are priced out of Bay Area suburbs. 

Although the price of gas may not be a make-or-break issue for most homebuyers, it certainly adds to the level of economic anxiety and financial burden many consumers are feeling at the moment.

Pockets of strength and weakness

Not all housing markets perform at the same level, even when they are located within the same state. Chris Winter, President of Homebuilding at Utah-based Cole West, ranked 49th on HousingWire's Homebuilder Rankings, spoke to this point. 

Cole West’s homebuilding operations are predominantly concentrated in Southern Utah, but the company has recently focused on bolstering deliveries in the northern suburbs of Salt Lake City as well. The spring selling season, Winter said, has been mixed. 

“I would say that it's been a tale of two stories for Northern Utah and Southern Utah. Northern Utah started out pretty slow. January, February and March were kind of slow, but now that we are in the middle of June, we're actually on our targets. Virtually every community has hit their numbers, and a couple have exceeded. There's been, obviously, a couple that have been short, but we're actually on pace for all of our sales targets for the year,” Winter said. “I wouldn't say that we're running along swimmingly, and that we're all wearing party hats. In a couple of places, we've had to increase incentives to be able to hit those numbers.”

The Southern Utah division, concentrated in the southwestern portion of the state, has taken an opposite track. January and February started strong, Winter said, but the spring selling season has been slow. 

“Since then, it's been really, really slow, to the point where we're off like 35% year-to-date from our sales goals,” he said. 

Many of the southern division’s sales, Winter noted, come from vacation homes, which haven’t performed well over the last few months, especially in lower price points. 

Some affordability bright spots remain

Topeka, Kansas, with an average home price of just over $195,000, is one of the more affordable markets in the country. Located about an hour west of Kansas City, the town offers proximity to a metro area with a population of more than 2 million people, but at a discount. In Topeka, raw land is cheap, and there are ample lots available for development.

Topeka-based Gen III Construction & Development offers newly built 3-bedroom homes in Topeka for about $275,000. Walker Bassett, the company’s founder and CEO, said there is strong demand for homes at this price, but homes that creep too far into the $300s may sit on the market for a long time. 

As construction costs continue to rise, builders like Gen III Construction & Development must confront the challenge of delivering homes at price points buyers can afford while maintaining healthy margins to support their business.

“These cheaper houses don't have much margin, so they're harder to build, but we find that there's a lot more demand,” Bassett said. 

Even though margins on many of these homes may be tight, the company is finding that sales on the more affordable products are doing quite well. That is, as long as the right home is delivered at the right price. 

“There are obviously some economic disruptions that we're seeing on the global and national scale. I'd say that we haven't really felt that any more than a hiccup. As things started getting louder, it seemed like there was a little bit of a pause, but April was the strongest month that our broker had in the last six years,” Gen III Construction & Development COO Dalton Cowan said.

The startup, founded by 21-year-olds Athan Zhang and Brianna Lin, recently raised a $4.1 million seed round to build Penny, which the company describes as an autonomous AI loan officer that handles borrower intake, answers questions, and feeds underwriters and loan officers a steady stream of context.

In a conversation with HousingWire just days after Copperlane announced the seed funding, Zhang and Lin offered a glimpse into their startup and why Penny differs from today’s AI point solutions.

Editor's note: This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Sarah Wolak: Let's start by talking about Penny, which was described in your press release as an autonomous AI loan officer. Can you talk about the tasks it’s able to do independently and, conversely, where humans still need to be in the loop?

Athan Zhang: We call it autonomous because Penny has the functions to be autonomous, but it can be a copilot or an autopilot. It really depends on what our customers want. The way we typically pitch it is, think of Penny as an employee, just as you think of a loan officer assistant. You can have your loan officer assistant do more, or you can have them report more to the loan officer.

In terms of active capabilities, Penny can answer borrower questions. She has her own phone number, and borrowers can communicate with her via iMessage, SMS, or even call her if they want. She can provide suggestions and recommendations for program eligibility to help loan officers understand what a borrower might qualify for.

More importantly, she gives loan officers context around the borrower. Penny is one of the things that interacts with the borrower throughout the intake stage, so we can surface the most important pieces of information to the loan officers. That gives them more bandwidth to understand more customers at the same time, while Penny works to do things such as figuring out why parts of an application don’t line up, verifying documents, verifying numbers and putting together a briefing for loan officers.

Brianna Lin: One thing I’d note is that Penny, as this AI employee, follows the borrower throughout the entire journey of their application. Penny engages as soon as the borrower starts an application and she's involved until the file reaches closing. Penny is engaged with the borrower throughout the experience and she fully understands the context, the history and the borrower’s background, just as a real loan officer would get to understand a person.

Wolak: How did you develop this idea? Was it a class project that evolved or something you both had a personal interest in?

Zhang: It was not a class project. For background, both Brianna and I are from the Washington, D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area, and both of our parents have worked extensively in the mortgage space. So growing up, we were always exposed to these problems.

When we went to college, this wasn’t necessarily what we set out to do. I was a computer science major; Brianna studied computer science and real estate. We had other ambitions, and we were always very entrepreneurial. We ended up joining this program called Y Combinator, which is essentially a startup accelerator that has produced companies such as Airbnb and DoorDash.

It’s a three‑month program that gives people like us a chance to try building what we want to build. We met each other through Y Combinator and actually realized we had both a shared background, but more importantly, a bigger understanding of how AI could be applied to mortgages.

Compared to many people in the mortgage industry, we understood more about the frontiers of AI, which is important for governance and alignment. On the flip side, compared to a lot of our peers, we just knew more about mortgages than the average person because of our proximity and what we grew up with.

Wolak: Can you explain how you saw inefficiencies in the mortgage space without having direct industry experience yourselves?

Zhang: The actual story starts with a conversation with my mom. I generally know what she does — she works in the secondary markets in risk management. She told me a lot about the quality of data that gets to risk by the time it reaches the secondary market.

By that point, many of these loans have been converted into numbers, and there’s a lot of variance in those numbers. Part of that is a data problem. I thought it was interesting how these loans get converted at the top level into just numbers.

I followed that problem downstream and ended up at origination, which is the process where these applications become those numbers. I talked to a lot of people. One of our first customers, before they were a customer, let us spend a week in their office.

That put me on the ground floor with loan officers. I had perspectives from people in the secondary market and from the first people talking to borrowers — the loan officers. We realized that’s where many of the problems and inefficiencies appeared, in how these applications were made.

Lin: We first found the idea through our families’ experience in the industry. Overall, our approach to learning about mortgages has been to be very aggressive and very boots‑on‑the‑ground. As Athan mentioned, we would go on-site with customers and sit directly with their loan officers, watching them work to learn the workflow and see the inefficiencies firsthand.

We did a lot of in‑person meetings with potential customers, went to conferences, and visited local banks and credit unions in San Francisco. We were very aggressive about learning upfront, and that gave us the confidence to work on the problem.

Wolak: The mortgage industry traditionally lags on technology, but there are companies with internal AI or AI assistants. For instance, United Wholesale Mortgage has Mia, which can answer calls and contact borrowers for follow‑ups if the system flags them as eligible for a refinance or something else. What makes Penny different from the AI that’s already in the market?

Zhang: This is the classic build‑or‑buy question. In any industry, whether you should build or buy depends on the technical hurdles of what you’re trying to build.

AI has lagged in the mortgage industry partly because there isn’t much regulation around it yet. We’re only starting to see early pieces, such as the Freddie Mac 1302 that came out in March. It’s not even a concrete piece of legislation on AI.

There’s a lot of cold feet around AI because we don’t really know what safety and governance will look like. That’s part of why Brianna and I got into this. We come from AI research backgrounds and environments where you’re exposed to alignment work. Alignment as a process really started gaining traction only recently, so we know it’s still early, which some industry leaders might not fully appreciate.

When we build Penny, we’re positioning ourselves with the expectation that regulation will eventually come down. We have the foresight to anticipate what it might look like and to build Penny in a safe way. That’s important, and it’s something many smaller or even midsized shops don’t have the expertise to do. That’s our right to win, and we intend to exercise it.

Lin: A lot of our competitive edge comes from the fact that, if you look at most tech players in this space, they’re mortgage people who spent years in the industry and then pivoted into building tech. Athan and I come from AI and tech backgrounds. We’ve studied computer science and AI intensively, and now we’re building for mortgage and learning the space very quickly.

We have a better understanding of the models and how to deliver them in a safe and compliant manner to the industry. I’d also note that while many competitors claim they have internal AI loan officers or AI employees, from what I’ve seen, these are still point solutions that address very specific pains, such as document parsing or Q&A. The systems are not fully agentic. They’re not truly functioning as a real person would, and they don’t think in the same way that anyone on a team would.

Wolak: To achieve what you’re describing — thinking and acting like a real person — how long did it take to implement everything? And with compliance, some people might argue that mortgage veterans building AI know how to best address fair lending concerns. How are you building those considerations into Penny?

Zhang: It’s not a set duration. This is always an ongoing process. In terms of legislation, it’s not as if we’re unaware of fair lending, ECOA, TRID and all these rules. If we didn’t know about them, we wouldn’t be running a very good company. Our core competency is AI, but we’re working in a vertical with its own domain requirements.

That’s why we’ve been very aggressive about filling what is most likely our weak spot. We’re very aggressive about being on the ground and learning the problem. We know our competitors have more experience in mortgage. In my view, it’s easier to learn the domain by being there and understanding that this is what you need to learn, compared with someone who has to spend more time learning AI and the technical side.

Wolak: With the seed money you've secured, what are the next steps and milestones? What should investors and industry observers expect over the next 12 to 18 months as you deploy that capital?

Zhang: One of our biggest bottlenecks has been engineering. We have to think about integrations with different software platforms, while also running a lot of research and building systems to make sure Penny is safe and aligned.

It’s been very intensive. We feel the pressure because we have a decent number of customers and that number is growing. We’re using capital to reinforce our ability to deliver more feature requests and improve the product for existing customers, while also supporting what we expect as we add more customers.

The other part of the capital is reinforcing the growth motion. A lot of what we do now is simply being present at conferences, but right now that’s just Brianna and me. We want to invest more in those relationships with organizers and lenders and be more present in the space.

Lin: Growth is the major theme. That includes hiring more people and doing what we’re already doing, but more aggressively — being more involved at conferences and seeing more customers in person. Even as we grow the team, Athan and I will continue to be boots on the ground for at least the next year or two.

According to the announcement, the company opened a Boston-area office and hired senior executives to lead its expansion across New England, a move the company says advances its strategy to operate as a national lender to real estate investors and developers.

The new office will act as a regional hub for originating and executing loans throughout the Northeast, including Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Ascent said local staffing and market expertise are intended to speed decision-making and support developers through closer, on-the-ground relationships.

“The establishment of our Northeastern hub is a direct response to the demand we’re seeing from developers in the region,” said Robert Wasmund, founder and CEO of Ascent Developer Solutions. “By establishing a stronger local presence and continuing to invest in relationships on the ground, we’re able to better support both existing and new clients in markets with strong long-term fundamentals.”

To lead the expansion, Ascent named Mario Massimino senior vice president of sales. Massimino, a former partner at MB Financial Group, brings development and finance experience and longstanding relationships across the region, the company said. He will oversee originations across the Northeast and focus on building and strengthening relationships with developers and sponsors.

“New England is an incredibly relationship-driven region, and having a local presence is critical to building trust and executing deals effectively,” Massimino said. “What differentiates Ascent is a profound understanding of the development process from start to finish, and that perspective as developers allows us to provide the kind of reliable partnership borrowers need in today’s market.”

Ascent also hired three additional executives to meet regional demand as it scales its East Coast operations. Anthony Capelli, Matthew Pedone and Chris Sava joined the firm as vice president/loan officers, all with existing ties to New England’s development and investment community.

Market participants say tighter bank credit and elevated rates have pushed more developers toward private lenders that can move quickly and structure more customized capital stacks. Ascent’s focus on a regional hub model and relationship lending reflects this shift, giving developers another source of nonbank capital for acquisitions, redevelopment and ground-up projects.

“As a vertically integrated real estate investor and developer, having a capital partner like Ascent Developer Solutions provides the certainty of execution and scalability necessary to grow our business and capitalize on opportunities in today's market and throughout any economic cycle,” said Michael Massimino, CEO of MB Financial Group. “What sets Ascent apart is not only its access to capital, but also its deep understanding of the development and construction process and its unwavering commitment to its borrowers.”

Ascent’s New England move comes amid a broader growth phase. Since launching with backing from Elliott Investment Management L.P. in July 2024, the firm has originated $3 billion in loans, the company said, highlighting continued demand for flexible, developer-centric financing.

In parallel with its geographic buildout, Ascent has grown to more than 130 industry professionals nationwide, adding staff across originations, credit and construction management. Its Los Angeles headquarters has also expanded to support higher deal volume and serve as the operational center of its platform.

“With a bi-coastal presence now in place, we’re positioned to scale more effectively while staying true to the relationship-driven approach that defines our business,” Wasmund said. “We’re continuing to invest in the markets, people and capabilities that allow us to deliver consistent return for our clients.”

Ascent Developer Solutions provides bridge, renovation and construction loans to single-family and multifamily investors and developers. The company also offers revolving and other lending programs for homebuilders, large multifamily sponsors and manufactured housing communities, with loan amounts up to $100 million.

The industry also reported a decline in claims paid during the quarter.

Title insurers paid nearly $151 million in claims during the first three months of 2026, compared with approximately $161 million during the first quarter of 2025.

“Every real estate transaction represents a significant financial investment, and title professionals are working behind the scenes to ensure those transactions can close safely and securely,” said ALTA CEO Chris Morton. “The industry’s first-quarter results reflect the continued demand for the critical work title companies perform to identify hidden risks, prevent losses and protect property rights. Even as fraud threats and transaction complexity continue to increase, title professionals remain focused on delivering the certainty and peace of mind consumers, investors and lenders deserve.”

First American Title Insurance Co. held the largest share of the title insurance market during the quarter with 24.2% of premiums written. Fidelity National Title Insurance Co. ranked second with 13.9%, followed by Old Republic National Title Insurance Co. at 13.7%, Chicago Title Insurance Co. at 12.6% and Stewart Title Guaranty Co. at 11.3%.

Westcor Land Title Insurance Co. accounted for 4.7% of the market, followed by Title Resources Guaranty Co. with 3.3%, Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Co. with 3.2%, WFG National Title Insurance Co. with 2.8% and First American Title Guaranty Co. with 1.4%.

Texas generated the highest volume of title insurance premiums during the quarter at $627.5 million, an 8% increase from a year earlier.

Florida followed with $493.4 million, up 10.1%, while California reported $370.9 million in premiums, a 15.3% increase.

New York generated $322.8 million in title insurance premiums during the quarter, up 18.7% from the same period last year.

Pennsylvania rounded out the top five states with $203.5 million in premiums, posting the largest year-over-year increase among the top states at 46.4%.

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

The waiver period, obtained after investor feedback and a recommendation from proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services, expired on Friday. CCM is offering $12 per share in cash, plus a stub dividend, a proposal to be submitted for vote on June 23. UWM had offered $12.50 per share in cash, or if a stockholder chooses, 2.3328 shares of UWMC stock.

In a response, UWM said Two Harbors mischaracterized their discussions and only pretended to engage in order to convince shareholders to accept the CCM offer. “The bottom line is: the TWO board is only pretending to engage,” the company stated.

With that waiver in place, Two Harbors said its CEO, William Greenberg, invited UWM’s CEO, Mat Ishbia, on June 8 to meet “at any time.” The company also offered to provide additional due diligence and consider any proposal. Ishbia scheduled a video call for Thursday.

During the call, UWM raised concepts including “making cash the default consideration, modifying the election to default a subset of stockholders into cash, or potentially changing the exchange ratio,” Two Harbors said.

But when asked to put a specific proposal in writing, Ishbia said he was unsure whether any proposal would be forthcoming and that UWM would “have to look at this closer,” according to the seller.

Two Harbors said it encouraged UWM to outline additional diligence needs, but UWM did not provide specific requests. The company added that Greenberg responded to subsequent emails from Ishbia and offered additional meetings, which UWM declined to schedule. Advisors to Two Harbors also contacted UWM’s advisors to encourage a revised bid, the letter said.

Two Harbors’ board has reiterated concerns that UWM’s most recent proposal would have defaulted non-electing stockholders into UWM shares rather than cash.

In its statement, UWM said the board created an arbitrary, unreasonable five-day limit to negotiate, restricted who from UWM could take part, “summoned” Ishbia to New York on short notice, and declined an open invitation to come to Michigan. Two Harbors also refused to provide updated financial information until UWM submitted a revised written proposal.

The company added that it offered adjustments to the default election to cash or a “higher of cash or stock” consideration, but the board categorically ruled out any form of stock.

Default stock consideration worth less than half of the cash offer

Based on UWM’s June 12 closing price of $2.38 a share — which Two Harbors noted in the letter was an all-time low and more than 50% below its December 2025 level of $5.12 — the default stock component would have had an implied value of about $5.55 per Two Harbors share. That compares to a stated $12.50 per-share cash election option, making the default stock consideration worth less than half of the cash offer.

Two Harbors said that if just 7% of its investors failed to make an election, a level it called realistic given its shareholder base and typical participation rates, the aggregate value of UWM’s mixed cash-stock proposal would fall below CrossCountry’s bid. The gap would widen further if CrossCountry’s stub dividend is included, according to the company.

“We have been clear with UWMC — publicly, privately and through our advisors — about the board’s concerns with UWMC’s proposal structure,” the board stated in the letter. “Our strong preference for fully financed, all-cash consideration for all stockholders reflects our fiduciary duties to all TWO stockholders and our obligation to evaluate any proposed transaction in its entirety, not just its headline terms.”

The board also pointed to comments made by UWM's leadership during the negotiation period.

“As UWMC’s own CEO acknowledged during the June 11 call, ‘no one smart is going to pick UWM stock at the price it’s at right now,’” the board said. “We are not aware of any precedent for a transaction where the default stock consideration at signing is worth less than half of the stated cash election price.”

Update: This story has been updated to include a statement from UWM.

That should sit uncomfortably with every broker-owner and association leader. We have a National Association of Realtors that reports more than 1.5 million members. We have RESO setting the data standards. We have 489 separate MLS systems doing the daily work of keeping listings accurate, current and visible to every buyer. What we do not have is one body whose only assignment is the health of the marketplace itself.

For decades that gap did not matter, because no one was strong enough to exploit it. That era is over. National portals and brokerages now negotiate, litigate and advertise from positions of real national scale, while the MLSs that actually run the marketplace meet them one market at a time. A national portal can sit across the table from the country’s 489 MLS systems and work them individually. No single MLS, and certainly no small one, holds enough leverage by itself to keep a national standard from buckling under that kind of pressure.

The answer is not another layer of bureaucracy. It is an alliance — a voluntary body of MLSs organized around five specific jobs.

1. Set the national rulebook floor. The alliance adopts minimum marketplace standards that every member agrees to follow. Every listing registered and visible to all MLS participants. A uniform written seller disclosure before any private or delayed marketing phase. Consistent definitions for Coming Soon and office exclusive status. Uniform timelines.
   
   No member may drop below the floor and every member may add stricter rules above it. This is the architecture of building codes: a national minimum, with room for local additions. A county can always require more than the code requires. It can never quietly require less.
   
2. Negotiate data licensing as one body. Today a national portal can negotiate hundreds of separate data agreements and let MLSs compete against one another on terms. Under an alliance, members adopt a common licensing framework with standard terms, standard pricing principles and standard enforcement.
   
   A portal that wants alliance listings negotiates that framework once, with a body that speaks for the more than 1.5 million members NAR reports plus the many subscribers who carry no NAR affiliation, rather than picking off MLSs one by one. The alliance owns no one’s data. Each MLS still licenses its own. The alliance simply hands every member the same set of terms to stand behind.
   
3. Defend members with a shared legal fund. Members contribute to a pooled legal defense and policy fund, so that when a national player sues, pressures or threatens one MLS, it meets the resources of all of them. The fund changes behavior before a single complaint is filed. The recent disputes over private-listing and listing-access policies, now the subject of ongoing federal litigation, show how expensive it is for one MLS to stand alone against a national balance sheet. Shared defense takes that imbalance off the table.
   
4. Build shared standards and shared technology. Working from RESO’s existing data standards, the alliance can fund the tools every member needs and few can build alone: cross-market listing search, fraud detection, compliance systems and clean consumer-facing data feeds. The smallest MLS in the country gains capabilities that today belong only to the giants. Pooled infrastructure is how a hundred modest players can buy what one large player builds for itself.
   
5. Tell the consumer story with one national voice. Right now, the private-listing pitch reaches consumers through companies with national advertising budgets, while the case for the open market is made piecemeal, market by market, if it is made at all. The alliance funds a sustained national campaign built on one plain message: the open market is how your home reaches every buyer, and every buyer reaches every home. Sellers deserve to hear both sides before they sign.

It is worth being precise about what this alliance is not, because the objections write themselves otherwise.

It is not a national MLS. There is no central database and no merger of systems, and listing data stays with the local MLS that collected it. It is not a replacement for NAR. NAR is the association of brokers and agents; the alliance is an organization of MLSs, including the many that operate outside NAR affiliation. The two can and should work together, but the marketplace needs a body whose sole charge is the marketplace. It is not anti-brokerage or anti-portal, either. Brokerages and portals are essential to this business, and a marketplace that stays open, complete and fair serves every honest participant, including them. And it is not mandatory. Membership is voluntary and open to any MLS that adopts the floor.

That voluntary structure is the piece skeptics tend to underestimate. Visa did not conscript its member banks. The Associated Press did not draft its member newspapers. Both became indispensable because standing together plainly beat standing alone, until joining was the obvious choice rather than the forced one. An MLS alliance can grow exactly that way, on the strength of its benefits: the legal fund, the licensing framework, the shared technology, and the single national voice.

The real estate professionals we coach do not need their leaders to win every argument with a portal or a brokerage. They need leaders who make sure the field those arguments are played on stays level. The marketplace has never protected itself, and it will not start now. The only open question is whether the people who depend on it will organize to protect it first.

Darryl Davis, CSP, is a speaker, coach, and bestselling author who has trained real estate professionals, and the leaders who build them, for more than 40 years. He is the founder of the POWER AGENT® Coaching Program and Darryl Davis Seminars. Learn more at darrylspeaks.com.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners.

To contact the editor responsible for this piece: tracey@hwmedia.com

Because brokerages are reporting near-universal AI adoption. Agents are reporting significant productivity gains. And those two facts are not always connected to each other in the way the slide decks suggest.

The headline numbers

On the brokerage side, the AI rollout is real. Ninety-seven percent of brokerage leaders now report that their agents use AI, up from 80% in 2024. Non-adoption at the brokerage level has fallen to about 4%, and only 2% of brokerage leaders said they do not plan to adopt AI in 2026. The market has moved from curiosity to capability, with AI now embedded in the average agent’s daily workflow.

On the use-case side, the marketing function is leading. Roughly 82% of agents now use AI to write listing descriptions, up from 58% in 2024. Seventy-four percent use AI for blogs, social posts, and email campaigns, and 49% use it for social media planning.

That is a real shift and the brokerages have earned the headline. The question, for the people who actually do the work, is what those numbers actually pay for at the closing table.

What the hype leaves out

Industry coverage in the last 90 days has been more honest than usual about the gap. Reporting has tracked brokerages and teams rolling out AI assistants for leads, CRM and coaching. It has also tracked how data ownership and AI tools are reshaping the underlying brokerage tech stack, which means the tool is now part of the deal, not a side feature.

New entrants like Lofty are pushing further, marketing what they call an agentic AI operating system designed to take multi-step actions on an agent’s behalf. The promise is that the AI does not just write the email. It runs the workflow.

Yet, a separate stream of reporting has been blunt about the limits. A piece on what separates successful AI adopters from dabblers in real estate found that the gains concentrate in a small group of power users, with most agents reporting little to no meaningful impact on their numbers. That is not a marketing problem. That is a workflow problem.

Powerfact: Adoption is not the same as productivity. A brokerage can hit 97% adoption and still have 70% of its agents producing the same volume they produced two years ago. The tool is in the building. The result is in the user.

Where the actual productivity lives

If you have spent any time inside an agent’s actual day this season, you already know the gap. The agent writes the listing description in a free public model, not the brokerage suite. The agent dictates the listing-presentation prep notes into a free voice tool. The agent uses a public chatbot to clean up a buyer email before sending it through the company CRM.

That is not a failure of brokerage AI. That is a maturity gap. Brokerage tools are built for compliance, security and integration. Free public models are built for speed. Right now, speed is winning in the moment of work. The brokerage tools will catch up where they catch up, and they will not catch up where they do not. Either outcome is fine. The pretending is the problem.

What agents and brokers should do

For agents, run a two-column audit this week. Column one, the AI tasks your brokerage suite handled well in the last 30 days, with specific examples. Column two, the AI tasks you finished faster outside the suite. Whichever column is longer is the one you build your workflow around. Be honest. The seller does not care which tool you used. The seller cares about the outcome on the kitchen table.

For brokers and team leaders, stop measuring AI by license count. Measure it by output. If 80% of your agents are logged into the brokerage AI but only 12% are using it for the work that moves their numbers, the rollout is a vanity metric. Build a six-week productivity loop. Pick three high-value workflows. Listing-presentation prep. Buyer follow-up. Market-update emails. Measure time saved and deals advanced. Then publish the results internally, the good and the ugly.

For everyone, learn one prompt structure cold rather than 50 hacks. The data inside the brokerage AI report and the data inside the public-model report keep pointing at the same conclusion. The gain is not in the platform. The gain is in the operator. That is true if you pay for the tool and true if you do not.

Powerfact: Technology enhances judgment. It does not replace accountability. The agent who answered the phone, did the work, and told the truth is still the differentiator. That is the part the AI cannot do.

The future impact

There is real money being spent on AI in this industry, and there is real signal in the adoption numbers. The brokerage AI category is going to keep maturing through the rest of 2026, and some of the agentic platforms now in market will end up being the standard infrastructure of the working agent’s day. That is a healthy direction.

What is not healthy is the gap between the marketing of the tool and the use of the tool. Closing that gap is the next 18 months of work. Until then, the working agent’s job is the same job it has always been. Serve the client. Tell the truth. Use the best tool that helps you do both. The logo on the tool is not the point.

Watch the AI category, by all means. Then close the tab and go to work.

Darryl Davis, CSP, has spoken to, trained, and coached more than 600,000 real estate professionals around the globe. He is a bestselling author for McGraw-Hill Publishing, and his book, How to Become a Power Agent in Real Estate, tops Amazon’s charts for most sold book to real estate agents.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners.

To contact the editor responsible for this piece: tracey@hwmedia.com

We’re wasting energy and capital, not on innovation, risk-taking or customer delight, but relitigating old tropes. Sadly, few leaders exhibit the qualities that have defined success throughout my career: thoughtfulness, transparency, curiosity, collaboration and a genuine willingness to listen.

Instead, a steady stream of main-stage theatrics and lawsuit leadership make constructive dialogue nearly impossible. For a sector that excels in solving consumer problems, we deserve better internal dialogue. I believe our leaders must set aside the temptation to be disagreeable and learn to become more disagree-able.

I’m not against differences of opinion

I have spent my career helping the industry navigate uncomfortable innovation and change. Our markets thrive on competing ideas and different business models. Challenging assumptions is how we increase value to consumers and agents.

But what’s happening today isn’t just a difference of opinions. We’re arguing over ghosts from the past. Agents who romanticize the time before portals will eventually learn consumers are not so nostalgic. Brokers hoping to revive 1970s listing protectionism will end up ignored by agents building businesses on cooperation and technology-driven transparency. If we keep trying to dial back the clock, the industry will find itself seated uncomfortably across from regulators again.

Is the lion still coming over the hill?

Real estate is a vibrant, diverse mosaic of options. We have never needed a “one-size-for-all” national strategy because all answers already exist in thousands of local markets. Agents and consumers can move to the model that fits best without demanding a single model imposed on everyone. While Europe and Asia clamor for US-styled data transparency, some in America suggest we return to the pre-MLS days of pocket listing practices.

Perhaps it’s due to the prolonged market downturn, but we certainly love boogeymen in this business — the lions have been coming over the hill for decades! Now we’re being sold a dilemma of false narratives. Consumers couldn’t care less about these things; it’s all inside-baseball to them. While we waste energy trying to corner markets and defeat competitors, someone else is building the next better mousetrap to outsmart us all.

Our industry's approach is all wrong

Even if these issues turn out to be as important as we’re told, our industry’s current approach is wrong. Lawsuits, social media battles and data-feed battles accomplish nothing except damaging relationships. Long-standing industry cooperation is being divided into factions. Some in the media have stopped covering the issues and promote dueling personalities for clicks. The issues are treated like a food-fight for entertainment, increasing suspicions of ulterior motives and fears. Everyone is defensive, when they should be sitting down to talk.

Our leaders can do better.

The real test for solving problems should always be making buying and selling easier, building consumer trust and keeping the industry profitable at the center of the transaction. If we lose sight of these goals, people with power start making mistakes.

Turning off listing feeds isn’t leadership; it’s self-defeating, encompassing agents who must explain to sellers why “taking back our data!” is a valid reason for their homes to fall off the internet. That’s a customer-experience non-starter that also undermines agent retention and attraction. Nobody wants to work for companies or join MLS systems where someone “in charge” can simply turn-off their business plans and consumer-promises on a whim.

We don't need to reset the clock

Equally misguided are attempts to reset the clock on the last 30 years of growth. Hoping to return MLS to its original model looks bad: after years benefitting from collective investments, we’re now pulling up the ladder behind us. Similarly, hiding property data is absurd. Transparency is the economy’s currency.

Well-known frustrations of home-buying in European markets and shenanigans in non-MLS U.S. markets mean consumers hardly want the Old World of real estate. Suggesting that Gen Z buyers will gladly visit an office to browse secret inventory in a three-ring binder is pure fantasy.

These ideas have run their course and the consumer, if not some in the industry, has moved on. It’s impossible to claim our future requires us to go back in time.

Not all leaders suffer from these delusions

They’ve rightly focused on serving their local companies, clients and agents. They’re working hard to innovate, co-broke collaboratively with local colleagues, and keep the market afloat. Unfortunately, they find themselves caught in the crossfire, forced into conflict with colleagues with whom they would rather collaborate, recruit or even merge.

Furthermore, it’s not just agents and consumers who are dismayed: Agitated regulators are already buzzing. Legislators in multiple states have recently “solved the problem” by banning private listings, because we’re unable to self-regulate on our own.

Ironically, many leaders’ behavior is the exact opposite of what great agents do every day. At the heart of every sale is problem-solving: agents from different companies help consumers with different opinions create mutually beneficial agreements. This is literally what we do for a living, depending upon transparent data and thoughtful skills to craft deals between strangers.

Now it’s time for our leaders to do the same. Here’s how.

First, leaders must separate the people from the problem. Resolving differences won’t happen by dividing the industry into factions of “winners” and “losers.” Scarcity mindset didn’t help the industry sell $6 million homes during the pandemic, and there’s no place for it in the future. Leaders must be hard on problems, but soft on people. They should focus on interests, rather than personal positions. We don’t need “rebels” or “defenders” but leaders who treat parties as stakeholders, without misattributing nefarious motives to their interests. Only then can we build the trust required for constructive dialogue.

Second, leaders must set aside their reliance on lawsuits, social media and press releases. Resolving differences happens when leaders step off the stage and do the hard work of developing options, not demands. Rarely does forcing choices “you cannot refuse” work. Lawsuit thinking must end. Smirking selfies on social media won’t produce lasting results, either. This isn’t a game, but the real world of agents businesses and consumer’s housing dreams.

Leaders must ask different questions: “What ideas hasn’t anyone considered yet? How many possibilities can we discover?” Curiosity uncovers options and reduces fear. Smart leaders replace pre-conceived narratives (“MLS just wants control! Some brokers are trying to corner the market! Portals are evil!”) with questions (“Could we try this instead?”). We must prioritize solutions, not victories over competitors. For any resolution to work, the parties will have to overcome their cautions and take calculated risks. That’s more likely in an environment of “what if” rather than “my way or the highway.”

Finally, leaders must manage the emotional environment. Effective leaders control their emotions as well as prevent supporters from emotional self-sabotage. When stakes are high, strong feelings can help us seek change. But they can also interfere with progress. Agents, brokers and consumers take their cues from our leaders’ public presence. Calm, reasoned conduct creates the confidence for compromise. Wise leaders can prevent our industry from being sabotaged by unrestrained feelings, just as agents often keep clients’ emotions from rejecting a reasonable offer.

Find your superpower and move beyond the division

These leadership principles offer leaders the superpowers needed to resolve these issues and return our focus to growing the market. By prioritizing relationships, setting aside positional power, and developing options, leaders can seek solutions that lift all boats. Progress doesn’t require anybody’s defeat. This is what we call the sapiential power of leaders, using wisdom to drive mutual success. It’s relational thinking, not transactional, that believes in abundance for everyone.

Our industry has survived many challenges over the years, each time emerging stronger. When I started in 1991, a typical year produced 3 million transactions; more recently, 5 million has become the norm. That growth didn’t happen at the expense of anyone; it came from the collaboration of everyone. Our finest moments have been the times we set aside differences and collaborated to find answers. Nothing we’re facing today is insurmountable. Let us encourage our leaders to reconnect with our greatest asset – our relationships – and become the leaders we need at times like this:

Not simply disagreeable, but disagree-able.

Matthew Ferrara is one of the real estate industry’s most respected thinkers and leaders.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners.

To contact the editor responsible for this piece: tracey@hwmedia.com

Shannon Robinson, senior vice president of NAF's reverse division, is building a national sales footprint to capture demand from aging borrowers who seek flexibility in retirement. The ultimate goal, she told HousingWire's Reverse Mortgage Daily, is to make home equity a mainstream part of retirement planning, positioning reverse mortgages as a tool for financial independence rather than a last-resort debt solution.

Editor's note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Sarah Wolak: When you think about reverse-focused companies, NAF hasn't been part of that conversation until more recently. Can you talk about how you'd characterize the state of the reverse mortgage business today and any trends you're seeing, whether at NAF or across the industry as a whole?

Shannon Robinson: The state of reverse mortgages in the industry is really being driven by two powerful realities right now. One is that more than 11,000 Americans are turning 65 every day, and homeowners over the age of 60 to 62 years old hold over $15 trillion in housing wealth.

When you just sit there and think about that statement, it's extremely powerful. So, as active adults are looking for ways to navigate inflation and create financial flexibility, home equity is becoming an increasingly important part of the retirement conversation, and NAF is very much focused on that.

You mentioned that you're not hearing a lot about NAF until maybe over the past year or so. That's because NAF took a really strong step into looking into the business and said, as a top 10 independent mortgage banker, we have a suite of products that we offer to our larger organization, and we really need to step into and explore additional options in the way of reverse mortgages.

So, about three years ago, NAF set out to grow this footprint and bring more solutions to our homeowners, especially in this space. Our database is getting older, and there are opportunities that we can offer this group, and so we set out to build a national sales division.

We had a very small division already at NAF. It was Patty Arvielo, our CEO, who said, "We really have got to step into this and take advantage of where we're seeing this pent-up home equity and where we're seeing people wanting to age in place." So, why not set forth and build this out?

Wolak: Were you previously at NAF before the reverse division was created or were you brought on to lead? What was your journey into the space like?

Robinson: I was not at New American Funding up until about three and a half years ago. I joined in January 2023, but I have over 20 years of experience being pretty much exclusively in the reverse mortgage space.

I started in traditional forward lending and was a loan officer assistant, and then there was an opportunity to go and start something new in the reverse space, and so I started at Liberty Home Equity Solutions about 20 years ago, and was there for a good stint. Then I went on to American Advisors Group and was there for probably nine years.

So I wasn't part of the original build of everything at NAF, but I did start the entire growth of the reverse division nationwide. We took it from three loan officers to 85 loan officers, which is where we stand today.

Wolak: Many of the professionals we talk to in the reverse space have been doing it for a while and have come from the forward lending side. What do you think has kept you in the reverse space?

Robinson: The people. It's all about the people and the opportunity, and I have been in this industry, like you said, for a long time. There are a lot of us that are veterans in this space, and I think that's what I love, is that you see people still staying in this decades later that have the same passion for educating and bringing opportunities to referral partners, financial advisers, Realtors, etc.

My opportunity is bringing this to the broader audience of our traditional loan officers. We have over 1,500 retail loan officers here at New American Funding, and another 450 in consumer direct. So what really drew me in — not only to New American Funding and its mission — was the opportunity where we could really educate and lean into our forward lending loan officers, educate them in this and just show how you can really set people up for a successful retirement.

A lot of people look at this and think it's just a "get-me-out-of-debt" solution, but it really is becoming a part of retirement planning. Being in this space is all about the people I've been around, but it's also an opportunity where I can continue to spread a little bit of education, talk about the opportunity and get rid of some of those myths around this product.

Being in front of these wonderful loan officers here at NAF, that's what's kept me going. I could go back into forward lending and do all of that, but I have a mission and a purpose, so I want to continue to talk about this product for years to come.

Wolak: You mentioned the misconceptions around reverse mortgages and the areas where the space could benefit from some education. What do you think the biggest challenges are that older homeowners face? Does NAF have specific offerings for these borrowers?

Robinson: Older homeowners continue to feel the pressure from rising living costs. Health care expenses continue to be on the rise, and then the big concern is people outliving their savings. We're living longer, medicine is incredible, people are getting healthier, and unfortunately, they are outliving their savings. There are concerns around that.

A reverse mortgage can bridge that gap by allowing homeowners to access a portion of their home equity without making a required monthly mortgage payment. The funds can be used for supplementing their retirement income, covering the unexpected expenses, health care costs, a new roof that needs to be put on the home. A reverse mortgage can just provide that simple peace of mind.

At NAF Reverse, we focus on providing solutions that fit each client's goals. In addition to the HECM product, we also offer proprietary solutions for homeowners with higher home values and options that help everyone from purchasing a new home to preserving their retirement assets.

We just really stay focused here at NAF on helping homeowners and their families to fully understand their options and determine whether home equity can play a meaningful part in providing a comfortable retirement.

Wolak: You mentioned proprietary loans, which are the "hot products" for many companies. Are they having a big impact at NAF?

Robinson: It's had a pretty big impact at NAF and I think it's exciting to see new products enter this space. I will always be a No. 1 fan of the traditional HECM, I mean, there's nothing like that. But opening up reverse mortgage options expands options for homeowners who don't fit the traditional guidelines of a HECM.

One thing I'm excited about is that we do offer so many of the proprietary products that don't fit the traditional guidelines. There are so many that we see in the jumbo markets — you see a lot of larger home equity opportunities that they can tap into, where maybe a HECM couldn't but these proprietary products can.

The folks that we work with on these products are constantly asking questions: What are we seeing? What are your homeowners telling you? They're exploring how we can keep having holistic conversations, talking with borrowers about their financial future and offering these types of solutions. So it's become a big part of our business over the last couple of years.

Wolak: Considering your history of experience in the reverse space and the developments that are happening today, what are you paying attention to when thinking about how the environment is going to look like in the next few years?

Robinson: I believe we will continue to see reverse mortgages become a more mainstream part of retirement planning. I think that as more Americans reach retirement age, financial advisers will look for ways to help preserve clients' assets.

Home equity will play a much larger role in these conversations, as I said. Financial advisers are there to protect assets under management but are also looking for other solutions. How else can we tap into more income streams? Why not look at the opportunity of using housing wealth?

Obviously, we're watching product innovation around proprietary. What other products are going to come to the table and open up opportunities for our active adult homeowners? But look at the advancements in technology. My goodness, we're seeing 10 new things every single day. Look at AI, which plays a prominent role.

Also, we need stronger partnerships with financial professionals and ongoing efforts to educate consumers. We still have to educate and bring this conversation to the table. The more that people can understand their options, the better position they're going to be in to make an informed decision about their retirement.

For me, it wasn’t because I didn’t have the aptitude or didn’t care. I cared, but about the things I knew would benefit my sales the most in that given month: rate sheets, guidelines, borrower DTIs, which files were CTC.

The mortgage business is a century-old, multi-trillion-dollar industry that touches the largest financial transaction most Americans will ever make. We train our people the way blacksmiths trained apprentices: sit next to someone who’s been here a while, watch what they do and hope you absorb the right lessons before they retire.

Introduction to the tribal knowledge era

My first real job in mortgage was at a mortgage brokerage in Brooklyn, New York, in 1997. I was barely twenty years old. By that time, my mother had been a loan officer in a mortgage brokerage for a decade, and I’d spent a lot of after-school hours in her office helping her package FHA loans to be sent for underwriting. Yes, we mailed loan files back then to nameless, faceless HUD underwriters. Turn time? About 4-6 weeks. So when I walked into that brokerage for the first time, I had some knowledge of how a mortgage worked.

After spending all those afternoons with my mother, I wasn’t surprised to learn that my training program was going to consist of me shadowing the brokerage’s sales manager, Norm Katz. He was an industry veteran with a solid book of business, a love of the game and an enormous amount of patience for a kid who didn’t know much.

Norm helped me get my first loan, and that was no easy feat. While I had some innate sales talent, I was totally green, and why should anyone trust a kid who still lived at home to captain their home-financing experience? But I somehow did it. When it was time to get that loan approved, I learned I’d graduated the first level of my training, and I was now going to deal with Drew Cardinal, the brokerage’s no-nonsense ops manager.

My first lesson was that he wouldn’t look at any file that wasn’t in the correct stacking order and wasn't clipped on the correct part of the page. Good grief. After he made my life miserable for a bit, we got the loan approved and then closed. I had finally graduated. I was expected to do it myself and do it right after that. My experience is similar to that of many.

Why the 1997 playbook fails in 2026

The tribal-knowledge model didn’t develop by accident. It developed because, for a long stretch, it was just how we did things. Careers were thirty-year arcs at one shop. Volumes were relatively stable. Product complexity was manageable: conventional, FHA, VA, jumbo, done. The Fannie conforming limit was around $250K when I first started originating loans. Simpler times. You could shadow a senior LO for a few weeks, learn her patter on sales calls, take some applications and become a competent loan officer by the time you’d been on the job for a year.

That might have been fine for 1997. The product set is broader and more layered than anything Norm was teaching me nearly thirty years ago. We have non-QM and bank statement loans, over 2,500 DPA programs across the country, an ARM resurgence, AI-assisted AUS pathways and MSR considerations that impact how companies make decisions. The regulatory perimeter seems to shift every quarter, or at least the discussions around it do. The borrower across the table, or, more accurately, across the screen, has done more research on their own loan than most LOs do in a typical month.

Tribal knowledge is, by definition, inconsistent, and its quality is largely dependent on the deliverer; we can no longer rely on that model to keep us moving forward. This is true on both the sales and operations sides.

The data behind a widening credibility gap

Per the data platform Model Match, roughly 230,000 originators have closed at least one loan in the last fourteen months. That sounds like a lot of originators until you remember the industry was supporting nearly double that headcount at the volume peak just a few years ago, and that the contraction has fallen hardest on the people who carried the most experience.

Producing LO counts cratered through 2023 and bottomed somewhere around 94,000 by early 2024, per industry reporting drawn from NMLS data. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts roughly 301,000 loan officers across all categories of lending. The MBA’s 2026 forecast calls for $2.2 trillion in origination volume. We will be originating that with a bench that is older, smaller and less credentialed than it ever has been.

About credentials: the Mortgage Bankers Association recognized 40 new Certified Mortgage Bankers at its 2025 Annual Convention. Forty. In an industry of over 200,000 originators. 

The skew on the people side is just as steep. Industry data pegs the average loan officer at 45 years old, with roughly two-thirds over 40 and only about one in ten under 30. The median first-time homebuyer is now 39. The customer is younger (though that number is trending higher every year), more digitally literate and asking sharper questions than the median originator is equipped to answer. That is not a sustainable shape.

Mortgage is, again, the largest financial decision most American households will ever make. The borrower we serve in 2026 has Googled rate sheets, watched TikTok explainers on PMI, and asked ChatGPT to compare a 2-1 buydown on a 30-year fixed to a 5/1 ARM. The credibility gap is widening.

If a loan officer can’t explain how GNMA pooling affects pricing, what an AUS recommendation is actually evaluating or why DTI thresholds drift between investors, we risk losing the moat that’s protecting originators from extinction in a world of agentic AI. 

So how do we move from a culture of tribal knowledge to one of education, advocacy and expertise?

Elevating the bar from CE to true expertise

It starts with the assumption that learning your industry is part of the job, not a thing your company’s executive leadership team is supposed to keep an eye on while you crank out volume.

The professionals in adjacent industries, financial advisors, CPAs and attorneys, operate on the assumption that continuing education is a permanent feature of the work, not just something done to satisfy NMLS or state requirements. Mortgage has convinced itself that licensing CE counts as professional development. It’s the minimum, and to be frank, in most cases somewhat useless in terms of building real expertise.

What ownership actually looks like is short and not particularly mysterious. Pursue a designation. The CMB if you qualify, the CRU if you sit on the underwriting side (only 500 or so have gone through the program since its inception in 2003) and a credential from your state MBA. Read the primary sources, or have Chat summarize for you. FHFA scorecards, the MBA’s weekly chart book, the GSE seller guides, CFPB rulemaking notices, Fed minutes. Read HousingWire, National Mortgage News, National Mortgage Professional and Mortgage News Daily. Subscribe to Chrisman Commentary.

Twenty minutes a day puts you ahead of nine out of ten people you compete with. Attend at least one substantive conference a year. Learn one adjacent function annually. If you originate, learn how an underwriter thinks. If you process, learn what happens to the loan after it ships to the warehouse line. Ask the seniors in your shop what they know that you don’t, while they are still here to ask.

This is the bar for a mortgage professional in 2026. The shape of the next decade in this business will be determined by the people who decide they are responsible for understanding it.

The individual side of this only goes so far. Shops, trade organizations, and the industry as a whole carry the rest of the weight, and most are not carrying enough of it.

The corporate mandate: Invest in true expertise

What real investment looks like, in plain terms: build a real onboarding curriculum, with content, assessments and someone whose job it is to make sure new hires actually know what they need to know before they get in front of a borrower. Pay for designations. Companies in adjacent industries fund MBAs and CFAs without blinking; mortgage rarely funds the CMB for its own people. Build cross-functional rotations into career paths, so the originators understand capital markets, servicing, secondary, MSR economics and what happens to a loan from the day it funds to the day it pays off, and so the operations team understands what an originator actually does for a borrower.

There is also the matter of advocacy, which most of us have outsourced to other people and most of us never think about. The decisions that govern how each of us makes a living are made in Washington, in state capitals and through regulatory rulemaking.

The MBA’s Mortgage Action Alliance runs a national advocacy program that costs nothing to join and asks little of your time, and most of the industry has never heard of it. State MBAs run their own programs that move state-level legislation and rule changes that directly affect how loans get made and serviced. MORPAC is funded by the same handful of contributors every cycle while the rest of the industry sits out.

Knowing what is in the policy pipeline that could reshape your business model in twelve months is part of being a serious professional. Helping shape that pipeline is the other part.

Building the next bench of industry leaders

The last piece is the one we talk about least and need most. This industry is going to need a generation of leaders that does not yet exist, because the bench we have today is going to retire on a faster timeline than most companies are planning around. We can build that bench on purpose, or we can wait and hope; waiting and hoping is not a viable strategy. Try that the next time your dishwasher breaks.

The leaders we need will come from people who decided, early in their careers, that they would learn the whole business, show up for the work that does not pay commissions, mentor the people coming up behind them, write and speak about the issues that matter, serve on committees and put themselves in the rooms where decisions get made. Whether you intend to be one of those leaders is worth deciding on purpose. The industry will need you either way.

Tribal knowledge built this industry. We owe a real debt to the people who carried it and to the people who taught us. They sat next to us, answered our dumb questions and trusted us with deals we probably weren’t ready for. That model carried us a long way. The next generation deserves more than the same hand-me-down apprenticeship plus a longer list of products to memorize.

The test for everyone reading this is simple. What did you learn about your industry in the past year that you didn’t know the year before? If you can’t answer, that is the work. If your company can’t answer on behalf of its team, that is the work.

We are the industry. We are responsible for understanding it. And we are responsible for what it becomes.

Coby Hakalir is a mortgage industry consultant, podcaster, writer and content creator.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners. To contact the editor responsible for this piece: zeb@hwmedia.com.

Call it the timing tax.

Nearly 50% of U.S. renters are now cost-burdened, according to Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies.² One in four spends more than half their income on housing. These numbers reflect a genuine affordability crisis – but they obscure a second problem: Even renters who can afford their rent often cannot synchronize that payment with when their income arrives.

Implementing flexible rent payment infrastructure offers an immediate, subsidy-free solution to housing instability by aligning rent deadlines with residents' actual income schedules.

A system built for a paycheck that no longer exists

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only about 10% of private U.S. establishments pay workers monthly.³ The remaining 90% pay weekly, biweekly or semimonthly – none of which align with rent due on the first. The timing mismatch is a feature of the income infrastructure itself.

The problem runs deeper for many workers. The Federal Reserve's Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED) found that one in three wage workers reports income that varies month to month.⁴ For hourly, tipped and gig workers, the challenge is committing to a fixed lump-sum obligation when the monthly total is itself uncertain.

The conventional solution to this problem is savings. But when rent consumes half of your monthly income, what remains must cover food, transportation, utilities and childcare until the next paycheck. There is no margin to build a reserve.

Surveys of renters in financially precarious situations find that more than half have three weeks or less of financial runway, and nearly three-quarters experienced an unexpected budget strain in the prior month alone.⁵ The Federal Reserve's 2024 SHED found that 37 % of American adults could not cover a $400 emergency expense using cash.⁶ The savings argument assumes slack that the rent burden has already consumed.

The cost of the status quo

Before renters reach for a financial product, the gap extracts costs in quieter ways: utility bills delayed, medications unfilled, groceries skipped, money borrowed from family. These are the predictable responses of households with no liquid buffer and a fixed obligation that cannot be deferred.

When the financial system gets involved, costs escalate quickly. The CFPB found 14% of renters paid a late fee in the 12 months ending November 2024, averaging $85, with nearly 60% paying two or more.⁷ Overdrafts compound the damage: Americans paid $12.1 billion in overdraft and NSF fees in 2024, with the most financially vulnerable households averaging $380 annually.⁸

Payday loans cost the typical borrower $520 to borrow $375.⁹ Rent payment processing platforms charge credit card transaction fees of 2.5 to 3% – up to $720 annually on a $2,000 payment – before interest accrues at an average APR exceeding 21%.^{10 11}

The timing tax is already being paid. The only question is what kind of infrastructure collects it – and at what cost to the people who can least afford it.

The fix doesn't require legislation

Purpose-built payment flexibility infrastructure solves this differently: The landlord receives full payment on the due date, and the credit risk, repayment mechanics and compliance obligations are handled by a third party equipped to manage them.

The evidence that such infrastructure works is not theoretical. Newly published research has found that structured, non-penalty payment tools reduced 90-day-plus delinquencies and lowered reliance on high-cost credit – with no adverse effects on any of 43 measured financial health outcomes.¹² Renters repay when the product is designed around their actual income schedule.

This does not require legislation or subsidy. It requires property owners, operators, public housing authorities and housing agencies to recognize that the lease calendar is an infrastructure problem they have both the means and the incentive to solve.

Resident financial instability is a balance sheet risk. Evictions, vacancy and turnover cost far more than the late fees collected from a stressed resident. Tools that align rent payments with actual income schedules reduce delinquency, improve retention and stabilize net operating income – at no cost to the property. Financially stable residents produce financially stable properties.

The push to solve the root causes of America's housing crisis – more supply, expanded affordability, zoning reform – is necessary and right. But policy operates on timelines measured in years, and millions of renters are navigating the crisis today, on the first of every month, with the income schedules and margins they actually have. The timing tax has a structural fix available now – one that requires no subsidy, no legislation and no trade-offs with the broader affordability agenda. The renters who need it cannot wait for everything else to be solved first.

Sources

1. Flex Financial Health Survey, Q1 2026. "Most Renters Are One Disruption Away from a Financial Crisis." Flex (Flexible Finance, Inc.), March 2026. Available at: https://assets.getflex.com/marketing/files/032426_Financial_Health_Survey.pdf
2. Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. "America's Rental Housing 2024." Available at: https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/americas-rental-housing-2024
3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics. "Length of Pay Period." February 2023. Available at: https://www.bls.gov/ces/publications/length-pay-period.htm
4. Federal Reserve Board. "Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2024." May 2025. Adults who received only wages or other labor income were more likely to report their income varied month to month, at 33 percent. Available at: https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2025-economic-well-being-of-us-households-in-2024.htm
5. Flex Financial Health Survey, Q1 2026. Op. cit. 54 percent of respondents had three weeks or less of financial runway if income stopped; 73 percent experienced an unexpected budget strain in the prior month. Available at: https://assets.getflex.com/marketing/files/032426_Financial_Health_Survey.pdf
6. Federal Reserve Board. "Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2024." May 2025. 37 percent of adults could not cover a $400 emergency expense using cash or its equivalent. Available at: https://www.federalreserve.gov/publications/2025-economic-well-being-of-us-households-in-2024.htm
7. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. "Behind on Rent: Examining Rental Housing Delinquencies in New Payment Data." January 2025. Available at: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/research-reports/behind-on-rent-examining-rental-housing-delinquencies-in-new-payment-data/
8. Financial Health Network. "Overdraft and NSF Fees: A Bigger Burden Than Previously Estimated." November 2025. Available at: https://finhealthnetwork.org/research/overdraft-nsf-fees-bigger-burden-than-previously-estimated/. CFPB research finds frequent overdrafters paid an average of $380 in overdraft fees annually. Available at: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/blog/overdraft-fees-can-price-people-out-of-banking/
9. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. "Payday Loans and Deposit Advance Products." Available at: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/research-reports/payday-loans-and-deposit-advance-products/
10. Industry sources: Yardi Systems approximately 3.0%; AppFolio approximately 3.0% + $0.30; Rentec Direct 2.95%. See: https://www.homebasecre.com/posts/understanding-appfolio-transaction-fee
11. Federal Reserve G.19 Consumer Credit Report, Q1 2026. Available at: https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g19/current/
12. Jordan, M. "Financial Health and Liquidity Smoothing: Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design." Flex (Flexible Finance, Inc.), March 2026. Available at: https://assets.getflex.com/marketing/files/032426_Financial_Health_Study_final.pdf

Ryan Metcalf is the Vice President of Public Affairs at Flex 
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners. To contact the editor responsible for this piece: zeb@hwmedia.com.

But how will the conflict ending help mortgage rates? Inflation is hot, the labor market has improved and the Fed is now run by hawks with very few doves left. Let’s dive in.

Oil and mortgage rates

First, getting closure on this conflict is very important. My peak 10-year yield forecast for 2026 was 4.60%, with a peak mortgage rate forecast of 6.75%, based on an improving labor market while inflation remained firm. 

Market-wise, the worst levels of the conflict pushed the 10-year yield to 4.68% and mortgage rates got to 6.75%. Currently rates are 6.58%. Now, if this conflict is really over and we don’t have disaster-related mistakes getting oil out, the worst rates for the year are over due to oil prices. On May 25, I outlined the metrics for what the 10-year yield should do if the market was pricing based on the conflict being over: yields should hit the 4.46%-4.48% mark, which happened on Friday. 

As I write this on Sunday night, the 10-year yield is at 4.43%. The next two levels I laid out of 4.35% and 4.24% are as low as I can go for now, short-term, because the labor market has improved since the start of the year and inflation is still running hot. I need to wait and see what happens with the Fed this week. So the downside is limited, unless we get some bad economic data and the Fed doesn’t go full hawk mode on us.

This Fed week is critical

If we hadn't reached a deal to end this conflict, the Fed would be very hawkish at this week’s meeting and there isn’t anything Warsh could do about it. The only thing Warsh can do at this meeting is try to convince the hawks to be patient and not talk about raising rates soon, since oil prices are at levels we saw in 2024 and 2025.

However, inflation is well above target and the labor data has gotten better, so don’t expect the Fed to talk about rate cuts; just look for the hawks to try to lose the easing bias, and then basically say that if inflation doesn’t improve, they will look to hike rates.

How the bond market reacts to news about the conflict, economic data and the Fed meeting will be a good test of where bond traders stand. Just remember that every time the 10-year yield moved below 4% in 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026 it was driven by labor market and economic growth concerns. However, since mortgage spreads are much better now than then, it’s hard to get rates over 7%.

On a positive note, we already have many rate cuts in the system. This has allowed rates to stay with a 6% handle for all of 2026 due to the better mortgage spreads above. However, the downside is that we have a lot of Fed hawks now who want to raise rates, so let the Fed battle begin this week.

Conclusion

It’s a huge win that we are talking about oil prices at $81 tonight rather than heading above $100 if the conflict wasn't ending. However, I believe 65%-75% of the range for the 10-year yield and mortgage rates is determined by Fed policy. This year we have gone from two to three rate cuts being discussed to now talking about another rate-hike cycle.

So, it’s a plus that this conflict should be ending soon, but we need oil flowing again and then we can work back to the economic data, which means labor data and inflation data are key. Both labor data and inflation are moving in ways that make it hard for the Fed to cut rates.

Right now, the best-case scenario for mortgage rates following a favorable Fed meeting is a range of 6.25%-6.375%; the normal base case is 6.50%-6.75%. If Warsh can’t calm the hawks down and the labor and economic data stay firm with inflation still rising, the worst-case situation is 0.375%-0.435% higher than the 6.75% peak forecast. That would mean the economy is very firm, with inflation running super hot, and the hawks would be running the Fed, not Warsh.

As we sit here on a glorious weekend — with a U.S. soccer team victory and the prospect of finally having a real deal ending the conflict with Iran — it’s time to review why housing demand is up year over year, and inventory is down year over year, even with higher rates, the conflict in Iran, recession fears and all the other crazy headlines we have seen in 2026. 

Weekly pending sales

Our pending home sales data provides a week-to-week perspective, though results can be affected by holidays and short-term fluctuations.  Our weekly pending sales data typically takes 30-60 days to be reflected in the sales data. 

Why has this index held up in 2026? Housing demand tends to improve when mortgage rates break under 6.64% and head toward 6%. Last year at this time, the 10-year yield was below 4.50%, and mortgage spreads were improving, so we were heading toward the 6.64% level and below.

For the most part this year, we have been under 6.64%, and we haven’t broken above 7% once. Affordability has slightly improved as wages have grown faster than home prices the last two years, so demand has a bit more footing to grow. If rates had just stayed under 6.25% I was looking for 237,000 more existing home sales this year, which would have easily happened if not for the conflict.
Weekly pending sales last week over the last two years:

• 2026: 75,856
• 2025: 72,039

Mortgage purchase application data

Purchase application data is a forward-looking indicator: growth here leads home sales by roughly 30-90 days.  Last week was a shock to many, as we saw 7% week-to-week growth and 17% year-over-year growth. The reason for the shock is that mortgage rates are near yearly highs. I wrote this article to explain what is going on.

Why has this index performed better this year, considering we don’t have the extremely low bar that we did in 2025? Keep it simple: 2026 had the lowest mortgage rate curve at the start of the year since 2022, and affordability has gotten a tad better over the past two years. People don’t stop living; they get married, start a household, have kids and work their way up from low levels. This index has performed better than most people thought it would.

Here’s 2026 so far:

• 10 positive week-to-week prints
• 10 negative week-to-week prints
• 2 flat week-to-week prints
• 10 weeks of double-digit year-over-year growth
• 20 weeks of positive year-over-year growth
• 2 negative year-over-year prints

Personally, I would like to see more positive week-to-week data. When we get at least 12-14 weeks of positive weekly data, it amounts to a couple of hundred thousand more home sales. But with volume growth picking up a tad this year and considering rates went up, it's not bad. 

Housing inventory

Housing inventory is probably a bigger shock than the positive year-over-year demand. With so many headlines about the biggest seller market in history, etc., it was not in anyone's playbook that inventory would be negative in June of 2026. What happened here?

Last year, inventory growth was very high; at one point, we had 33% year-over-year growth.  As mortgage rates started to fall, that type of growth simply can’t be sustained with stronger demand, given that the first half of 2025 saw higher rates. Again, it’s my belief that housing data improved with mortgage rates under 6.64%, and since mortgage spreads were improving, rates were heading lower with the labor data we had last year.

It’s mid-June —one year since the housing market started to turn. Keep it simple: It's all about the supply-and-demand equilibrium. When rates fell, demand picked up and since rates never exceeded 7%, inventory growth turned negative. Even in a state like Florida, inventory has been noticeably down year over year because it had been working from an elevated level.

• Weekly inventory change: (June 5-June 12): Inventory rose from 806,198 to 816,924
• Same week last year: (May 30-June 6): Inventory rose from 808,524 to 825,718

New listings

New listings data has always been key for the tracker and I want to keep this as simple as possible. The normal range for new listings data is typically between 80,000 and 100,000. Last year, new listings data reached my 80,000 forecast, but it didn’t show enough growth to get back to normal. Last week we had year-over-year growth, but not enough to reach the normal range and seasonality will be kicking in soon. 

With new listings data still slightly below normal, there isn’t a lot of new supply coming on to the market, so we work with the supply and demand equilibrium from above. Never forget that most home sellers are also buyers and supply is a function of demand with housing economics. 

Some context for those who believe that the new listings data resembles the housing bubble years: new listings during that time ranged from 250,000 to 400,000 per week for several years.

Here is last week’s new listings data for the past two years:

• 2026: 81,754
• 2025: 78,284

Price-cut percentage

Typically, about one-third of homes undergo price reductions before they sell, reflecting the dynamic nature of the housing market. For the most part, price-cut percentages this year have been lower than last year’s.

In my 2026 home-price forecast, I had a negative 0.62% call for the year nationally. Mortgage rates fell more than I anticipated early in the year. Home-price growth really isn’t going anywhere this year, but the percentage of price cuts is now down 2% year over year. So, it will be harder for my forecast to be correct if rates go lower, demand picks up and inventory heads even lower year over year. 

The price-cut percentage for last week:

• 2026: 37.93%
• 2025: 40%

10-year yield and mortgage rates

In the 2026 HousingWire forecast, I anticipated the following ranges:

• Mortgage rates between 5.75% and 6.75%
• The 10-year yield fluctuating between 3.80% and 4.60%

Every year, I set a range for where I believe the 10-year yield can go, then take the anticipated spread difference and go with a rate range. So far, mortgage rates have stayed within my forecast range all year and the 10-year yield only briefly broke above 4.60% at the height of the conflict with Iran. Both rates and the 10-year yield are off their highs. Again, the key to 2026 is that because of mortgage spreads, mortgage rates have rarely spent time above 6.64% and have never gotten above 7%.

Mortgage spreads

Mortgage spreads have been a positive story for the past few years. Because of the Silicon Valley Bank crisis and fear of recession, not a lot of people thought mortgage spreads would improve after 2023 — but I did.

In 2026, I have been looking for spreads to get back to normal at 1.80%, but I thought that would happen toward the end of the year, not early. However, in January President Trump directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy $200 billion in mortgage backed securities and spreads returned to 1.81% early in the year. They have been very tame since then — as they should be, even with all the crazy events.

Historically, mortgage spreads have ranged from 1.60% to 1.80%. Last week, spreads closed at 1.99%, down from 2.01% the week before.

Let’s compare last week’s mortgage rates to where they would have been over the last three years, given the 10-year yield’s current level:

• If we had the worst mortgage spread levels of 2023, mortgage rates would be 7.70% today, not 6.58%.
• If we had the worst levels of 2024, mortgage rates would be 7.32% today 
• If we had the worst levels of 2025, mortgage rates would be 7.13% today.

The week ahead: Iran, Fed meeting and a ton of economic data

It’s going to be a monster week: we will have the market reaction to the hopefully signed Iran conflict deal, the Fed meeting with new Fed Chair Kevin Warsh and a ton of economic data: housing starts, retail sales,and pending home sales.

This week, the focus should be on how the bond market reacts to all the events above because we know that the housing market can shift positively with rates just heading toward 6%. 

The rule would expand the definition of a manufactured home and support multi-story manufactured housing construction. It would further permit upper-level sections to be transported and assembled without a permanent chassis. 

By supporting multi-story construction, the proposed definition would provide manufacturers with more design flexibility, which could expand housing options and lower production expenses, HUD argues. 

This proposed rule, if enacted, would complement a provision in the U.S. House of Representatives’ revised 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act that would eliminate the permanent chassis requirement for manufactured housing. 

A steel chassis can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000. Eliminating that expense could significantly reduce the cost burden for manufactured housing.

Congress originally instituted the permanent steel chassis mandate as part of the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974. The requirement was originally intended to provide structural support and safety during transportation, but housing advocates argue that the permanent requirement is a costly addition that is typically unnecessary after a home is delivered. 

Reporting from Pew found that only 5% to 7% of manufactured homes are moved once they are delivered, indicating that the permanent chassis requirement isn’t necessary for the overwhelming majority of units. 

"For the purposes of a manufactured home, the term “chassis” means the entire transportation system comprising the drawbar and coupling mechanism, frame, running gear assembly, and lights. A chassis is defined in the regulations…as the entire transportation system comprising the following subsystems: drawbar and coupling mechanism, frame, running gear assembly, and lights,” the HUD document noted. 

A piece of the affordable housing puzzle

About 7.2 million U.S. households live in manufactured housing units, representing 5.4% of the nation’s occupied housing stock. However, new manufactured home production is down substantially from peak levels seen in the 1970s, and many Americans have negative — and often outdated — perceptions about manufactured communities. 

Still, at a time when housing is out of reach for so many Americans, manufactured housing is increasingly viewed as one of many solutions to the nation’s affordability gap. 

According to the Manufactured Housing Institute, new manufactured homes sell for less than a third of the price of site-built homes. 

HUD Secretary Scott Turner agrees that manufactured housing can play a key role in the nation's housing supply. 

“America needs more housing, and manufactured housing is part of the solution,” Turner said in an announcement. “We are removing unnecessary barriers, encouraging innovation and helping American manufacturers deliver more affordable housing options for American families.

The organization, which represents about 3,000 members, released its sixth annual LGBTQ+ Real Estate Report this week as it convened its annual housing policy symposium in Washington, D.C.

The report surveyed nearly 400 respondents using paired hypothetical profiles of two identical Gen Z individuals, with the only difference being sexual orientation.

“There has been so much discussion about the wealth gap that exists in our nation and the potential lack of access to homeownership. As the number of young adults self-identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community has risen to nearly 25% of the entire Gen Z population, we wanted to explore how this group may fare in the future,” said Tommie Wherle, president of the LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance. “Our report makes it clear that LGBTQ+ Gen Z adults will likely fall behind in the workforce, acquiring wealth, gaining financial stability and entering homeownership.”

Falling behind heterosexual peers

Findings suggest respondents expect heterosexual Gen Z individuals to advance more quickly in several areas of career and financial development.

According to the report, a majority of respondents believe heterosexual individuals are more likely to receive promotions, reach senior leadership roles and accumulate wealth.

The report also found differences in expectations around financial support from family and the timing of homeownership.

Key findings include that 78.9% of respondents believe heterosexual individuals are more likely than a similar LGBTQ+ person to receive family financial support, such as inheritance or down payment assistance.

Finding 'the American Dream'

On milestones associated with the “American Dream,” respondents ranked homeownership first for heterosexual individuals, followed by financial independence and marriage.

For LGBTQ+ individuals, respondents ranked living in a safe community first, followed by financial independence and personal freedom.

The report also found differing expectations for the timing of first-time home purchases. A majority of respondents said heterosexual individuals are most likely to buy a first home between ages 30 and 34.

For LGBTQ+ individuals, respondents most often selected ages 30 to 34 or 35 to 39.

“The findings should concern everyone involved in housing, real estate sales and public policy,” Wherle said. “There are approximately 70 million people in Gen Z, with approximately 16 million who self-identify as LGBTQ+. We cannot afford to leave such a sizable number of people behind.

"Today’s policies attacking our community by the current administration and in statehouses around the nation will have severe consequences down the road if there is not a course correction."

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

The Colorado Housing and Finance Authority this month closed a $5.7 million low-interest construction loan for Wolff Street Flats, a 23-unit affordable for-sale development by Osina Development and Modus Real Estate. It is the first project to close under CHFA's Drive It Home Construction Loan program, which draws from a $50 million bond investment authorized by bipartisan legislation enacted last year.

Scott Speil, principal of Osina, told HousingWire TBD that construction will begin next week. Completion is scheduled for August 2027.

Homes at Wolff Street Flats will sell to households earning 80% of Area Median Income or less — roughly $89,000 annually for a two-person household — at an estimated average price of $285,000.

Since 2024, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has signed laws requiring greater density near transit corridors, removing parking minimums for some multifamily housing and limiting condo construction liability. In March, he signed the HOME Act, letting schools, transit agencies and nonprofits build housing on their land regardless of local zoning.

Denver upzoned long before state action

Denver rewrote its zoning code in 2010, allowing more diverse housing types in residential neighborhoods.

"They did well with the rezoning," Speil said. "That really stimulated quite a bit of development and growth."

Speil founded his company in 2016 to develop condos and townhomes on urban infill lots. His projects average 10 to 12 units each, selling for $550,000 to $750,000.

Denver home prices skyrocketed during the pandemic as residents fled high-cost states such as California. The market is now cooling, with the median home price around $600,000 after years of rapid gains. For-sale inventory has climbed to roughly six months of supply, and mortgage rates above 6% have slowed demand.

"There isn't a shortage of housing but still a shortage of affordable housing," Speil said.

Wolff Street Flats is Osina's first affordable project, one Speil said would not have been feasible without state and city financing. The construction loan carries a 3.5% interest rate, well below the going rate. Osina also received a state grant and a City of Denver performance loan.

"It's very expensive to build anything right now because of interest rates and construction costs," Speil said.

Expanding affordability

City officials are pushing to expand affordability further. Roughly 40% of Denver's land remains zoned exclusively for single-family homes. Denver's Unlocking Housing Choices initiative proposes to legalize duplexes, triplexes and small apartment buildings in those neighborhoods.

A spring 2026 public engagement process drew 843 survey responses. Many residents said financing barriers and market forces remain stubborn obstacles even where zoning allows more density.

Lawmakers who backed the state financing program say projects like Wolff Street Flats prove the approach is working and a model for the state.

"Projects like Wolff Street Flats show how this policy translates into real homes in our communities," said Rep. Manny Rutinel, a co-sponsor of last year’s legislation. "It's a practical step toward making homeownership more accessible across Colorado."

CHFA spokesman Matt Lynn told HousingWire TBD that the $50 million bond investment generated strong demand and is now fully committed. It will produce an estimated 182 affordable for-sale units statewide. The agency will report regularly to the Colorado General Assembly on the program's results as lawmakers weigh further steps to address the state's housing shortage.

"CHFA is considering ways the Drive it Home program may be expanded by seeking additional investment in the future from mission-driven funders, so that more units may result from the program," Lynn said.

In this realm, grounded as it is with a you-pick-it array of supply and demand challenges, Lennar just delivered the kind of quarter that should have eased investor concerns.

The nation's second-largest homebuilder exceeded earnings expectations, landed within its projected ranges for orders, closings, and gross margin, continued to work down speculative inventory and reaffirmed that its asset-light operating model can generate volume even in one of the most difficult demand environments since the housing downturn.

Yet the questions surrounding the company have not gone away.

If anything, they have evolved.

For much of the past four months, investors focused on whether Lennar's increasingly complex network of land-bank relationships – including its connection to Millrose – created hidden financial obligations or disclosure risks that the market did not fully understand.

The company's expanded SEC disclosures, its investor presentation and management's extensive commentary on its 2Q earnings call appear to answer at least part of that concern. More information has been provided. The operating business continues to perform largely as management projected.

But a more consequential question is emerging.

What if the actual, down-to-earth debate is about the true economic cost of being land-light in a housing market that may stubbornly take its time to recover?

That question extends well beyond Lennar. Over the past decade, nearly every major public homebuilder has embraced a similar strategic playbook: own less land, deploy less capital, improve returns on equity, and transfer more development risk to institutional land partners.

Lennar, drawing high volumes of attention to itself, has taken that strategy further than anyone else … from where it started, anyway. This makes its current experience more of a real-time stress test of homebuilding's most influential post-GFC business model.

A quarter that supports management's case

Objectively, Lennar's second-quarter results offer meaningful support for management's argument that the company's strategic transformation is behaving as intended, and that the team is rising to its challenges.

Adjusted earnings per share exceeded consensus expectations. Gross margin landed within guidance. Orders and deliveries came in within projected ranges. The company continued to reduce speculative inventory exposure. It maintained one of the strongest balance sheets in the industry while continuing aggressive share repurchases.

Most notably, Lennar appears to be gaining traction in one of management's highest priorities: reducing inventory risk while maintaining a good facsimile of its production system’s even flow.

“What’s interesting is that the operating results (solid orders with improving margins) should bode well for Lennar and the industry,” long-time investment research advisor Dan Oppenheim told HousingWire TBD. “The modest reduction in the expectation of closings for the year is also a slight positive as it means they won’t flood the market with supply.”

The company delivered 20,519 homes during the quarter, generated 21,749 net orders, and continued to bring speculative inventory down as it calibrated production to softer market conditions.

“Lennar’s 21,749 Q2 orders declined just 3.8% from its 22,601 orders in the second quarter of 2025 and were within its March 13th projection that Q2 orders would be within the range of 21,000-22,000,” said Oppenheim. “Generating orders within this range is particularly notable given that Lennar offered that range just two weeks into the war, when market conditions were rather uncertain. To Lennar’s credit, it achieved this level of orders while still generating a 15.6% gross margin, which was within its 15.5-16.0% projection and it expects improvement with margins of approximately 16% in its fiscal third quarter.”

That’s worth note, Oppenheim added, because Inventory risk – not land-bank accounting – had increasingly become one of the most immediate operational concerns surrounding the company. For management, the quarter provides evidence that the model remains operationally effective.

The investor deck accompanying earnings leaves little ambiguity about how Lennar views itself.

The company explicitly states that it has completed a "full asset-light transformation," reducing owned homesites from approximately 174,000 in 2018 to about 11,000 today while increasing controlled homesites to roughly 486,000. Controlled lots now represent approximately 98% of its homesite position.

This is not being presented as a tactical response to a difficult cycle. It is being presented as a permanent retooling of the business. Stuart Miller, executive chair and CEO and his management team are unambiguous about the structural pivot.

Land ownership is no longer the primary source of competitive advantage. Instead, Lennar believes that advantage comes from manufacturing efficiency, inventory turns, production consistency, purchasing leverage, and capital allocation discipline. In that framework, land becomes an input to be controlled rather than an asset to be owned.

What the analyst questions revealed

One of the most revealing aspects of the earnings call was not management's prepared remarks.

It was the analysts' questions.

Wall Street repeatedly returned to the same themes:

• option maintenance fees
• land-bank cost of capital
• ACORE balances and their future disposition
• margin implications
• inventory turns
• future economics of the asset-light structure

Notably absent was the aggressively challenging tone that characterized some investor commentary earlier this year. Instead, analysts appeared focused on understanding the mechanics and future earnings implications of the model rather than challenging its legitimacy.

The market appears to be moving away from asking whether Lennar has adequately disclosed risk and toward a more traditional investment question:

What are the long-term economics of the model?

When UBS analyst John Lovallo questioned the timing mismatch between land-bank-related expenditures and future margin recognition, Miller characterized the issue as part of the transition from a land-intensive business model to what he repeatedly described as a manufacturing platform.

"What you're seeing is, as we have our asset-light strategy ... there will be that imbalance, and that is a natural ebb and flow of capital," Miller said. "It will ultimately equalize."

Whether investors fully accept that explanation remains to be seen. But the tenor of the discussion suggests that the debate itself has evolved, matured, and maybe, normalized.

The strongest unresolved question: margins

The central question facing Lennar today is no longer disclosure. It is profitability. A 15.6% gross margin met expectations and guidance, but it remains materially below the levels investors became accustomed to during the pandemic-era housing boom.

At the same time, incentives remain elevated, affordability remains strained and mortgage rates remain stubbornly high. Some analysts increasingly view the land-light model as creating a new category of economic pressure.

The concern is not that land-bank obligations are hidden, but rather, that the costs associated with controlling land through option fees, deposits, maintenance payments, and institutional capital partnerships may ultimately show up in future margins in ways that reduce profitability throughout the cycle.

That concern doesn’t apply uniquely to Lennar. It is becoming one of the most important strategic questions facing public homebuilders generally.

Has the industry reduced balance-sheet risk only to introduce a different set of pressures on the income statement? The earnings call did not fully answer that question, and instead, left it as a sharpened matter to address again.

Lennar's strongest rebuttal

Lennar management's response is increasingly sophisticated. The company is no longer merely defending land banking. It is defending an entire revamp of the construct of what a homebuilder should be.

"Our strategy has not changed," Miller told analysts. "We remain focused on two strategic priorities: first, driving consistent even-flow production and volume, and second, continuously refining our asset-light, land-light balance sheet model."

The investor presentation reinforces this argument.

Lennar estimates that its land-bank relationships currently support approximately $18.5 billion of homesite capital that would otherwise sit on the company's balance sheet.

Management also presented a stress-test analysis suggesting that even a severe walk-away scenario would cause far less damage to shareholder equity than the land impairments incurred during the housing crash. Whether investors accept the assumptions behind those calculations is secondary.

The larger point is that Lennar is attempting to reframe the discussion. The company is arguing that its strategy should not be judged primarily by near-term margin comparisons.

It should be judged by capital efficiency, inventory turns, resilience and long-term returns through the cycle.

The policy wildcard

One area where management continues to diverge from Wall Street's focus involves federal housing policy. Notably, analysts spent little time pressing management on potential government initiatives. The topic surfaced largely through Miller's own comments.

For several quarters, Miller has suggested that significant federal attention is being directed toward housing affordability and supply. This quarter was no exception.

"The level of attention being paid at the highest levels of government to housing affordability is genuinely unprecedented in my experience," Miller said.

He also reiterated his belief that meaningful policy action could arrive sooner than many market participants expect. The challenge for investors and operators is that these observations remain directional rather than actionable.

Management's conviction is clear. Specific policy measures are not. Until tangible legislative, regulatory, financing, permitting, or tax initiatives emerge, the policy thesis remains a potential tailwind rather than an operating assumption.

Lennar as a bellweather

Most major public builders have spent the better part of the past 15 years moving toward lower land ownership, greater use of options, more institutional capital and more asset-light structures.

Lennar ‘went big’ and moved further and faster. As long as demand was strengthening and land values were appreciating, the advantages appeared obvious.

The current environment is testing the tradeoffs. Lennar argues that scale, throughput, and production consistency confer lasting advantages by lowering construction costs, shortening cycle times, strengthening trade relationships, and improving inventory turns.

That may prove true.

But investors are increasingly asking whether those operational advantages fully offset the economic costs of maintaining the model during a prolonged affordability-constrained housing cycle.

That question applies to every builder relying on controlled land rather than owned land. It applies to land bankers, developers, lenders, and institutional capital providers. And it applies to private builders deciding how aggressively to pursue their own asset-light transitions.

The evidence increasingly suggests that Lennar has proven it can become land-light. The next test is whether the industry's most influential strategic transformation can prove its economic viability when housing demand remains under pressure.

Fourteen years later, he is broker-owner of one of Maine’s top-producing real estate firms — helping guide the David Banks Team at REMAX by the Bay through a record-setting year.

The Portland-based operation ranked No. 40 for transaction sides among medium-sized teams nationwide on the 2026 RealTrends Verified rankings, closing 240 last year. It also placed No. 26 nationally by sales volume, generating $282.15 million in closed business.

For Piper, the achievement reflects a journey that began with a summer internship and led to earning his real estate license in 2014.

“[In 2012] we were just coming out a recession, and I didn't have a clear path of what I wanted to do with my career, so I got an internship for the summer at REMAX by the Bay,” he told HousingWire. “From there, I never left. I've had various different roles, obviously I've been an intern. I've been in operations and then I joined the team. I worked as David Banks' assistant, that was my first licensed job with the team, and did that for two years.”

A native of Falmouth, just north of Portland, Piper believes his local roots helped make real estate a natural fit.

“I just knew after getting started with the company that this was a place I could see myself,” he said. “This was an industry I could see myself in. I knew a lot of people and I knew the properties, so it was kind of a natural fit.”

Team evolution

The David Banks Team itself has evolved significantly over the past three decades.

David Banks launched REMAX by the Bay in 1994 and grew it into a prominent regional brokerage that attracted leading agents throughout Maine and New Hampshire.

At its peak, the organization operated three offices and housed nearly 80 agents.

In 2016, Banks streamlined the business by selling the brokerage operations and focusing exclusively on a smaller team model — creating the structure that exists today. Piper became a co-owner in April 2024 alongside Michael Banks, David Banks’ son.

David Banks remains involved as lead broker while gradually stepping back from daily operations and concentrating on consulting and specialty properties.

Today, REMAX by the Bay operates exclusively as the David Banks Team rather than a traditional brokerage.

“We're kind of a unique organization,” said Piper. “Everyone in our agency is on our team. A former team member and colleague of David's took a group and opened up REMAX Shoreline nearby, which is kind of our sister office.”

Record performance in 2025

The team’s 2025 performance represented its strongest year yet. According to Piper, the previous high-water mark came in 2022, when the team generated approximately $250 million in sales volume.

The team benefited from strong activity across all business lines — including several high-end transactions that reflected growing national interest in Maine’s luxury market.

“Volume tends to be the number that is most important to us,” Piper said. “Last year was about 15% higher than our previous record. We definitely had a little bit of a slowdown in ‘23 and ’24. Prices didn't pull back as much, and everything was just a little bit harder to do.”

While luxury sales contributed to the results, Piper emphasized that the team serves the full market spectrum, from new condominium developments to multimillion-dollar waterfront estates.

“Communicate, communicate, communicate and stay in touch as much as you can,” he said regarding agent outreach that works with any client demographic. “Figure out what makes them tick — whether it's email, a phone call, whether they want to text, whether they want a social media direct message, anything. Every buyer is different in how they like to communicate, so personalize it to them. Some say they want to hear from you every week. Some say, ‘I want to hear from you every time a property comes up.’ Then, some say, ‘I will call you when I want to see a property.’

“I think just getting a good feel for how your client likes to communicate and interact is important. Also, set the expectation of how you want to communicate, and what your service is going to be, and just make sure up front that everyone's very clear about what the process is going to be.”

Culture as a growth strategy

The team currently includes nine agents, three administrators and an in-house staging professional.

Piper views the staging operation as a competitive advantage, but he believes culture has been the primary driver of growth.

“We're fully collaborative,” he said. “Everyone gets everyone gets paid — regardless of who sells the property. So, we work together to get these deals done. A lot of teams, they set up distinct hierarchies and distinct roles for each agent, and we certainly have roles and structure for our agents. What we don't have is, ‘You get this lead and you get this lead.’ We all work together to make sure the deal closes.”

For a leader who started as an intern without a clear career path, the team’s national recognition marks both personal and organizational growth.

As broker-owner, Piper now helps steer the same company where he first got his start — continuing a succession story that has positioned the David Banks Team among the nation’s highest-performing real estate organizations.

The round was led by TQ Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator, US News Digital Ventures, Mercor, Eight Capital and others.

The company says it has created the first AI mortgage loan officer called Penny that has the ability to autonomously analyze thousands of pages of borrower documents and surface recommendations for human staff by using a generalized AI model to interpret income patterns, assets and credit file nuances.

At the application stage, Penny can scan bank statements for large deposits that fall outside expected income, identify other conditions an underwriter is likely to question and proactively contact the borrower for clarification. The system can also draft letters of explanation before a file reaches underwriting.

The goal is to reduce document review and preapproval analysis from more than four hours per file to a matter of minutes, the company said.

Copperlane was founded by 21-year-olds Athan Zhang, who studied computer science at Princeton University, and Brianna Lin, who studied computer science and real estate at the University of Pennsylvania.

“Mortgage lenders want to build relationships and expand their portfolios, not spend hours each week reviewing or even drowning in dense paperwork,” said Zhang, Copperlane’s co-founder and CEO.

“Better technology for mortgage lenders directly translates into a better experience for borrowers. Our mission is to further democratize mortgages for all Americans so they can take part in the American Dream,” said Lin, co-founder and chief operating officer.

Copperlane did not disclose current customer counts or loan volume running through the platform. For lenders evaluating AI-native tools, proof points around defect rates, repurchase exposure and turn-time improvements relative to traditional workflows will be key benchmarks as the company deploys its new capital.

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication. 

The Fed is widely expected to leave rates unchanged, but markets will be closely watching Warsh's first press conference as chair for signals about the central bank's next move and any changes to how he communicates policy.

Warsh, who was confirmed last month as chairman of the Federal Reserve, succeeds outgoing chairman Jerome Powell, who faced repeated pressure from President Donald Trump to cut interest rates.

"I think, more important than the fact that everyone expects the Fed to do nothing, will be how Warsh presents himself at the press conference," Melissa Cohn, regional vice president president at William Raveis Mortgage, said in an interview with HousingWire.

"Is he going to take a more hawkish stance because of the higher rate of inflation? Is he going to continue with Powell's press conference after every meeting? Because that's something that didn't always happen."

The Fed has already confirmed on its calendar that Warsh will hold a press conference on June 17. But he did not say in his Senate testimony whether he would commit to holding them after every meeting as Powell did, or go back to holding meetings four times a year, which was the pre-Powell practice.

"I think that we have to remember a couple of things: Warsh is just one of 12 voting members, and there certainly are not six other members that would vote with him for a rate cut, nor would it be prudent to do so in today's current economic condition," Cohn said. "Warsh is supposedly more dovish than Powell, but I think realistically there is no way he could advocate for a rate cut."

The latest Consumer Price Index report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which showed inflation at 4.2% annually — well above the Fed's 2% target — was driven in part by higher energy prices following the conflict involving Iran.

The report has raised concerns that inflation could remain above the Fed's target for longer than expected.

"Once the war does get resolved and oil prices do start to go back down to where they were pre-war, that'll put Warsh in a different boat," Cohn said. "Warsh did make a comment on his thoughts that AI will be disinflationary and give the Fed room to cut — and that may prove out at some point in the future, but it's certainly not the case today."

Josh Rubin, a real estate agent at Douglas Elliman, agrees that the Fed will likely leave rates unchanged even though the European Central Bank (ECB) recently raised rates by a quarter point from 2% to 2.25%, citing inflation concerns tied to energy.

"While the Federal Reserve often moves in tandem with the ECB, this will be one of the first meetings led by newly appointed Chairman Kevin Warsh. While some colleagues may feel a quarter-point move is warranted, patience will be the theme at the upcoming meeting," Rubin said.

"This is Kevin Warsh’s first meeting as Chair, so markets will read the tone as much as the decision," said Isaac Boltansky, Pennymac's head of public policy. "A successful debut for Chair Warsh, and by extension for markets, would be a meeting where the FOMC speaks with one voice: no public split and no confusion about where policy is headed.

"We are also watching whether he discusses the Fed’s balance sheet or how the FOMC communicates policy going forward. Those are longer-term issues, but they matter to markets."

Despite HouseCanary’s partnerships with California Regional MLS (CRMLS), San Diego MLS (SDMLS) and My State MLS, industry expert and managing attorney at Sterbcow Law Group, Marx Sterbcow still sees an issue with how Google is using the IDX listing feeds supplied to it by HouseCanary.

Sterbcow believes Google’s move will have a massive impact on IDX feeds from MLSs because it has moved the sites they power like portals or even a brokerage’s website further downstream in the consumer search process.

“This is not going to go over well with the brokers or the MLSs because the IDX was designed as a reciprocal display license between cooperating brokerages. It was never an advertising license. So, the minute you display the listing becomes a paid media inventory on a global ad network like Google, you have completely changed the deal that the brokers originally agreed to. This is a seismic shift in the entire industry.” 

Competing for intent

In Sterbcow’s view, instead of providing consumers with links to places to find listings, Google has completely shifted things by becoming the one to actually surface those listings and even monetizing leads before a consumer even reaches a listing portal. 

“They aren’t even going to be competing with the portals. Instead, they are competing for this moment of consumer intent,” he said. “I feel it is a much bigger deal in the broader scope of what is going on than what people realize. We have a situation where Google isn’t just entering the portal wars, they have moved the entire field.” 

Like Sterbcow, Amit Kulkarni, a co-founder of Alloy Advisors, also feels like Google’s expansion of this program is bigger than the world of real estate.

In the past, consumers went to Google to receive a list of links to information or products relevant to their search, but that has changed with the widespread use and adoption of AI.

“I think what they are trying to do is figure out what they can do to still have search results come up on Google, as AI is starting to erode and take traction away from the legacy ‘blue link’ search business,” Kulkarni said.

What about the portals?

Although Kulkarni does not believe Google’s expansion of this pilot program nationwide is a sign that the firm wants to get heavily involved in the real estate industry, Kulkarni does believe this will have an impact on the portals, many of whom have spent a lot of time on search engine optimization.

“The portals are going to have to start thinking about how to optimize their AI search so they can get discovered,” Kulkarni said. “They are generally going to have a hard time existing in their current business model form if they can’t rely on the funnel that Google provides them with.”

Industry analysts, however, are not quite as certain about how Google’s move will impact listing portals. 

“While incumbent portals retain several defensive advantages — including strong direct traffic from brand awareness, domain expertise, and vertical integration of downstream services — Google’s more formal entry into home listings is clearly an incremental negative,” Ryan Tomasello, Bose George and Jade Rahmani, analysts at Keefe, Bruyette and Woods, wrote in a note published on Thursday. “Given its top-of-funnel search dominance, Google is positioned to capture traffic earlier in the homeshopper journey, potentially eroding portal traffic share and economics over time.”

The analysts say Zillow is the most exposed to potential downside by this move as Google’s monetization of the product appears focused on buyer agent lead generation, like the Zillow Flex or Zillow Preferred lead generation programs. In contrast, they feel that CoStar’s Homes.com portal, which is more oriented toward listing agents, may feel less of an impact. 

While they do see ways in which the expansion of these listing advertisements could pose challenges for the portals, the analysts note that with just three MLSs powering HouseCanary’s listing feed, Google will not have access to full coverage of national for-sale listings. 

“This isn't an immediate threat given [the] lack of coverage and mobile-only visibility, but Google is targeting the same buyside agent budget. We've seen it play the long game before and having access to listings as AI begins to reshape top-of-funnel activity is a worry,” Jake Fuller, an analyst at BTIG, wrote in a note on Thursday. 

He also noted that for Zillow, since it gets roughly 80% of its traffic organically, Google’s mobile-only listing product with a limited geographic distribution “isn't likely to undermine traffic.” 

An opportunity for brokerages

Although Google’s expansion of its listing ads may pose a problem for portals, Kulkarni and Sterbcow see it as a potential opportunity for brokerages. 

According to Kulkarni this is a good opportunity for brokers to take back control of their business and their listing data. 

“Brokers are always complaining about portals, but a lot of them feel they can’t do business without portals, but this is where things like Cotality’s Broker Listing Exchange (BLX) come into play. Google needs the listing data and brokers are the originators of that data,” Kulkarni said. “With BLX, brokers can now bypass portals and sites that monetize their data and work directly with Google, and now they have better control of what happens with their listings and the data that their agents are working hard to win from sellers. This is now a moment in time where brokers can actually take back control of their data feeds and start to dictate who uses their data and for what purposes.” 

While things may get messier for homebuyers if brokerages pull their listings from IDX feeds or if MLSs shut IDX feed off to prevent vendors from using the feeds in ways they weren’t intended, Sterbcow doesn’t believe it to be the catastrophe some may claim this scenario would be thanks to AI. 

“I think the AI companies themselves are going to open up and buy the data directly from the brokerages and that will actually help to even the playing field for brokerages both large and small across the United States. Consumers will be able to surface all the available inventory through AI searches,” Sterbcow said. “That is really where we are headed — AI will be the new search model.”

Led by co-founders Ivan Chorney and Michael Martirena, the team has spent the past decade building a business focused on affluent buyers from Miami to Palm Beach.

While 2025 volume actually declined from the previous year, Chorney told HousingWire the market remained active despite a more challenging transaction environment.

"I think we had about [$50 million] more the year before," he said. "I would say all in all, it was a transitional year. It was just a little more difficult to get deals done. You had all this tariff stuff going on and there were just many headwinds on various fronts. But that's led into this year, which will end up being our best year ever.

“Obviously, you don't have those numbers to report on yet, but I can tell you, come back next year at this time, and we’ll be significantly higher than we've ever been.”

Ivan & Mike Team was founded 10 years ago after Chorney and Martirena began working together in Miami Beach.

“We were at Sotheby's, and I had been at Sotheby's about six years,” said Chorney. “Mike had just been there around two years. A recruiter from Compass had been very persistent, as I'm sure you can imagine, and just kept following up with us. Then, COVID happened, and we had all this time to evaluate our business and see what would actually move the dial.

“We decided we would actually do that face-to-face meeting with the recruiter — and we saw Compass as looking to help us grow our business the most.”

That Compass affiliation became official roughly five years ago. Today, the team focuses on affluent buyers across all of south Florida's luxury corridor.

Domestic wealth migration

South Florida's housing market often generates conflicting headlines, but Chorney said conditions vary significantly by geography and price point.

"I think that's the thing about Florida, it is always conflicting," he said. "One thing can be happening in one part of the state and another thing can be happening in another part of the state. The majority of the wealth migration is to very South Florida — mostly southeast Florida — although, you're getting some in Naples and then maybe a tad bit in Sarasota and Tampa. I think the majority is really the greater Miami metropolitan area.”

Chorney pointed to the continued influx of businesses and high-profile investors into the region.

"We've got all kinds of businesses moving their headquarters here," Chorney said. "We've got people like Ken Griffin doubling down on Miami. That’s not only in his residential purchases, but in his commercial purchases and his development plans for offices, apartment buildings, condominiums and so on.”

That momentum has fueled activity among the highest end buyers.

"What it almost feels like is there's a bit of [fear of missing out] amongst the upper elite," Chorney said. "This has been the most active year we've ever had in the $10 million-plus segment of the market."

He recalled a recent Palm Beach transaction in which a buyer moved aggressively to secure a property.

"The guy went to contract on an $18 million place in Palm Beach, and he hadn't even been down to see it," Chorney said. “He's just like, ‘I have to get something, I have to get it now, and I need to reestablish my tax base in Florida.'"

Marketing for the ultra-luxury buyer

Asked what has helped the team maintain its position among the nation's top-producing groups, Chorney said there is no universal blueprint.

"There's no one recipe that fits everybody," he said. "I think there's many different lanes to get to the top. A key variable for us has been with our advertising. We do a lot of online leads, so we really focus on being at the top of SEO searches and AI. We’re working on all those different algorithms to make sure that when people do AI searches — ChatGPT or Claude or whatever, or just Google — that that we're coming up in those searches.”

The firm's strategy also includes extensive physical advertising throughout South Florida.

"You can't go through [Miami neighborhood Brickell] without seeing our face," Chorney said.” We had a huge billboard up on I-395 going over to Miami Beach. We call it reinforcement marketing, just to make sure we're always top of mind. Then for Mike and I — as being really the two top performers on the team — it's really all about delegation and continuing to challenge ourselves to reach higher price points.

"We said going into the season, we weren't going to work on any potential buyer prospects under $5 million. For next season, it's going to be $10 million."

That focus on higher price points, combined with strong demand from affluent buyers relocating to south Florida, has helped propel the team to a top-20 national ranking.

And if Chorney's outlook proves accurate, the firm's record-setting year may still be ahead.

The California-based lender has used this model since 2022 in its "Complete Rate Program" that's available for government loans. Because Guild retains servicing and issues the loans in Ginnie Mae pools, the company is able to set its own risk-based pricing grids.

But Guild believes the program has the potential to gain scale under the umbrella of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), allowing the industry to stop over-reliance on credit scores, according to David Battany, the company's executive vice president of capital markets.

While Fannie and Freddie have taken steps to incorporate rent and utility payment data and cash flow information into their underwriting systems, Battany characterized the moves as "baby steps." The GSEs also recently removed the minimum 620 FICO score requirement, which he views as a significant step.

Guild could deliver residual income loans to the GSEs, but doing so would mean receiving "the bottom of their risk-based pricing grid, the worst possible," Battany noted. The GSEs did not immediately reply to HousingWire's requests for comment.

The limits of credit scores

Battany pointed to a Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City study that found younger, lower-income and minority homebuyers disproportionately have lower credit scores. This is often due to a lack of access to financial mentorship rather than poor financial behavior, he added.

"Credit scores are very powerful, predictive and an important tool for credit risk, but we can’t over-rely on them," Battany said. "One of the big gaps we have as an industry is if a person walks in the door to apply for a loan and they have three accounts for three years and a very low score, we think they are the same as a person who had a lot of late payments. Rather than saying they're a high risk, they should be an unknown risk."

For nearly one-third of the population without available data, the traditional combination of a credit score and a loan-to-value (LTV) ratio falls short, he said.

Guild's approach

To address this gap, Guild developed a residual income analysis that examines a borrower's actual take-home pay against their real nondiscretionary expenses over a 12-month period, utilizing electronic bank data from vendors like FormFree.

The lender looks for a residual income ratio of at least 110%, meaning the borrower's take-home pay exceeds all nondiscretionary expenses — including housing, utilities and transportation — by at least 10%.

The industry's standard debt-to-income (DTI) ratio compares gross income to debt. Limits can reach 45% in manual underwriting or up to 50% in automated systems, and they represent a single point-in-time snapshot, Battany said. Guild's 12-month approach captures seasonality, bonuses and variable expenses.

When analyzing risk, Guild studied roughly 3,000 loans originated between 2015 and 2021. The lender found a strong correlation between the residual income ratio and loan performance, with default rates very similar to the broader industry average.

Borrowers who utilize Guild's program represent the exact same population that would pursue manual underwriting at any other lender, Battany explained.

The primary hurdle is that while Guild can pull digital bank data instantly, current rules still require hundreds of pages of paper PDFs to be collected for eligibility. The burdensome process deters both borrowers and loan officers. And many eligible homebuyers never apply because they are told by friends, family, real estate agents or loan officers that their credit isn't good enough.

Consequently, Guild's program accounts for a "super small amount" of its overall business — less than 1%, or just a few dozen loans annually, Battany said. This friction is the core tension the lender is attempting to resolve by pushing the GSEs.

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The subject took the spotlight earlier this week at the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA)’s Western Regional Meeting in Irvine, California. Three aging technology experts spoke about the emerging demand for senior-centric tech solutions, the companies that are stepping up to fill the void and how reverse mortgage professionals can help their clients fund these types of home improvements.

High levels of home equity could be a detriment

The panel was moderated by Tara Ballman, executive director of the National Aging in Place Council, and featured insights from Danniel Fuchs, CEO of AgeTech Connect’s Los Angeles office, and Chris Spearman, chief strategy officer for ScaleHealth.

All three speakers are based in Southern California and spoke to what’s happening in some of the nation’s most expensive housing markets. As of June 6, HousingWire Data shows that median single-family home prices topped seven figures in the Los Angeles ($1.49 million), San Diego ($1.26 million) and Oxnard ($1.28 million) metro areas.

“There are people specifically here in Orange County where they bought the house, the prices have gone up around them, they can’t afford to move, they can’t afford to stay, and they also now can’t qualify for Medicaid,” Ballman said, referring to pending federal legislation that will cap the amount of home equity a person can hold to qualify for long-term care and support.

For senior homeowners who need to stay Medicaid eligible, drawing down their tappable equity through a reverse mortgage is a viable strategy that can fund home modifications and aging technology. But even as this presents both a sizable opportunity and a competitive necessity for reverse mortgage lenders, Fuchs urged the audience to ground their conversations with prospective clients in a holistic manner.

“Whenever you go to meet with a senior and their family, you definitely should be approaching this conversation from a different angle, and not just the financial tools,” Fuchs said. “You’re not there to talk about the reverse mortgage. I understand that’s your business, but when you start to talk like that, you put negativity upfront, instead of actually having that conversation of, ‘How do you see yourself aging?’”

Health worker shortage driving tech demand

The U.S. is already facing a shortage of health care workers that is expected to become more severe in the coming years. A recent NPR report pegged the anticipated shortage at roughly 258,000 doctors and nurses by 2038.

The panel noted that while technology will not eliminate these shortfalls, it can fill critical gaps — particularly for in-home care, where demand is expected to soar because there’s not enough space in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities.

“Technology is not a panacea; it’s not a perfect solution, but it will play a part in the shortages that we face for health care providers. Many of those shortages are being addressed at home because we don't have enough places to put people,” Spearman said.

“We’re far beyond grab rails, wider doorways and safety infrastructure. … New technologies can really take the home from being a place of entrapment or burden to a place that can help you live longer, healthier, more satisfying lives.”

Six categories of age tech

The panelists outlined six broad categories of aging technology, along with several companies that serve seniors with targeted offerings. Reverse mortgage professionals with basic knowledge of the space and the ability to connect clients to resources may give themselves a leg up in originating a loan.

“It is not a mature market, so going out and finding the exact right thing for you, it actually can be beneficial, because in an emerging market, you can find players who want to rightsize for your use case,” Spearman said.

Passive home monitoring: While smart watches and other wearable technology are en vogue and relatively inexpensive, their usefulness is limited. Companies like Neteera, Vayyar and SafelyYou provide the ability to track a senior’s daily movements and sleep patterns while communicating with caregivers in real time. Systems can detect subtle declines and predict days in advance when a person needs to be hospitalized.

Companionship and communication: Loneliness is an epidemic among seniors, with former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy putting the physical effects of isolation on par with smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Companies like OnScreen and ElliQ seek to combat these issues with social connection platforms, AI companions and robotic pets. Loop Village is a virtual communication that offers personal check-ins and dozens of weekly activities.

Medication management: Companies like Keep Health, PatchRx and Hero Health aim to assist seniors with complex medication regiments. They can sort and schedule medications, track when they’ve been taken and alert family members when they’ve been skipped. This comes at a time when an estimated 125,000 Americans die each year due to non-adherence with prescribed medications.

Falls and physical function: Federal data shows that some 41,000 older Americans die each year due to falling. ZIBRIO, Age Bold and Nymbl Science are some of the tech providers aiming to reduce these numbers by tracking fall risk and creating personalized exercised programs that build strength to reduce risk.

Transportation and access: Even the best care plans cannot work if a senior is unable to get to their provider’s office. SilverRide and Kinetik offer nonemergency transportation for a variety of appointments and errands. GoGoGrandparent is a call-based concierge service for people who don’t have the manual dexterity to use a mobile app. Think of them as Uber for seniors.

Nutrition and social determinants of health (SDOH): For seniors who don’t have the ability to cook for themselves, Tangelo, ModifyHealth and CookUnity offer chef-based meal services and tailored nutrition plans for people with diabetes, heart and kidney conditions and more.

What Google built

The expanded Local Services Ads show price, photos and home details inside mobile search. A buyer can call, message or book an appointment with a local agent without leaving the results page. The listing data flows through HouseCanary’s ComeHome platform under agreements with participating MLSs. Three MLSs participate today: CRMLS, San Diego MLS and My State MLS. Coverage expands market by market through the summer, with full national reach as the stated goal.

The strategic fact is simple. Google sits in front of every consumer destination in real estate. Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com and every brokerage website depend on traffic that begins with a Google search. Until now, Google passed that demand downstream. Now it plans to satisfy a piece of it inside the results page itself.

The timing could not be worse for Zillow

Zillow’s power in every negotiation, with MLSs, with brokerages, and now in federal court, rests on a single asset: it is where buyers look. That asset is the reason cutting off Zillow’s feed became a federal case, and it is the reason a judge ordered MRED to restore that feed. The entire dispute assumes Zillow is the indispensable window to the buying public.

Google’s expansion chips away at that assumption. Every home search satisfied inside a Google results page is a search that never reaches a portal. Zillow’s moat was never its data, which comes from the industry. Its moat was attention. Google is the one company on earth with more of it.

And once again, the brokerage best positioned to benefit is Compass. Compass’s argument throughout its standoff with Zillow has been that no single portal is essential to a seller’s outcome. Every new place a buyer can find a home weakens the claim that withholding listings from Zillow harms sellers. I have made this observation before, and Thursday’s news strengthens it. In every scenario of the portal wars, Compass finds an upside, and the risk lands on the traditional MLS system.

Except this time, there is a twist worth dwelling on.

This time the MLS is the supply

HouseCanary’s own announcement frames the program as an answer to a fragmenting marketplace, one that lets buyers discover listings from the most complete and validated source available: the MLS. Read that again. After a year in which the largest brokerages built private networks and the portals built pre-market feeds, the largest search company on earth evaluated the entire landscape and concluded that the best source of listing data in America is still the MLS.

That conclusion did not come from NAR. It did not come from an MLS trade group defending its turf. It came from a buyer of data with every option on the table. Private brokerage inventories are partial by design. Portal pre-market feeds are partial by contract. The MLS is the only complete picture of the market, in the places where it still gets the listings.

This gives MLSs something they have not had in 20 years: leverage. The question is whether they will use it.

Three reasons MLS leaders should read the fine print

First, the deal-by-deal pattern. Three MLSs signed individually, through one middleman, on terms that have not been made public. HouseCanary has promoted the program as free for MLSs. Free for how long? With what rights over the data? With what say in how leads get routed? Nobody outside those agreements knows. When 500-plus MLSs each negotiate alone against one national counterpart, the terms get written by whoever signs first and accepted by everyone who signs after.

Second, the middleman is a brokerage. HouseCanary holds brokerage status, and the original pilot was pulled back after objections over how the company had used that status to access listing data. The relaunch came with MLS and brokerage buy-in, which is real progress. But the basic fact remains: the pipeline between America’s MLSs and Google runs through one private company. And there is already a side door. eXp sends its Coming Soon inventory directly to ComeHome, brokerage to platform, no MLS required. If that route widens, Google stops being a reason to list on the MLS first and becomes one more pre-market stage.

Third, the lead economics. This is a paid product. Agents enroll in Local Services Ads and pay for the calls, messages and appointments generated by listings their own cooperation created. The industry has run this experiment before. It contributed its data to the portals at no charge, then spent two decades buying back its own demand, one lead at a time. Running the same play against a counterpart the size of Google, with no negotiated guardrails on data use and lead routing, would be a generational mistake.

The answer is one table

None of these risks argues for sitting out. Google’s buyers are real, the exposure is real and an MLS that stays out simply makes its brokers’ listings harder to find. The risks argue for something else entirely: MLSs should answer Google the way Google approached them — as one national counterpart.

The Council of Multiple Listing Services (CMLS) is the natural convener. What this moment calls for is a standing group, owned and controlled by the MLSs themselves, with the authority to negotiate data licensing terms with national platforms. Usage limits. Attribution rules. Lead routing standards. Audit rights. And a permanent seat at the table for whoever calls next, because Google will not be the last. Every AI company building a home search answer will come for this data too.

This is not a new portal. It is not a new company with something to sell. It is a negotiating table, and the absence of one is the single biggest strategic gap in organized real estate today.

CMLS Open House 2026 convenes at the end of September. By then, Google’s rollout will be months along, and the early agreements will be hardening into the default. The agenda writes itself.

The bottom line

For a year, the debate has been whether the MLS still matters. On Thursday, Google answered it with the most credible endorsement possible: it built its national home search on MLS data. The system everyone keeps writing off turned out to be the one asset a trillion-dollar company could not replicate.

Google did not just launch an ad format. It put a national price on the value of MLS data. The only question left is whether the people who own that value will show up to collect together, or hand it over one signature at a time.

Darryl Davis, CSP, has spoken to, trained, and coached more than 600,000 real estate professionals around the globe. He is a bestselling author for McGraw-Hill Publishing, and his book, How to Become a Power Agent in Real Estate, tops Amazon’s charts for most sold book to real estate agents.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners.

To contact the editor responsible for this piece: tracey@hwmedia.com

That's according to Michael T. Pugh, CEO of the Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC), who spoke with HousingWire about the nonprofit’s new State of Affordable Housing report and why closing a 7 million-unit gap will require tighter public-private collaboration, including with investors.

Editor's note: This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Sarah Wolak: Out of all the pressures facing affordable housing today, what do you think is the most immediate threat to preserving stock?

Michael Pugh: One is simply the rising cost associated with housing. What we know today is that some of the data is telling us that the average age of individuals who can afford to buy their first home is now over 40 years old. That's a significant indicator and a reflection of a paradigm shift that has happened in our nation related to affordability.

We have the rising cost of creating new housing inventory and the rising costs associated with preservation. That's largely tied to things like insurance costs, utility and energy costs, and the overall ability to build, create or preserve housing when supplies are simply costing so much.

I would put it simply: American residents today are struggling to pursue the dream of homeownership, and that is largely tied to the fact that the cost of ownership is becoming so burdensome.

We also know that a significant portion of American residents are cost-burdened, with more than 40% of their income going toward housing. Once you've paid your rent or mortgage, how do you then address other expensive necessities like child care, health care and transportation? Those are all issues that are impacting families today.

Wolak: When you think about the wealth gap, the growing age gap among homebuyers and declining purchasing power among younger Americans, what concerns you most?

Pugh: What troubles me most is that the issue isn't getting better, and there haven't really been meaningful solutions put on the table to address it. We've seen data suggesting there's a housing shortage of as many as 7 million units across the nation. We also have an aging housing infrastructure, with more than 40% of our current inventory being 40 years old or older.

Our report found that 69% of Americans are very concerned about housing costs. When you consider that the income needed to afford a median-priced home has nearly doubled from about $68,000 in 2020 to roughly $130,000 in 2025, that's a significant challenge.

What has worked in the past is that we have been able to, as a nation, bring public and private dollars together to create incentives, tax credits or other meaningful ways that allow American residents to get into homes and pursue their dream of homeownership.

I think we've seen in the past that the path to closing some of the wealth gap and achieving a meaningful outcome for families is through the equity in their overall homeownership. And what we're experiencing now is leveled or fewer dollars that are made available at the public contribution side ... coupled with the problem being exacerbated because the cost of living is just outpacing the overall income and affordability.

Wolak: You bring up the shortage of more than 7 million affordable housing units. Do you think meaningful progress is being made, or is the shortage continuing to grow?

Pugh: I think the shortage is continuing to grow. There have been meaningful efforts; it's worth noting that we've seen federal support through the New Markets Tax Credit and the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). These are important federal subsidies that allow for the creation and preservation of communities across our country in terms of helping to address quality affordable housing.

But we have an issue that's bigger than the federal subsidies that have been provided. There is a need to galvanize support from the investor community and encourage investors to help preserve affordable housing stock. Some data suggests that by 2030, as much as 50% of the housing inventory could be owned by investors.

When you think about markets or areas like the Midwest, there are neighborhoods and communities that are largely owned by investors, and once an investor then develops somewhat of a significant scale, they have the opportunity [to] flip into market grade within certain communities. They can seismically change the affordability at local levels within communities, and so I think there's continued opportunity to work between the public and private sectors with the investor community on that.

One piece of legislation LISC strongly supported is the Neighborhood Homes Investment Act (NHIA). It was designed to help bridge the gap between investors and affordable housing as another solution to address this issue.

We're also calling on the private sector to think about the concentric circle related to or tied to workforce development and workforce housing. As we continue to try and tackle this issue, I think companies will want to look at proximity of their locations — whether it's factories or headquarters — and think about the housing inventory and stock in those areas.

They should consider investing in the skill set of those communities to build workforces internally that ultimately will be able to create, be able to preserve and participate in homeownership, so that they are working and living in the neighborhoods and driving economic development within those communities.

Wolak: With housing being a bipartisan issue, what policy changes do you think would have the biggest impact on affordability over the next several years?

Pugh: One positive development is that we've seen greater permanence for the New Markets Tax Credit and additional support for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. That sends a signal that policymakers understand this is a real issue.

But as we continue thinking about affordability, we also have to focus on energy costs and insurance costs. We need to ask whether we can bring industry leaders together to address these issues. Energy costs, environmental sustainability and insurance expenses are all connected. Some areas are deemed higher risk because of severe weather, which drives insurance costs higher. It's about weatherization, resilience and protection.

The solution isn't simply giving everyone a free home. We know that's not realistic. The question is, how do we close the affordability gap and bring industry leaders together as part of the solution? That's an area where federal leadership could play a meaningful role.

Wolak: You've worked in community development for many years. Is today's environment the most challenging you've seen, or is it simply a different set of obstacles?

Pugh: Within the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) sector, there have been many different challenges over the years. During the pandemic, CDFIs like LISC were truly financial first responders. We focused on helping small businesses that were on the brink of failure because we understand that small businesses account for more than 40% of the nation's GDP.

We've also worked on issues tied to health and social determinants, making sure communities weren't left behind simply because of their ZIP code — whether they were rural, suburban or urban. What we've understood within the CDFI sector is that our goal is to address broader systemic issues that improve the nation's economy. It's not focused on any one group of people or any one neighborhood.

We're trained to understand the broader issues and create scalable solutions that address them. In LISC's case, because of our size and scale, we work across the entire country, with a particular focus on rural communities, where we often see shortages of healthy food options, health care access and quality affordable housing.

“They grew the team pretty organically by inviting friends and family to get involved with real estate with them,” Emily Martin, the COO of The Perry Group, said. 

According to Martin, organic growth is still one of the team’s primary sources of expansion, as agents continue to invite their friends and other professionals in the industry to join The Perry Group.

Keys to organic growth success

Martin said one of the reasons the team works so well for so many agents is that they have clear systems agents can easily plug into.

“They can run their business without having to think about the operational side,” Martin said. “We help agents do what they do best, which is connect with people.”

The team provides agents with everything from an in-house marketing team to technology to lead generation services through Zillow’s lead referral programs. 

“Overall, there is a lot of value that our team provides for agents, and we have always focused on making sure we are providing things that are relevant for agents and on the cutting edge of technology and strategy,” she said. 

Culture is key

Beyond the team’s systems and technology, Martin said the team’s collaborative culture also helps their agents thrive. 

“Within The Perry Group, our agents are very willing to share ideas and strategies, what is working and what isn’t and we all work to help agents refine their businesses,” Martin said. “Really, I think the biggest thing for us is just making sure that our agents are happy, productive and see value in the team because if they are, we are going to continue to grow because they are going to invite more people to join.” 

Working to maintain this culture across such a wide agent base, Martin said, is not a simple task, noting that each office within the team has its own unique internal culture. 

“Our three business owners, Michael, Jack and John, are all very involved in the business and interact with our agents regularly, so they are getting that real-time feedback and they know what our agents need and want to see in ways the team could be providing them more value,” Martin said. 

Boo Maddox, the team’s president, added that as the team has grown over the past few years, adding more and more offices, they are actively working to figure out how much autonomy each office should have and how much they want things done “The Perry Group way.” 

“Even though we are a team, we are looking at how we integrate each other into other offices,” Maddox said. “Hopefully if you talk to us in a year this is something we have made some progress on because the team is so different than it was a few years ago.” 

Vision for the future

Looking ahead, Martin said the team is aiming for 2,000 transaction sides in 2026 and they are on track to hit that goal.  

“We have been growing consistently over the past three years. I was on a call a few months back with one of our well-respected coaches, and we were wondering if this was a fluke. He said that this is not happening by accident. We have the systems in place for the growth, and I think Jack Perry has really been a great driver of that growth, pushing his sons and pushing us to find ways to make things work, trust the opportunities and create something that makes people want to raise their hand and join,” Martin said.

Most builders recognize that the strength of their production apparatus atrophies the longer it lies dormant, but how many are taking the necessary intermediate steps before they determine how to restore its production capacity?

Many optimistic innovators are developing robotics, advocating for immigration reform, designing methods for offsite construction or building the infrastructure to train the next generation of tradespeople.

These efforts are necessary and noble, but proponents of the Theory of Constraints might note that they represent the fourth step in Eli Goldratt’s Five Focusing Steps: identify, exploit, subordinate, elevate and repeat.

How might Goldratt view the situation if he were alive today?

Reality check at the jobsite level

Even our application of the first step of 5SF would be considered inadequate.

Sure, we’ve identified that labor is constrained, but we haven’t developed a reliable method to quantify our labor market’s capacity. We don’t know what it’s capable of producing at any point in time. This has significant implications for later steps.

Every hour a skilled laborer spends on work other than constrained work permanently reduces the system's capacity. In 5SF terms, “exploit” means removing all waste from a constraint.

Fragmentation creates process waste through context switching and windshield time. A framer who builds the same familiar plans in a single community tends to perform better than one who constantly shifts between builders. An excavator completing a one-hour task can get more done with a geographically optimized route.

Process and information failures cause dry runs, rework and late changes. Inconsistent cadencing decisions can make it impossible for trades to maintain consistent crews that achieve better first-pass yield.

The purest form of exploitation would be a production machine designed around what trades can actually produce. Builders would need systems that support a shift from trades chasing dates to builders planning around dedicated trade capacity. Trades know how many sheets of drywall their crews can hang in a day.

The paradigm that aligns with optimal production capacity is one in which builders ensure there’s enough house to supply the crews, not enough crews to cover houses.

Understanding a starts pipeline

Subordinating to the constraint, 5SF’s third step, is legitimately difficult to execute. Subordination means releasing only as many starts as the production system can handle. This decision can be made only when division leaders accept the unpleasant reality that cramming more starts into a constrained system will not increase closings.

The system can support only what it can handle, and starting anything beyond that capacity only increases your cycle time, your WIP, and your likelihood of being stuck with excess inventory when the market inevitably winds down again.

It’s impossible to make reasonable starts decisions without first identifying the precise capacity of your production apparatus.

Notwithstanding the incredible pressure divisions face to meet their closing commitments, subordination faces a more practical problem: it shares its labor resources with every other builder in its market.

Even if they’ve already done considerable exploitation work to make their jobs the most attractive place for trade partners to send consistent crews, they’re still subject to being knocked around by builders who are less inclined to subordinate their own starts pace.

Business risk versus competitive risk

At some point, the trades risk losing the business of the builder who practiced less self-restraint in their starts pace and fell way behind on their schedules. That builder may pull crews away from consistent work to get the errant builder caught up.

The continuing trend of builder consolidation amplifies this issue. The largest builders have always unwittingly benefited from smaller builders, who serve as the stalking horse for their own cadence inefficiencies.

With fewer builders in the game, there will be no one left to absorb the impact of inconsistent starts pace. The remaining builders will feel the impact of their decisions in the form of elevated cycle times, as the trade base is forced to build a larger buffer to handle the variance in incoming work.

The shared-resource problem plagues subordination efforts, creating a moral hazard for which no solution has yet emerged. The eventual solution is likely to follow one of two paths: mandated coordination or self-selection.

Mandated coordination might resemble OPEC or the FAA’s airport slot-allocation system. Perhaps HUD or another government entity mandates the creation of a starts-pace cartel to ensure a consistent housing supply. This approach would undoubtedly ruffle feathers.

Self-selection’s upside

The self-selection approach would be fueled by improved data on production capacity from next-generation production systems.

Just as demand-based pricing for lift tickets encourages skiers to self-distribute across dates and helps control capacity on the mountain, scheduling tools built around crew resource allocation data could show builders the cycle-time cost of starting houses in one week versus the next.

Reckoning with data reality vs. intuition

5SF’s fifth step is to repeat the process and prevent inertia from becoming the new constraint.

Currently, the sales pace is the constraint. Our production machine has been kept on life support by BTR and brief bursts of spec-home optimism, but without tools to test its capacity, we’ll have no idea what it can produce when sales return. We’ll likely still believe we’re constrained by sales when we reach the maximum capacity our neglected machine can handle.

Our industry’s approaches to addressing the labor constraint are genuinely unique, creative, and inspiring. But we should bring that spirit of innovation to the intermediate steps we can tackle now.

She asked me, "How do we prepare buyers so this stops happening?"

The fix is not in the inspector. The fix is in the conversation you have before the inspector ever shows up.

Plant the picture before the page lands

Here is the truth almost no agent says out loud. Home inspectors get paid $500 to $600 to walk a house with a flashlight and a clipboard. If they hand the buyer a one-page report that says, "Everything looks fine," the buyer feels robbed. They feel like they paid $600 for nothing. So, many inspectors have learned, that thicker the report, the better. The fee gets justified by the page count. The result is a document that reads like the house is one strong breeze away from collapse, when in reality the house is fine.

That is the trap your buyers might walk into. They open a 50-page binder, and they panic. They were not warned. They were not prepared. They were not handed the picture in advance.

My suggestion? Here is the conversation you must have with every buyer, before every inspection, on every house. Do this even when you know the house is in great shape. This will save you more transactions from falling through than any other single dialog I teach.

The pre-inspection script

Sit down with them. Use their names. Then deliver this, calmly:

"Mr. and Mrs. Hunna Hunna, before your inspector walks through the door tomorrow, let me give you a little coaching. As far as I know, there is nothing wrong with this house. The sellers have not disclosed anything that concerns me. But, your inspector is probably going to find something. They are going to find a lot of somethings. Here's why:

When you pay an inspector $600, and they hand you a single page that says the house is fine, you feel ripped off. You think you wasted the money. So, many inspectors have learned to justify their fee by handing you a book of issues. They are going to write down the paint smudge on the baseboard upstairs. They are going to write down the closet door that sticks. They are going to write down the back window that needs a little extra force to close. They are going to take photographs of all of it.

I want you to expect War and Peace. I want you to expect a doorstop. I want you to picture one of those auto repair manuals at the parts store, like those giant binders mechanics used to use. That is what I want you to imagine.

Now when you get the final report, we will sit down together, pull out the items that actually matter, and bring those calmly to the seller, if there are any items that need addressing."

That is the whole conversation. Three minutes. And it changes everything.

Deliver this with humor. Not jokes, but with a smile in your voice. The lighter you are about it, the more permission you give them to feel calm. The agent who asked the question on the call said it best when we finished talking through it. Doing it with humor really makes a difference, because it gets everybody on the same page. That is the goal. Everyone calm and on the same page. Now we can do the work.

The quick implementation checklist

If you skim nothing else in this piece, run this play on every deal:

1. Schedule the conversation before the inspector arrives. Not after. Before. The picture has to land first.
2. Plant a bigger image than reality. Say "War and Peace" out loud. Say "auto repair manual." Make the report they imagine larger than the report they will actually get so when they actually get it, their first reaction should be, "Oh, this is not that bad."
3. Predict the trivial findings out loud. Paint smudges, sticky doors, stiff windows. When those exact items show up in the report, the buyer trusts you more, not less.
4. Promise a debrief. Tell them you will sit down together, separate the cosmetic from the structural, and bring the real items to the seller calmly.

Powerfact: The fee justifies the thickness. Your conversation justifies the calm.

After the binder lands

When the report actually arrives, do the work you promised. Sit with your buyer at a kitchen table or a coffee shop or a screen share. Open the report together. Sort the cosmetic from the structural. The trivial items stay on your side and never go to the seller. The structural issues, the safety items, the costly repairs go to the seller with a clear ask and a clear reason. Calm voice. Specific request. No drama.

Some of what the report flags will be real. There will be a few legitimate items that deserve attention. When that happens, do not minimize them. Do not gloss over them. Bring them to the seller with a clear ask and a clear reason. The framing protects the relationship. It does not erase the work. The framing makes the work possible.

The reason this matters goes deeper than one inspection report. The work we do is largely emotional. We are guiding human beings through what is often the largest financial decision of their lives, on a compressed timeline, with strangers, with money on the line. Fear is the deal killer. Not the inspector. Not the repairs. The fear.

Our job as professionals is to take fear off the table before it ever arrives. Plant the picture. Pre-frame the moment. Walk in with calm. Be the steady voice they hear when the binder lands.

Set the frame before the report opens, and the report has a much harder time killing the deal.

Serve, don't sell. Coach, don't close.

Darryl Davis, CSP, has spoken to, trained, and coached more than 600,000 real estate professionals around the globe. He is a bestselling author for McGraw-Hill Publishing, and his book, How to Become a Power Agent in Real Estate, tops Amazon’s charts for most sold book to real estate agents.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners.

To contact the editor responsible for this piece: tracey@hwmedia.com

The complaint by OneTrust — a d/b/a for CalCon Mutual Mortgage — accuses the defendants of secretly funneling borrower information and loan opportunities to EMC and UWM while still employed by OneTrust.

The lawsuit, filed June 4 in a U.S. district court in Arizona, alleges that the defendants “improperly obtained and exploited the benefit of CalCon’s employees, borrower information, loan opportunities, confidential information, trade secrets, goodwill and business infrastructure for Defendants’ own financial gain.”

As of March 12, 2024, the departing group had successfully solicited at least 79 loans away from OneTrust, representing an aggregate loan volume of just over $31 million, the lawsuit shows. 

In a statement on Thursday to HousingWire, a spokesperson for EMC said the company has a "clear and firm policy," in which new employees cannot bring leads, borrower information or any loan opportunities that belong to a former employer. EMC said the number of defendants in the lawsuit "is telling in itself," it is confident in its position and will address the claims through the legal process.

"That policy is non-negotiable and is something we enforce without exception," the EMC spokesperson said. "The individuals named joined E Mortgage Capital after concluding their employment elsewhere. Any conduct alleged to have occurred prior to or during their departure from their former employer is not something E Mortgage Capital directed, participated in, or had knowledge of."

A spokesperson for UWM said the claims "are without merit" and the lender will "vigorously defend against them to the fullest extent permitted by law."

OneTrust CEO James Hecht said the company had no comment.

The claims

The alleged misconduct came to light following a separate legal dispute. In mid-2025, former employees demanded arbitration against the lender under the Fair Labor Standards Act. In November 2025, OneTrust filed counterclaims. 

The discovery process yielded about five terabytes of electronically stored information — including internal emails and Microsoft Teams chats — which the lender claims exposed the secret loan diversion scheme in 2026.

A central element of the alleged scheme involved the unauthorized use of the third-party point-of-sale platform Floify. According to the lawsuit, the Arizona team was instructed to use OneTrust's authorized systems, including Blend. Instead, the employees allegedly used Floify and personal email domains to covertly process borrower leads outside of OneTrust’s visibility, redirecting them to UWM and EMC.

The Arizona division was led by former senior vice president Tim Potempa, who joined OneTrust in February 2022. Potempa — a top-ranked U.S. loan office that originated about $231 million last year, per HousingWire Mortgage Rankings — departed the Dallas-based multichannel lender for EMC in early 2024, bringing a 40-person team and more than $300 million in annual production.

Potempa left EMC after over a year to join CrossCountry Mortgage in August 2025. He did not immediately reply to a request for comments.

OneTrust alleges that Potempa and other division leaders began engaging in “coordinated efforts” in late 2023 to transition the pipeline and personnel away from the company, despite employment contracts strictly prohibiting the solicitation of OneTrust employees for 18 months following their departure. Arizona division leaders also allegedly downloaded company trade secrets — including pricing models, vendor fees and internal cost allocations — to use at EMC.

The lawsuit also points the finger directly at UWM. OneTrust alleges the wholesale giant received and funded the loans despite knowing it did not have a brokerage relationship with OneTrust. 

The complaint claims UWM was "willfully blind" to the fact that the loan opportunities originated from OneTrust personnel and systems, and were being actively redirected for the benefit of EMC and UWM.

OneTrust is seeking damages on multiple counts, including misappropriation of trade secrets, violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), breach of fiduciary duty, tortious interference with contractual relations and business expectancies, civil conspiracy and unjust enrichment.

Across the country, many veterans are living in homes that no longer meet their physical needs. Without the ability or financial resources to make essential repairs or accessibility modifications, veterans may be forced out of otherwise stable housing. 

If policymakers want to address housing instability more comprehensively, they must expand the definition of “housing policy” to include preservation, accessibility and aging in place. 

The reality of changing needs

According to a 2023 AARP survey, most veterans say it is important to remain in their homes if they need long-term care. Yet more than a quarter say they would need financial assistance to make that possible. Among veterans age 45 and older, nearly half report needing bathroom modifications. These are not cosmetic improvements. They are modifications that can affect whether someone is able to live safely and independently at home. 

For veterans living with mobility challenges or service-connected disabilities, unmet repair and accessibility needs can make everyday living much more difficult. Homes that lack accessibility features or are deteriorating may no longer meet residents’ physical needs as they age, placing additional pressure on families, caregivers, healthcare providers and local support systems. 

Redefining housing stability policy

Remaining safely at home over time should be treated as a core component of housing stability policy. When nearly half of veterans over age 45 report needing modifications to something as essential as a bathroom, it points to a disconnect between housing policy and the realities many veterans face. 

Much of the current policy conversation remains focused on housing supply and affordability, but long-term housing stability depends on whether people can continue living safely in their homes as their needs change over time. 

Federal, state and local policymakers who place greater emphasis on housing preservation strategies will help veterans remain safely housed – strategies like expanding support for Veterans Administration housing adaptation grants, supporting home repair and accessibility programs and encouraging states and municipalities to incorporate aging-in-place considerations into broader housing policy and planning efforts. 

Policymakers could also explore stronger coordination between housing and healthcare systems. Medicare and Medicaid programs, for example, may be able to play a larger role in supporting preventive home modifications tied to health and safety needs by identifying housing-related risks earlier and connecting veterans with available assistance before challenges become severe. 

Straightforward solutions for long-term stability

In many cases, the solutions are relatively straightforward: install grab bars and accessibility ramps, widen doorways, improve lighting or repair essential home systems such as heating, plumbing and roofing. These types of modifications can help make homes safer and more functional for aging residents and people living with disabilities.

Identifying strategic, aging-in-place solutions does not diminish the importance of addressing homelessness or affordability. But focusing only on those issues overlooks a significant portion of veterans. They may not be severely cost-burdened, but they are often one preventable barrier away from losing the stability they have worked so hard to maintain. 

At its core, this issue is about whether housing policy fully accounts for the long-term needs of veterans as they age. It is about whether we honor service in a way that is tangible and sustained, and whether we ensure veterans are not only housed, but able to live safely, independently and with dignity in the homes they already have. 

Maureen Carlson is President and CEO of Rebuilding Together
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners. To contact the editor responsible for this piece: zeb@hwmedia.com.

Nor, in spite of hesitant homebuyer demand plaguing many of Texas' submarkets, has Stylecraft's momentum slowed.

The homebuilder, which predominantly targets entry-level and move-up buyers outside of the major metro areas in the Lone Star State, ranked as the 19th fastest-growing homebuilder in HousingWire’s inaugural Homebuilder Rankings, growing sales volume 17.0% from 2024 to 2025. 

According to the rankings, the builder sold 973 homes for a combined $310 million in 2025, ranking it as the 38th-largest homebuilder by sales volume. This growth has carried into 2026, with the company expected to sell 1,100 to 1,200 homes this year, Stylecraft Builders CEO Doug French told HousingWire’s TBD. 

That growth reflects a model built over decades. The company, operating through a down cycle, has found recent success by balancing margin discipline with growth, carefully expanding into select markets, finding the right product niche and driving operational improvements such as substantially improved cycle times. 

Maturing into a homebuilder with 1,000 annual sales was a gradual journey that started with just one sale. 

Family history and growth

Stylecraft Builders was founded by Doug's father, Randy French, in the early 1980s, initially focusing on custom homes. Growth in the early years was glacial – one home in the first year, two in the second, four in the third, and so forth. 

Despite launching during a challenging period marked by Texas's oil downturn, the savings-and-loan crisis, and mortgage rates in the low-to-mid teens, the business steadily expanded over time.

“That wasn't a great time to become a homebuilder. So the way that he says it is, it really forced you to be very, very disciplined, and you couldn't have much fat, because if you did, you just weren't going to make it,” French said. 

Starting in the Bryan-College Station market northeast of Austin, Randy noticed local builders often lacked sophistication in design and marketing, creating an opportunity to differentiate through better home designs and stronger sales and branding.

By the late 1980s and early 1990s, Stylecraft Builders identified an underserved market for entry-level production housing. While production builders were common in larger Texas metros, they were largely absent in Bryan-College Station at the time. 

Capitalizing on that gap, the company expanded into affordable, production-style homebuilding, which fueled more progressive growth. For a time, Stylecraft Builders operated in both custom and production homebuilding, but eventually they realized that the production side generated most of the profits with far fewer headaches, prompting a shift away from the custom end of the market. 

Doug joined the company in 2009, initially as Vice President before assuming the role of CEO in 2015. When he first started working with Stylecraft Builders, the company was delivering about 150 to 200 homes annually. Since then, there’s been steady growth and geographic expansion, with the company nearing 1,000 homes sold last year. 

Since 2020, Stylecraft Builders has expanded into the build-to-rent market, though BTR still accounts for less than 10% of its total home deliveries. While French loves the BTR business, he says that many other builders over the past several years have begun building rental homes, increasing competition. 

“Everybody's kind of caught on to it. I wish it still were that hidden gem that it had been for so long, that no one else was really talking about,” he said. 

A dual-track approach 

As Stylecraft has expanded geographically, one of the biggest lessons that French learned has been balancing margins with volume. The company has historically been margin-focused and remains so, but French reports that some pockets of Texas are much weaker or stronger than others.

Therefore, each submarket and each community make up a patchwork that requires a tailored approach that maintains a solid sales pace, even if gross margins compress. 

In certain overbuilt markets where demand has been weaker of late, this strategy means giving up some margin until sunnier skies return. In others, where conditions are stronger, this may mean holding the line on margins. 

“There are pockets of strength and pockets of weakness. If you're in those pockets of strength, you're fine. And fortunately for us, we have more pockets of strength than pockets of weakness right now. In the places that are strong, we're continuing to be margin-focused. In the places that are a little weaker, we're not margin-focused right now, and we just know those markets are going to come back. We're a believer in Texas overall,” French said. 

French emphasized the importance of generating sales in any market environment. He views that as a critical asset, arguing that builders who fail to adjust pricing and incentives during downturns risk leaving unsold inventory on the market for too long. 

Maintaining this flexibility has been key to Stylecraft Builders’ growth over the last several quarters. 

“We're now at a size and scope and scale to where, if we want to go play at this level, we've also got to learn some new skills. And that skill is, how do you move houses, regardless of how good the market is or how bad the market is,” French explained.  

Geographic diversity and selective expansion

Geographic diversification has also helped fuel the company's expansion. Many Texas markets remain strong, while others remain overbuilt in the wake of the post-COVID-era building boom. Stylecraft Builders has deliberately avoided these most overbuilt areas. 

French pointed to Stylecraft’s decision to exit the Houston metro two to three years ago as a key example of the company's disciplined approach, noting that many of the deals in peripheral suburbs outside of the Houston area that his team previously evaluated and passed on are now struggling. While the peripheral suburbs still show strong growth, so many public builders have entered the market that it is hard to compete. 

For now, the company's growth strategy centers on expanding into underserved markets with strong long-term fundamentals, rather than into markets with excessive competition, particularly from large numbers of public builders. 

“There are so many markets that are underserved. Why go to one that's overrun?” French said. “We're not scared of publics. We build with Lennar and Dr. Horton all the time, but what I don't like doing is being one of 20. We've always kind of had almost a little bit of a counterintuitive approach.”

Finding the right product niche

Stylecraft builds a mix of attached and detached homes, mainly between the low $200s and the high $400s. The company has long focused on design differentiation, with distinct color palettes, more distinctive exterior and interior design elements, and an overall style that feels less standardized than what you typically see in production homebuilding.

As entry-level buyers continue to feel the affordability squeeze, French shared that Stylecraft’s entry-level townhome product is performing quite well and that first-time buyers, at the right price, are willing to make some trade-offs for affordability.

Two-bedroom townhomes in select Stylecraft Communities start at about $200,000. This is a popular product, but the company's ability to deliver an entry-level townhome at this price primarily hinges on disciplined cost design. 

To lower the price, they concentrate on building quality into high-impact areas like kitchens and finishes, while shrinking overall space and removing some less essential features. 

Buyers at the entry-level price point are generally willing to make trade-offs in size and extra features as long as the home is affordable and still feels well finished in the key living areas. Common trade-offs include smaller square footage, fewer bathrooms, no garages and smaller lot sizes, as well as a simplified layout with more compact rooms. 

However, buyers are much less willing to compromise on higher-impact areas of the home, like kitchens. The core finishes still need to feel modern and high-quality, even if the spaces are more compact. 

The goal of this balanced approach is to deliver a home with strong perceived value from both an affordability and a features standpoint. This strategy has worked well for Stylecraft, French said, and plays into some of the growth the company has experienced despite operating in a down cycle. 

The key is finding the right combination of cost-cutting measures that deliver an affordably priced home that buyers still want.

“You’ve got to get your price point down far enough. If we have a townhome selling right across the street from a single-family home, we have to be $40,000 or $50,000 below that. We know that in order to move that product, you've got to be able to accomplish that, and if you can't accomplish that, it's just not going to work,” French explained. 

Slashing cycle times

French said that one major operational improvement has been a reduction in cycle times. Since the beginning of 2026, Stylecraft Builders has reduced average cycle times by about 32 days year to date, a strong improvement that has enabled further growth. 

This improvement, however, isn’t the result of a single silver bullet or some fancy new technology. Instead, it’s the culmination of a broader, more disciplined approach. 

A major shift for Stylecraft came with the hire of a new vice president of construction, who raised the bar on execution. The new VP, Jordan York, brought a higher level of discipline, detail and accountability, while also providing the support needed to actually meet those expectations. 

This key hire, French explained, mattered immensely and improved the baseline of performance across the organization.

“When you have somebody who really believes you can get something done and is going to hold you accountable to that, and is also going to give you the support needed, you start believing in yourself. And once you start believing it yourself, you really start running,” French said. 

Many of the changes involved improved collaboration with the trades. Stylecraft began to take a closer look at scheduling, ensuring that trades aren’t overbooked, that they consistently stay on schedule, and that steps are taken to intervene when work starts to slip. 

When a trade is stretched too thin, French explained, Stylecraft works to address it. But he also noted the importance of moving on and having tough conversations with crews that aren’t performing to an adequate level. As part of this, the company became more intentional about working closely with back-office teams and analyzing where trades were helping or hurting cycle times, which informed which partners were best. 

“What I do want to say is, it's not as simple as, if we have better trades, then we will build on time. That’s not a sentence I ever want anybody saying in our company. It always starts with us, and even if it is the trade, well, we're the ones that hire them. At the end of the day, it all comes back to us, and we have to ultimately take that responsibility,” French said. 

The appointments follow the April promotion of former BombBomb co-founder Darin Dawson to CEO and mark the latest step in a broader leadership overhaul at the North America-based real estate coaching and training company.

Buffini & Company, founded by Brian Buffini and known for its “Work by Referral” system, said the expanded executive team will focus on making it easier for real estate agents and brokerage leaders to run referral-based businesses while integrating modern technology, including AI tools.

Who is joining Buffini & Company

In his role as chief revenue officer, Pacinelli will oversee how customers discover, test and expand their use of Buffini programs, from podcasts and training to paid coaching. The company said he will be responsible for aligning client-facing sales and marketing around measurable outcomes for agents and brokers.

Pacinelli previously held leadership roles at BombBomb, Follow Up Boss and Zillow.

As chief operating officer, Bolton will be charged with integrating people, processes, technology and coaching delivery to improve performance and client results.

According to the announcement, Bolton brings more than 20 years of SaaS experience, including roles as senior vice president of operations, chief customer officer and chief revenue officer at BombBomb. Most recently, he ran Bolton Co., an executive coaching and advisory firm focused on leadership and customer experience.

In his role of chief ambassador, Beute will focus on amplifying client and community insights from Buffini’s global network of agents, coaches and brokerage partners. The company said his role includes content, events and other outreach designed to keep member feedback central to product and program decisions.

Beute is a Wall Street Journal bestselling co-author and former executive at Zillow Group and BombBomb. He has hosted nearly 500 podcast episodes and has spent more than a decade working with real estate professionals on using video and other tools to build “authentic connection,” according to the announcement

Leadership mandates

Buffini & Company said the three executives share a single mandate: make it “radically easier” for agents and brokerage leaders to operate relationship-based businesses at scale.

In April, Buffini & Company named Dawson as CEO and transitioned Brian Buffini to chairman. The new executive hires build on that shift in leadership as the company looks to extend the relevance of its referral system for the next phase of the housing cycle.

The company says Pacinelli will be responsible for ensuring growth initiatives do not erode agent trust, Bolton will focus on operational reliability of systems and experiences, and Beute will work to keep member outcomes and stories central to strategy.

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

Custom app features are available immediately.

The initiative builds on work that began more than a year ago with companies including Douglas Elliman and SERHANT., which developed custom applications using Rechat’s infrastructure, leaders said.

More recently, Nest Realty has also utilized Rechat’s APIs and app platform to create custom solutions.

Developers can build custom interfaces that run directly within the platform's environment. Applications remain hosted on the developer’s own servers while accessing Rechat’s data, workflows and interface components, including contact information, email tools, forms and other operational functions.

The company said this approach allows applications to appear and function as a native part of the Rechat platform while reducing development time and complexity.

“From day one, Rechat was architected as an operating system: one data model connecting CRM, marketing, design and transactions, with Lucy, our AI assistant, running across all of it, we didn’t bolt this on,” said Emil Sedgh, chief technology officer of Rechat. “That foundation is what lets a brokerage or a partnership create a production-grade app in weeks or months, not years. They build their idea; they don’t rebuild the infrastructure underneath it.”

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

Developers, municipalities and environmental advocates are watching to see how the law works in practice in the real world.

Rules still need to be written.

Overhauling the State Environmental Quality Review Act was a centerpiece of Hochul's "Let Them Build" agenda to improve housing affordability by streamlining the permitting process. It came after extended budget negotiations delayed its passage.

The law exempts qualifying housing projects from environmental review for the first time since 1975. The Department of Environmental Conservation must update regulations and guidance to align with the statute. Lead agencies statewide must also retool internal review processes to meet new mandatory timelines.

New York's move echoes a push already underway in California. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a landmark law last July shielding apartment and residential projects from lengthy environmental review. Developers wasted no time securing exemptions, with some doing so within days of the law taking effect.

But California's experience to date also stands as a warning. Removing environmental review as a delay tactic shifts the fight to city councils and courtrooms.

It has not, thus far, eliminated it.

Where the final law expanded on Hochul's proposal

Hochul's January executive budget proposed a 100-unit cap for housing projects outside New York City to qualify for automatic exemption. The enacted version raises that cap to 300 units in urbanized areas, covering most mid-size cities and suburbs statewide. Rural and non-urbanized areas keep the original 100-unit cap.

Housing advocates and suburban municipalities called that expansion a significant win. They had argued Hochul's original threshold was too restrictive to accelerate production meaningfully.

"Modernizing SEQRA is an important step toward addressing New York's housing affordability and supply challenges by reducing unnecessary delays and duplicative review requirements that increase costs and slow the development of critically needed housing across New York," New York State Association of Realtors President Ron Garafalo said.

Where the legislature tightened the reins

The final law extends a previously-disturbed-land requirement to all housing projects statewide, including those in New York City. Hochul's original proposal applied that condition only to projects outside the five boroughs. Environmental groups and state legislators argued the original approach left too much room for development on sensitive sites.

A childcare facilities exemption in Hochul's executive budget was stripped from the final version. Hochul pitched the provision to speed construction of community infrastructure alongside housing. Lawmakers who wanted to limit the law's scope secured its removal.

The final law establishes a 20-unit cap for areas with no local zoning, a guardrail absent from the original proposal. Critics had flagged that absence as a potential loophole in communities with limited land-use oversight.

What comes next

In New York City, the reforms intersect with an existing local layer: the City Environmental Quality Review process, known as CEQR. The state changes are statutory and preempt local law, but how the city's lead agencies interpret the new exemptions alongside CEQR needs resolution.

The DEC has not announced a formal rulemaking timeline. Project sponsors and municipalities will navigate the new statute without a regulatory roadmap until it does.

"Moving forward, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation may choose to promulgate implementing regulations or issue guidance to clarify certain provisions," attorneys with Greenberg Traurig wrote in an analysis. "Until the agency issues such regulatory guidance, stakeholders and applicants should consider exercising caution when applying SEQRA's new provisions to specific projects."

The holding company for eXp Realty, NextHome, FrameVR.io and SUCCESS Enterprises now trades on Nasdaq under the AGNT ticker and will operate under the AGNT, Inc. name going forward. The shift follows the May 2026 adoption of the AGNT ticker and the addition of NextHome to the platform, which the company describes as a multi-model, agent-focused ecosystem spanning cloud brokerage, franchise and ancillary services.

Glenn Sanford, founder, chairman and CEO of AGNT, said the new corporate identity is intended to formalize the company’s longstanding strategy of building economic and technology models around independent real estate agents. At the brokerage level, eXp Realty CEO Leo Pareja pointed to the firm’s scale — it bills itself as the world’s largest independent brokerage — and said the AGNT structure is designed to give that agent-first mission “a permanent home” at the holding company level.

Redomestication to Texas

As part of the transformation, AGNT has completed its redomestication from Delaware to Texas. The move was recommended by a special committee of independent directors after a review process that lasted more than a year and was supported by outside counsel, according to the announcement. Shareholders approved the change at the company’s May 8, 2026, annual meeting.

The company said Texas law better matches its agent-driven business model because it expressly allows directors and officers to consider the interests of constituencies such as agents when exercising fiduciary duties. That framing is notable for broker-owners and shareholders watching how public real estate platforms navigate pressure to balance agent economics, profitability and litigation or regulatory risk.

This move comes despite New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who is a trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund, an AGNT shareholder, calling on investors to block the firm’s attempt to move its place of incorporation to Texas. 

Critics of the firm claimed that it was trying to reincorporate to dodge allegations that the company and its executives enabled the drugging and rapes of women attending recruiting events. 

AGNT has repeatedly told HousingWire that it “has zero tolerance for abuse, harassment or misconduct of any kind — including by the independent real estate agents who use our services,” and that it believes the claims against Sanford and the firm “are without merit.”

In mid-April, an AGNT spokesperson told HousingWire that the decision to reincorporate in Texas reflected “the Board’s considered judgment about the long-term operational and governance interests of the company and its shareholders. “

“Any characterization of the timing as ‘suspect’ misrepresents a lengthy, good-faith process and a misunderstanding of the reincorporation impacts on existing litigation,” the spokesperson said. 

AGNT said it will continue to use its website, www.agntinc.com, Securities and Exchange Commission filings, press releases, calls, webcasts and social channels as primary outlets for investor information.

This article was written by Brooklee Han and generated with the assistance of HousingWire Automation, then reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

The story has become part of The Horak Group’s family lore — and part of the reason the team’s connection to REMAX stretches back nearly four decades.

“I was in that pumpkin seat under the desk at another brokerage when [my mother] was doing board duty, desk duty,” Molly told HousingWire. "The owner came in and asked why a baby was here, said it wasn’t professional. She was in her early 20s, so what are you going to do? So, she went across the street to REMAX, and I ended up growing up in that office.

“They passed me and my sister around, and it was a very family atmosphere. My kids now have all worn little knit REMAX baby hoodies from the 1980s my mom had for us when we were little."

Today, that family-centered approach remains a defining characteristic of The Horak Group, which operates under REMAX Boone Realty in Columbia, Missouri.

The three-agent team — Molly Horak, her mother Susan Horak and Jan Wertzberger — earned a No. 16 national ranking among small teams for transaction sides on RealTrends Verified’s 2026 rankings — closing 247 in 2025.

For Molly, the explanation for the team’s sustained success is straightforward.

“We do have longevity,” she said. “I think my mother started in 1984, 1985, somewhere around there,” she said. “We’ve all just been doing this for a very long time, and have routines set and know what we need to do. It takes a lot of late nights and weekends, but we just keep going and it’s what we’ve always done.”

Susan Horak founded the business and remains its leader, with Molly helping on day-to-day operations and Wertzberger having been with the group for 30 years.

Technology and people

Although the team consists of only three agents, it has continued to evolve with changing technology.

Molly remembers a time when marketing a listing required far more time than it does today.

“I remember starting off in the company in the graphics and marketing office,” she said. “It was so funny, because back then it took like six of us to do 10% of what we do now with two people. You had to build the website from nothing, and it felt like every single time you had a new listing it was this long process of getting everything put on there.

“The websites would crash if you had more than nine photos, because the internet just wasn't what it is now, and the technology has just gotten so much better — so much faster.”

Despite advances in technology, the team's investment philosophy has remained consistent.

“I don't feel like we spend a ridiculous amount buying every new shiny thing,” Molly said. “But we do invest in people. We have a dedicated, full-time graphics and marketing [person]. It’s not always been the same person — but for probably 25 years, 30 years, we've just always had one because you need someone to run the website.”

That includes maintaining dedicated marketing support.

“We’ve always had a pretty decent listing volume [so] it's never made sense to have someone where we had to wait on their schedule when we needed new photos, especially during the recession years,” Molly said. “When things were sitting on the market for a very long time, you have to send people out to retake photos when the season changes and there's snow on the ground.”

Working with family

As The Horak Group hits 40 years in business, Molly believes the key to making a family business work is surprisingly simple.

“You've got to like each other,” she said. “I genuinely love working together. Frequently, we’ll be at the office till 8:30 at night or longer, just to get more done after the staff has left. Everybody goes home and then, all of a sudden, you get peak productivity. We work really well together then, or at any time.”

Still, she acknowledged that family partnerships aren't for everyone.

“Not every parent-child relationship is right for that,” Molly said. “And you can’t try to force it when it's not. We’ve just always had this family environment, and we really appreciated that about REMAX. My kids came to the office their first couple of years. When [my mother] got into real estate, back then, I think there was a higher concentration of men in real estate.

“It just wasn’t as normal to have a business be welcoming [to a woman who needed to bring kids to the office]. Now things are different, but REMAX was just so welcoming when it wasn’t what everyone did.”

For the Horaks, a family-friendly office that welcomed a baby in a pumpkin seat helped launch a real estate legacy that now ranks among the nation's best.

“Few people anywhere in the Legal Community are respected at the level of Jay,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “I encourage the United States Senate to confirm Jay as soon as possible.”

Clayton is the former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the former head of law firm Sullivan & Cromwell.

Pulte was appointed on June 2 to serve as acting DNI, stepping in after Tulsi Gabbard withdrew from the role. Pulte also serves as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and chairman of government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

But his appointment drew immediate criticism from Congress, and the DNI role traditionally requires Senate confirmation. Lawmakers quickly signaled that Pulte would face an uphill battle to secure approval for the permanent role.

On June 4, Senate Republicans and Democrats clashed over establishing guardrails for acting appointments. Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) joined Democrats in supporting an amendment to a budget reconciliation package that would bar Senate-confirmed agency heads from simultaneously performing the DNI role in an acting capacity. The amendment ultimately failed.

Following the pushback, Trump acknowledged the temporary nature of Pulte's intelligence role, stating that he was “not going to be permanent” because “I don’t think he’d want to be permanent.”

Another sign of congressional resistance emerged when the House of Representatives rejected a proposal to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) on Thursday. Democrats refused to back the measure explicitly due to Pulte’s nomination.

Critics have pointed out that Pulte lacks a traditional intelligence or military background for a role that oversees the broader U.S. intelligence community. The DNI is responsible for coordinating roughly 20 agencies and advising senior government officials on critical national security threats, including terrorism, espionage, cyberattacks and foreign influence operations.

The statute, formerly known as Senate Bill 6091, was signed into law in mid-March by Washington Governor Bob Furgeson. The law amends a section to the state’s real estate brokerage law that requires for-sale properties to be marketed broadly to the general public. 

“A broker may not market the sale or lease of residential real estate to a limited or exclusive group of prospective buyers or brokers, or any combination thereof, unless the real estate is concurrently marketed to the general public and all other brokers, except as reasonably necessary to protect the health or safety of the owner or occupant,” the new law states. 

While there is generally a flurry of activity any time a new law or regulation goes into effect, Adam Cothes, the leader of the Seattle-based Adam Home Team, brokered by eXp Realty, is not really expecting the law to change much for him or his business. 

“My brokerage has done a lot of meetings and trainings on this, but from my perspective this really feels more like background noise because it isn’t really a change from anything that we are already doing,” Cothes said. 

Just a ‘speed bump’

According to Cothes, this is due to his business being within the jurisdiction of Northwest MLS (NWMLS), which, as a non-Realtor affiliated MLS, does not have to adhere to the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR)  Clear Cooperation Policy. This means that NWMLS’s listing policy requires mandatory listing submission with no carve-out for office exclusive properties. 

While all listings must be submitted to NWMLS, Cothes said the MLS’s rules allow sellers to remove the address and withhold their name from any public advertising of the property, if they choose. 

“Becuase of NWMLS, this is how we have been operating for years, so it feels like more of a speed bump,” Cothes said. 

Although Cothes may see the law as a “speed bump” NWMLS CEO Justin Haag told HousingWire that in preparation for the law’s implementation, the MLS has focused on forms updates and member education. But like Cothes, he said the new law is not a change for NWMLS.

“Members already comply with the law through longstanding NWMLS rules that promote an open, fair, transparent and comprehensive marketplace,” Haag said. “Northwest MLS has long championed market transparency, with members sharing all listings with all brokers and all consumers. SB 6091, which promotes competition and fairness in access to housing, codifies that standard, ensuring that when a home is marketed for sale, it is available to all buyers and all brokers.”

While her business does not fall within NWMLS’s service area, Kim Hagel-Barkley, who runs The Barkley Group out of eXp Realty in Spokane, also does not believe this law will require much change on her part. 

“I don’t see this law impacting my business at all. None of my business has been from private listings,” Hagel-Barkley wrote in an email. “I’m sure once in a while, a home would sell because it was mentioned that it would be coming on the market to a team member or someone else but that was definitely not the norm at all. I really don’t see this law having an impact on the consumers I serve at all.” 

Pointing at Compass

Many real estate professionals in the state feel this law is targeted at Compass International Holdings and its three-phased marketing plan, in which a listing starts off as a Compass private exclusives before entering a coming soon status and eventually, in the case of over 90% of listings enrolled in this marketing plan, heading to the open market via the MLS. 

However, as the law only requires public marketing and does not state a listing must be immediately shared in the MLS, Compass told HousingWire that its three-phased marketing plan complies with the law. 

“Compass Private Exclusives and Compass Coming Soons are fully compliant with the new law,” a Compass spokesperson told HousingWire. “The new Washington law preserves homeowner choice. It affirms that homeowners in Washington can market their homes before listing them on the MLS or public portals.” 

When a listing is a private exclusive, Compass said consumers and agents at other brokerages can access these listings by reaching out to a Compass agent or visiting a Compass office to look at a listing book. Additionally, all of Compass’s coming soon listings are available on Redfin.

Compass is currently in a legal battle with NWMLS regarding its listing policy. In a lawsuit filed in April 2025, the brokerage company claimed that NWMLS “is a monopolist and a combination of competing real estate brokers and that its policies are the “most restrictive homeowner marketing rules in the country.”

Windermere’s “transparency addendum”

Despite the law and Compass’s assertions that all consumers and agents can access the firm’s private exclusive listings, at least one brokerage is looking to ensure its buyers know that they might not be able to see all possible listings due to potential private listings. 

On Thursday, Windermere Real Estate, a Seattle-based independent brokerage released an optional purchase addendum it created, which it said is aimed at increasing transparency for homebuyers amid the growth of private listing networks and off-market marketing strategies. The firm said the new “transparency addendum” is designed for use with standard residential purchase and sale agreements and is freely available to any licensed real estate agent or brokerage in the U.S.

Windermere said it developed the form in response to practices that can limit public visibility into a home’s listing and pricing history. According to the announcement, the form is meant to support buyer agents’ fiduciary duties by alerting buyers that publicly available information about days on market and price changes could be incomplete or inaccurate and by providing a structure for buyers to ask whether any relevant marketing or pricing history is being withheld. 

Ob Jacobi on concerns about transparency

“Select real estate brokerages are increasingly promoting private listing networks and off-market marketing strategies,” OB Jacobi, the president of Windermere Real Estate, told HousingWire. “While these approaches are not new, their growing prevalence raises concerns because they can obscure important market history from buyers, including days on market, prior pricing activity and prior marketing exposure. Windermere believes this trend risks leaving buyers unaware that critical information is being withheld from them, so we developed this transparency addendum to provide an added layer of protection.”

Jacobi added that the company felt that in Washington, the form would fill any gap still left unprotected by the new law.

“Consumers have been clear: they expect transparency. Buyers want confidence they’re seeing the full range of homes available, and sellers want assurance their property is reaching the widest possible audience,” Jacobi said. “When transparency erodes, so does trust in the system. Washington’s new law provides that extra layer of protection that consumers expect and deserve so that they can make educated buying and selling decisions about one of the largest financial investments of their lives.”

It remains to be seen if the law will have a material impact on agents and consumers in Washington or if it will be just a “speed bump.” But either way, Cothes said he is glad that the practice of publicly marketing a property for all consumers to see has been codified. 

“I am very much in favor of the law and support it. We all think it is very consumer friendly. Buyers generally have a better chance when inventory is broadly available instead of being limited to a small network,” Cothes said.

The report, released Thursday, found 40,355 properties with foreclosure filings — including default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions. That was down 5% from April but up 14% from May 2025.

Foreclosure starts increased 13% year over year to 27,304, while completed foreclosures — or real estate-owned (REO) properties — rose 6% to 4,092. ATTOM CEO Rob Barber said in the company announcement that elevated mortgage rates, higher homeownership costs and ongoing affordability pressures are contributing to the increase even as foreclosure activity “remains well below historical norms.”

Where foreclosure risk is highest

Nationwide, one in every 3,562 housing units had a foreclosure filing in May. The states with the highest foreclosure rates were:

• Florida: one in every 2,110 housing units
• South Carolina: one in every 2,287 units
• Maryland: one in every 2,369
• Nevada: one in every 2,386
• Indiana: one in every 2,516

Among metro areas with at least 2 million residents, Cleveland posted the highest rate, with one filing for every 1,524 housing units. It was followed by Baltimore (one in 1,804); Tampa (one in 1,878); Riverside, California (one in 1,980); and Orlando (one in 2,034).

For mortgage servicers, real estate investors and other market stakeholders, these state and metro-level rates highlight where distressed housing pipelines are thickening and where loss-mitigation or REO disposition resources may need to be rebalanced.

Texas, Florida and California lead in foreclosure starts

Lenders started foreclosures on 27,304 properties in May, down 4% from April but up 13% from a year earlier. The states with the highest number of foreclosure starts were:

• Texas: 3,590 starts
• Florida: 3,315 starts
• California: 2,530 starts
• Georgia: 1,161 starts
• Illinois: 1,150 starts

Some midsized metros are moving in the opposite direction. Among markets with at least 200,000 people and at least 20 foreclosure starts, the largest year-over-year drops in May occurred in:

• Santa Rosa, California (down from 93 starts in May 2025 to 21 in May 2026)
• Honolulu (68 to 30)
• Seattle (196 to 99)
• Visalia, California (39 to 22)
• Greeley, Colorado (78 to 45)

For lenders and servicers, higher starts in large states like Texas, Florida and California point to growing early-stage distressed pipelines. Conversely, sharp declines in select West Coast markets suggest local labor or affordability dynamics are improving relative to last year.

Completed foreclosures stay above 2025 levels

Lenders repossessed 4,092 properties through completed foreclosures in May, a 20% decline from April but a 6% increase from May 2025. The states with the most REO properties were:

• Texas: 519 REOs
• California: 427 REOs
• Florida: 340 REOs
• Illinois: 223 REOs
• Michigan: 222 REOs

Among metros with more than 200,000 residents, the highest REO counts were in:

• Chicago (204 REOs)
• Detroit (124)
• Houston (122)
• Dallas (88)
• New York City (84)

Elevated REO totals in large Midwest and Sun Belt markets point to steady inflows of distressed inventory for investors, fix-and-flip operators and single-family rental buyers, although volumes remain far below pre-2008 levels.

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication. 

“She goes, Leo, let me just tell you how horrible it is to sell real estate here,” Pareja said. “I have to go to eight different weeks, I have to go to the portals like SeLoger and all the other ones, and then I have to go to REMAX and KW and eXp, and that may get me 60% of the inventory, and then I have to call the local offices around the area the client is curious about. They may or may not call me back.”

Her conclusion was blunt: “It feels like 100 years compared to what we have in the U.S.”

For Pareja and NextHome CEO James Dwiggins, that is not just a cautionary tale. It is the future they are trying to avoid as consolidation accelerates, private listings expand and the industry’s long-standing system of shared listing data comes under pressure.

The two executives recently discussed eXp Realty’s acquisition of NextHome on the RealTrending podcast, but the conversation quickly moved beyond deal mechanics. To them, the tie-up is part of a larger fight over consumer access, listing distribution, artificial intelligence and the future structure of brokerage.

Pareja said consolidation in real estate is following a familiar historical pattern.

“If you look at American history, when industries start to consolidate, they tend to not stop, and so consolidation begets consolidation,” he said. “Industries that for decades were fragmented all of a sudden become consolidated.”

He compared the current moment to the airline industry and even the railroad consolidation of the late 1800s. For real estate, he said, the pressure is coming from a combination of national platforms, technology, industry downturns and capital.

For eXp, Pareja said, NextHome offered something different from a pure scale play.

“We were looking for a platform that was synergistic and complimentary, that didn’t cannibalize our business,” he said. “We recruited a total of 28 agents in 2025 away from them, right? So there was almost zero overlap.”

Dwiggins said NextHome’s leadership had reached similar conclusions about where the industry was headed.

“We built this business from the ground up, no investors, from a garage, mortgaged our houses and took all of our savings accounts to create the company,” he said. “We (James and co-CEO Keith Robinson) built this beautiful boutique franchise business.”

But, he added, the market was changing fast.

The private listings war

“We needed protection from a private listings war, which I unfortunately think is here and about to get accelerated,” Dwiggins said.

Private listings were a central concern for both executives. Dwiggins said they have a limited place in the market, but he believes they are being pushed far beyond that.

“I think private listings are a really bad thing for the industry,” he said. “It’s always been, in my opinion, something that should be used in a very small use case.”

He framed the issue around the seller’s interests. “Isn’t our job supposed to be about putting the seller’s interests forward?” Dwiggins said. “Did we forget who we actually work for in this process?”

Pareja said the North American MLS system remains one of the industry’s greatest advantages, especially compared with markets where portals dominate access to inventory.

“What makes North American real estate wonderful is we have MLS, and we also syndicate data to actual competitors that fiercely compete for those positions,” Pareja said. “Creating more distribution of our seller’s listings is better, and like, fight me on that one.”

That belief also underpins eXp’s deal with Google, HouseCanary and ComeHome. Pareja said the arrangement gives the brokerage more control over how its listings are distributed. “The fact that we are the ones sending the data via my state and the relationship with HouseCanary, that actually puts me in control to take it away if they go back on their word or we don’t like the position they take,” he said.

He also said scale matters in a fragmented environment. “NextHome could not have done the Google deal that we did, purely just because they didn’t have enough scale to do it,” Pareja said. “But now that we’re together, we went from 72,000 active listings to 80,000 active listings.”

Is AI a black swan event for the listing ecosystem?

Both executives argued that broader distribution is not only good for sellers, but necessary as search changes. Dwiggins said the home search experience remains outdated. “When you go to portals today, the search experience is basically the same as it’s been for, I don’t know, like 15 or 20 years — bedrooms, bathrooms, and square footage,” he said.

He said buyers want a more intuitive search experience, one that reflects how people actually think about where they want to live. “I want a pool, and I want to have it [on a] north-facing slope, and I want to have this, and I want to have that, and I want it to be this far from my favorite restaurants in downtown,” he said.

Pareja sees AI as a possible “black swan event” for the listing ecosystem. “There is a black swan event, which is that LLMs really get to understand every nook and cranny of any listing available,” he said.

If AI-powered search becomes the default consumer experience, Pareja said, brokerages need to think carefully about positioning. “What puts us in pole position if that statement is true?” he said. “Wouldn’t it be good to give the world’s biggest LLM all of our properties that are actively available for sale in real time?”

Leadership structure is moving too slowly

Still, both leaders said the industry’s leadership structure is moving too slowly. Pareja called it “an abdication of leadership.” Dwiggins was equally direct.

“There are too many unqualified people, and I say that as respectfully as possible, on boards making decisions that they’re not qualified to make,” he said. “That is the problem with organized real estate, from associations to MLSs all the way down.”

For broker-owners and agents, however, both executives said the answer is not to obsess over every technology headline. It is to return to relationships and value.

“In a hyper AI tech focus world, I think the human is going to be at a premium,” Pareja said. “I would obsess with relationships and value, and everything else is noise.”

Dwiggins agreed. “A human connection, I think, is going to be the most important thing to remember in an AI-based world,” he said. “This is an infrequent transaction that people do once every eight to 13 years. It’s not an Amazon package, it’s something that’s scary, it’s expensive.”

For Dwiggins, the industry’s future still rests on a simple question.

“If you wouldn’t do it with the sale of your own home, then don’t do it with other people,” he said.

Listen to the full RealTrending podcast.

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

Jim Brodsky, a founding member of Washington, D.C.-based law firm Weiner Brodsky Kider PC, says that AI should be categorized as an assistant but not a replacement for humans. Licensed mortgage originators and companies that delegate work to AI must be in control of the process as legal and operational challenges can follow if the relationship is inverted.

Brodsky delivered his message to attendees at this week’s Western Regional Meeting of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association. As general counsel to NRMLA and its 300 member companies, Brodsky said that companywide policy adoption and partnerships with knowledgeable vendors are essential to staying out of hot water.

“If AI is not introduced in your company on an enterprise-wide basis … you’re going to have issues. It’s just inevitable,” Brodsky said. “The choice among providers requires a level of understanding of our business that some have and some don’t, and that’s a critical choice as well.

“When this is done right, it’s going to offer compliance and increased productivity opportunities for lenders and institutions … a force multiplier.”

Existing laws that apply to AI communications

Brodsky’s presentation touched on the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and its application to AI voice assistants used for inbound or outbound calls. He said that consumers must express prior consent before companies can initiate contact while noting exceptions for established business relationships that are active within the past 18 months. But exceptions do not extend to affiliate companies.

The National Do Not Call Registry, maintained by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), also applies to AI-driven communications — i.e., “do not call means do not chat,” according to Brodsky. All outgoing communications, whether conducted by a human or technology, must identify the caller and provide contact information.

Unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices (UDAAP) — which were established under the Dodd-Frank Act and enforced by the FTC and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) — also apply.

Consumers must be notified upfront whenever a lender or servicer chooses to interact with them using AI, whether it’s inbound or outbound calls. They also must be provided an easy and accessible way to opt out of the AI interaction and speak with a human representative instead. Brodsky stressed that making it difficult for customers to reach a real person creates potential liability under UDAAP.

When it comes to privacy and security tied to the information received by AI, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 applies. It states that companies must know where consumer data is stored, how it’s used and who controls it.

“That data is now absorbed in the learning facility of the AI as it’s learning from that data,” Brodsky explained. “Where does it go? Where does it stay? You need to be very robust there.”

Loan officers that use AI for marketing, application or processing tasks should remember that their bots aren’t licensed at the state or federal levels. Brodsky said they should ensure their technology identifies a human LO by name and includes their Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS) number so consumers know a credentialed person is in charge.

“Those licensing requirements still envision having you, a licensed natural person and a real company, be responsible to do the tasks,” he said.

Colorado law could provide a template

Lastly, Brodsky mentioned a state-level law that’s set to take effect Jan. 1, 2027. Colorado’s Automated Decision-Making Technology Act repeals similar legislation that was passed in 2024 and slated for adoption in February 2026.

Brodsky said the statute creates a framework for AI regulations across the financial services industry and is likely to serves as guidance for other states. For mortgage lenders, it applies to “consequential decisions” around credit access and eligibility.

Technology developers have obligations under the law to disclose the intended uses and classify the data that’s training their tools. They also must provide any known limitations and risks along with instructions for human oversight.

Lenders that deploy the tools must inform consumers that AI is being used to make credit decisions. If a loan applicant is rejected, they must explain the reasoning reached by AI and offer “meaningful human review and reconsideration,” according to Brodsky.

While AI tools have become more common, many title and escrow firms remain uncertain about how to implement the technology effectively within their existing workflows.

Qualia CEO Nate Baker said the company believes that hesitation is becoming increasingly difficult for businesses to afford.

“I think the single most important thing happening in the world right now is AI getting better very quickly,” Baker told HousingWire. “Every company, every title company needs to answer the question of, 'Next month, when AI gets better, how does that instantly cause my business to be better?'

“If you can't answer that question, you're going to be on the losing end of AI.”

Qualia Clear Essentials is built directly into the company's Core platform and includes three primary tools at launch — the Qualia Clear Support Assistant, the AI Order Opener and the CD Processor.

The company is introducing Clear Essentials less than a year after launching Qualia Clear, a broader AI platform designed to automate workflows and perform tasks within transaction files.

According to Baker, Clear Essentials is intended to help companies become comfortable using AI before adopting more advanced capabilities.

“I think that a lot of people hear about AI, and they're afraid of it,” Baker said. “They're afraid that it's going to take their job or replace them, but our view is that AI is going to amplify people and make people far more effective and provide a much better service to people who are buying and selling homes.”

He described the new offering as “a smooth on ramp” for organizations that have not yet incorporated AI into day-to-day operations.

Support functionality

The Support Assistant functions as an AI-powered chat tool that can answer questions about transactions, platform usage and operational issues — accessing information tied to specific files within the Qualia system.

Baker said the assistant is being used for everything from troubleshooting balancing issues to helping employees learn the platform.

“One thing that's interesting is I expected that this would reduce the number of support tickets that we received from our customers,” he said. “What we're seeing is that clients are asking Clear Essentials 10 times-plus more support questions."

The trend suggests employees often need assistance throughout the day but may be reluctant to interrupt managers or contact support teams for smaller questions, Baker added.

Automation benefits

Two additional tools included in the launch focus on reducing repetitive administrative work.

The AI Order Opener extracts information from purchase and refinance contracts and automatically populates order information within the platform.

Users review and approve the information before proceeding.

Baker said the process addresses one of the most time-consuming tasks in title operations.

“Opening an order takes 30 minutes to an hour for the average title company, and you do that on every transaction,” he said. “This just does that entire process. In the last day, I've heard many anecdotes from customers saying, ‘This is the best feature you've ever launched,' because they hadn't been familiar with Clear or with AI."

The CD Processor is designed to analyze lender closing disclosures, import charges into files and identify discrepancies between lender documents and information already contained in the transaction record.

“It's a tedious process of identifying differences in documents, and it's error prone,” Baker said. “That super tedious process of staring and comparing is just automated at this point. Reducing time spent reviewing documents could allow employees to focus more on communicating with homebuyers and sellers — to explain what's different or why the transaction is happening this way."

Data protection, future development

Baker said nothing changes with customer and consumer information confidentiality.

“The consumer data is bound by all the same confidentiality that we already have with our customers and with the platform,” he said. “Additionally, we're reviewing the answers that it is providing to make sure there's a human in the loop that's getting it right.”

Looking ahead, Baker said Clear Essentials will continue to evolve as AI capabilities advance.

“I think Clear Essentials is going to be a rapidly changing and evolving product,” he said. “[That could include] core types of documents, more actions, more integration with email.”

For Qualia, the launch reflects a broader belief that AI is becoming a necessity rather than an optional technology investment.

“Maybe a year ago it was optional as a title company to use AI, and today it is a requirement,” Baker said. “If you are not using AI in your business, you will not be competitive today — and you will not be competitive in 12 months.”

In “The Home Sale Transaction, Reconsidered,” authors Amit Kulkarni and Russ Cofano of Alloy Advisors, dissect the economics of a standard U.S. resale transaction in 2025 and argue that the current real estate commission structure is misaligned with the actual value delivered.

Using a $400,000 sale as a benchmark, the authors estimate a combined $39,660 in “hard” transaction costs — about 9.92% of the sale price — flowing to third parties, based on national averages and cross-market data. Sellers bear about three-quarters of that total, or $30,200, while buyers pay roughly $9,460 at closing beyond their down payment.

According to Kulkarni and Cofano, for housing professionals, the findings of the report present both a margin risk and a competitive opening: AI-enabled consumers will be able to see, question and negotiate specific line items in ways that were not possible even a few years ago.

“The real estate industry thinks that AI is just here to serve the industry and real estate professionals, but that is not the case,” Kulkarni told HousingWire. “AI is here to serve whoever wants to use it and that could mean a variety of different things for different industries, but when it comes to the real estate transaction, I think it will mean that consumers will soon find it overpriced.” 

For Kulkarni, AI is putting a point on the cost of transacting real estate as it is becoming clearer the value the human being can provide and the value AI provides. 

Commissions dominate the friction

According to the analysis, real estate commissions account for $23,000 of the $39,660 in total costs on the sample transaction — 5.75% of the sale price and 76% of all seller-paid friction. The remaining $16,660 is taken up by things like transfer taxes, owner’s title insurance, settlement fees, loan origination fees, underwriting fees, appraisals and home inspections. Additionally, the analysis argues that embedded in an agent’s commission is a “platform tax,” which it attributes to portal referral programs and MLS fees that rarely appear as standalone charges to consumers.

Post-settlement commissions have not fallen

The report directly addresses expectations that the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) commission lawsuit settlement would compress real estate commission rates. Citing data from Clever Real Estate and Redfin, the authors note that the national average commission rose to 5.44% in mid-2025, up from 5.32% the prior year. Additionally a HousingWire survey from April 2025, found that 58.8% of agents said their buy-side commissions had not changed since the settlement went into effect in August 2024, while 11.76% reported that their commissions had increased. 

According to the report, there are several structural reasons why commission rates have not changed, including that the business practice changes did not remove seller-paid buyer commissions in practice, that 13 states and Washington, D.C., effectively ban à la carte brokerage services and the system is structured in a way that only compensates agents when a deal closes. 

Kulkarni and Cofano write in the report that these factors help explain why overall commission levels have been sticky despite significant legal and regulatory change — and why simple disclosure shifts may not be enough to move the national average.

What the agent’s work is actually worth

A central thesis of the paper is that most of the tasks historically bundled into a 3% listing commission have been commoditized by software and AI, while the remaining “human core” of the job does not scale with home price. The report separates agent tasks into two tiers:

• Tier 1 – AI-compressed tasks: Comparative market analyses, MLS entry, listing descriptions, offer modeling, transaction coordination and basic disclosure checks. Pre-AI, the report pegs their combined market value at roughly $1,500 to $3,500 per listing. With modern tools, the authors estimate the marginal cost of these services has fallen close to zero for a competent AI user, aside from $10 to $30 per deal for workflow software.
• Tier 2 – Human-value tasks: Skilled negotiation execution, emotional coaching, on-site judgment, hyperlocal knowledge and licensed fiduciary accountability. Using comparable professional service benchmarks, Alloy Advisors estimates this “human core” is worth roughly $2,000 to $6,500 per transaction, regardless of home price.

By comparison, a 3% listing commission on a $400,000 property is $12,000, and on a $1.5 million property it is $45,000, even though the underlying Tier 2 work does not increase proportionally.

Where agents continue to bring value 

According to Cofano and Kulkarni, the commission model’s indifference to skill is the heart of the problem, as consumers cannot reliably distinguish a top-decile agent from a median one before signing a contract with one, yet both typically charge the same percentage rate.

For agents, teams and brokerages, the implication is that sustained premium pricing will increasingly require demonstrable performance on the specific tasks where human skill still moves outcomes — particularly negotiation and local market insight — as AI not only automates more tasks for agents, but provides consumers with more information. 

“The more AI is used by consumers and the more information about a transaction it can provide them, becoming a real legitimate tool for them to process information as opposed to the human hand they are holding through the transaction. For the industry to not expect that to impact the fundamental economics of this, is just fantasy,” Cofano said. 

The report cites Realtor.com research from 2025, that shows that about 82% of active or potential buyers and sellers reported using AI for housing insights and respondents rated agents and AI nearly evenly on which source made them “smarter” about the market, with agents still perceived as more accurate overall. However, a YouGov survey from December 2025 cited in the paper found that 65% of Americans trust AI to compare prices on major purchases, including homes, but only 14% expressed trust in AI to act on their behalf in such decisions.

This level of information trust, according to Kulkarni and Cofano, is sufficient to put downward pressure on real estate commissions and other fees because AI can evaluate proposed terms, line items and alternatives in real time. 

“Whether they like it or not, these things are happening and they will have an impact on the structure of the business, the compensation of the business, how services are delivered and what services need to be delivered,” Kulkarni said. “Folks need to understand that this is not going to be the status quo. Things are going to change now that consumers are empowered with these tools.” 

Change is afoot 

For housing professionals, the authors say the takeaway is that near-term competitive pressure will come from AI-assisted consumers and new pricing options, long before large-scale regulatory overhaul or pure AI listing platforms reshape the landscape.

“People have always said they wanted a better way to transact real estate, but there really has not been a viable alternative that allows them to do it, but this is an actual viable alternative,” Cofano said. “There are consumers buying and selling just with the help of AI now — it’s still on the edges, but it could eventually become mainstream.” 

For agents, Alloy Advisors said this means they will have to work hard to hone the skills that support tasks AI is not suited to do, such as mentally supporting consumers through what can be an emotionally charged process and negotiating on behalf of their clients. 

“There is a reason consumers dislike buying cars and it is because, for most consumers, the stress around negotiating on their own behalf is something that's very unpleasant and they're not good at it,” Cofano said. “So, it is important to highlight here that we believe that the role of the agent as active negotiator and trust companion in the transaction plays a meaningful role and is worth money. And I don’t think that is going away anytime soon.” 

Alloy Advisors hopes this serves as a wake up call for agents and brokers to begin thinking about what their business will look like in an AI-forward world. 

Regardless of exactly what that world will look like, Cofano and Kulkarni agree that the “great agent will win.”

“Great agents win because they put the consumer at the heart of their business. They generally do what is right for the person that they are actually serving and who is paying money,” Kulkarni said. “For brokers this means that many may need to pivot their model to put the consumer at the center and find ways to help the agent better serve this new well-informed consumer.”

This article was written by Brooklee Han and generated with the assistance of HousingWire Automation, then reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

However, the market reaction to this week's news is very telling to me. Mortgage rates and oil prices haven’t skyrocketed higher — in fact, oil prices and the 10-year yield have tended to fade lower after each headline. Let’s look at what is going on and what it could mean for rates the rest of the year.

Oil prices

We are well into June and oil inventories are being drained fast, which is a big problem for the world economies. This week, the U.S. attacked Iran twice and President Trump has threatened to attack them later tonight and seize their oil fields. With every headline, oil prices haven’t regained the previous high. Why?

I believe the oil market thinks we are closer to a deal than the general public does. Traders don’t want to commit more money at higher prices because they don’t want to be caught off guard. We saw how quickly fertilizer prices peaked at $986 on April 10, 2026, and have since collapsed to $799. Pre-conflict prices were $753 and commodity traders are all well aware of how wild trading can get. This week, we have had crazy headlines and we haven’t been able to get WTI oil prices above $94.

We might be at the point where traders believe Iran itself can’t hold out much longer, especially if NATO gets involved in July, as they promised, with oil revenues falling due to the blockade.

Mortgage rates and the 10-year yield

Mortgage rates are near yearly highs, and the 10-year yield has behaved similarly to oil prices this week: it rises on headlines and then tends to fade. Currently, the 10-year yield is 4.52%, below the peak of 4.68% we have seen this year. This, even with all the crazy headlines this week and PPI inflation was very hot today.

For now, the 10-year yield has only exceeded my peak forecast of 4.60% once, during the most hectic headline-driven events of the conflict, and is currently 16 basis points lower the top of 4.68%.

On another note, we should give a medal to mortgage spreads, which are the only reason mortgage rates haven’t ranged between 7%-7.875% this year.

Mortgage rates do have some upside potential above my target peak forecast of 6.75% for the rest of the year, but for now, better mortgage spreads and how bond and oil traders are acting this week have kept a lid on rates getting above that.

Conclusion

If you’re confused on why oil prices and the 10-year yield aren’t higher, I totally get it. Remember, traders don’t care about politics or what the next pundit says on TV — they’re here to make money.

This week, we had many reasons for oil prices and the 10-year yield to go much higher, but currently they’re fading lower despite these headlines, taking oil prices and the 10-year yield slightly lower. I'll continue to watch the headlines and how these markets behave to see how these factor affect mortgage rates.

The amended complaint, filed June 8 by law firm Singleton Schreiber in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, adds Jamie and Alicia Williams of Weld County and Douglas Clayton of Longmont as named plaintiffs alongside original plaintiffs Katharine and Charles Kane of Centennial.

The case builds on a class-action lawsuit initially filed in April 2026 by the Kanes, who allege Unison deceptively marketed its home equity agreements as a simple, debt-free alternative to traditional mortgages. According to that complaint, the Kanes received roughly $87,000 after fees at the start of their agreement, but Unison estimated they could owe as much as $278,618 to terminate the contract as of March 31, 2026.

Unison’s product, similar to competitor offerings, provides homeowners with an upfront cash payment in exchange for a share of the home’s future value. The company has promoted the agreements as involving "no debt, no interest, no monthly payments" while describing itself as a “partner” that shares in a home’s gains and losses.

The lawsuit argues these claims are misleading because homeowners are still obligated to repay the company, typically through a large lump-sum payment when the agreement ends or the home is sold. The amended complaint alleges the new plaintiffs experienced similar outcomes.

“Every new plaintiff in this case tells the same story; they trusted Unison’s promise of a simple, interest-free product, and they are now trapped,” Elizabeth Aniskevich, senior counsel at Singleton Schreiber, said in a statement. “This amended complaint shows that what happened to the Kanes is a reflection of how Unison operates, rather than an isolated incident, happening to hundreds of Colorado homeowners right now.”

Unison did not respond to HousingWire's request for comment at the time of publication.

According to the amended complaint, the Williamses entered into an agreement with Unison in 2019 as they sought funds to help cover business expenses. They say they received $30,861 of a $64,600 advance after Unison required them to use a portion of the funds to pay down their primary mortgage.

The couple has since moved to Adams County after Jamie Williams accepted a job nearly two hours from their Weld County home and listed the property for sale. They are awaiting a final payoff amount and are concerned about their ability to purchase another home, according to the filing.

Meanwhile, Clayton — a 66-year-old middle school custodian from Longmont — initially sought a home equity line of credit but instead entered into a Unison HEI agreement, the complaint alleges. Out of a $63,750 advance, Clayton received $28,294 after more than half of the funds were directed toward debts selected by the company. The lawsuit notes that the agreement will not terminate until Clayton is 94 years old.

The amended complaint also includes accounts from other Colorado homeowners. These include a disabled U.S. Army veteran on a fixed income who allegedly faces an effective interest rate ranging from 13% to 19.2%, and a firefighter who inherited responsibility for a Unison agreement after his father died of pancreatic cancer at age 62.

Broader scrutiny of HEI products

The lawsuit alleges violations of the Colorado Consumer Protection Act, the Colorado Uniform Consumer Credit Code, and Colorado laws governing forward and reverse mortgages. According to the complaint, the Colorado Division of Real Estate has stated that home equity agreements, such as those offered by Unison, may qualify as residential mortgages that require licensure, and the plaintiffs contend Unison does not hold the required license.

"Unison also engages in a variety of practices during marketing, signing, and servicing of the agreement that keep homeowners in the dark when it comes to the true nature of the Unison product, in violation of the Colorado Consumer Protection Act," the amended complaint reads.

The original complaint also alleged that Unison structured agreements to maximize its returns while limiting its own risk. This includes discounting a home’s initial value, requiring homeowners to pay all property-related costs during the contract term and retaining control over the appraisal process used to determine the home’s final value.

The plaintiffs argued that these practices can leave homeowners with little remaining equity after a sale despite years of ownership.

The Colorado case is one of several legal challenges facing Unison and the broader home equity investment industry. A separate lawsuit filed earlier this year in California alleges the company uses equity-sharing contracts that function as unlicensed, high-interest mortgages disguised as investment partnerships.

In another case, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year in Olson v. Unison that the company’s product functioned as a reverse mortgage under Washington state law, and that the company engaged in deceptive marketing practices, although the case was later settled.

Energy shock returns as key cost driver

• Energy input prices to residential construction surged 17.2% in May and are 62.8% higher than a year ago.
• No. 2 diesel fuel posted the largest annual increase among tracked inputs, with prices up 105.9% year over year.

Core materials: moderate but persistent inflation

• Building material prices: +0.7% month over month; +4.4% year over year.
• Softwood lumber: +5.6% year over year.
• Ready-mix concrete: +1.7% year over year.
• Metal molding and trim: +42.9% year over year.
• Gypsum building materials: −1.1% year over year.

Services costs hold firm

• Total service inputs: flat month over month; +4.7% year over year.
• Trade services (about 60% of the services index): +3.8% year over year.
• Transportation and warehousing services (about 11%): +17.3% year over year.
• Other services (about 29%): +1.7% year over year.

Why this matters for builders

• Spec vs. to-be-built: Rising input prices favor shorter cycle times and tighter purchasing windows. Long lead-time, to-be-built contracts locked months in advance face greater margin risk.
• Escalation and allowances: The return of high monthly volatility, especially in energy and transportation, may justify revisiting escalation clauses and material allowances in contracts with buyers and trade partners.
• Product and option mix: Categories with outsized inflation — metals, transportation-intensive components — may warrant value engineering or substitution, particularly in entry-level and first move-up segments sensitive to total monthly payment.
• Land and deal underwriting: Pro formas that assumed flat or disinflating materials over the next 12–18 months may need to be re-run with higher construction cost contingencies.

Key takeaway for the field

In a blog post, Google said it is rolling out enhanced Local Services Ads (LSAs) for home listings across all 50 U.S. states following a limited pilot program. The company said this expands a paid lead-generation option for real estate agents who advertise on Google. In order to use LSAs, Google said a business must have a physical location asset linked to their advertising campaign. 

These advertisements showcase property information — including price, photos and core home features — directly within LSAs, according to a company announcement. The listing data is powered by HouseCanary’s ComeHome.com platform, through agreements with participating MLSs. Through the listings, consumers have access to links to request a tour of a property or contact a buyer’s agent.

When consumers search for homes on Google, the updated LSAs are designed to connect them with local real estate agents at the moment they begin their search. From the ad unit, buyers can call, message or book an appointment with an agent.

“Our goal is to deliver a helpful real estate experience by acting as a supporting bridge,” the blog post stated.

Existing LSA agents will automatically appear in the enhanced home listing experience. New agents can enroll in Local Services Ads directly, while portal partners can onboard their agents through the LSA managed partner program, Google said.

Google began testing this advertising program that embeds for-sale home listings directly into mobile search results back in December 2025 before appearing to pull these listings in early January. In mid-May, however, the listings reappeared in search results in many of the original test markets, including Miami, New York, Cleveland, Chicago, Austin, San Francisco and Los Angeles.  

As real estate listing portals, including Zillow, Redfin and Realtor.com, have begun launching application integrations within LLMs like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, many in the housing industry have questioned if this usage falls within MLS data usage and IDX feed rules. In turn, this has opened a discussion surrounding both the modernization of MLS rules and listing data control.

This article was written by Brooklee Han and generated with the assistance of HousingWire Automation, then reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

The Framework for Responsible AI in the Mortgage Ecosystem, known as FRAME, is now available to MISMO member companies through MISMO Connect.

FRAME was introduced during MISMO's Spring Summit in Louisville, Kentucky, where lenders, servicers, technology providers and compliance professionals received an overview of the framework and its implementation tools.

The framework was developed in collaboration with MISMO's AI Community of Practice and is intended to help organizations establish policies, procedures, controls and oversight mechanisms for the responsible use of artificial intelligence.

The initiative originated with the Mortgage Bankers Association's Residential Board of Governors, which asked MISMO to lead the development of an AI governance framework tailored to the mortgage industry.

"RESBOG recognized early that our industry needed practical guidance for responsible AI adoption," said Dan Sugg, 2026 chairman of the Residential Board of Governors and chief mortgage lending officer at Michigan First Credit Union. "Mortgage companies are increasingly utilizing AI-enabled systems, and they need a framework that helps them manage risk while supporting innovation."

FRAME includes a governance policy template, an AI system inventory, an AI system risk assessment, implementation guidance and a getting-started guide. The tools are designed to help organizations identify, assess, monitor and govern AI-enabled systems used across their operations.

Rick Hill, vice president of industry technology at MBA and a contributor to the framework, said the toolkit is intended to serve as a risk management resource rather than create additional regulatory requirements.

"The goal is not to create new regulations or additional bureaucracy, but to help mortgage companies understand where AI is being used, assess the risks associated with those use cases, document their decision-making, and establish a repeatable governance process," Hill said.

MISMO President Brian Vieaux said the organization plans to continue refining the framework through engagement with regulators, government-sponsored enterprises, investors and other stakeholders.

"Our goal is to create a practical framework that lenders can use today while helping build broader understanding and acceptance across the industry," Vieaux said.

The announcement comes a day after the MBA released a white paper urging the mortgage industry to develop a unified framework for managing artificial intelligence. The white paper, which warned about the risks that AI poses to the financial services industry, recommended that lenders maintain a “human in the loop” approach.

Government agencies have started to address the issue of AI governance. Earlier this year, Freddie Mac updated its seller-servicer guide to include AI and machine learning governance requirements, and Fannie Mae issued guidance calling on lenders to establish policies and procedures that govern AI systems.

This article was written by Sarah Wolak and generated with the assistance of HousingWire Automation, then reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

However, we work hard to boost our reputation. During the height of the short-sale market, sales stifled to a quarter of what they were, and the average price sold went down 35%. It was like getting a 35% pay cut and having your hours compensated cut by 75%!

Plus, no health insurance or 401k. I once paid $10 for gas with a set of quarters found around the house and waited for a check to clear to bring one of our kids to a needed doctor’s appointment. Those short-sale clients who see me around town today still give the biggest hugs and gratitude for the work I did. Those sales were fulfilling as well, seeing people move on with their lives.

I’ve hired hundreds of real estate agents over the years and every single one of them wants to help people. Of course, money is important. My advice — which I tell every new agent — is to concentrate on getting the letter of recommendation and doing a wonderful job. The money will follow in referrals and take care of itself. 

Private listings keep sellers from getting the best possible price

Today, we real estate professionals are forced to offer a new program to sellers who we represent. It’s called a “private listing.”

This new option is mandated by the Dark Powers in our industry.  It’s a weird idea. Mostly because it can keep the seller from getting the best possible price.

We offer it because a small number of our customers want to keep their business out of the public eye.  They have their reasons. None of our business.

Unless Law enforcement shows up to the Open House.

Private listings are something I don’t recommend

Private listings keep the listing secret from much of the buyer population.

If a buyer is unaware of a product, how is the seller supposed to get the best price with the most advantaged terms? If you’re a homeowner, selling your home and this sounds a bit crazy to you, it’s because it is.

As a real estate broker for 26 years, I’m accustomed to crazy. So, a question might come to mind.

Why in the world is this private listing craziness occurring?  Giant corporate brokers have been suing each over and scrambling to come up with private listing plans in the last year.  The pitch to the seller goes as follows: Wouldn’t you like to not have to have people trampling through your home? Client nods yes. And I’m sure you’d find it nice to not have days on the market accumulate in the MLS?  Bigger nod by client. And, wouldn’t it be great to test the market first?  Of course!

But, in my opinion what happening here is straight-up gaslighting. Our brokerage posts a disclosure upfront that our sellers read and sign before we list a property for a private sale. No different than how the public discovered cigarettes were bad for your health and officials were forced to tell the truth about aftereffects. We are saying that private listings may be bad for the terms you get and for your wallet. Our disclaimer reads as follows:

Your home will not be listed with any public Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Potential Buyers will be unable to view homes not listed on a public MLS website and will not receive alerts for new listings and price adjustments.

Certain real estate brokerages and online portals may have policies which may restrict you from listing on their websites and might prevent your listing from having a full exposure to the buyer pool. Anything less than 100% exposure to all potential Buyers could result in a lower selling price.

Listing your home as an Echo Fine Properties Private Exclusive can limit the number of buyers who will see your home, extend your marketing timeline and create awareness among Echo Fine Properties agents regarding upcoming inventory. The Echo Fine Properties protocol generates interest with private marketing and provides valuable feedback before deciding to go public. Since the entire pool of Buyers may not have access to view your home, private listings is not a true indication of price and marketing.

Private exclusive listings, also known as off-market or pocket listings, are legal in Florida, but private listings are subject to the rules and regulations of the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Florida law requires that a listing agreement include the commission details agreed upon between the seller and the listing agent, but this information is no longer allowed in MLS listings. Exclusive private listing may result in Limited Exposure of Properties.

So, the next question is, why would the brokers be promoting this if it can harm their own client? Easy answer. The double dip, although that's been disputed. No, not the George Costanza from Seinfeld double dipping. This double dipping is more nefarious. The modus operandi in my opinion by having both sides of the transaction is so the real estate agent can double dip their earnings. Not mentioned in the advertising flyer so much, right? 

Are we setting ourselves up?

On August 17, 2024, NAR mandated that real estate agents must have Buyer Broker Agreements (BBA) explained, negotiated and signed by their clients the same way a listing agreement is signed by the homeowner. Their purpose was to disclose that commissions were really paid by the buyer. The industry lost hundreds of millions of dollars in lawsuits and settled hundreds of millions more. 

I see the exact same thing coming from sellers who are unaware of the potential loss of terms and dollars. In no case can you test the market by not exposing all potential homebuyers to a property available for them. Even if someone bought a home at full price off market, by not having all potential buyers witness it, a bidding war may have been stifled. And some buyers are going to meet a seller in the grocery store and tell them that, “I was in the market and would have paid more money if I was only aware.” Just like that our industry will have the next class action lawsuit. 

While I can’t carry a tune and never played a musical instrument, I can blow a whistle. Hopefully, this sounds an alarm.

Jeff Lichtenstein is the broker of Echo Fine Properties in Florida.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners.

To contact the editor responsible for this piece: tracey@hwmedia.com

Edgerton joins CMLS from Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, where she has served as chief legal officer for the past nine years. She brings 16 years of leadership experience in organized real estate, including five years as legal counsel at the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

“I am deeply honored to lead CMLS at a moment when our work has never mattered more,” Edgerton said in the announcement. “Our industry created the MLS for a vital purpose: to give real estate professionals a shared foundation of trusted information and to give consumers the data they need to confidently make the most significant financial decisions of their lives.”

As CEO, Edgerton will lead CMLS’s work to advance the multiple listing service community, strengthen member value and promote an accessible, efficient and transparent housing market enabled by the MLS, the organization said in its announcement.

“Jessica brings the vision, credibility and collaborative leadership CMLS needs for this important moment,” said Nicole Jensen, 2026 chair of CMLS and CEO of realMLS. “She understands the essential role MLSs play in creating access to trusted real estate information, supporting informed decisions and helping the market work for consumers and professionals.”

Edgerton is filling a role previously held by Denee Evans. In May of 2025, CMLS announced Evans’ plans to step down from her role after 11 years at the organization, joining in 2014 as CMLS’s first full-time staff member.

At LeadingRE, Edgerton supported a global network of more than 500 brokerages across 70 countries, many of which operate in markets without an MLS system. CMLS said that experience gives her firsthand perspective on the market impact of complete, accurate and trusted listing data.

“Through my work with brokerages around the world, I have seen what real estate markets look like when professionals and consumers do not have access to the complete, trusted information an MLS provides,” Edgerton said. “It gives me an even deeper appreciation for the MLS as essential market infrastructure and for the leaders who make that system work every day.”

Edgerton will work with the CMLS board, staff, members and partners to advance the organization’s mission and “strengthen the role of MLSs across North America,” according to the announcement.

This article was written by Brooklee Han and generated with the assistance of HousingWire Automation, then reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

What Dunner is describing is known as paltering, an active use of selective, factually truthful statements to mislead someone or create a false impression. There is an evidence-based argument that, without needed amendments, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is just the latest bipartisan deception, which strong-willed advocates, Congress and/or the White House should demand be fixed or flushed.

This pushback survey illustrates the following:

Per the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board.

• "A Bipartisan Housing Fiasco," "The new House legislation will raise costs and give more power to regulators." “Housing shortages are the result of restrictive state and local zoning and permitting" and “…eager to claim a victory on affordability, even if it’s likely to be pyrrhic.”

Per the WNG.org.

• Heritage economist E.J. Antoni, whose Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) nomination was pulled by the White House, said: “Unfortunately, though, a lot of them [aspects of the ROAD bill] are just more demand subsidies, and they’re more government programs, which aren’t actually going to fix the fundamental mismatch between supply and demand that we face today.”
• "Norbert Michel, director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, told WORLD"...“Whatever outcome current government policy and previous government policies have wrought, that’s where we are now. And you really shouldn’t expect anything radically different from this [housing] bill,” Michel said. “It really doesn’t radically change what we’ve been doing for the past several decades.”
• "Francis Torres, director of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s housing and infrastructure projects..." said: “I wouldn’t say that, as a renter, I would expect my rent to go down the month after this bill passes just because of this bill. I think in the long run, me and other people who rent would benefit from a more abundant rental housing market—would benefit from housing being easier and faster to build in the places where there’s most access to jobs and opportunities.”

AEI Housing Center's Edward Pinto and Tobias Peter asserted the ROAD bill's leftward subsidy-minded lurch is a "pork-filled potpourri," a "ROAD to less housing" and "Elizabeth Warren’s Housing Coup: The GOP Senate Is About to Pass a Bill That Is Great for Progressives."

Antoni argued that more migrant deportations can help the housing crisis, because it opens up existing housing. Roughly three million people have been deported or self-deported. But at that pace, a housing crisis estimated at some five to eight-plus million units isn't enough.

Construction is needed near where demand is and requires federal preemption.

HousingWire:

• "Recall HUD’s Pamela Blumenthal and Regina Gray said: “Without significant new supply, cost burdens are likely to increase as current home prices reach all-time highs…” and “The regulatory environment — federal, state, and local — that contributes to the extensive mismatch between supply and need has worsened over time. Federally sponsored commissions, task forces, and councils under both Democratic and Republican administrations have examined the effects of land use regulations on affordable housing for more than 50 years.”
• Perverse incentives and the fingerprints of the Iron Triangle or AmeRegCorp are in evidence."

For six months, an evidence-backed op-ed series via HousingWire made the argument, advanced by cited sources including MHARR, that without amendments to preempt zoning barriers plus affordable lending for more "inherently affordable manufactured homes" the ROAD bill won't work.

Stating the obvious can be clarifying.

• The National Association of Realtors (NAR) doesn't build houses.
• The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) for years said that without subsidies, conventional building/development is "untenable."
• Nearly 75% of Americans can't afford a new site-built house.

Subsidies are a leftist 'solution.' Applying economic insights from Thomas Sowell reminds us that subsidies shift and mask costs without fixing problems. "TANSTAAFL" is short for "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch" because someone must always pay.

Both NAR and NAHB have provided research documenting how modern manufactured homes defy decades of outdated mockery as "trailers" or "mobile homes." HUD and NAR documented that manufactured homes appreciate at similar or sometimes greater rates than conventional housing.

Per Catherine Koh/NAHB.

"The gap widens among homeowners, with manufactured homeowners earning a median of $41,500 versus $93,000 for single-family homeowners.

...The average cost per square foot for a new manufactured home in 2023 was $86.62, compared to $165.94 for a site-built home (excluding land costs)..."

The Biblical wisdom and ancient principle of 'separating the wheat from the chaff' must be applied to all sources, including purportedly notorious Manufactured Housing Institute (MHI) member Frank Rolfe. “So don’t tell me 'we can’t solve affordable housing' because the correct statement is 'we don’t want to solve affordable housing.' 'American incomes cannot support $400,000 homes and $2,000 apartment rents. Not even close. How did we end up in such a mess?' 'But there’s nothing more annoying than watching state and federal bureaucrats and non-profits that come up with ideas that don’t have a prayer of working and just throw good money after bad...news articles are a cornucopia of such idiocy. If you want to solve U.S. affordable housing you would have to eliminate all the barriers...'"

Per HousingWire: "Manufactured housing is the homeownership solve we keep ignoring" and "Comparing RV and manufactured housing data sheds critical light on U.S. affordable housing crisis."

National Homeownership Month is typically celebrated by NAR and NAHB to promote their members' products and services. Understandable. So, why has MHI for years failed to similarly promote it, as MHProNews repeatedly documented?

Why have smaller businesses and professionals within the MHI orbit asked them for years for a proper image and educational campaign, one mimicking for manufactured housing what the GoRVing campaign does for the RV industry?

Will detail- and honest-minded souls gaze beyond half-truths and paltering?

Without more inherently affordable manufactured homes, there will be more homelessness and more struggling to pay rent or higher-cost mortgages. 

Perverse incentives - AmeRegCorp, the Iron Triangle - keep housing constrained due to "man-made barriers." Who says? Artificial intelligence-powered Gemini, Grok, Copilot and ChatGPT. Let's be clear, AI and all computing rely on Two GIGOs: "Garbage In-Garbage Out" or "Good In-Good Out." Given accurate information, AI is adept at pattern recognition.

Most MHI leaders, corporate and staff, for years declined directly mentioning MHARR or yours truly. Why? AIs suggest strategic avoidance. Consolidation-focused MHI insiders want low production. Low 21st-century production, EconomicLiberties.us throttling plus limiting capital access foster consolidation into deeper pockets.

Those tables are evidence that without millions more manufactured homes, the housing crisis will continue. 

Congress and the White House can patch the potholes in the ROAD bill by adding the MHARR amendments. Fix it or flush it. 

L. A. "Tony" Kovach is the co-founder and publisher of ManufacturedHomeProNews.com and ManufacturedHomeLivingNews.com. 
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners. To contact the editor responsible for this piece: zeb@hwmedia.com.

UAD 3.6 is not a back-office update. It is a meaningful shift in how appraisal data is structured, delivered and interpreted, and lenders who engage with it early will be better positioned for the transition ahead.

The reality is that this change touches both the appraisal and lending sides of the business. For those who haven't started preparing, now would be a good time to begin.

No one will have all the answers, and that's OK

Many lenders are asking how to "train for UAD 3.6" as if it's a one-time event, but the transition will be more of an ongoing adjustment. This is not a system update to install and move on from. It's a shift that will call for flexibility, patience and a willingness to learn as things unfold.

Your teams shouldn't expect to have every answer on day one. Underwriters won't have a perfect playbook, and QC teams won't immediately know what to prioritize. That's completely normal for a change of this magnitude. The lenders that navigate it well will be the ones who understand what UAD 3.6 is asking of them and stay open to adapting in real time, rather than waiting for certainty before they act.

A chance to revisit workflows 

One thing UAD 3.6 does is invite lenders to take a closer look at how their appraisal processes are structured today. For years, those workflows have followed a familiar pattern: reports come in, underwriters review them line by line, conditions are issued and revisions follow. The pattern works, but it doesn't always work efficiently, and many teams have grown so accustomed to it that improvement can be hard to see from the inside.

UAD 3.6 introduces a more structured, data-driven format that changes how information is presented and evaluated. That shift will require some adjustment, particularly for underwriters who have developed precise review habits over time. Those habits are valuable, but they may need revision as teams learn to work with a new data structure.

Rather than treating that adjustment as a disruption, lenders can use it as a prompt to ask which parts of their current workflow genuinely serve the process and which have simply persisted out of habit. There's often more room to improve than teams realize until something pushes them to look.

What lenders can do right now

For those who want to move into UAD 3.6 smoothly, these steps can make a real difference.

1. Start with education. Rather than reducing UAD 3.6 to a checklist or a single training session, help teams understand what is changing and why. Underwriters, operations leaders and anyone who touches the appraisal process will benefit from a broader context. The goal is to build the judgment to work with new data over time, not memorize a new format.
2. Audit your current workflow. Map out how an appraisal moves through the organization today. Where do delays happen most often? Where do revisions cluster? Which steps consume the most time without necessarily requiring it? Understanding those patterns now means UAD 3.6 doesn't have to surface them under pressure.
3. Prepare your underwriters. This may be the most human part of the transition. Underwriters are trained to be precise and consistent, and those qualities remain essential. UAD 3.6 will simply ask them to bring an adaptive mindset alongside that precision, with the expectation that they'll learn and adjust as the new format becomes more and more familiar.
4. Engage partners early. AMCs, valuation providers and technology partners all have a stake in how this transition goes. Lenders that bring them into the conversation early will have a clearer picture of how appraisal data will be delivered and what process changes may follow.
5. Set realistic expectations. There will be an adjustment period. Turn times may fluctuate and review processes may need refinement before they settle. Communicating that now, before the pressure is on, will help teams stay focused on steady progress rather than measuring themselves against a standard of immediate perfection.

Get ahead while there's still time

It's easy to defer UAD 3.6 planning when rates are moving, volume is unpredictable and teams are stretched. But that's precisely when early preparation has the most value. Lenders that build some familiarity with the change now will have a steadier path when volume picks back up. Those that haven't will likely feel the strain in underwriting queues, extended turn times and operational friction that takes real time to unwind.

UAD 3.6 brings more structure, more consistency and real potential for greater efficiency. Capturing that potential will require a willingness to let go of familiar processes that may no longer be serving the organization well. 

Forward-thinking lenders will resist the urge to simply recreate old workflows in a new format. Instead, they'll ask where time is being spent, where reviews overlap and where decisions could move faster without sacrificing quality. The inefficiencies that exist in many appraisal processes today aren't there because they're necessary, but because they're familiar. UAD 3.6 gives lenders a reasonable basis to revisit them.

For organizations with appraisal processes that are already efficient and adaptable, UAD 3.6 will likely be an uncomplicated update. For those navigating longer turn times, duplicative reviews or recurring revision loops, this transition offers the opportunity to address those challenges rather than carry them forward.

Nikkita Phanda is Senior Vice President of Digital Operations at Class Valuation.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners. To contact the editor responsible for this piece: zeb@hwmedia.com.

That distinction was notable — but early success proved elusive.

“My mother got her real estate license, and I got mine a year later,” McNally told HousingWire. “I was so young, and I never closed a deal. It was hard to earn trust from homeowners, buyers, that sort of thing. I was there more to help my mother close deals.”

Two years later, he moved with his wife to her home state of Michigan, where McNally closed 55 deals in his first year.

Now a 20-year industry veteran, McNally has built one of the nation's most productive small real estate operations.

The Joe McNally Team — part of REMAX Together in Big Rapids, Michigan — earned the No. 28 national ranking among small teams for transaction sides on RealTrends Verified's 2026 The Thousand rankings after closing 203 transaction sides last year.

McNally attributes much of his long-term success to a business model centered on referrals and repeat clients.

“I have been extremely intentional about building a relationship-based business,” he said. “It's everyone's dream. It's what everyone obsesses about — every conference, every book, all of it, right? And there's a good reason for that.

“I've been quietly building that foundation for 14 or 15 years. And I'm so blessed. I don't advertise much for myself at all. I actually don't advertise myself at all.”

A top 30 ranking during a ‘down year’

Despite national recognition, McNally said 2025 was not one of the team's strongest years.

“It was a down year,” he said. “I've closed over 240 or 250— me and my two buyers agents — every year for the past five or six years. In the past, I want to say that we’ve ranked in the top 10 nationwide a couple times. It's just me and two agents, and one of them went back to school for her degree and worked part time through the year, that impacted us.”

Another personnel change added to the challenge.

“My other buyer's agent actually quit halfway through the year, had to replace him,” McNally said. “So yeah, little speed bump there.”

He continued to carry a significant share of the production himself.

“I personally closed around 138 last year, which was down from 172 the year before,” McNally said. “I just basically remarket to my past clients, I'm coming up on 2,000 personal career transactions under my belt, and it’s served me well. I think last year, 110 of my closings were direct referral, just word of mouth referral, which is a lot.”

Growing through REMAX

McNally has been affiliated with REMAX for 11 years.

“I actually started a REMAX franchise in Big Rapids, Michigan,” he said. “There wasn't one there. I continued to maintain my personal business, and then I was at a point — I actually came to this point too late, but better late than never — where I knew I needed to find a way to better serve my sellers and the buyers. I wanted a little more of a traditional team structure.

“I say team very loosely, because they're on my team, but they do their own volume and their volume goes under their name. They close, they list and they buy, but they're there to help me serve the sellers and the buyers that come along for my listings.”

Looking ahead, McNally believes the team is positioned to return to the production levels it achieved in previous years.

“I think getting my two agents recentered around priorities [will help business],” he said. “One of them graduated school about two months ago, so she's back rip-roaring. My other girl, she's back in the saddle full time, so I think we’re looking good.

“I think we're re-centering around that. I love what I do so much and I've got incredible systems in place.”

As for the secret behind his production, McNally insists there isn't one.

“I've been number one agent in in west central Michigan market for a very long time, and everyone thinks there's some big mystery,” he said. “It's pretty boring. It's just really about being committed and consistent every single day of the year, and I’ve always been good at that.

“I'm good at being consistent and good at communicating with clients and putting them first. I do it every day, every time, no matter what.”

For McNally, the principle that carried him from a teenager struggling to earn trust to a nationally ranked team leader remains unchanged.

“Never, never put yourself over a client,” he said. “Always making sure they feel like they are number one in every way.”

Still, given the level of preparation and de-risking most homebuilding firms have pursued since before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, this year’s raft of challenges may be delivering exactly the operating discipline the business needs.

That probably sounds counterintuitive.

At a moment many U.S. homebuilders are grappling with soft demand, affordability fatigue, fragile consumer confidence, cancellation anxiety, incentive creep, and elevated cost-of-living pressures weighing on would-be buyers, it’s hard to imagine, let alone appreciate, a silver lining.

However, strategic leaders in this business know something others sometimes forget: Downturns reveal operational truths that can create renewed – sometimes redoubled – opportunities when markets recover.

When absorption slows, cycle times matter more. Margin leakage becomes more visible. Hand-off friction among land, design, purchasing, construction, sales, finance and warranty becomes harder to hide. Waste compounds. Delays cost more. Fragmented systems become strategic liabilities.

The companies that emerge stronger from these “middle innings” of constrained demand will likely not be simply those that cut costs the hardest.

They’ll be the ones who improve most continuously, and ultimately, the fastest.

That’s what makes the launch of Stella AI by Constellation HomeBuilder Systems strategically interesting – not as another AI product announcement, but as a marker of where the homebuilding industry’s next operational competitive frontier may be forming.

McKinsey recently argued that “investments into an improved data foundation will always help scale AI in the future.”

A Harvard Business Review analysis we came across in the past few weeks carried an equally pointed warning:

“Instead of testing lots of [AI] use cases across the company, pick one area and go deep.”

For homebuilders, this blend of messages clarifies the context that can offset business leaders’ hesitations about plunging into AI-powered digital transformation of operations and workflows.

Because the industry now faces a classic damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t moment on AI.

Ignore it and risk falling behind competitors who use technology to compress cycle times, reduce waste, sharpen pricing, and enable faster decision-making.

Chase dozens of disconnected AI experiments, and risk creating expensive noise with little tangible return or durable value.

The better path may be to embed AI operationally into the core enterprise workflow itself.

The hidden cost of “good enough”

Chris Graham, president of Constellation HomeBuilder Systems, framed the issue with unusual clarity in an interview with The Builder’s Daily. Graham’s observation that “data has always been messy” will resonate with almost any homebuilding business or operational executive who has spent years trying to get fast, reliable answers from across a sprawling enterprise.

This is, after all, a business whose workflows evolved in layers.

Land acquisition teams operate on one cadence. Development teams follow another. Product design and architecture often run on their own systems and timelines. Purchasing leaders juggle option libraries, vendor agreements, and price variances. Construction teams live within schedules, starts, inspections, and trade performance metrics. Sales and marketing teams track absorption, incentives, traffic, and cancellations. Finance reconciles it all after the fact, often trying to make sense of data generated by systems that were never designed to talk to one another seamlessly.

For years, “ERP” in homebuilding has too often meant something more transactional than transformational, at least among business leaders who have been reluctant to commit to and invest in it.

Even strategists and operational leaders who have invested may still view such solutions as a necessary but cumbersome infrastructure layer that records activity but doesn’t help leaders interpret, interrogate, and act on it quickly enough to materially improve outcomes.

That’s where the current wave of AI discussion becomes strategically more than just hype.

McKinsey’s recent analysis of AI’s impact on ERP argues that enterprise software may be entering a fundamental reinvention, in which systems of record evolve into systems of decision support.

For homebuilders, that dialed-up capability means even more, as today’s market economics increasingly punish delayed decision-making.

Heading off compromises to net margins

A slowdown in the sales pace doesn’t just reduce revenue velocity. It pressures overhead absorption. It strains construction cycle economics. It can expose latent inefficiencies in subcontractor performance, option pricing, purchasing execution, field scheduling, and customer conversion that are often overlooked in stronger demand environments.

The difference between identifying a margin leak in days versus in weeks can be meaningful. The difference between spotting recurring scheduling bottlenecks in real time and discovering them after quarter-close can be costly.

Bob Swainhart, Constellation HomeBuilder Systems’ General Manager of Enterprise Solutions, framed the operational implications in terms that builders immediately understand. Looking at purchasing, for example.

“Many of our builders might be managing an option library of five to 7,000 options,” Swainhart said. “If they wanted, for instance, to know which are the top 20 options that actually sell, I could probably, if my data is good, pull a full report, and now I’m sifting through five to 7,000 options to try to find the ones that are actually important to me.” 

That’s not a theoretical matter.

• That’s time.
• That’s labor.
• That’s decision friction.
• That’s margin management delayed.

Swainhart continued with an equally recognizable construction scenario.

“If I have 600 or let’s say, 7,000 homes under construction at any one time, the reality is, I’m going to be looking through a lot of scheduling data to try to pinpoint where schedule delays are happening,” he said. “What trades are causing me delays more than others?”

For builders in a cost-sensitive operating environment, those are not peripheral questions. They are material, cost-impacting operating questions.

And they illuminate why the current AI moment feels particularly consequential.

AI's less-is-more impact

The HBR warning against scattered AI experimentation is especially relevant to homebuilding because fragmentation is already endemic to the business.

The temptation will be familiar: pilot one AI tool for estimating, another for customer care, another for sales scripting, another for marketing content, another for purchasing analytics, another for warranty response.

That approach risks creating exactly the kind of disconnected digital sprawl many builders already struggle to manage.

The stronger strategic question is whether AI can be embedded where operating decisions already happen. That’s what makes Constellation’s Stella AI proposition more compelling than a generic chatbot overlay.

For Chris Graham, that distinction stems from decades of working at a homegrown level with homebuilding operators to unpack every operational workflow in the build cycle and then reassemble them into a cohesive, data-unified system.

“It’s not an experiment for us,” Graham said. “We’ve built a platform. We’ve been at it for many years.”

That proven commitment and investment to operational fluency and business systems alignment shines a bright line that separates AI hype from AI reality.

One of the clearest messages from enterprise AI thinkers right now is that organizations chasing isolated AI pilots without fixing underlying data architecture are likely to create more noise than value.

McKinsey’s point about data foundations is not abstract in homebuilding.

Homebuilders’ operational data often lives in an archaeological landscape of ERP systems, spreadsheets, CRM tools, accounting systems, field reporting platforms, vendor data sources and manually assembled reporting layers.

Working up from well-trained, unified data

AI doesn’t and can’t solve that multilayered mess by magic.

If anything, it amplifies the importance of getting enterprise data discipline right, even as it stands to increase and accelerate the risks of not doing so.

That’s where Constellation’s Director of Data Services, Seamus Mulroy, offers an operational key to grasping the practical, workflow-specific impacts of Stella AI.

“The first thing that comes to mind was really figuring out how we balance both the uniqueness of builder data and the messiness,” he said.

Homebuilders, Mulroy’s observation attests, are each unique even though they may appear to be made out of the same business and operating model.

Regional product differences. Market-specific workflows. Division structures. Trade ecosystems. Land strategies. Sales models. No off-the-shelf abstraction can cleanly capture that complexity and the nuances that go hand in hand with local conditions and resources.

Mulroy described Constellation’s BuilderMetrix infrastructure as a “standardized, intuitive source of truth” feeding Stella AI.

The biggest question: Will builders trust it?

Whether builders embrace that particular architecture remains to be seen. But the broader strategic principle is difficult to dispute: AI without trusted operating data is unlikely to become a durable enterprise advantage.

Trust, in fact, may prove to be the deciding issue.

Homebuilders are not likely to embrace AI enthusiastically if it introduces governance uncertainty, role confusion, data exposure risks or inconsistent outputs. As they say, trust takes a long time to earn, but it can be broken irreversibly in an instant.

Mulroy addressed that concern head-on, emphasizing enterprise-level architecture and protections for the handling of non-public data.  After all, this is not a novelty market. Homebuilders are pragmatic adopters, apt to be ultra-skeptical about shiny new toys for their own sake. Technology is embraced when it demonstrably saves time, reduces costs, improves visibility or strengthens execution.

Not because it sounds innovative.

Improve now ... or never

Which brings us to the strategic point. This market moment may feel punishing.

Soft buyer confidence, affordability-struggle fatigue, elevated borrowing costs and persistent uncertainty have given the new-home landscape a grinding, trench-warfare feeling.

However, difficult – specifically “slow” – periods also create clarity in operations. The strongest builders invariably use slower environments not merely to defend margins, but to rewire how the business performs. They become adaptive, nimble, agile.

• To shorten cycle times.
• To remove workflow friction.
• To reduce waste.
• To empower better frontline decision-making.
• To create repeatable operating intelligence rather than episodic problem-solving.

If demand remains sluggish through the balance of 2026, those investments could materially strengthen competitive positioning.

If the market unexpectedly reaccelerates, those same capabilities become even more valuable in revving up the engines of opportunistic growth and market share expansion.

Either way, the risk and cost of standing still grow larger.

In our eyes, the Stella AI capability may be less an AI story and more a continuous improvement story in the Japanese “kaizen” sense. One where technology simply becomes the means, not the end.

The agency has been under the leadership of acting director Russell Vought for the past 16 months. During his tenure, Vought — who also serves as the current head of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) — has moved to scale back the bureau's enforcement and regulatory activities.

In November 2025, President Donald Trump nominated Stuart Levenbach, an associate director at the OMB, to serve as CFPB director. Critics, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), argued the move allowed Vought to remain in charge beyond the 210-day limit set by the Federal Vacancies Reform Act (FVRA), as the clock is paused while a nomination is pending.

Johnson has previously served as deputy director of the CFPB during Trump's first term, where he oversaw the agency’s rulemaking, supervision and enforcement activities.

A spokesperson for the CFPB stated that Johnson is the White House’s nominee to be the next Senate-confirmed CFPB director. He will "continue the CFPB wind down and de-weaponization that acting director Vought has been leading for the last year and a half" as Vought's term ends this summer.

In April 2025, the Trump administration moved to dismiss roughly 90% of the CFPB's workforce, triggering a court fight that temporarily blocked the layoffs. In August, a federal appeals court panel allowed the reductions to proceed, leading to the dismissal of about 1,500 employees.

Trade groups have commended Brian Johnson’s nomination. Consumer Bankers Association (CBA) president and CEO Lindsey Johnson said the association welcomes the opportunity to work with him as the bureau enters its next chapter.

“America’s leading Main Street banks look forward to engaging with Director-designate Johnson on policies that provide certainty and create a more durable, stable CFPB where the Bureau meets its mission of consumer protection in a manner consistent with its congressional mandate,” Lindsey Johnson said.

“A transparent, accountable CFPB focused on its core mission will strengthen outcomes for consumers, financial institutions, and the U.S. economy."

The financial technology company announced on Tuesday that its Unlock HEA Trust 2026-1 transaction closed on May 21 and securitized approximately $358.5 million of home equity agreements originated and managed by Unlock. The deal was issued and sponsored by D2 Asset Management.

The transaction is backed by a pool of 3,546 HEAs. It represents Unlock's seventh rated securitization and eighth overall.

According to Unlock, the offering was oversubscribed and attracted strong demand from institutional investors, including six first-time participants in the company's securitization program.

"That breadth of participation underscores how this market is maturing and how investor appetite for the asset class continues to deepen," Peter Silberstein, Unlock's chief capital officer, said in a statement.

The deal marks the first broadly syndicated HEA securitization sponsored by D2 Asset Management. D2 previously sponsored Unlock's UNLOK 2025-3 transaction, a privately placed securitization completed in December 2025 that the companies said was the largest HEA securitization at the time.

The securitization included $254 million of senior Class A notes rated A (low) (sf), $48.5 million of mezzanine Class B notes rated BBB (low) (sf), and $42.2 million of subordinate Class C notes rated BB (low) (sf), according to Morningstar DBRS. The Class A and Class B notes received investment-grade ratings.

The collateral pool includes both senior- and junior-lien home equity agreements, with first-lien HEAs accounting for about 19% of the pool by investment payment.

Jefferies served as sole structuring lead and bookrunner. Cantor Fitzgerald and TCBI Securities Inc., doing business as Texas Capital Securities, acted as co-managers.

Unlock CEO Jim Riccitelli said the transaction reflects growing institutional acceptance of HEAs as an asset class.

"The strong, oversubscribed demand reflects the continued maturation of this market and the confidence investors have in the HEA," Riccitelli said.

Luke Doramus, co-founder and managing partner of D2, said the transaction reinforces the firm's confidence in both the HEA market and Unlock's growth prospects.

"As one of the most active participants in this market, we bring the structuring and capital markets expertise to scale a strong originator, and Unlock is exactly the kind of partner we want to do that with," Doramus said.

This article was written by Sarah Wolak and generated with the assistance of HousingWire Automation, then reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

Luzi, who has nearly 30 years of consumer finance and mortgage sales experience, will report to chief operating officer Aaron Samples. His official start date was May 26, according to the company announcement.

In his new role, Luzi will be responsible for leading Logan’s sales strategy and execution across Western markets, including broker and correspondent channels.

“Mark brings a rare combination of scale and relationship depth to this role,” Samples said in a statement. “He has led large, distributed sales organizations and knows how to build the kind of trust that drives long-term growth. As we continue expanding our presence in the Western market, having a leader of his caliber leading that effort is a meaningful step forward for Logan and for the broker and correspondent partners we serve.”

Luzi joins Logan Finance from LendSure Mortgage Corp., where he most recently served as West division sales manager and oversaw three regions across all Western states, including Hawaii. Before that, he was a division manager at Accredited Home Lenders, leading eight regions and a team of 340 people.

He began his career at Ford Consumer Finance in 1997, and he has spent nearly three decades building and managing large, distributed mortgage sales organizations in the western U.S. His background centers on team building and broker relationship management at scale — key capabilities as non-QM lenders lean on third-party originations for growth.

“The non-QM space is evolving fast, and Logan Finance is one of the few genuinely built to keep pace with that,” Luzi said. “I chose to join Logan Finance because of the strong leadership under the executive team, along with the company's clear focus on competing and growing in such a competitive space. My job is to make sure brokers across the West know what Logan is capable of and feel that difference every time they work with us."

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication. 

In a white paper released Wednesday, the association said AI technologies are rapidly becoming embedded throughout the mortgage process, from customer service chatbots and fraud detection systems to underwriting and servicing operations.

The paper argues that while AI offers significant efficiency gains, the industry faces growing uncertainty about regulatory expectations and legal compliance.

The paper, prepared for the MBA by law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, examines how existing federal laws apply to AI-powered mortgage lending and outlines best practices for lenders that adopt the technology. It also provides an up-to-date overview of MBA members’ engagement and implementation around AI use and regulation, while also posing and analyzing key legal questions about the use of AI.

"AI's assistance with — and, in some cases, performance of — a broader range of mortgage-related tasks raises novel questions about expectations for human involvement with AI models, as well as risk management more broadly," the report explained.

SAFE Act ambiguity

MBA noted that mortgage companies are increasingly exploring generative AI, predictive AI and agentic AI systems, with many lenders already using AI-powered chatbots to answer simple questions or support servicing functions. But the paper also said that more advanced systems may soon be capable of handling nearly every stage of the mortgage process.

The association noted that while existing laws like the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 (“SAFE Act”) exist to establish a nationwide licensing system and ensure loan originators are subject to regulatory oversight, the act does not answer whether mortgage companies can offer completely human-free loan originations.

"While it does require human MLOs to be licensed or registered (depending on the nature of their employment), the SAFE Act does not require AI tools to have their own MLO license or registration to engage in loan origination activities," the report reads.

MBA argued that current federal disclosure requirements effectively require lenders to assign a human mortgage originator to every transaction. Under the Truth in Lending Act and Regulation Z, lenders must disclose the name and Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS) identification number of an individual loan officer associated with the loan.

The report recommends that lenders maintain a "human in the loop" approach, ensuring a licensed mortgage originator remains available to borrowers and participates in some level of oversight, even when AI performs substantial portions of the origination process.

MBA also warned that lenders could face risks under federal and state consumer protection laws if borrowers are led to believe a human loan officer is overseeing their application when the process is handled entirely by AI.

GSE guidance already in place

The white paper comes as regulators and investors have begun to address AI governance. Earlier this year, Freddie Mac updated its seller-servicer guide to include AI and machine learning governance requirements, while Fannie Mae issued guidance calling on lenders to establish policies and procedures that govern AI systems.

MBA said federal policymakers have provided limited guidance on how existing lending and consumer protection laws apply to AI-enabled mortgage processes. To address that uncertainty, the association is advocating for a principles-based AI risk management framework tailored to the mortgage industry. This would include standards for governance, model validation, fair lending tests, explainability, data privacy and vendor oversight.

MBA also encouraged lenders to implement robust testing programs to monitor AI systems for disparate treatment or disparate impact on protected groups and to maintain documentation showing compliance with fair lending requirements. The report identified several risks associated with AI adoption, including potential fair lending violations, bias in automated decision-making, improper steering of borrowers to certain loan products and consumer privacy concerns.

The association said lenders should prepare for evolving regulatory expectations while also engaging with lawmakers and regulators as states consider legislation governing AI use in financial services.

"The rapid adoption of AI across the mortgage industry presents both significant opportunities and complex legal and regulatory challenges," the report concluded. "The absence of comprehensive federal and state guidance on AI in mortgage lending creates an imperative for the industry to develop and adopt a unified, principles-based risk management framework."

This article was written by Sarah Wolak and generated with the assistance of HousingWire Automation, then reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

In a motion to dismiss that was filed Tuesday, the companies characterized the expanded lawsuit as a baseless copycat case driven by anonymous competitor complaints rather than actual consumer harm. The lender is seeking a dismissal with prejudice.

“This complaint is recycled from lawsuits filed against other large mortgage lenders, fueled by anonymous competitor remarks, and built on allegations that this complaint itself contradicts,” Chad Moller, corporate communications manager at Veterans United, told HousingWire. “As we have said from day one, these allegations are false.”

Hagens Berman, who represents the plaintiffs, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit names Mortgage Research Center (doing business as Veterans United Home Loans) and Veterans United Realty (VUR), along with its marketing subsidiary Realty Search Solutions, as defendants. Veterans United employs roughly 4,500 people, while VUR operates a referral network of 5,000 agents, including more than 200 licensed in Missouri.

The plaintiffs allege the companies intentionally misled consumers into believing Veterans United is affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). They also claim the companies operate an illegal kickback scheme in which VUR provides leads to network real estate agents, who in turn pay the company about 35% of their commissions upon closing (roughly 1.05% of the home sale price) and steer buyers back to Veterans United for financing.

The amended complaint brings claims of Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) violations, unjust enrichment, and violations of consumer protection laws in Missouri, Illinois, New York, Ohio and Texas. Plaintiffs allege the “bait-and-switch” and misleading advertising tactics ultimately caused them to overpay for their mortgages.

'No concrete injury'

In their motion to dismiss, the defendants argue the borrowers fail to allege a concrete and specific injury. According to the filing, each plaintiff uses identical boilerplate language to claim they "overpaid" without providing specifics on interest rates, fees or costs, nor do they allege they qualified for better terms from another VA lender.

“Rather than including allegations about Plaintiffs’ specific experience, the amended complaint contains 57 paragraphs of hearsay from ‘confidential’ real estate agents and loan officers who presumably compete with Defendants,” the motion states.

Addressing the "bait-and-switch" rate claims, the defense said just one named plaintiff, Scott Brickey, claims his rate suddenly increased at closing. The defendants argued Brickey failed to detail what he actually paid versus prevailing market rates or whether he qualified for better terms elsewhere, noting he received standard disclosures and was free to shop around for other lenders.

The companies denied claims of deceptive marketing regarding their VA relationship. Moller said that the plaintiffs' attorneys unsuccessfully scoured the internet — including websites, social media, emails and brochures — when looking for instances of the companies holding themselves out as the VA.

"They could not find a single instance. That is because VUHL and VUR have never done so. Never," he said.

RESPA defense

Regarding the RESPA claims, Veterans United argues the referral arrangement between VUR and its network agents falls within a safe harbor for "cooperative brokerage and referral arrangements between real estate agents and brokers."

Even outside the safe harbor, the company said the borrowers failed to adequately plead the statutory requirements for RESPA liability, such as a "thing of value," an "agreement or understanding," or a "charge" paid by them. The possibility of future referrals, the lender argues, is too speculative.

The motion highlights that 13 of the 14 plaintiffs asserting RESPA claims do not allege they closed with an agent within the VUR network, thereby failing to connect the alleged scheme to their specific transactions. The lender also asserts that 11 of the 14 RESPA claims are time barred.

Additionally, the defendants took aim at the state consumer protection claims, arguing there was no deceptive conduct or actual damages. Claims in Missouri and Ohio exceed their respective five- and two-year statutes of limitations, the filing states, while claims in Texas failed to provide mandatory pre-suit notice.

A historic wave of in-migration caused the hike.

Gov. Ron DeSantis called lawmakers into a special session last week and pushed through a resolution to put a constitutional amendment before voters in November that would more than quadruple the state's homestead property tax exemption.

Lawmakers blessed the proposal with modifications to protect school funding.

DeSantis is asking voters to solve the tax bill problem created when companies and employees arrived in droves from high-cost Northeast cities, notably New York City, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The influx overwhelmed existing housing supply and drove up home values for longtime residents.

Even though state and local tax rates barely budged, a protracted period of rising property values ratcheted up tax assessments.

It is not the first time DeSantis has used state power to override local housing decisions. When the migration wave exposed a crippling supply shortage, he signed legislation stripping local governments of zoning control to clear the way for more development targeting workforce housing.

That addressed supply.

But for homeowners already sitting on assessments inflated by the state's nation-leading pandemic-era domestic in-migration, adding new supply doesn't amount to property tax relief.

Florida is not alone. Across the Sun Belt — Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arizona — the same migration dynamic reshaped housing markets and sent tax bills climbing even where local governments cut rates.

Florida, however, is the first to take the fight directly to voters with a constitutional remedy.

New York adds to the squeeze

If Florida voters approve the amendment, New Yorkers who flocked to the Sunshine State would face higher taxation pressure from both directions.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani proposed a pied-a-terre tax on luxury second homes. Gov. Kathy Hochul pushed the state legislature to pass it into law as part of the state's new budget just before Memorial Day weekend.

Those who never made Florida their official domicile won't qualify for the expanded homestead exemption. Local governments scrambling to offset lost revenue may have little choice but to raise rates on non-homestead properties — the homes those part-time Floridians own.

But New Yorkers who made Florida their permanent home could land a property tax break, one offset by holding on to a home in the Big Apple. New Yorkers have long chosen Florida for a vacation home or permanent move, citing the high cost of living in the Northeast.

"The Northeast is expensive to live in because that's where all the people are," Gary Bingel, a state and local tax expert with Eisner Advisory Group, a New Jersey-based consulting firm, said in an interview with The Builder's Daily.

He said moving to Florida is now tantamount to "creating the same problems people are moving away from."

Florida's pain by the numbers

Between 2020 and 2022, Florida home prices surged more than 50%, driven largely by buyers relocating from New York — the top source of new Florida residents — along with Georgia and Texas.

Since then, prices have stalled. Florida's average home value fell 3.7% over the past year as new construction added more supply than the market could absorb. Florida's in-migration has subsided as housing costs rose.

“The affordability picture has changed in Florida almost more than anywhere else in the country,” Eric Finnigan, vice president of demographics research at John Burns Research & Consulting, told the Wall Street Journal.

Assessed home values haven't returned to pre-in-migration-surge means. Under Florida's Save Our Homes recapture rule, assessed values continue climbing by up to 3% annually even when market prices fall — until the two figures converge, according to St. Johns County Property Appraiser Eddie Creamer's explanation posted on the county's website.

Most Florida counties held millage rates steady or even lowered them. Marion County commissioners voted in September 2025 to cut the countywide rate. Homeowners there still saw their bills climb.

Tax bills in cities statewide increased an average of about 50% over the past several years.

At a news conference announcing the amendment, DeSantis noted Florida's economy has grown from $1.1 trillion to $1.85 trillion during his seven years as governor.

"That's a really significant increase in a seven-year period," he said. "We've done close to $10 billion in tax relief since I became governor."

He said the rise in home values made property taxes a much bigger burden for millions of Floridians.

"Fortunately, because we've had success, we have the ability to do something about it," he said.

Florida's amendment goes to voters

DeSantis proposed a broader exemption than what the Legislature passed.

The amendment would replace the current $50,000 homestead exemption with a phased increase — rising to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028 — for homeowners who establish Florida residency on or before Dec. 31, 2026. The relief is reserved for primary residences. Second-home and investment-property owners do not qualify.

The school board levy is carved out entirely, the key concession lawmakers extracted before giving DeSantis his supermajority vote.

New residents arriving after Dec. 31, 2026, receive the existing $50,000 exemption for four years before qualifying for the full break.

The amendment cuts the annual assessment cap on non-homestead commercial properties from 10% to 5% beginning Jan. 1, 2027. It needs 60% voter approval to take effect. Renters — who occupy about a third of Florida's housing units — get no relief.

New York tightens the vise

Just before Florida lawmakers put the amendment on the ballot, New York passed a budget instituting the pied-a-terre tax on non-primary residences within New York City.

“New York City is the greatest city in the world, and the people who call it home should not be left carrying the burden alone,” Hochul said in a statement announcing the tax.

The law rolls out in two phases. Phase 1 runs from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2028. It covers one- to three-family homes valued at $5 million or more, and condos and co-op units valued at $1 million or more.

Phase 2 begins July 1, 2028, and runs through June 30, 2031. The threshold for condos and co-ops rises to $5 million, aligning with single-family homes, under a new comparable sales-based valuation method the city must develop.

Tax rates on condos during Phase 1 range from 4% on units valued between $1 million and $3 million to 6.5% on units above $5 million. Single-family home rates range from 0.8% to 1.3% depending on value.

The city's Department of Finance must notify affected owners by Aug. 30. The measure is projected to generate between $340 million and $500 million annually.

The path forward

New York City's program is set. Florida's amendment must be sold to voters.

A dispute has already begun. Cities and counties are questioning how they cover budget gaps for services and infrastructure when their key revenue source shrinks.

"Money has to still come from somewhere," Bingel said, adding it could mean higher tourism or sales taxes. "It's not as straightforward as everybody says. There's always some sort of trade-off."

Ken Johnson, a real estate professor at the University of Mississippi, told The Builder's Daily that a national recession presents the greatest risk for the amendment, noting it could "drain state and county coffers to the point that essential services could not be delivered."

Otherwise, property owners could gain a significant financial benefit.

"But that is a 'big if' as recessions are cyclical, and it is not a matter of 'if' but rather 'when' a recession will hit," Johnson said.

The move marks Figure's first acquisition and is expected to close in August, according to a company spokesperson. Under the agreement, Figure will acquire Kiavi’s technology and operating platform, while a joint venture formed by Figure and investment firm Sixth Street will acquire Kiavi’s balance-sheet assets.

In a note to investors, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods said that the deal was viewed favorably as it expands Figure into a new category of residential transition loans (RTLs) and "adds scale with a 40%+ immediate uplift to Figure's loan volume."

Just hours after the acquisition was announced, Figure CEO Michael Tannenbaum sat down with HousingWire to share his expectations for how the deal is designed to turn Kiavi’s valuation and lending technology — which also covers debt-service-coverage ratio (DSCR) products — into a marketplace offering for Figure’s 380 partners. Kiavi will also serve as the inaugural use case for Adaptor, Figure’s new AI product aimed at automating agent-to-agent onboarding.

Editor's note: This conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Sarah Wolak: Michael, what made Kiavi the right acquisition target for Figure and how did this deal come together?

Michael Tannenbaum: We have some shared investors, so that kind of introduced us to the name. They're also professionally invested; they had some venture capital financing when they started, so we're familiar with the name. I actually had dinner with the CEO, Arvind Mohan — we were introduced by one of our mutual investors in January 2025. So, it's been a pretty long time since we've been tracking the opportunity and it always seemed like a great fit.

They're in the housing space; they're a market leader in what they do. There's a lot of alignment with them as a company, but also the products that they're in, because we really focus on home equity and mortgage. They're also kind of broadly non-QM, but at the same time they have focused their business more on direct to consumer, whereas we are a marketplace for our partners. And that's also why we worked with Sixth Street as a partner here to essentially turn their platform into a marketplace.

Wolak: What do you think the main selling point was for Kiavi in agreeing to this partnership/acquisition?

Tannenbaum: Kiavi is going to still do RTL, fix-and-flip loans and DSCR, it's just going to be that they're offering that technology to all of the 380 partners that we work with. So it'll become more of a marketplace versus a direct-to-consumer lending company.

I think, for them, they want to grow in the partner space very much. That was a big part of their growth plans. We already have that business and we have these partners we've been working with — sometimes as long as five years — and doing lots of business with us, running their platforms on Figure Technology. Being able to combine made a lot of sense.

Wolak: Thinking about the umbrella that this acquisition creates, how will Kiavi continue to operate after the transaction closes? Will it remain a distinct brand?

Tannenbaum: We do want to keep their brand because I think they have a great brand in the investor market. We probably will include some of Figure in that as well, but our brand tends to be more in the capital markets and more as a private label, right?

Most of the people that partner with us use their own name and brand, so it actually makes it easier because the Figure brand — as an investor brand and as a partner brand — is really strong. But as a customer brand, I think we'll keep Kiavi.

Wolak: Part of the acquisition has to do with Kiavi's technology platform. Can you talk about why that was attractive to Figure?

Tannenbaum: Yes, it was primarily due to their valuation technology. They ingest documentation from contractors and investors that helps determine what post-renovation value will be and what the power of that is.

Ultimately, people tend to focus on two things when they borrow in this space. One is rate and the other is loan to value, meaning maximizing the amount of loan they can get relative to the future value. And Kiavi is the best at that. They have a lot of investor support for what they do, so we can take that technology and help improve our home valuation approach.

As an example, a lot of homes are newly developed or newly renovated, it's hard to understand what they might be valued at. Our existing Figure approach may undervalue them, because as you know, if you redo your kitchen, Zillow doesn't necessarily know that. But what this now allows people to do is prove that the house is worth more with investor support for that, and that's a technology we can actually use to improve our own business as well.

And when you think about what we announced with Adaptor, that's also relevant here. What we can do is convert the schema of how Kiavi funds its loans and how it uses its capital market, adapt that to what we're doing and get those synergies — for example, this post-renovation value.

Wolak: I'm glad you brought up Adaptor, because Kiavi is going to be the first use case for that product. Why start there?

Tannenbaum: When we add a new asset class onto Figure Connect, we want to make sure that existing investors on Figure Connect can understand the data approach that Kiavi is taking, because it's a new asset class for them. What we build with Adaptor is, people can have all kinds of naming conventions and spreadsheets that are hard to match. Someone might call something LTV, other people call it loan to value, and so Adaptor is a valid and important use of AI to kind of smooth this out and save a ton of time.

We've also launched it with an agent-to-agent functionality, so it's basically like an API that also has APIs for agents. If an agent were going to be performing this activity as a customer, it could access the Adaptor agentically, so it's kind of like an MCP server and you can access their technology agentically.

Wolak: You mentioned earlier how Kiavi will still be doing RTL and DSCR loans. Are those attractive asset classes for Figure today?

Tannenbaum: They're attractive today in that we have about 10 partners that do those loans with us, so we do offer those products. We're not the market leader the way that Kiavi is, and so now we're bringing on the market-leading technology to do that.

They've been doing it for 13 years, and what we're going to do is jointly roll out the Kiavi RTL and DSCR products to our 380 partners later this year, once we close the acquisition. But we're going to also keep the relationships that Kiavi has, because one thing that's unique about the RTL space is that these fix-and-flip investors are repeat borrowers. We want to keep those valuable relationships, and nurture and grow them as well.

Wolak: You've mentioned how Figure has been growing its first-lien business organically and that these products could reach roughly 40% of marketplace volume by the end of 2027. How much of that growth is expected to come from this acquisition/partnership?

Tannenbaum: We can never talk too much about forward guidance, because we're a public company. But today, roughly, we have about $17 billion of volume that is standalone. And we're adding another $7 billion, which is all first liens, so we're adding 40% of our volume. Of course, Figure itself is growing really quickly, so you know we're kind of making some projections forward there when we say 40% in 2027. But we do expect this to be a very material "pole vault" in our efforts in first lien.

Wolak: Given that this is Figure's first acquisition, what does this signal about the company's future M&A strategy?

Tannenbaum: Well, we are a really disciplined company. We went public back in the fall, and that does make it easier to do acquisitions. When you have a company that has access to the public markets, can raise capital, is well known, our financials are visible, it makes people more likely to want to sell to us than they would otherwise. And that does open up opportunities.

We probably saw around 30 or so opportunities over the past nine months or so, and this is the one that we chose to act on. So I think we are going to be very disciplined and continue to be good stewards of capital.

One of the things that we shared was that the unlevered — meaning without the debt payback — is under four years, which is really strong from an acquisition perspective. This is also something that we really know how to do; it's very adjacent to our core business. It's not like running this company is going to be a huge challenge, because we're familiar. And I think it's a good opportunity to leverage Figure's really strong distribution network of tens of thousands of loan officers to scale this product quickly.

Wolak: It sounds like it was a very intentional process if you evaluated nearly 30 other options. What were the specific metrics Figure was looking for?

Tannenbaum: Profitability is important. As a company, we're really high margin. We confirm that we're going to stay on our medium-term goal of 60% EBITDA margin, so we want to make sure that the fact that Kiavi made money is really valuable.

We use this concept of the rule of 40, which is like your margin plus your growth rate should equal 40, and Kiavi was well above that. They were growing fast, but also high margin, so that was important to us. And I think the distribution that we have with the loan officers, a lot of things we see are much more tangential to what we do, versus this is really kind of focused in our core. And when you're doing your first acquisition, I think it's helpful to have something where you feel like you know what makes that company tick. This was definitely that transaction for us.

I think this deal is accelerating and amplifying. We've been clear that we want to be the future of the capital markets on blockchain rails, and we've also been clear that this includes asset classes that we're not in today.

Weekly pending sales continue to run ahead of last year’s pace despite mortgage rates hovering near 2026 highs. Purchase applications have remained positive for most of 2026, reinforcing a broader trend of housing demand holding up better than many expected under elevated borrowing costs.

On the surface, that looks like a straightforward demand recovery.

But beneath the encouraging national numbers, a growing divide is emerging.

The latest HousingWire analysis suggests demand growth is being generated in very different ways across local markets. In some markets, demand is returning as sellers adjust to post-pandemic realities. Price cuts remain elevated, inventory levels are higher and absorption rates remain relatively weak. Transaction activity is improving, but much of that improvement is being driven by repricing and market correction.

In other markets, demand is growing while inventory remains tight, absorption rates remain strong and sellers are making fewer concessions. These markets are generating positive sales growth without the same degree of adjustment.

Both can produce positive demand growth. But the underlying market conditions driving that growth can look dramatically different.

Demand is holding up nationally

The broader housing market continues to show resilience despite elevated mortgage rates.

Weekly pending sales reached 75,935 last week, up from 69,636 during the same week a year ago. Mortgage purchase applications, a leading indicator of future sales activity, were also up 7% year over year.

“Last week was another example of that, as our weekly pending home sales data and purchase application data were both positive year over year, even with rates near yearly highs,” HousingWire Lead Analyst Logan Mohtashami wrote in this week’s Housing Market Tracker.

At the national level, the story remains encouraging. Buyers continue to engage with the market despite affordability pressure, geopolitical uncertainty and mortgage rates that recently approached 6.75%.

Not all demand growth is created equal

HousingWire compared a group of pandemic boom markets, including Phoenix, Austin, Tampa and Miami, against a group of markets showing stronger underlying market fundamentals, including Rochester, Hartford, Detroit and Worcester.

Both groups are generating positive demand growth, but the similarities largely end there.

The pandemic boom group is posting average pending sales growth of 11.2%. The structurally stronger group is posting average pending sales growth of 21.0%.

The difference becomes even more pronounced when looking at the underlying market conditions supporting that growth.

The stronger markets are posting an average absorption rate of 18.5%, compared with just 9.0% in the pandemic boom group. They are also carrying an average of 1.4 months of inventory, while the pandemic boom markets are carrying 2.9 months.

Price reductions reveal perhaps the most important distinction.

The pandemic boom markets are seeing price cuts on 43.9% of active listings. The stronger markets are seeing price cuts on 28.2% of listings.

In other words, the markets generating stronger demand growth are often the markets requiring fewer concessions.

The pattern extends beyond a handful of individual metros. Across hundreds of markets analyzed by HousingWire, stronger absorption, tighter inventory and fewer concessions were consistently associated with stronger demand growth.

Growth through adjustment

Many of the markets that defined the pandemic housing boom continue to attract buyers.

Phoenix posted pending sales growth of 28.6% year over year. Austin posted growth of 15.2%.

Those numbers appear strong in isolation. But they exist alongside elevated inventory levels, weaker absorption rates and significant seller concessions.

More than half of active listings in Phoenix have taken price cuts. Austin continues to post elevated price-cut activity while carrying nearly three months of inventory.

These markets are not failing. In many cases, demand is improving because sellers have adjusted to today’s affordability realities.

That adjustment is helping restore transaction activity. But it is also a reminder that positive demand growth can emerge from a market still working through correction.

Growth from strength

A different pattern is emerging in several Midwest and Northeast metros.

Many of these markets experienced more measured appreciation during the pandemic and avoided some of the inventory distortions that later emerged in faster-growing markets.

Rochester is posting 41.1% pending sales growth while just 13.0% of listings have reduced prices. Hartford is generating 22.3% pending growth with price cuts on only 21.2% of listings. Detroit is posting 27.7% pending growth while maintaining stronger absorption and tighter inventory conditions than many larger markets.

These markets are not generating demand through aggressive repricing. Instead, they appear to be benefiting from healthier alignment between supply, demand and pricing.

Inventory remains relatively constrained. Buyers and sellers appear closer to agreement. Homes continue moving through the market without requiring the same degree of adjustment.

The distinction matters because two markets can both report positive demand growth while operating from very different positions of strength.

One market may be improving because sellers have finally adjusted expectations. Another may be improving because buyers never left in the first place.

What housing leaders should watch

For much of the past year, the housing market debate has centered on whether demand would return under higher mortgage rates.

In many markets, it already has.

The more important question now may be what kind of demand is driving growth.

HousingWire’s analysis suggests the strongest housing markets are not necessarily the markets cutting prices the most or posting the biggest year-over-year sales gains. Instead, they are the markets where demand growth is supported by stronger absorption, tighter inventory and fewer concessions.

That distinction matters because not all demand growth is equally durable.

Markets generating demand through repricing may continue improving as sellers adjust expectations, but their recovery remains more dependent on continued buyer engagement and affordability conditions.

Markets generating demand while maintaining stronger absorption and tighter inventory may be operating from a healthier foundation.

In today’s housing market, demand growth alone may no longer be enough to identify strength. The more revealing question is whether that growth is supported by strong absorption, constrained inventory and pricing power, or whether it is being sustained through concessions and repricing.

As mortgage rates remain elevated and affordability continues to pressure buyers, understanding what is driving demand may become just as important as measuring demand itself.

To track these trends and current pricing, demand and market signals at the national, metro and ZIP-code level, explore HousingWire Intelligence. For deeper context on rates, demand signals and the macro backdrop shaping housing activity, read HousingWire’s Housing Market Tracker weekly analysis.

HousingWire used HousingWire Data to source this story. This article is based on single-family residence data through June 5, 2026. For enterprise clients looking to license the same market data at a larger scale, visit HousingWire Data.

The real estate platform operates prominent Century 21 and Coldwell Banker affiliates alongside New Fed Mortgage Corp., New Fed Insurance and James Rose Asset Management.

Founder Jim D’Amico told HousingWire the company’s growth has been driven less by market conditions and more by a disciplined focus on recruiting, retention and production.

“Most of the growth has been national,” he said. “I would say the biggest differentiator for us is just recruiting and growth. It’s also about knowing that it doesn't matter how many transactions there are [in the entire housing market], it matters how many you do.”

That mindset has helped the company maintain momentum even as many brokerages faced slower transaction activity amid elevated mortgage rates and affordability challenges.

Today, Brands By Integra encompasses approximately 2,000 agents across 18 states and tracks roughly 6,000 annual transaction sides and $2.64 billion in annual sales volume.

Preparing for leadership transition

GameChanger recognition comes as D’Amico prepares to transition from CEO to chairman — a move that will allow him to focus more heavily on long-term strategic initiatives, acquisitions and growth opportunities.

Although his title is changing, D’Amico said he expects many of his day-to-day responsibilities to remain similar.

“My job is to bring in excellent talent to run the company for the agents here and for the businesses here that we own and operate,” he said. "I think having someone like [incoming CEO Dan Firda], who's been in the industry for a very long time and has the type of experience that I value here, is huge. He definitely has the disposition of a leader."

Firda will take over as CEO after serving as national vice president of franchise growth at Compass International Holdings — formerly Anywhere Real Estate — and at Century 21

“[Firda] will be effective within this culture,” said D’Amico. “He's a very humble guy who’s going to be very collaborative with the team. I think I'm handing that torch to someone who's going to maintain what I feel I've brought this business to. I do think that, as chairman, I'll have a lot of time to spend in the field, at events and meeting with broker-owners that want to join and consolidate with us.”

A numbers-driven growth strategy

D’Amico described the company’s approach as a constant evaluation of production levels rather than simply agent headcount.

Whether replacing departing top performers or recruiting multiple agents with smaller books of business, the objective remains achieving transaction targets.

The strategy has produced consistent results. Brands By Integra has become a familiar presence in the RealTrends GameChangers rankings over the years — reflecting sustained commitment to expansion through recruiting and acquisitions.

“This year the goal is 7,000 [transaction sides] and we're on pace right now for that,” D’Amico said. “It's still early in the year, even though we're in June. I always feel like you end up paying 35% of your overhead in the first quarter, so it's always lopsided for us this time of year.

“We do have some acquisitions that we're looking at, and some really great growth opportunities.”

While the company operates across multiple market segments, D’Amico noted that its core business remains focused on everyday homebuyers rather than luxury clientele.

“We do luxury brokerage, but we don't have a reliance on that end of the business,” he said. “We kind of touch everything, but I would say our meat and potatoes is the first-time home buyer and the move-up or move-down buyer.”

Building density and consumer value

Looking ahead, D’Amico sees the Brands By Integra’s next chapter centered on deepening its presence within existing markets — while creating stronger connections among its brokerage, mortgage, insurance and wealth management businesses.

He also sees opportunities to develop additional consumer-focused programs that leverage the company’s scale while strengthening its role in local communities.

“I do think we can help consumers, and I also would like to be at the helm of our community interactions,” D'Amico said. “I think that we've always been big with our communities and really try to give back, so I’d like to spend a little bit more time ensuring that we're continuing to do that, but at a higher level.”

As Brands By Integra enters its next phase, the company’s 2026 GameChanger recognition highlights a growth strategy that’s remained consistent through changing market cycles — focusing on recruitment, production and long-term scale while preparing for continued expansion across a national footprint.

That gap, between what the industry is being sold and what is working in production, is the most important thing for mortgage leaders to understand right now. The useful question isn’t whether AI belongs in this industry. It does. It’s where AI belongs first, and what it must earn before it gets to do more.

Value shows up well before autonomy does

The most common misconception about mortgage AI is that the payoff only arrives when the system runs the full workflow on its own. The production data tells a different story. The meaningful early gains come from AI in assistive roles, where the model prepares and recommends and the human still owns the decision.

Underwriting is the clearest example. On conventional conforming production at a top 25 lender in the western USA, AI assistance has compressed underwriting from seven hours per loan to roughly 90 minutes, a reduction of more than 80%. The AI does the bulk of the work, pulling the right documents into view, calculating income, surfacing the conditions most likely to apply, flagging inconsistencies and producing a clear set of findings. The underwriter reviews those findings and recommendations and makes the credit decision. The part of the job that requires judgment stays human. The keystrokes around it don’t.

Condition document validation tells the same story from a different angle. AI is taking more than five days of cycle time out of the loan by cutting the back and forth between operations teams and borrowers, checking documents against requirements as they arrive, surfacing gaps in plain English and shortening the loop where a missing pay stub used to trigger another round trip.

These are not small gains. With production costs at $11,109 per loan in Q3 2025, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), well above the historical average of $7,799 since 2008, every basis point of operational lift compounds directly into lender economics. More importantly, each of these use cases lays the groundwork for broader transformation, because they are practical, measurable and easier to govern.

Trust in mortgage is operational, not sentimental

When mortgage leaders talk about trust, it is tempting to hear it as soft language. It is not. Trust here is regulatory and operational. Models that touch credit decisions fall under the model risk management framework laid out in SR 11-7. Anything that influences adverse action sits in fair lending territory. Compliance and risk teams need to be able to explain to an examiner what the model did, why it did it and what controls the decision.

That requirement also shapes the technology itself. Early on, we made the obvious mistake of throwing a single large language model into the problem. It looked clean in pilot but broke at production volume due to cost and latency. What holds up is an architecture that combines multiple model types, each bound to what it does well and grounded in the lender's own guidelines.

That is not a technical footnote. It is part of how you build something a compliance team can defend, and it is why staged deployment matters: assistive first, then supervised, then bounded autonomy in lower-risk areas where performance has been proven. That sequence is how you meet regulatory expectations while still moving. 

The right design is shared execution

The frame I keep coming back to with lenders is shared execution. AI prepares and recommends. People review and approve. In some workflows, that will be the permanent design. In others, autonomy can expand once performance is well understood and the controls are in place. The goal is not to take people out of the loan. It is to put them where their judgment matters, in exceptions, edge cases, borrower conversations and escalations, and let AI absorb the surrounding repetitive work.

The pattern is showing up at every level of industry. When Fannie Mae and Palantir launched the Crime Detection Unit in May 2025 to use AI against mortgage fraud, the design was not for autonomous fraud prosecution. It was AI surfacing suspicious patterns across the GSE’s $4.3 trillion portfolio in seconds; patterns that previously took human investigators months to find, and then human investigators building the case. AI prepares and surfaces. People review and decide. If that is the design pattern for the GSE, it is the design pattern for the lender, too.

That model is easier to adopt because teams see AI as leverage rather than a threat. It is also easier to defend, because there is a human accountable at every decision boundary. The mortgage AI you want is one that knows when not to be autonomous.

What mortgage leaders should do now

Pick a high-friction workflow where readiness is the bottleneck: underwriting, condition clearing, initial disclosure review and post-close trailing docs. Run AI in live operating conditions, not just sandboxes. Measure against KPIs your CFO already tracks - cycle time, files per FTE per day, condition clear rate, escalation rate, repurchase exposure, etc. Expand autonomy where both performance and trust are increasing. Hold the line where they are not.

By 2027, two kinds of mortgage lenders will exist. The ones that scaled AI the loud way and are managing the cleanup. And the ones that scaled it the quiet way and are pricing loans the rest cannot match. The difference between them will not be ambition. It will be sequence.

Other industries are learning the hard way that AI productivity and AI governance cannot be separated. Mortgage’s regulatory floor forced that lesson on day one. That sounds like a constraint. For the lenders that get it right, it is the moat.

Mortgage AI should earn trust before it earns autonomy, not because autonomy is the wrong destination, but because in this industry, trust is what makes the destination reachable at all.

Sandeep Shivam
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners. To contact the editor responsible for this piece: zeb@hwmedia.com.

BABA, enacted as part of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, requires that iron, steel, construction materials and manufactured products used in federally funded infrastructure and construction projects be produced in the United States. 

For developers and builders, those domestic sourcing mandates mainly affect HUD-supported and other federally assisted construction and rehabilitation projects. 

Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA) introduced the legislation on Tuesday with Real Estate Caucus co-chairs Reps. Mark Alford (R-Mo.) and Tracey Mann (R-KS)., along with Reps. Brad Finstad (R-MN) and Johnny Olszewski (D-MD), according to an announcement.

Homebuilders and developers have warned that BABA implementation can slow projects, add documentation costs and create uncertainty about product eligibility, particularly as HUD and other agencies finalize guidance. For developers relying on HUD programs or other federal funds, the ability to quickly prove materials compliance can be the difference between a viable capital stack and a stalled deal.

The Build American Efficiency Act would not change BABA’s underlying domestic content requirements. Instead, it focuses on how homebuilders and their suppliers can document compliance by doing the following:

• Clarifying HUD authority: The legislation would confirm that the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development can recognize “auditable and verifiable” systems that document products meeting BABA domestic content rules.
• Recognizing process standards: The bill would allow HUD to treat documentation generated under the Make It American Process Standard, or similar standards with auditable certification processes, as sufficient evidence of domestic content compliance.
• Simplifying product selection: The text aims to help manufacturers, builders and funding recipients more easily identify which products satisfy BABA requirements, potentially reducing the need for one-off determinations.
• Cutting paperwork and waivers: The policy reform seeks to reduce time spent on waiver requests, duplicative documentation and uncertainty over which products have been approved, which can delay starts and draws.
• Maintaining flexibility: The legislation states that HUD cannot mandate the use of any single database and does not bar recipients from using other lawful methods to certify compliance.

“I am pleased to join my colleagues in introducing this bipartisan bill to speed up the building of new homes,” Correa said in an announcement, arguing that the bill would “cut red tape” while keeping requirements to use American-made construction materials.

Mann said the proposal is meant to help builders and manufacturers “navigate complicated federal compliance requirements without sacrificing our commitment to American-made products,” by allowing HUD to recognize systems that identify BABA-compliant materials and “reduce unnecessary delays” in getting homes built.

Alford said the bill clarifies that HUD can recognize auditable, verifiable databases such as the Make It American Process Standard to document compliant products, while emphasizing that it “does not mandate any database” but instead “gives builders better tools so we can build more American homes faster with American products.”

Why this matters for builders and developers

For production and infill builders that rely on HUD-assisted projects, tax-exempt bonds, HOME, CDBG or other federally sourced funds, BABA compliance has become a growing operational risk. The need to trace domestic content for thousands of SKUs, coordinate with manufacturers and respond to agency audits can slow procurement and add soft costs, particularly on multifamily and mixed-use projects.

If enacted as described, the Build American Efficiency Act could give HUD clearer authority to endorse third-party, auditable databases or process standards for documenting compliant materials. That could allow builders and their purchasing teams to rely more on pre-vetted product lists and standardized certifications instead of case-by-case paperwork.

For manufacturers that serve residential construction, inclusion in recognized BABA-compliant systems could become a competitive differentiator for winning business on HUD-backed and other federally assisted housing deals. At the same time, the bill’s flexibility language signals that builders could continue to use separate documentation paths if a particular product or supplier is not yet captured in a database.

The bill now heads to the House committee process, where homebuilding and manufacturing trade groups are likely to weigh in on how HUD should structure any recognized systems and how burdens are allocated among builders, suppliers and owners.

I wrote about existing home sales here and discussed the report on this episode of the HousingWire Daily podcast as so many people were confused about the data.

For purchase applications, let me give some context that explains the double-digit, year-over-year growth and how this impacts the rest of the year.

Purchase application data

Two weeks ago, we saw a holiday slowdown in our Housing Market Tracker data, followed by a rebound. You can see a similar trend in purchase application data with the holiday, both this year and last. We have weeks in the year where purchase applications will fall week to week and rebound the next week. However, this year we have shown consistent year-over-year growth every week but two weeks. Those two weeks had hard comps to work from.

Now, when we take the purchase application data and string it out over the long term, we are working from extremely low levels. However, the growth this year is legit, where last year, we were working from mid-1990 levels. I joke that in 2025, the bar was so low that the last time we saw these levels, No Doubt was the top new hot band and "Gangsta's Paradise" was the No. 1 song in America.

Today, we are closer to 2014 levels, a two-decade jump in music that means One Direction and One Republic were topping the charts. To be clear, we are still working off a low bar. As you can see in the chart below, we aren’t even back to 2015 levels here in this index. The growth in purchase application data this year is a much more positive story than last year, but context is still key.

Now, looking at the data below, the year-to-date count includes the purchase application data I track for our readers. I always prefer to see at least 12-14 weeks of positive weekly growth alongside the year-over-year. In the past few years, our better sales prints have come with better weekly data than year-over-year. However, this index has been growing year over year, which is a positive.

• 10 positive week-to-week prints
• 10  negative week-to-week prints
• 2 flat week-to-week prints
• 10 weeks of double-digit year-over-year growth
• 20 weeks of positive year-over-year growth
• 2 negative year-over-year prints

Conclusion

With everything happening in 2026, just think of existing home sales showing a little bit of growth this year versus last. If mortgage rates had stayed under 6.25% for the year — a level we saw earlier this year — my target of 237,000 more home sales would have been met.

Even though mortgage rates have moved up 0.76% from the lows, they are still lower year over year for 2026. In fact, we had the lowest mortgage rate curve to start the year since 2022. This has benefited the housing market, and the only reason it happened this year is better mortgage spreads.

Going forward, keep an eye on mortgage rates and how they affect purchase application data and our weekly tracker. In the past, when mortgage rates got above 6.64% and headed above 7%, that’s where we see demand get hit.

The incoming operation, led by industry veteran Ilija Pavlovic, will operate as The Agency One Rock, and have its headquarters at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan and an additional flagship office in the Flatiron District. The group brings approximately 1,200 agents and 26 offices across New York City, Westchester County, the Hudson Valley and New Jersey into The Agency’s network, which currently includes roughly 2,500 agents and more than 160 offices across at least 16 countries, according to the company announcement.

Pavlovic will serve as president and CEO of The Agency One Rock, the firm said in the announcement.

“At this historic crossroads within the real estate industry, we had to make a choice between a corporate Wall Street driven model that prioritizes a fiduciary duty to investors and a model that still protects the best interests of both our clients and our agents,” Pavlovic said in a statement. “We decided to align ourselves with a company that unites boutique culture, a global luxury brand, ensures maximum exposure for our clients’ properties and provides a cutting-edge, custom, advanced technology base in order to focus on the permanent growth of individual agents.”

The tri-state expansion builds on the firm’s existing New York and New Jersey footprint. The move comes as large brokerages and franchises continue to consolidate market share through mergers and acquisitions, while independent firms evaluate whether to join larger platforms to gain access to technology, marketing and referral networks. 

Growth over volume

Umansky framed the affiliation as part of a deliberate, culture-first growth strategy rather than a pursuit of raw transaction volume.

“We are in a moment of remarkable opportunity. While the industry consolidates around transaction volume and scale, we are growing around something more enduring: shared values, genuine culture, and a commitment to our agents’ success,” Umansky, founder and CEO of The Agency, said in the announcement. “The New York metro has always been a cornerstone market for us, and today it becomes even stronger.”

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

“I’ve always run a very lean and mean team,” Harris said. “I don’t want 50 agents because with a team that large it is hard to incentivize and support everyone.” 

Harris said the smaller size of his team, allows him to easily host a weekly Monday meeting with the entire team where everyone discusses the deals they are working on or challenges they may be having with a buyer or seller, which he said fosters a collaborative culture and incentivizes the agents to make sure they aren’t the only one turning up to the meeting with no projects going on. 

This approach helped Harris and his Carolwood Estates-brokered team close 83 transaction sides totaling $938.0 million in sales volume in 2025, earning the team the No. 2 rank in the country for sales volume among large team, according to the 2026 RealTrends Verified The Thousand rankings. 

Harris says he values quality over quantity

“I would rather have 10 superb agents than 100 where the vast majority are mediocre,” he said. “If I have a smaller team, it helps with camaraderie, but it also allows me to be more hands-on in an individual way with each of those team members and ensuring that I am doing everything I can as a team lead to support each of them. But most importantly, it allows me to work alongside each of my team members, who I really consider partners.” 

Harris said he finds it incredibly rewarding to watch the agents grow and evolve into better versions of themselves. Having started in real estate at just 15-years-old, Harris said he thinks it is very important for him to give back to and support the younger generations of agents entering the business in the same way he was mentored and supported in the early days of his career. 

A focus on retention

Right now, Harris said he is thrilled with the current make up of his team and he is not looking to recruit, but he would not pass up any perfect opportunities that presented themselves. However, due to this his primary focus as a team leader is on agent retention.

“For me, it is really about how do I focus my attention and time towards the people that I already have to ensure that they're becoming the best version of themselves?” he said. “If I have someone great, I want to do everything in my power to never lose them.”

According to Harris, this means making sure that he is incentivizing agents, building them up and collaborating on deals with them. He added that this desire to support his agents and help them better serve their clients is what inspired him to create Breezy, an AI operating system tool. 

It is with tools like Breezy as well as the collaborative culture he has built, that Harris hopes will enable his team to close over $1 billion in sales volume in 2026. 

“I am feeling more and more confident that we can do it,” Harris said. “But we are always looking ahead of us and thinking about how we can beat last year, but more importantly, how I can enable every agent to achieve to the best of their ability.”

NRMLA President Steve Irwin, alongside board co-chairs Jim Cory of Guild Mortgage and Mike Kent of Onity Mortgage, spoke about the trade group's engagement efforts with Congress. They noted that the House appropriations committee passed a funding package for the next fiscal year that ensures the operations of the federally insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program.

They also said that NRMLA successfully lobbied to have funds for housing counseling assistance included in the package after President Donald Trump's proposed budget for fiscal year 2027 sought to eliminate it. Counseling is a pre-funding requirement for all HECM borrowers and the current budget for FY 2026 includes $57.5 million in assistance across all types of counseling.

"We have dodged that bullet once again on your behalf and on behalf of the consumers you oversee," Irwin told the audience.

Second appraisals

The NRMLA officials also spoke to key components of the HECM and HECM Mortgage-Backed Securities (HMBS) programs that are being scrutinized after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a request for information in October 2025.

A rule that requires lenders to order second appraisals on a portion of HECM applications is something the trade group has wanted to eliminate for many years. Irwin said recent discussions with HUD and Federal Housing Administration (FHA) officials were more productive in that regard compared to previous efforts.

"This is not the first time we fought the second appraisal," he said. "This is the first time that they've actually listened."

Second appraisals add significant time and cost to the HECM origination process, lenders say. Estimates on how often they're required vary. Former FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery said that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, they represented 20% to 30% of transactions. Erik Morin, CEO of appraisal management company Atlas VMS, recently told HousingWire's Reverse Mortgage Daily that roughly 8% to 10% of his company's business in the past year included a second appraisal.

"A second full appraisal is not only excessively expensive for the consumer, it's very time intensive," Kent told the audience. "It drags out the process. It's very difficult to explain to seniors why yet another appraiser is coming out to their house."

While the trade group said that collateral risk assessment remains integral to safe and sound reverse mortgage practices, it is calling for automated valuation models (AVMs) to be used more frequently. They noted that in traditional forward lending, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac already use alternative valuation methods that have collectively saved borrowers billions of dollars.

"You bring into it a certain level of appraisal bias that AI and technology doesn't really have," Kent said. "We think by using technology tools to eliminate appraisal bias, you eliminate the problems you may have in the first appraisal that you can have in the second appraisal — and we think it's cheaper, it's faster and it's more efficient."

Mortgage insurance premiums

Initial mortgage insurance premiums (IMIP) are another prime target for change across the industry. Loan officers and executives say that paying 2% of the property value or 2% of the maximum claim amount (MCA) — whichever is lower — is a hurdle that many borrowers cannot overcome, which has contributed to low origination volumes for years.

"We think that 200 basis points of MCA is excessive, especially as interest rates rise, because it becomes a bigger percentage of the proceeds," Kent said.

NRMLA has proposed a risk-based structure for IMIP and has suggested a figure as low as 50 basis points for borrowers who want to withdraw 60% or less of their available proceeds. Kent said the trade group is pushing ideas that will have positive or neutral impacts to the FHA's Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund.

FHA reported that the MMI Fund ended the 2025 fiscal year with a capital ratio of 11.47%, nearly six times higher than its statutory minimum requirement of 2%. And the HECM portfolio's standalone capital ratio was 24.06%, meaning that revenue from current premiums are more than offsetting any losses.

Kent said that HUD and FHA officials have been receptive to the concept of lower premiums. He placed the odds of a 50-bps IMIP requirement at "maybe better than 50/50."

"We're trying to propose them in a way where it's kind of an easy lift, where it doesn't take a lot of work on their end, because time is short, right? This administration has a couple years left — that's it," he said.

"Lowering costs to homeowners is one of the central pillars of this current administration, and this aligns with that. We think it comes at a very good time, because the health of the MMI Fund is very solid."

The report, “The State of Affordable Housing: Saving Affordable Housing Assets,” identifies five major headwinds reshaping the economics of affordable housing — supply constraints, rising insurance premiums, escalating utility costs, inflation and broad-based operating cost increases. 

Valerie White, Head of National Housing Strategic Initiatives at LISC, told HousingWire’s The Builder’s Daily that these pressures and cost increases make it increasingly difficult to develop and preserve affordable housing at the scale needed to meet demand.

"When you have this multitude of factors that are happening all together, what started out quiet now becomes a noisy storm,” White said. “There's not a lot of cushion to absorb these market changes.”

The report also outlines how LISC plans to deploy more than $5 billion by 2027 for the development of 57,000 affordable housing units, as well as policy reforms that the organization believes would help stimulate more affordable housing creation and preservation.

The following analysis digs into some of the main findings of the report and how organizations like LISC can help affordable housing developers deliver and preserve more units.

The five main headwinds for affordable housing developers

1. Supply constraints and expiring affordability

The report noted that homebuilders and developers, both market-rate and affordable, are operating in a market defined by chronic underbuilding and shrinking affordability restrictions. Most economists argue that there is a housing shortage of several million homes in the United States. 

For affordable housing, a growing concern is that many subsidized units may lose that status in the coming years. Affordability restrictions on 374,497 federally assisted homes are expected to expire over the next five years, based on data from the National Housing Preservation Database. 

The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) estimates a national shortage of 7.2 million affordable homes for extremely low-income renters. Yardi Matrix further forecasts affordable unit starts falling to 68,000 in 2026 and 51,000 in 2027, widening the gap just as restrictions roll off.

For affordable housing developers, this combination of fewer starts and expiring subsidies means more competition for capital, tougher preservation decisions and a rising risk of displacement for low-income renters. 

2. Inflation and the cost of housing

Inflation has widened the gap between incomes and housing costs. JCHS estimates, as cited by LISC, show:

• The annual income needed to afford the median-priced U.S. home rose from roughly $68,000 in 2020 to more than $130,000 in 2025.
• A first-time buyer’s monthly mortgage payment on a median-priced home jumped from about $1,200 in 2020 to more than $2,500 in mid-2025, assuming a 3.5% down payment and a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.

For affordable housing developers, this sustained affordability gap means continued and growing demand for rental housing, including below-market units. 

3. Surging insurance premiums

Insurance has become one of the fastest-rising line items in affordable portfolios, according to LISC. Some notable data points include the following:

• Property insurance costs for Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) properties have posted six consecutive years of double-digit increases, Novogradac data show.
• The median per-unit insurance cost on LIHTC-financed homes reached $697 in 2023, more than 20% above 2022 and well above the 2016 level of $286 per unit. The report notes some owners have seen premiums jump as much as 300% despite not filing claims.

Because LIHTC and other regulated properties face rent caps, owners cannot easily pass along higher premiums to tenants. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) also capped maximum rent increases at 10% in 2024, and local jurisdictions can restrict rent growth even further.

For nonprofit developers operating on thin margins, rising insurance costs can erode debt coverage ratios and can trigger compliance problems or forced sales. 

4. Escalating utility costs and pressure from data center demand

Utility costs are another major driver of operating pressure for affordable housing operators. LISC highlights that residential electricity prices have outpaced inflation from 2018 to 2026, with more increases projected through at least 2027:

Between 2018 and 2026, residential electricity prices rose faster than the Consumer Price Index, while residential natural gas and gasoline prices swung sharply.

The report also flags a newer structural factor in rising utility prices: rapid growth in data centers and artificial intelligence. Data centers draw heavily from the same power grids used by households, contributing to higher systemwide energy costs. 

While some affordable housing operators are pursuing energy-efficient designs, revenue-sharing and local benefits like broadband builds, the near-term impact on electricity prices is an additional burden on properties and tenants.

5. Rising labor, materials and operating costs

Expenses are rising faster than revenues in affordable portfolios across the board. LISC’s analysis of operating cost trends since 2017 shows severe pressure in several categories:

• Insurance costs are up 110%.  
• Administrative costs, including staffing, health insurance and payroll taxes, are up 51%.
• Repairs and maintenance are up 35%. 
• Overall operating expenses per affordable housing unit have increased 35.3% since 2018, when they averaged $6,089 per unit.

On the development side, JCHS data show a 42% increase in multifamily material costs from 2020 to 2025, compared with just 7% from 2014 to 2019. This cost spike pushes rents higher across the board. 

The number of units renting for less than $1,400 fell by 9.3 million from 2014 to 2024, including a 2.5 million decline in units under $600. This upward shift in rent distribution leaves fewer “naturally affordable” options and increases reliance on subsidized developments, which are themselves under financial strain.

LISC’s $5.2 billion affordable housing response

Given these headwinds, LISC plans to invest $5.2 billion by 2027 to aid with the development or preservation of more than 50,000 affordable housing units across the country. with a housing-focused strategy for 2025–2027. The strategy involves:

• Scaling affordable housing production through lending, fund structures and tax credit investments.
• Preserving and improving existing single-family and multifamily housing
• Advancing “industry-leading innovation” with replicable investment models</li>

LISC’s housing work centers on three core approaches. 

1. Creative capital deployment and financing innovation

LISC describes a financing environment where all types of sponsors — for-profit, nonprofit and public agencies — are seeking new ways to raise capital for development and preservation. The report highlights several emerging practices and tools:

• Credit-rated housing authorities issuing bonds backed by their balance sheets to support new production and preservation.
• Nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations exploring “as-of-right” bond issuances to fund mission-driven projects. 
• Workforce housing and Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing (NOAH) strategies that preserve existing moderate-rent stock and address housing stress for working families, including first responders and health care workers.

LISC positions its own lending and fund-management activity as a way to structure this capital efficiently and steer it toward developments most at risk from today’s cost and revenue pressures.

“Affordable housing in general is a very, very complex financial endeavor. Underwriting the parts of the capital stack that you need to even get it done — it’s a lot. It’s a combination of subsidies, some soft debt and regular debt, some is market rate interest and some is lower interest; it's a really complex puzzle that you have to put together,” White said in an interview. 

2. Capacity building for emerging and nonprofit developers

The report underscores the importance — and vulnerability — of smaller, mission-driven developers. Emerging and nonprofit sponsors often spearhead projects in under-resourced communities but operate with thin staff, limited balance sheets and constrained back-office capacity.

LISC’s strategy to help these developers includes:

• Developer training through the LISC Developers Training Program.
• Operational and technical support for community development corporations (CDCs).
• Capacity-building grants and advisory services aimed at improving pipeline management, financial structuring and long-term asset management.

LISC argues that scaling this capacity-building support is essential to increasing both production and preservation opportunities, particularly for organizations that are closest to communities but least able to absorb today’s financial shocks.

3. Policy advocacy at federal, state and local levels

LISC’s report outlines policy moves that could materially change affordable housing economics if adopted or scaled. On the federal level, these reforms include the following:

• LIHTC expansions: Recent changes could add 1.2 million units over 10 years, with Congress considering more allocation authority and deeper-targeting tools for extremely low-income households
• Neighborhood Homes Investment Act: A proposed tax credit would fill the gap between development costs and sale prices for starter homes, aiming to support 500,000+ homes over a decade.
• Broader housing measures: Housing provisions embedded in larger federal bills could shift capital flows, incentives and the scale of subsidized production.

The report flagged some state and local policy reforms, including:

• By-right zoning and faith-based development, including by-right policies that cut discretionary approvals, and let faith-based institutions develop housing on their land.  
• New York City insurance pooling: A new program in NYC will pool property and liability coverage for affordable and rent-stabilized housing, targeting 20,000 homes in year one and 100,000 by 2030.
• PILOT tax tools: Some cities support a Payment In Lieu Of Tax (PILOT) program to reduce tax burdens and encourage new and preserved affordable units.
• Local zoning reforms: Cities like Cambridge, Massachusetts, now allow four-story multifamily buildings in all residential zones to boost supply and support small-scale infill.

LISC argues that these local tools and reforms must be paired with federal credits and flexible Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) capital for projects to remain viable amid rising costs and flat revenues.

This article was written by Tyler Williams with the assistance of HousingWire Automation. It was reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

The Detroit-based parent of Rocket Mortgage priced $900 million in 6.125% senior notes due in 2031 and $600 million in 6.5% senior notes due in 2034. The aggregate principal amount was upsized from a previously announced $1.2 billion.

The offering is expected to close June 16, subject to customary closing conditions. The notes will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by Rocket’s direct and indirect domestic subsidiaries that guarantee its existing senior notes.

The company plans to use proceeds to repay Rocket Mortgage’s 2.875% senior notes due in 2026 and to pay down other indebtedness.

The transaction extends a portion of Rocket’s debt profile into the next decade and locks in fixed-rate funding. But it comes at higher rates due to the current macroeconomic environment.

The notes are being offered in a private placement to qualified institutional buyers under Rule 144A and to non-U.S. investors under Regulation S. They will not be registered under the Securities Act of 1933, and may not be offered or sold in the U.S. absent registration or an applicable exemption.

Rocket’s move comes amid rate volatility and compressed margins across the mortgage sector, where access to term funding and balance-sheet flexibility remain key advantages for large originators and servicers.

Companies that recently issued debt include Mr. Cooper Group — which was recently acquired by Rocket — as well as Pennymac Financial Services, loanDepot, and Rithm Capital.

This article was written by Flávia Furlan Nunes and generated with the assistance of HousingWire Automation, then reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication. 

Regardless of whether Dream Finders Homes succeeds in its pursuit of Beazer Homes, the case for its further acquisitions is easy to make.

The company has used M&A as a growth strategy, from its 2021 acquisition of McGuyer Homebuilders' assets to its 2024 acquisition of Crescent Ventures and its 2026 public proposal to acquire Beazer Homes.

That track record raises a natural question for investors: if Dream Finders continues down the consolidation path, what could come after Beazer?

One logical name is KB Home. There is no public indication that either company is pursuing such a transaction. From a purely strategic standpoint, KB is one of the few remaining public builders with the scale, geographic reach and market positions that could transform Dream Finders overnight.

Homebuilding is increasingly a scale business

The strategic backdrop is straightforward. In U.S. homebuilding, scale creates purchasing power, capital flexibility, land access and better absorption of overhead across a broader production base. Builders already operating at substantial scale can spread fixed costs across more closings, negotiate more effectively with suppliers and trades, and maintain stronger balance-sheet flexibility during cyclical downturns.

Dream Finders has demonstrated that it understands this dynamic. Its proposed all-cash acquisition of Beazer Homes at $25.75 per share, implying an equity value of roughly $704 million, was presented as a way to create a larger builder with expected cost synergies, complementary geography and a land-light structure.

That framing makes clear that management is not treating acquisitions as merely opportunistic. They are part of a broader strategy to accelerate scale rather than wait years to build it organically.

Why KB Home stands out

KB Home brings something difficult to recreate organically: long-established operating positions in harder-to-enter markets. The company says it operates in 49 markets across nine states, with its strongest strategic positions on the West Coast: California, Arizona, Las Vegas and Orlando.

These are markets where local relationships, entitlement history and operating infrastructure are often built over decades, not quarters.

That matters because these are not easy markets to expand into. California, in particular, remains one of the most complex housing markets in the country, with long entitlement timelines, regulatory friction, infrastructure burdens and persistent land scarcity that favor builders already operating at meaningful scale.

For Dream Finders, acquiring established positions in those markets would be much faster than building them from the ground up.

The Texas gap

The strategic logic is more compelling through a Texas lens. Dream Finders has spent years deepening its presence in Texas and the Southeast, including the McGuyer transaction, which added backlog and lot positions in Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio. Crescent Ventures also extended the platform to Nashville and South Carolina, reinforcing the company's pattern of expanding along growth corridors tied to migration and job creation.

KB's story is different. It remains a respected national builder, but its footprint is better known in California, Arizona, Las Vegas and Orlando than its dominant scale in Dallas-Fort Worth.

DFW continues to rank among the country's most important real estate and housing markets, supported by strong population growth, corporate relocations and broad investor attention heading into 2027 and beyond. A combination would effectively merge Dream Finders' stronger growth orientation in Texas and the Southeast with KB's entrenched positions in the West and Orlando.

From a map perspective alone, the fit is easy to understand. Dream Finders would gain immediate scale in high-barrier Western markets, while KB would be paired with a company that has demonstrated a greater appetite for aggressive expansion in Texas and adjacent Sun Belt growth markets.

Leadership adds intrigue

Leadership is another area to watch. Dream Finders recently appointed Clint Szubinski as Chief Operating Officer following his tenure as Executive Vice President and COO at Meritage Homes.

Szubinski also spent nearly a decade at KB Home in a variety of leadership roles, giving him firsthand knowledge of the company's operations, markets, culture and strategic strengths. Meanwhile, KB Home is undergoing a leadership transition, with longtime CEO Jeffrey Mezger stepping down and moving into the role of Executive Chairman as part of a planned succession. 

Leadership changes alone do not create acquisition opportunities, but they often catalyze a fresh review of strategy, capital allocation and long-term competitive positioning.

When a potential acquirer has a senior executive who knows a target company exceptionally well, future strategic discussions become easier to envision. That matters in an industry where scale has become more valuable, technology investments are increasingly costly and competition for finished lots and land positions remains intense. A new CEO inherits not only the existing business but also a strategic environment different from the one that shaped the prior two decades.

That does not mean a transaction is likely, but it does strengthen the argument that if Dream Finders were to study a larger public-builder acquisition, KB would be one of the few companies the leadership team could assess with a meaningful degree of firsthand operating context.

The platform math

The financial case would make the story truly transformational. KB generated approximately $6.24 billion in revenue in fiscal 2025. Dream Finders generated approximately $4.32 billion in revenue in 2025.

Combined, that implies a builder with annual revenue of $10.5 billion to $10.6 billion, before considering any subsequent growth or synergies.

That would catapult the combined enterprise into a different competitive category. The strategic appeal would extend beyond geography to operating leverage. A larger platform could improve purchasing leverage, supplier negotiations, trade relationships, overhead absorption, capital efficiency and land sourcing opportunities.

It would likely be marketed not simply as an acquisition but as a platform-enhancement story.

The cultural story would also be easy to frame. Dream Finders brings an entrepreneurial, acquisition-driven model and a more capital-efficient land strategy. KB brings mature operating systems, larger scale and longstanding positions in difficult-to-enter markets.

In theory, the combination would be positioned as complementary strengths rather than redundant overlap.

The obstacle: size

The reason this remains a strategic thought exercise is simple: KB is large. Recent reporting has placed KB Home's market value in the several billion-dollar range, with one report citing around $3.7 billion in spring 2026. Any transaction would likely require a substantial stock component, meaningful financing commitments and probably support from institutional capital providers.

Dream Finders has already shown a willingness to pursue ambitious deals. Its Beazer proposal was backed by highly confident financing letters from Kennedy Lewis, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Securities. But moving from transactions measured in the hundreds of millions to one measured in multiple billions would pose a very different set of challenges around leverage, dilution, execution risk and shareholder approval.

Complexity does not invalidate the strategic rationale. It simply means the financial structure would need to be compelling enough to justify the effort.

Why this deal will appeal to institutional investors

Dream Finders is arguably a more efficient organization because it generates outsized earnings and growth from a smaller capital base by running an asset-light, high-turnover model. The company’s own filings describe an asset-light lot acquisition strategy that relies heavily on options, allowing it to secure land “just-in-time” with reduced upfront capital and higher inventory turnover, which in turn has boosted returns on equity relative to traditional, land-heavy builders. 

Independent analyses show that Dream Finders’ ROE is in the low to mid-teens today and, at times, above 30%, materially above typical industry averages and ahead of many larger peers, indicating that each dollar of equity generates more profit than at most competitors. 

As of late 2025, roughly 98% of its controlled lots were held under options, an extreme level of land-light exposure that keeps land off the balance sheet and supports very high returns on equity by minimizing idle capital tied up in raw and developed land.

In addition, Dream Finders has achieved rapid growth in homes closed and revenue over a relatively short operating history while maintaining positive net margins and strong ROE, indicating it is not just growing but doing so with disciplined capital deployment rather than bloating the balance sheet with owned land.

Why KB Home might attract activist investor pressure

KB Home appears bloated relative to more efficient peers because it has a heavier fixed-cost structure and more capital on its balance sheet for the level of output it generates. Recent results show SG&A running at roughly 12.2%-12.8% of housing revenues, compared with Lennar’s 7.9%-8.8%, a gap that external analysts estimate could translate into about $250M–$300M in annual cost savings if KB operated at peer efficiency levels. 

At the same time, KB has seen revenue down more than 20% year over year and EPS down roughly 60–70% in recent quarters, which means that a relatively high SG&A base is being spread over fewer closings, compressing margins and highlighting the extent of fixed overhead embedded in the model. 

On the balance-sheet side, KB controlled about 63,257 lots as of early 2026, with roughly 59% owned and only 41% under contract, indicating a more land-heavy, capital-intensive posture than option-heavy builders that keep a higher share of lots off the balance sheet. Put together, KB is tying up more capital in owned land while running a structurally higher SG&A load than the leanest operators. As a result, each dollar of deployed capital supports more overhead and land carry and less pure margin and growth than you’d see in a truly optimized, asset-light platform.

End game

The real question is not whether KB Home is a strong standalone builder. Its scale, long operating history and market positions make that clear. The more interesting question is whether KB's valuable positions in California, Las Vegas, Arizona, Orlando, and other key markets could eventually be worth more within a larger consolidating platform than as a standalone company.

As homebuilding continues to reward scale, capital efficiency and market access, investors ask exactly that question before consolidation occurs.

Regardless of the outcome of the Beazer proposal, one conclusion appears reasonable: Dream Finders has given investors every reason to believe it is unlikely to complete the acquisition.

Here is why broker-owners and brokerage executives should care — and care now. The bill does what the Clear Cooperation Policy never could. CCP was an association rule that the industry could amend, dilute or walk away from. This is statute with license revocation standing behind it.

The mechanics are simple. A listing agent representing a seller or a landlord must publicly market the property on an MLS or a platform that costs the consumer nothing and does not require them to work with the listing brokerage to see it. The agent also has to share listing information with buyer agents, respond to their inquiries and make the property available for showings.

The provision aimed at one company

Compass built its growth engine on the three-phase marketing strategy. Phase one is the Private Exclusive, marketed only to Compass agents and their buyers, off the public market. Phase two is Compass Coming Soon, launched only on Compass.com. Phase three is the public launch on the MLS and the portals. The first two phases are the entire product.

Read New York's definitions against that model and the target comes into focus. A platform that requires a consumer to work with the listing brokerage to view a listing does not count as public marketing. Compass Private Exclusives fail that test by design. Then comes the line that does the real work: If a property sits on a private or limited-access channel, the agent must concurrently market it publicly. That one word, concurrently, collapses the dark-launch window. There is no phase one anymore.

Compass has a ready answer, and you should expect to hear it. After Washington passed its ban, CEO Robert Reffkin argued that such laws do not block the phased strategy, because Private Exclusive is merely a label and, as he put it, you cannot sell something to yourself, so the listings end up publicly marketed anyway. That is a tidy argument against a sloppy ban. New York did not write a sloppy ban. The definitions read as though they were drafted with that quote taped to the wall.

The opt-out is the real weapon

Here is the part that should hold a broker-owner's attention. New York did not outlaw the model. It left an opt-out. A seller can sign a state-prescribed disclosure and direct the agent to keep the listing private. The mechanism survives. The sales story does not. That form makes the seller initial, line by line, that they understand a private listing may mean reduced visibility, fewer offers, and a lower sale price.

Picture the moment. Your agent is selling the homeowner on the brilliance of going private, and the State of New York hands that same homeowner a document that says, in plain English, this choice may cost you money. The state is not banning the pitch. It is making your client sign a sworn rebuttal to it.

Teeth, data and a trend line

The enforcement is not symbolic. The bill raises the maximum fine from $2,000 to $5,000, routes half of every penalty to the state's anti-discrimination in housing fund, and treats each listing marketed in violation as a separate offense. For a firm carrying hundreds of listings, that arithmetic compounds quickly, and a license suspension sits at the end of the road.

It is not landing in a vacuum either. A Consumer Federation analysis found Compass double-ending, both sides of the deal kept in-house, at 41% in Washington, D.C., against a historical norm that researcher Stephen Brobeck put at 3% to 12%. The bill's findings section, with its language about shrinking the pool of offers and making homes invisible to certain buyers, reads almost like a summary of that report. And New York is not first. Washington and Wisconsin already have laws on the books, with bills pending in Illinois, Connecticut and Hawaii. The fight that began inside MLS policy committees has moved to the statehouses, and the statehouses hit harder.

What to do before it becomes law

Two caveats, because precision matters. This is not law yet. It cleared the Assembly, but it still needs the Senate and the Governor's signature, and the New York State Association of Realtors has not taken a position. Plenty can still change. But a bill that clears a full chamber in one of the country's largest housing markets is not background noise. It is a signal flare.

So treat it like one. Read the actual bill, not the summary. Ask whether your firm's pre-marketing playbook can survive a concurrent-publication requirement, and what your disclosure paperwork looks like if it cannot. Decide now whether your value proposition rests on transparency or on controlling who gets to see a listing, because New York is about to make that a very expensive distinction. What we teach is that the value was never the listing you controlled, it was the expertise and the trust you brought to the table. A law like this rewards the firms that already believed that.

The walled garden was always going to meet a fence law eventually. New York just poured the footings.

Darryl Davis, CSP, has spoken to, trained, and coached more than 600,000 real estate professionals around the globe. He is a bestselling author for McGraw-Hill Publishing, and his book, How to Become a Power Agent in Real Estate, tops Amazon’s charts for most sold book to real estate agents.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners.

To contact the editor responsible for this piece: tracey@hwmedia.com

In May, the Consumer Price Index for all items rose 0.5% from a month, down from a 0.6% monthly increase in April. However, annually, the all items index rose 4.2% in May, up from the 3.8% annual increase recorded in April. This is the fastest annual pace of inflation since April 2023. 

According to the BLS, the energy index, which rose 3.9% month-over-month and 23.5% year-over-year,  accounted for over 60% of the monthly all-items index increase. 

The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2% month-over-month in May, thanks to increases in the indexes for communication (+1.3%), airline fares (+2.7%), medical care (+0.3%), personal care (+1.0%) and recreation (+0.3%). Year-over-year, the all items less food and energy index rose 2.9%, up from a 2.8% increase in April.

“May's inflation report was a tale of two CPIs: higher energy costs pushed headline inflation to its fastest pace in two years, but underlying inflation remained relatively contained,” Odeta Kushi, First American’s deputy chief economist, said in a statement. 

The index for shelter rose 0.3% month-over-month and 3.4% compared to a year prior, while the food index jumped 0.2% on a monthly basis and 3.2% on a yearly basis. 

Fed unlikely to change its near-term policy outlook

Economists said that due to the softer increase and relative stability of core inflation, the Federal Reserve is unlikely to change its near-term policy outlook. 

“Inflation remains higher than policymakers would like and a resilient labor market gives the Fed little urgency to lower interest rates,” Kushi said. “At the same time, the relatively tame core reading should provide some reassurance that underlying inflation has not reaccelerated. The result is likely to reinforce the Fed's current wait-and-see approach and keep rate cuts on hold for now, as officials look for greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably back toward target before considering any policy easing. The softer-than-expected monthly core reading also reduces the likelihood that policymakers will need to consider rate hikes.”

While mortgage rate relief may not be coming anytime soon, Kushi believes increasing inventory levels and improving consumer confidence in the labor market and overall economy will still help propel the housing market forward. 

“The encouraging news for housing is that demand appears to be waiting on the sidelines, rather than disappearing altogether,” she said. “Existing home sales posted their strongest monthly gain of the year in May and reached their highest level since December, despite mortgage rates moving higher during the month.”

Under the deal, Figure will acquire Kiavi’s technology and operating platform, while a joint venture between Figure and global investment firm Sixth Street will purchase Kiavi’s balance-sheet assets.

Figure said the transaction will add more than $7 billion per year in new first-lien volume to its Figure Connect marketplace and more than $100 million in monthly volume to Democratized Prime, its on-chain warehouse platform. Kiavi’s products include short-term residential transition loans (RTLs) and long-term rental property loans known as debt-service-coverage ratio (DSCR) loans.

Following the close of the transaction, Kiavi CEO Arvind Mohan will join Figure’s executive team as chief business officer.

The deal deepens Figure’s push into first-lien products and investor-focused credit at a time when aging housing stock and tight for-sale inventory are driving demand for renovation and rental strategies. 

“The rental market is booming and many properties require short-term transition financing to cover renovation before they’re made rental-ready. Then, they’re often refinanced with DSCRs to cover permanent upkeep,” Figure CEO Michael Tannenbaum wrote in a blog post.

According to Tannenbaum, Figure's first-lien business grew from 10% to 20% of its mix last year. It expects first-lien products to reach about 40% of its marketplace volume by the end of 2027. 

Deal financing

Figure plans to contribute $538 million to the acquisition via a $600 million issuance of senior unsecured notes. Ryan Tomasello, an analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, noted after the announcement that this will result in an estimated pro forma corporate leverage of about 2x. Sixth Street will contribute $179 million and is providing $3 billion in forward purchase commitments, he added. 

Figure characterized the Kiavi platform as high margin and asset light, and it reaffirmed its medium-term EBITDA margin target of roughly 60%. It expects the transaction to be accretive to earnings per share and to deliver an unlevered cash payback in less than four years.

The companies said the combination represents a roughly $200 billion annual addressable origination opportunity that Figure intends to move onto its tokenized rails. 

Figure said it currently accounts for about 75% of real-world asset tokenization. The Kiavi deal is meant to scale that foothold and accelerate its shift toward first-lien assets, a market it estimates is about 25 times larger than second liens.

Founded as LendingHome in 2013, Kiavi focuses on financing investors who buy, renovate, and rent or resell properties. It reported more than $250 million in revenue and more than $100 million in EBITDA last year, and it has funded more than $30 billion in loans to date, according to the announcement. 

“For the past 13 years, Kiavi has been focused on powering our data flywheel and proving what’s possible when technology and industry expertise converge,” Mohan said. “This transaction represents a massive leap forward for the asset class.”

Artificial intelligence

Kiavi’s loans will be the first use case for Adaptor, Figure’s new AI product aimed at automating agent-to-agent onboarding by normalizing originator data across assets on Figure Connect and Democratized Prime.

“Blockchain is a big idea, but the on-chain capital markets are in their infancy,” Mike Cagney, Figure co-founder and executive chairman, said in the announcement. “Figure needs to make bold moves to bring entire asset classes on chain.”

Barclays Capital Inc. served as exclusive financial adviser to Figure and Sixth Street, while Jefferies LLC advised Kiavi.

This article was written by Flávia Furlan Nunes and generated with the assistance of HousingWire Automation, then reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication. 

On Wednesday, the parent company of residential real estate listing portal Homes.com, filed an amicus brief in opposition to Zillow’s motion for a preliminary injunction seeking to prevent MRED from suspending its listing feed. A hearing on this motion is scheduled for early July. 

“Zillow’s Motion paints Zillow as a fledgling, pro-transparency actor victimized by the powerful Defendants because Zillow courageously spoke out against them,” the filing states. “That narrative could not be further from the truth. Zillow’s Motion is just another tool for Zillow to kneecap competition in an apparent effort to replace the current MLS regime.”

In the filing, CoStar claims that Zillow’s motion is part of its “scheme to expand its ecosystem and replace the non-profit MLS system.” 

“It seeks to fragment the market in its favor, locking out rivals like Homes.com, while barring others’ pre-market listings and maintaining broad access to MLS feeds, until it no longer needs them,” the brief states.

According to CoStar, Zillow believes that it has grown so large that a listing on Zillow’s network alone is, by definition, pro-consumer. Thus, Zillow need not share it further. And a listing not available to Zillow’s network is, by definition, anti-consumer. Zillow needs a reality check.”

CoStar claims in the brief that Homes.com has been “directly harmed” by Zillow’s exclusive pre-market listing practices. 

In mid-March, Zillow launched Zillow Preview, a new offering providing agents and their sellers with the option to publicly pre-market their listings before the properties transition to an active listing status. Zillow launched the product in partnership with Keller Williams, REMAX, HomeServices of America, United Real Estate and Side but it has since expanded the offering to include dozens of other brokerages and franchisors. 

According to Zillow, listings may only be in a preview status for as long as local MLS rules allow and agents are responsible for understanding and complying with their local MLS rules regarding pre-marketing and statuses like 'coming soon.' 

"Hypocritical"

In the brief, CoStar calls the product “hypocritical,” claiming that Zillow Preview is the same thing as the defendants’ private listing networks, stating in the filing that the losing portal “trumpeted the very thing it had said was anathema when offered by a rival.”

According to CoStar, Zillow “audaciously complains about brokerages (1) ‘walling off the listings in their large networks from outside competitors,’ and (2) ‘using their large networks to lure buyers and sellers, capturing so-called network effects.’ But the practices that Zillow vociferously condemns describe precisely Zillow’s own behavior and objectives with respect to Zillow Preview.”

The Andy Florance-helmed firm goes on to claim that not only does it feel Zillow Preview anticompetitive but it is also anti-consumer. 

“Zillow uses sellers’ listings as bait to divert consumer leads toward Zillow’s affiliated buy-side brokers, so that Zillow can obtain a cut of the buy-side commission,” the filing states. “Zillow dupes consumers by presenting a ‘Contact Agent’ and ‘Request a Tour’ button beside property listings . . . And the vast majority of consumers do not understand this deception, evidenced by a recent study that found 99.7% of respondents incorrectly identified whom they were contacting on the Zillow platform.”

Zillow has previously stated that on Preview listings, consumers will be able to contact the listing agent directly via the “Contact Agent” button or schedule a tour of the property after the listing becomes active with the help of a Zillow Preferred buyer’s agent through the “Schedule a Tour” button. Additionally, Zillow has said that agents with Zillow Preview listings will not be charged for any leads they obtain through the contact agent button on their own listings when they are in the preview status.

In CoStar’s view, Zillow wants things “both ways.”

“On one hand, Zillow wants immediate access to brokerages’ MLS listings so it can profit from those listings as a brokerage competitor and an MLS replacement,” the filing states. “On the other, Zillow wants to hoard pre-market listings and market them exclusively through Zillow’s own channels, to the detriment of competition and consumers.”

Zillow's agreement with Realtor.com

The filing, which also claims that Zillow is a “monopolist,” examines Zillow’s agreement with Realtor.com to syndicate Zillow Preview listings on the site. CoStar argues that the agreement allows Zillow "to lock up high-value ‘coming soon’ listings provided by brokerages, while its exclusive horizontal partnership with Realtor.com allows Zillow to capture a dominant marketplace share through elimination of a major competitor and exclusion of all others.”

“Zillow wants a court order forcing MLSs to hand over their listings while Zillow hoards its own exclusive pre-market inventory — a breathtaking ‘heads I win, tails you lose’ proposition,” Gene Boxer, CoStar’s general counsel, said in a statement. “The Court should see this motion for what it is: an attempt to weaponize the judicial system to  entrench Zillow’s dominance at the expense of competition, consumers, and the MLS system  that has served the industry for decades.” 

According to Boxer, CoStar filed the brief “because the Court deserves the full picture, and the full picture reveals that Zillow’s claims of concern for consumers and competition are a smokescreen for its own anticompetitive ambitions.”

In an emailed statement a Zillow spokesperson told HousingWire that "CoStar and Compass are making the same flawed argument: that premarketing and private marketing are the same thing."

"They are not, and the distinction matters enormously," the spokesperson added. "Zillow Preview is pre-marketing -- publicly visible for any buyer to see it, save it and connect with the listing agent directly for free. No buyer is required to work with any specific brokerage to access it. Compass Private Exclusives are pay-to-play private marketing. Those listings are hidden from buyers unless they work with a Compass agent. The explicit purpose is to route listings through Compass's own network before — or instead of — making them available to the public. Calling those the same thing is a word game designed to muddy a clear distinction, and it is exactly the kind of conflation that harms buyers and sellers when it goes unchallenged."  

CoStar and Zillow are currently locked in a legal battle of their own over alleged copyright infringement related to photos of rental listings. In an amended complaint filed in March, CoStar claimed  that Zillow has infringed on CoStar’s copyright on more than 53,000 watermarked photos across Zillow and the platforms it syndicates rental listings to, including Redfin and Realtor.com.

Led by founder Justin Bringas, the 20-agent team serves Murrieta, Temecula and surrounding communities.

Partnering with simpliHŌM is expected to support the team's continued growth, with plans to expand to more than 40 agents and open a dedicated office in northern Murrieta by the end of 2026.

The Bringas Home Team has completed more than 450 home sales throughout its history. In 2026, the team said it has already closed more than $61 million in sales volume, with an additional $28 million currently under contract.

“Joining simpliHŌM was an easy decision because I was looking for more than just a brokerage — I was looking for leadership, vision and a community that truly supports its agents,” said Bringas. “Agents aren’t treated like competitors here. They’re treated like partners.”

Bringas also brings more than 19 years of experience in both real estate and mortgage lending.

“We are incredibly excited to partner with a top-producing team that has a massive vision for continued growth,” said Sean Miku, founder and CEO of simpliHŌM. “Justin Bringas is exactly the kind of leader we built simpliHŌM for. We created this company so that people like him can realize that whatever they dream, they can achieve it — and we’ll be right by their side.”

For Bringas, the move provides additional resources and opportunities for his team while supporting agents in building long-term careers within the industry.

“Real estate is more than a business — it’s about helping people realize their dreams,” he said. “I want every agent on my team to feel that same level of support in building their own careers.”

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

David Spector, chairman and chief executive officer of PennyMac, said To’s experience in AI, business transformation and enterprise technology will help support the company’s continued investment in technology-driven mortgage operations.

“We are pleased to welcome Tiffany to PFSI’s Board of Directors,” Spector said in a statement. “She has spent her career at the forefront of AI and business transformation, building products, leading organizations and helping enterprises turn technology into real competitive advantage.”

Before founding Ontollo, To served as executive vice president and general manager of enterprise and platform at Atlassian, where she oversaw the company’s enterprise business and platform teams and helped develop AI-powered tools for customers.

Earlier in her career, To was chief operating officer and a board member at cybersecurity company ForAllSecure, where she helped commercialize technology developed at Carnegie Mellon University for government and enterprise customers. She also held leadership positions at Cohesity, Coho Data, Nutanix, VMware, Intel, Silicon Graphics and Symbol Technologies.

To earned a bachelor’s degree in computer systems engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business.

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication. 

Last week’s results included an adjustment for the Memorial Day holiday. On an unadjusted basis, the index increased 21% compared with the previous week.

The refinance index increased 15% from the previous week and was 20% higher than the same week one year ago. The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 40.2% of total applications from 38.0% the previous week.

The seasonally adjusted purchase index increased 7% from one week earlier, while the unadjusted purchase index increased 17% compared with the previous week and was 4% higher than the same week one year ago.

“Mortgage rates were volatile last week as news from the Middle East continues to drive markets,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s SVP and chief economist. “While the average rate was up slightly, with the 30-year fixed rate now at 6.6%, there were opportunities where borrowers were seeing somewhat lower rates. Both refinance and purchase applications rebounded coming out of the Memorial Day holiday week, with refinance applications up 15% and purchase applications up 7%.”

By product, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) share of total applications increased to 17.4% from 17% the week prior. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) share of total applications decreased to 13.4% from 14.4% the week prior. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) share of total applications decreased to 0.4% from 0.5% the week prior.

The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 8.6% of total applications.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances increased to 6.6% from 6.57%, while rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances remained unchanged at 6.66%.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA increased to 6.27% from 6.26%, and rates for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.99% from 5.93%. The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs increased to 5.96% from 5.82%.

Xactus Mortgage Intent Index

Xactus‘s Mortgage Intent Index — which analyzes aggregated, anonymized credit-pull activity across the Xactus Intelligent Verification Platform — increased to a reading of 134.8, a week-over-week change of 20.57%.

“The Xactus Mortgage Intent Index rebounded approximately 21% from the prior week, which was impacted by the Memorial Day holiday," said Thomas Lloyd, Xactus’ chief strategy officer.

Lloyd said that despite the increase, activity remains "modestly below" both month-over-month and year-over-year levels, with the index down just under 2% on each measure.

He continued, "As the interest rate environment has remained relatively stable over the past several weeks, the data may suggest that borrowers are beginning to adjust to a higher-for-longer rate environment. Supporting that view, year-over-year declines have moderated from negative 3%–4% range earlier in May to approximately negative 1%–2% over the past two weeks.”

But mortgage lending is not a typical industry when it comes to deploying new technology. It is one of the most heavily regulated consumer finance activities, with obligations spanning the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Housing Act, RESPA, TILA, TRID and a growing body of state-level AI-specific legislation. The consequences of getting AI deployment wrong aren't just technical—they're legal, reputational and, in some cases, tied directly to individual loans.

The good news is that responsible AI deployment isn't the enemy of competitive advantage. Done correctly, it is the foundation of it.

The regulatory environment has already changed

Lenders who believe they can deploy AI now and figure out compliance later are misreading the regulatory environment. The rules are still evolving—but they are further along than most executives realize.

Freddie Mac updated its servicer guide in late 2025 to include explicit requirements for AI and machine learning governance, covering transparency, accountability and ethical stewardship of AI systems. Those requirements went into effect on March 3, 2026. Fannie Mae separately published cybersecurity and business resiliency requirements that apply directly to lenders using technology platforms with AI components.

At the state level, the patchwork is developing rapidly. Colorado was the first state to enact AI-specific legislation governing automated decision-making tools in 2024; Texas followed in 2025. New York has proposed legislation that would directly regulate automated decisioning in lending. California has clarified that existing consumer protection laws apply to AI-driven decisions, with explicit application to mortgage companies. 

Meanwhile, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has been clear for several years that AI-driven credit decisions must produce specific, explainable reasons for adverse action, not generic ones. An AI model that cannot generate a precise, accurate explanation for why it denied a borrower isn't just a compliance risk; it's a loan that cannot be defended if challenged.

The four pillars of a responsible AI framework

Across regulatory guidance, industry standards and recent enforcement trends, four consistent requirements define responsible AI in lending:

1. Explainability: Every AI-influenced decision must be traceable to a clear, documentable rationale. 
2. Fairness testing: Models must be tested for disparate impact before deployment and monitored continuously. Neutral data inputs can still function as proxies for race, income or geography.
3. Human oversight: AI should assist decisioning, not replace accountability. A clear escalation path with human review and override.
4. Audit readiness: Lenders must be able to document how models are built, trained, monitored and governed over time.

These pillars are worth examining not just as compliance checkboxes, but as operational commitments that require infrastructure, process and accountability structures to support them.

The 'black box' problem is not theoretical

One of the most significant risks in AI deployment is model opacity. Many AI and machine learning systems used in lending today function in ways that are difficult to interpret from the outside. The model produces an output—but the path from input to conclusion isn’t easily explainable.

This creates a specific compliance problem in the mortgage industry. The CFPB has been explicit: When AI influences a credit decision, lenders must be able to provide specific, accurate reasons for adverse actions. A lender that cannot identify why their AI scored a particular borrower the way it did cannot meet this obligation, regardless of how good the model's aggregate performance statistics are.

There is also a subtler risk. AI models can inadvertently use seemingly neutral data — device type, application timing, behavioral patterns during the application process — as proxies for protected characteristics. A model that's never been tested for disparate impact on race, income or geography may be producing discriminatory outcomes without anyone at the lender realizing it. Regulators are increasingly equipped to detect these patterns, with agencies building out their own analytical capabilities to flag lending anomalies.

The responsible answer to this is not to avoid AI — it's to choose and monitor AI tools that are designed for explainability from the ground up, and to build testing protocols that surface these issues before regulators do. 

Governance is a program, not a policy document

One of the most common mistakes lenders make in AI deployment is treating governance as a documentation exercise. A policy is written, a vendor attestation is collected and the system goes live. That approach may satisfy a checklist momentarily; it won't hold up under scrutiny.

Effective AI governance in lending requires a living inventory of every AI tool in production — what it does, what data it uses, who is accountable for its performance and how it is monitored over time. Models drift. Data distributions change. A model trained on one market environment may behave differently as rates, demographics or economic conditions shift.

Without ongoing monitoring, a system that was fair and accurate at launch can degrade in ways that create both performance and compliance risk. Governance is not a document—it’s an operating system.

Responsible AI is a competitive advantage, not a constraint

It is worth being direct about something that sometimes gets lost in compliance discussions: Lenders who build responsible AI frameworks are not just protecting themselves from downside risk. They are building infrastructure that gives them durable advantages.

A lending operation with explainable AI can defend its decisions — to regulators, to borrowers and to investors. That defensibility reduces legal exposure and audit risk in ways that translate directly to cost. An operation with strong fairness testing and bias monitoring can serve a broader borrower population responsibly — including the underserved segments that represent significant future market opportunity as demographics shift. And an operation with genuine human oversight and clear escalation paths builds the kind of borrower trust that drives retention and referrals in ways that pure automation cannot.

The lenders racing to deploy AI without this foundation are taking on risk they may not fully see yet. The lenders building the framework first are creating something harder to replicate: The operational credibility to scale AI confidently as the technology and regulatory environment continue to evolve.

Where to start

For lenders who are early in their AI governance journey, the most useful first step is an honest inventory. What AI tools are currently in production or being evaluated? What decisions do they influence? Who owns each tool's performance? What documentation exists for how they were trained, validated and tested for bias?

Most lenders find that this inventory reveals gaps — not because of negligence, but because AI capabilities have been adopted incrementally, often through vendor relationships, without a unified governance view across the organization. That gap is solvable, but it needs to be visible before it can be addressed.

From there, the priority should be building monitoring and human oversight into deployments before expanding them — not as an afterthought once scale is reached. The regulatory and reputational cost of a compliance failure in AI-driven lending will far exceed the cost of building the governance infrastructure upfront.

The lenders who treat responsible deployment as foundational — not optional — will be the ones who can scale it furthest, fastest, and with the least exposure when the scrutiny inevitably arrives.

David Aach is the COO of Blue Sage Solutions
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners. To contact the editor responsible for this piece: zeb@hwmedia.com.

The new agent-to-agent connection allows Claude to initiate operational jobs that are executed within AppFolio’s platform.

Unlike traditional integrations that primarily provide access to data or API results, the connector is designed to perform operational work while adhering to the rules, permissions and governance structures already established within the AppFolio ecosystem, leaders said.

“Our mission has always been to build the platform where real estate comes to do business, and we recognize that our customers are more than just consumers of our platform – they are builders of real businesses and thriving communities,” said Kyle Triplett, chief product officer at AppFolio. “By bringing the power of Realm-X to Claude, we are giving those builders the access and capabilities to deliver unparalleled performance. Whether they are at their desk or mobile, they can work through Claude, and have the same trusted AppFolio Performance Platform with a unified system of action.”

The integration combines Claude’s reasoning capabilities with Realm-X’s understanding of property management operations, including workflows, accounting practices, compliance requirements and business processes.

“The next frontier of AI is moving beyond simple chat to sophisticated agents that can execute meaningful work within complex industries,” said Travis Bryant, head of Americas mid-market at Anthropic. “By leveraging Claude’s high-reasoning capabilities and AppFolio’s deep real estate expertise, this connector demonstrates how AI can safely navigate professional workflows."

The companies highlighted several potential use cases for the integration, including portfolio reporting, occupancy and maintenance monitoring, leasing and marketing optimization, accounting reconciliation and resident experience management.

Property managers can combine AppFolio portfolio data with external market research through Claude to create investor-ready reports, analyze maintenance and occupancy trends, update marketing content and property listings, review financial exceptions and evaluate resident interactions to improve service levels.

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

His sweeping Building Up Illinois Developments plan stalled before the legislature adjourned, leaving the most ambitious housing proposals with little room to maneuver until fall.

His plan sought to strip local governments of broad zoning authority, legalize missing-middle housing and accessory dwelling units statewide, and set hard deadlines for permit reviews. It also would have eliminated excessive parking minimums, allowed single-stair construction in buildings up to six stories and replaced unpredictable local impact fees with a uniform formula.

The stall is a reminder of how powerful – and intractable – municipalities can be when arguing that state mandates have no place in local planning decisions. But there have been victories.

In Texas, California, Florida, Colorado and other states, lawmakers have passed legislation that preempts local zoning authority. Even so, they have had to continue strengthening those laws to prevent local governments from circumventing them.

Pritzker's plan wasn't the only failed housing effort in the spring legislative session. A separate bill targeting large institutional investors scooping up homes passed the Senate but never reached a House floor vote.

Plans to fight on

At a news conference, Pritzker noted that some legislation takes years to pass. Illinois REALTORS have spent five years pushing for policies to address a housing shortage estimated at 270,000 units statewide.

"I believe that the people of Illinois want action on housing," he said. "They want to make sure we make it easier for people to build homes."

He vowed to continue his housing push, framing the Spring setback as a delay rather than a defeat.

Although most of his plan stalled, the state's new budget includes the $250 million he sought when he unveiled his BUILD plan in February during his State of the State address. The funds target site preparation, middle housing development, and first-time homebuyer assistance.

How his plan stalled

The Illinois Municipal League led the charge against the package’s zoning elements, arguing that the plan would preempt zoning authority, which cities and villages consider a core function of self-governance. Suburban mayors were particularly vocal, with several holding news conferences in May to declare their opposition.

Pritzker’s plan would have allowed multifamily housing by right on residential lots larger than 2,500 square feet, legalized accessory dwelling units statewide, and standardized impact fee practices. Illinois REALTORS, which has spent more than five years pushing to expand housing opportunities, backed the effort.

Taking on institutional rental owners

In last-minute maneuvering, state Sen. Rachel Ventura moved to put Illinois on a nationwide legislative trend to limit institutional single-family ownership.

A bill that originated as a measure requiring menstrual hygiene dispensers in state buildings became the Restock the Block Act. Ventura's amendment, filed May 31 and passed by the Senate that same day, gutted the original bill and replaced it with new language targeting institutional real estate investors owning 10 or more residential properties with $30 million or more in assets under management.

Those investors would pay an annual fee equal to 10% of each home's property value beyond 10 properties, escalating to 50% as a portfolio of single-family holdings grows. They would also face a 90-day waiting period before purchasing any home listed for public sale, giving individual buyers first crack. Penalties for violations could reach $250,000.

Revenue would flow into the Illinois Affordable Housing Trust Fund to support public housing development and rental assistance.

The amended bill passed in the early morning hours of June 1, went to the House calendar, and did not move.

Pritzker's BUILD plan and Ventura's bill remain alive. The 104th General Assembly does not adjourn "sine die" – used to signify that a meeting, session, or case has been adjourned or suspended indefinitely, without a specific date set to reconvene – until January 2027, leaving open the possibility of action when lawmakers return for the fall veto session.

For Saul Klein, a real estate industry veteran and the CEO of San Diego MLS (SDMLS), these different strategies and partnerships, on top of the changes experienced by the industry via the National Association of Realtors (NAR) commission lawsuit settlement agreement, have led the industry to split into four camps: 

• Brokerage-controlled listing networks that want more power over their own inventory.
• Portal-driven consumer platforms that want comprehensive public visibility on every home.
• MLSs trying to preserve the cooperative marketplace while adapting to new competitive realities.
• Regulators and lawmakers stepping into a space that used to govern itself.

According to Klein, these camps are the different ways industry players are trying to answer the question of who controls a listing and while some may feel this debate may lead to the death of the MLS, Klein believes it will only lead to the demise of those MLSs that refuse to grow and change with the industry. 

“With NAR derisking and leaving more to local decision-making, it is very logical that this is leading to different models and creating, in some cases, a lack of continuity where we once had more continuity,” Klein said.

Despite all of the changes, Klein feels the core function of the MLS as the “apparatus to maintain and enforce standards, creating a clean and accurate” source of true listing information is essential, and issues may arise if MLSs start pulling away from this core function. 

“Because of this competition, we are seeing different MLSs around the country looking at these beliefs that were once universal that are now being challenged or having alternatives being offered,” he said. “On top of this you have legislators stepping into things with laws surrounding public marketing and industry consolidation, so the question becomes: how do MLSs continue to provide this resource to everyone without tearing it apart?” 

For Klein, there are five competing forces currently influencing the MLS industry: litigation, regulation, legislation, consolidation and innovation. And while he feels we are starting to see these forces make their presence known, he believes it is still unclear where things are headed, leading different MLSs to create different visions of the future. 

A source of truth

According to the Council of MLSs (CMLS), however, these disparate visions and strategies should not be a detriment to the industry. 

“Diversification should strengthen, not fragment, the marketplace. MLSs can innovate and differentiate while preserving the shared data infrastructure that makes the market more transparent, more competitive and more useful for consumers and professionals,” A CMLS spokesperson told HousingWire. “No two MLSs operate in exactly the same environment, and CMLS does not dictate how an MLS should structure local rules, services, or strategic priorities.”

Like Klein, CMLS also rejects the idea that the MLS is becoming irrelevant. 

“MLSs are and always have been the source of truth for local market information,” the spokesperson said. “The MLS keeps the housing market open, transparent, fair, accurate, and competitive. It gives buyers a more complete view of available homes, gives sellers broad exposure to the market, and gives brokerages of all sizes access to the same factual information. That shared access allows brokers to compete on service, expertise and client outcomes rather than on control over information.”

For CMLS, the MLS will remain relevant as long as it continues to solve the industry’s need for someone or something to gather, verify and distribute listing information in a way that helps consumers and professionals make informed decisions.

In Klein’s view, this is why the view of the future that will ultimately succeed and benefit everyone is the one with the MLS at the core.

“All of these different models are in need of a source of truth, otherwise they are not going to be able to serve whatever constituencies they think they are serving — they all need the same thing,” Klein said. “So, I think the model that reinforces clean data, up-to-date data, accuracy of status and benefits practitioners, appraisers, consumers, the lenders and housing finance industry that make all of this possible, and the secondary money market, that is who is going to succeed. There might be different models for a while, but it is going to come back to having access to timely, accurate, clean and transparent data.”

Strengthening the agent-client relationship

CMLS echoes this, noting that the “MLS is essential transaction infrastructure that strengthens the agent-client relationship.”

“When listings don't flow through the MLS, buyers see an incomplete market and sellers may lose exposure,” the CMLS spokesperson said. “Agents caught in the middle are left trying to advise clients without the full picture. The agent-client relationship depends on complete information. The MLS is how that information gets delivered in a fair and efficient way.”

Although this may be the eventual future the industry arrives at, in the meantime, there is a real concern about listing fragmentation as brokerages, portals and MLSs explore private listing networks and coming soon or pre-market listing statuses.

Tech could make the debate irrelevant

According to Marx Sterbcow, an industry expert and the managing attorney at Sterbcow Law Group, technology should make this should less of a concern, regardless of what happens in this new phase of MLS competition. 

“The thing that no one is really talking about is the ability of these LLM AI agents to go in and scrape the data off of sites with private listing networks and aggregate that with the stuff that is publicly available through IDX and VOW data feeds,” Sterbcow said. “This makes so much of this debate obsolete.”

While this may be a period full of growing pains for the MLS industry, CMLS is confident that the MLS will be here to stay even as the housing industry continues to evolve. 

“MLS growth will come from leaning into what makes it uniquely valuable and genuinely difficult to replicate: shared information, broad participation, reliable data, and open market access,” the CMLS spokesperson said. “This is not the first evolution of the MLS. From printed books to the internet to AI, MLSs have always adapted.” 

However, the spokesperson warned that any evolution the MLS undergoes as MLSs compete more with one another “should not come at the expense of transparency and reliability.”

A string of better-than-expected quarters for new-home development players following the pandemic’s onset in 2020 had to end sometime. It did. The first half of 2026 delivered a worse-than-expected spring selling season for many homebuilders — particularly those focused on first-time and entry-level buyers.

Heading into 2026, expectations for lower mortgage rates, cooling inflation and modest affordability gains were supposed to pull more buyers off the sidelines. Instead, the season underscored how fragile demand remains when the monthly payment is still out of reach.

For builders that rely on renters becoming first-time homeowners, the problem is not a lack of interest. It’s conversion.

Demand is there: the issue is turning it into orders

Entry-level buyers aren’t simply rate-sensitive. They are payment-sensitive, job-security-sensitive and cost-of-living-sensitive. For many households, buying a home is a budget decision, not a lifestyle upgrade.

That shift has made 2026 a different kind of test. Few doubt whether demand exists. It does. Can homebuilders convert that demand into signed contracts without sacrificing margins, schedules or customer experience?

Not right now.

And, not unless friction – ranging from global political, trade and economic risk, to AI-fueled business disruption, to local policy chokeholds, labor capacity constraint, to consumer angst, to homebuilders' own chronic struggles with cost and systems efficiency – subsides.

Homebuilders, almost everywhere, are buying their sales. They can't do that forever. How long they can is a function of how well many of them have prepared their firms, de-risked their balance sheets, and toughened up through bumpy, earlier warnings of rigors ahead. But it's also a function of money's cost, and to whom and when it's got to be paid back.

Now that the year's "bumper-crop" selling season is winding down, the mantra, like old Brooklyn Dodgers fans, is "wait'll next year."

Is your firm fit to do that? Here's what operators and enterprises face for the back half.

The latest data points to a familiar affordability ceiling

Affordability improved modestly in the first quarter, but not enough to bring the entry-level buyer meaningfully back. A median-income household still needed roughly one-third of its income to cover the mortgage payment on a median-priced new home. For lower-income households, the burden remained far above traditional affordability thresholds.

April new-home sales added to the picture. Sales fell from March and were down year over year. Inventory stayed elevated, increasing pressure on pricing, incentives and margin discipline. Completed inventory remains a key watch point because standing homes force faster operating decisions than starts or permits.

Feedback from private builders has largely matched the data. May orders were not a collapse, but they were not strong enough to support the idea of an extended spring selling season. Incentives increased, gross margins weakened, and many operators expected normal or below-normal summer seasonality.

The industry did not get a clean handoff from spring to summer.

For the back half of 2026, many builders are looking at a more demanding operating environment that will require tighter control over pricing, product-market fit and the sales process.

Geography is becoming an operating decision, not just a land decision

Single-family construction declined across regions in the first quarter, with sharper pullbacks in large metro core counties. The longer-term shift toward smaller, outlying and more attainable geographies continues — but it brings additional challenges.

Moving farther out can reduce land costs and create more room for product and community design. It can also mean longer entitlement timelines, weaker infrastructure, tougher trade coverage, longer commutes and more consumer hesitation about location.

In this environment, land strategy and operating strategy must move together.

A lower-cost land position is only an advantage if the builder can deliver the right home at the right monthly payment, on schedule, without adding hidden complexity that later shows up as cycle-time delays, purchase-order variances, warranty claims or margin leakage.

In a slower market, complexity gets expensive

In stronger markets, complexity can ride along with accelerated turns and higher margins. Builders can carry too many plans, elevations and options, rely on workarounds, and operate with disconnected systems because demand absorbs the mistakes.

That cover is gone for now.

In a weaker demand environment, complexity shows up quickly: bad handoffs, higher direct costs, longer cycle times, field errors, purchasing leakage, construction manager overload, sales confusion and buyers who demand more certainty before signing.

Not to mention morale doldrums and accountability lapses in the people value chain.

That is why the response to a disappointing spring selling season can’t rely solely on price cuts and incentives. Mortgage buydowns and standing-inventory tactics may be necessary, but they don’t fix the business — they buy time.

Builders that are holding up best are using that time to reduce friction: tightening plan libraries, rationalizing options, aligning product architecture with purchasing, attacking cycle-time bottlenecks and using data to identify recurring variance. Many are also pulling trade partners into earlier planning and training field leaders to manage by process instead of heroics.

Leadership is the constraint

Most organizations already know where friction lives. They can name the plans that cause problems, the options that break schedules, the communities that are hardest to build and the handoffs where sales promises and field reality diverge.

The challenge is acting on what the organization already knows.

That requires leaders who can connect departments that historically optimized around their own goals. It also requires a deliberate handoff of operating knowledge: younger leaders tend to be fluent in data, dashboards, automation and AI-enabled tools, while experienced leaders bring cycle-tested judgment about land risk, trade relationships and consumer behavior.

The companies best positioned for the next phase will combine both. They will use technology to expose friction, not bury it — and they will use AI to speed up work where it fits, without treating it as a substitute for judgment.

What the back half of 2026 will test

For many builders, the next six months will come down to execution:

• Can they reset pricing without training buyers to wait?
• Can they reduce incentives without losing conversion?
• Can they open communities at market-clearing prices without damaging backlog value?
• Can they slow land spend without starving 2027 and 2028 growth?
• Can they simplify product without weakening buyer appeal?
• Can they improve workflow with tech and AI rather than layering software on top of a fragmented process?
• Can they retain and develop rising leaders through a lower-velocity market?

A weak spring does not mean housing demand has disappeared. The structural need for homes remains. But the path from demand to signed contract has narrowed, and operating discipline will determine which builders emerge stronger — not just smaller.

The market may improve. Still, fact is, internal work cannot wait

The Senior Mortgage Solutions Network (SMSN) will provide MBA members a venue to discuss emerging trends, policy developments and business challenges tied to lending to older homeowners. Its scope includes Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs), proprietary reverse mortgages and other home equity products designed for seniors.

MBA said the network will work to identify key policy, regulatory and operational issues affecting senior-focused products and the broader age-based mortgage market. The group is also intended to ensure senior-lending priorities are reflected in MBA’s advocacy agenda, education programming and member engagement efforts.

The inaugural co-chairs — serving two-year terms — are Longbridge Financial CEO Christopher Mayer and Guild Mortgage managing director of reverse Jim Cory.

“MBA has recognized that there's really an opportunity in supporting senior lending,” Mayer said in an interview with HousingWire’s Reverse Mortgage Daily. “If you want growth, you're either going to have to help more people buy homes at a younger age — you're going to have to focus on first-time home buyers — or you're going to have to focus on seniors, where there's a lot of demand for using home equity and for products that support seniors in retirement.”

The announcement comes as reverse and proprietary lending expands. In 2025, roughly $4 billion in first-lien reverse mortgages were originated in the U.S., with proprietary (non-HECM) products accounting for about half of all volume — roughly double 2024’s proprietary production.

Major forward lenders including Rate, Guild, and loanDepot have also been moving into the space, Mayer said.

According to Cory, the network is intended for companies already active in, or evaluating entry into, the senior-lending segment. “The challenges and opportunities in this segment are immense, and this network will play a key role in advancing solutions that make a real difference for borrowers and lenders alike,” he said in a statement.

Broader than just reverse

Mayer added that the group was intentionally not branded as a reverse-mortgage forum because it is designed to address the senior demographic broadly, not a single product. He pointed that 1.5 million people age 62 and older applied for a mortgage last year, and 29% — about 450,000 — were rejected, often due to income-related qualification hurdles despite significant home equity.

Mayer also emphasized that SMSN is meant to complement, not compete with, the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA). Mayer sits on NRMLA’s executive committee, while Cory co-chairs NRMLA.

“NRMLA does a really good job supporting reverse mortgages, and what MBA is able to bring to the table, that's additive here, is institutions that don't offer reverse mortgages,” Mayer said. “This is sort of: ‘How do we grow the pie? How do we bring people in?’”

Participation in SMSN will require MBA membership, and operational details are still being finalized. MBA said the network will meet quarterly — primarily virtually — with at least one in-person meeting each year at an MBA conference. A kickoff call is scheduled for July 8.

“Older borrowers are a vital segment of today’s housing market, and it is important for the mortgage industry to support innovative solutions that will help seniors achieve greater financial security,” said Anthony Siller, MBA’s policy manager for strategic industry engagement and staff lead for SMSN, in the announcement.

Six years later, that decision has helped propel Anchor Real Estate to national recognition.

The business earned the No. 16 spot for transaction sides among medium-sized teams in RealTrends Verified’s 2026 The Thousand rankings — closing 285 transaction sides last year and accounting for nearly $86 million in volume.

Anchor has built its business around helping service members and their families navigate frequent relocations, tight timelines and long-distance transactions.

The team’s growth has continued through changing market conditions and affiliation with eXp Realty in February 2025.

“I founded Anchor when I did not see what I needed in the marketplace to support me in growing my business, so we created what I needed,” Salter said. “We certainly appreciate our military families for trusting us with the buying and selling of their homes as they come to our area for to be stationed here and trust us with selling them when they leave.”

Meeting the needs of military families

Jacksonville's market is heavily influenced by military assignments and transfers, creating a unique environment for real estate professionals.

The city is primarily built around Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune and the adjacent Marine Corps Air Station New River. They support a massive military community of more than 130,000 individuals — including active-duty personnel, family members, civilian employees and retirees.

Salter noted that market conditions and national events often affect the pace of military relocations and, in turn, local transaction activity.

Despite those variables, Anchor said its production levels last year were consistent with other recent periods.

“Open, transparent communication is so important,” Salter said of working with military clients. Understand that timelines are critical and that those timelines are changing — they're moving targets. They’re often trusting [real estate agents] with a purchase or sale while they are not local. You need to truly understand what being their fiduciary means, that you are their eyes and ears on the ground.

“They are trusting you with a substantial purchase, and we have to treat it with that kind of importance. In my opinion, there is a much greater level of skill and care that is required when you are working with a client that has extenuating circumstances.”

Why Anchor joined eXp

Salter said the move to join eXp Realty was the result of careful evaluation rather than a sudden change in strategy.

“Anybody who’s ever owned or operated an independent brokerage understands the level of work that comes with that,” she said. “[eXp] provided me, as a broker, with a platform to be able to do what I love, which is coach agents and take care of the consumer without the need to have to deal with back office or with legal accounting and broker compliance support."

Seeing respected leaders and major franchise operators move their businesses to eXp prompted a closer look at whether an independent model would continue to support long-term growth goals, Salter added.

“Ultimately we decided that we had spent our entire real estate careers ensuring that we were in the right rooms, and it became very apparent that eXp was the right room for us to move to — moving our independent brokerage to the eXp platform,” she said.

The business mindset behind transaction success

While technology has transformed many aspects of real estate, Salter believes many fundamentals remain unchanged.

“Always understand that real estate is a business,” she said. “I oftentimes see agents get in the business for a plethora of reasons, but not truly understand that real estate is a business. I have been known to say, ‘You are the CEO of You Incorporated, so hire, fire and promote accordingly.’

“If you don't work your business, your business is not going to be where you want it to be or provide the life for your family that you want. As flashy and fun as it is, at the end of the day, it is a business and it is a full contact sport.”

Salter said agents often become distracted by technology platforms, marketing tools and industry trends while overlooking the most important aspect of the profession: relationships.

“The people that win in real estate are the people who talk to the most people who want to buy and sell real estate,” she said. “The tech is great. I have wonderful tech partners that I absolutely love and would consider friends, but your tech, your platform, your broker — all of the tertiary things mean nothing if you don't actually work your business and go talk to the consumer.”

Advice for agents considering a major move

Having successfully launched an independent brokerage and later transitioned it to a national platform, Salter encourages agents considering major career moves to seek guidance from the right sources.

“Ensure that you explore your options and talk to people that are doing what you want to do,” Salter said. “Go outside of your current peer group to talk to people who are actually at the level that you want to be at and understand that they're talking to people that are also at the level that they want to be at.

“There are a lot of people who want to reach back and help you on your journey. Ask a lot of questions. In the real estate industry, it's so important that you ensure that you are talking to people who have a business and live a life that you actually want to live.”

For Anchor Real Estate, that willingness to evaluate options, embrace change and remain focused on serving military families has helped transform a brokerage founded to solve a local need into one of the country's top-performing real estate teams.

The updated specification replaces legacy form-based ordering with a standardized, data-driven framework for exchanging valuation service orders. It is designed to support the industry’s transition to UAD 3.6 and uses structured data elements to streamline communication between lenders, appraisal management companies (AMCs) and valuation service providers such as appraisers.

The intended users are primarily technology teams responsible for integrating order data across those systems.

“The Property and Valuation Services Procurement specification provides a standardized approach to requesting services using the MISMO vocabulary. This enables trading partners to more quickly develop and deploy integrations to transact services without getting bogged down in proprietary approaches,” said Elizabeth Green, SVP of valuation solutions at ServiceLink. “Further, the specification provides for recommendations that support the new UAD 3.6 style of valuation services and includes the GSE recommended elements for ordering without form numbers.”

The standard was developed by the MISMO Property and Valuation Services Community of Practice in response to industry demand for a more data-centric approach to valuation ordering. The group is led by Green as chair and Darlene Swain, executive vice president at Consolidated Analytics, Inc., as vice chair.

MISMO said the specification has reached “Candidate Recommendation” status, meaning it has undergone broad industry review, achieved consensus and is ready for implementation.

The organization is encouraging lenders, AMCs, valuation providers and technology vendors to download and evaluate the standard as adoption efforts move forward.

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.

The builder grew sales volume by an impressive 373.7% in its second year of operations to just over 200 homes in 2025, despite navigating soft Central Florida market conditions.

The results, while impressive, have become standard operating procedure for Co-Presidents/Co-Owners Steve, Andrew and Matt Orosz. Together, they have founded, scaled and sold two other fast-growing homebuilding companies in the Greater Orlando area. Now, the brothers are leveraging the strategy that has proven successful in their earlier ventures to fuel Trinity Family Builders’ growth. 

Steve, a CPA by training, acts as the company’s CFO, overseeing finance, lender relationships, cash-flow planning, back-office operations and strategic financial management. 

Andrew, an attorney, provides in-house legal counsel, helping with land acquisition negotiations, HOA relationship management, closing matters, loan documentation and other legal and operational matters. 

Matt heads up the company’s growth initiatives, with a focus on marketing, sales, land acquisitions and commercial investments.

Together, they lead Trinity Family Builders, the latest chapter in a multigenerational family legacy of homebuilding. Following their landing at the top of the fastest-growing list, the Orosz brothers sat down with HousingWire’s The Builder’s Daily to discuss the company’s origins and the strategy that has propelled them to success in both their current and former homebuilding ventures. 

The brothers cited the company’s land strategy, which prioritizes acquiring and developing entitled land through its affiliated land company, as the primary driver of the trio’s achievements over the last 15 years.

"I have had the pleasure of working with the Orosz family for over two decades," said Tony Avila, founder and CEO, Builder Advisor Group. "Their acumen at sourcing quality land opportunities in Orlando is uncanny. We are proud to have worked with them on the sale of all three of their homebuilding companies."

The land strategy fueling the company’s growth

The Orosz brothers own another company, Hanover Capital Partners, that handles the land development side of the business. Over the years, the family has developed more than 25,000 residential lots. 

“We've always been a land company first, and a builder second. I think we've been really good at positioning our acquisitions and entitlement to the point where it makes things easy to scale,” Steve said. 

This land-leaning business and investment model – not subject to the ticking stopwatch of interest on debt and lot take-down obligations – gives Trinity Family Builders "optionality" to sit patiently on their lots until challenging conditions show signs of improvement. Once that shift occurs, the company can immediately activate fully developed and entitled lots, allowing it to capture demand nimbly as it arises. The brothers likened their operation to “a snake that’s coiled up, and ready to go at all times.”

“Sourcing our own land is a huge advantage. We operate our land company as a completely separate entity. It's got a different capital structure, and it gives us more flexibility than we'd have otherwise. If we had all of our deals contracted with third parties who were like, 'Hey, you have a takedown this month,' this would be a different story,” Andrew said. 

“But we have the ability to just ... wait this out. We see all these other builders in town burning through their inventory to make up 2% margin, and we would rather save the land and wait for sunnier skies. The ability to control our land pipeline is huge,” Andrew added. 

Trinity Family Builders currently sits on about 8,000 lots, with roughly half set aside for its own homebuilding operations, about a quarter for other builders, and a quarter earmarked for a to-be-determined use. The team sells lots mainly to competing public builders. 

“Our primary strategy is to sell out the first phase to a public builder, get a big number that returns all your capital in the land deal, and then you have flexibility to wait and see what you want to do,” Steve said. 

This land strategy, which enables the flexibility to go at their own pace, is something that the Orosz brothers have successfully leveraged in past business ventures, to great success. 

Carrying on a family legacy

The Orosz family homebuilding legacy goes back multiple generations. The brothers’ grandfather, William Orosz, Sr., was a homebuilder in Royal Oak, Michigan. Their father, William Orosz, Jr., moved to Orlando in the 1980s, where he became the President of Catalina Homes, which grew to 1,200 annual home deliveries by the end of his tenure. 

In the early 1990s, Orosz, Jr. founded Cambridge Homes, which grew to become the most prominent private homebuilder in Central Florida before being acquired by K. Hovnanian Homes in 2005. 

The next generation of brothers, inspired by this family legacy, teamed up to found Royal Oak Homes in 2011. The company grew quickly and earned recognition as one of the fastest-growing homebuilders in the nation before selling to AV Homes, now part of Taylor Morrison, in 2014 for $65 million in cash. Royal Oak Homes had 8 closings in year one, 100 in year two, and 273 in year three.

“We were just three guys who had knowledge of homebuilding, but had never run a company before,” Steve said. 

Shortly after selling Royal Oak Homes, the Orosz brothers founded Hanover Family Builders, which the Orlando Business Journal named as Central Florida’s fastest-growing company in 2020. 

The company grew exponentially year after year, growing from 98 closings in year one to 535 in the third year. By the time it sold to Landsea Homes, now rebranded along with New Home Company as Risewell Homes, in 2022 for $179.3 million plus the assumption of $69.3 million in debt, the company had grown to 1,250 annual closings.

In just under five years of operations, it had eclipsed the 3,000-home mark. 

In their latest move, the Orosz brothers founded Trinity Family Builders in 2024. Even in the throes of a volatile, choppy and air-pocked-filled housing market, they are leaning on the same playbook that proved successful in earlier ventures.

The company got off to a quick start. The builder, which has focused on tertiary markets outside Orlando, opened Trinity Family Builders with eight projects on day one, with a sales team assembled in advance. 

“We had all the trades already lined up. Our software system was already done and set. We basically just turned it off for the acquisition, then turned it back on for the new company, and used all the same option codes and everything,” Steve said. 

Kickstarting in a challenging market

The brothers officially launched in March 2024, at a time when the Orlando market had already become fickle and uncertain. Like many markets in Florida, the Greater Orlando area saw a surge in population growth during and immediately after the pandemic. 

By 2024, however, that population growth had begun to moderate, and so had home prices. According to Zillow’s Home Value Index, the average home value in the Orlando market peaked at $393,500 in 2024 and has since fallen nearly 5% to just over $375,000. Prices have held roughly steady over the last six months but remain below peak levels. 

The Orlando market, similar to many other regions in the country, hasn’t been favorable to homebuilders over the last couple of years. 

“We're on the same type of growth trajectory, although the market's not as complementary as it used to be,” Steve said. 

The brothers believe that the market in Central Florida is going to pick up again in about 12 months. When conditions do improve, the company can lean on its land-first formula to quickly capture that demand. For now, though, Trinity Family Builders is focused on keeping its sales pace slow and preserving margins until that improvement materializes.

Running a tight ship

As a private builder, the Orosz brothers understand the importance of running a tight ship, with a strong focus on operational efficiency. One way to compete with the public operators is by being more hands-on with customers and handling customer problems and concerns as soon as possible. 

A third-party firm, Woodland, O'Brien & Scott, which the Orosz family contracted while running their previous company, Hanover Family Builders, found that the Orosz-run company had high marks from surveyed customers. This included a 98% approval rating and a 96% willingness to refer rating, which ranked highest among Woodland, O’brien & Scott’s homebuilder clients. 

Within their own organization, Trinity Family Builders also hosts monthly interpersonal development programs for both the land and homebuilding teams, as well as trades partners that have decades-long relationships with the Orosz family. Speakers on topics like land development, retirement planning, financial literacy, leadership and business ethics share their insights with the team and partners, fostering continued career development. 

Among all of the company’s core operations, its disciplined approach to finance may be one of the most important drivers of its long-term success.

Trinity Family Builders’ financial strategy centers on maximizing return on capital rather than focusing solely on return on equity or closing volumes. A key component of the company’s capital management is looking at cash flow daily for 90 days. This detailed visibility allows the company to optimize construction loan draws, reduce financing costs and identify potential liquidity challenges months before they become problems.

However, Trinity Family Builders views its land strategy as the primary differentiating factor behind its success.

“I think it is why we've been a successful acquisition target in the past. We have the flexibility to make a builder look however the buyer wants it to look. We can be on balance sheet, we can be off balance sheet, we can use option contracts, we can develop for you and we can be a land bank. We've just got a ton of built-in flexibility by virtue of the land operation,” Steve said.

With mortgage rates remaining around 6% and home prices expected to rise by 4% through 2026, asset managers face some uncertainties. To help secure net operating income (NOI), many consultants are reevaluating how security influences long-term property performance.

The value-driving benefits of strong security

Physical security solutions deployed to protect real estate assets are no longer considered purely defensive measures as more stakeholders begin to notice their value-driving benefits.

Data suggests almost 60% of renters prioritize properties with smart home features, namely smart locks and security cameras, with almost 55% expecting such features as standard. In addition, smart security systems have been shown to raise property value by at least 5%, as well as contribute to homes selling up to 8.5 days faster than those without security features.

Properties with strong security features can command higher sale prices and appreciation rates by way of both enhancing the intrinsic value of the asset and limiting operational risks. 

Considering that around 2.5 million burglaries are reported across the U.S. in an average year, and that 83% of criminals look for signs of security measures like alarms before attempting break-ins, strong security measures can be attractive features for both investors and buyers.

The link between security and tenant retention

Asset managers are increasingly considering the importance of strong, adaptable and visible security systems installed at rental properties as a way to improve the long-term performance of real estate assets, primarily as features deployed to attract and retain high-quality tenants.

Systems and infrastructure designed to ensure safe and secure living environments continue to rank as top priorities for high-value tenants, with almost 50% of renters ranking safety and security among their top priorities and 66% citing safety concerns as tenancy deal breakers.

Research suggests a clear link between strong property security measures and high tenant retention rates. Physical security technologies like coded entries have been linked to a 40% increase in retention rates, while video intercom systems and access control measures have been shown to improve tenant satisfaction scores by as much as 40% and 24%, respectively.

By facilitating a safe and secure environment for tenants via visible, well-maintained and convenience-focused physical security measures, asset managers can raise the perceived value of real estate assets on the rental market and improve long-term property performance.

How proactive security measures minimize risk 

The presence of smart, integrated physical security systems can also be leveraged as a way to minimize operational risks for asset owners. Proactive security measures can be used to lower risk profiles and, in turn, decrease insurance premiums, a major expense area in 2026.

With the average annual cost of home insurance projected to reach over $3,000 by the end of 2026 and premiums expected to surge by 10% or more across some states, asset holders are viewing practical ways to minimize risk as attractive investments in property performance.

Research suggests that proactive security measures such as monitored alarms, surveillance systems and access control solutions can help to reduce insurance premiums by minimizing liability risk, with proactive security measures linked to an 80% reduction in physical security incidents in some instances and as high as a 20% reduction in property insurance premiums.

By leveraging proactive security solutions to lower risk profiles, asset managers can protect the physical asset value of real estate and reduce unexpected repair costs, thereby improving long-term property performance by safeguarding assets against physical damage.

Final word

As asset managers look to make the most of 2026’s housing market reset by implementing strategies to improve long-term property performance, many stakeholders are reconsidering the potential for proactive physical security measures to boost the value of real estate assets.

By installing new and upgrading existing security protections at residential and commercial properties, asset holders can raise property value, meet the needs of high-value tenants and safeguard themselves from risk, helping to positively impact long-term property performance.

Sean Toohey is a freelance journalist and digital media specialist with extensive experience covering news, developments and emerging trends in real estate, MEP engineering and the trades industry.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners. To contact the editor responsible for this piece: zeb@hwmedia.com.

Cassidy joined HUD in April 2025 and was confirmed as FHA Commissioner by the Senate in December. He took a leave of absence in April and resigned on Monday to return to his family in Philadelphia and the private sector. Ginnie Mae President Joseph Gormley will continue to lead the office in an acting capacity, a HUD spokesperson told HousingWire.

Despite the short stint, Cassidy says he hit the ground running to execute the Trump administration's marching orders: deregulate, streamline, and expand access to mortgage credit.

“I felt like we needed to run the FHA more like a business. Most people don't know, but the FHA made a $50 billion profit over the last two years,” Cassidy said. 

During his time at the agency, key initiatives included revising the loss mitigation waterfall, opening access to alternative credit reporting, slashing mortgage insurance premiums for multifamily loan programs and a request for information seeking comments on possible improvements to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) and HECM Mortgage-Backed Securities (HMBS) programs.

“The one thing I learned about the government and the FHA is that it's set up to be like a big cruise ship — it goes straight and slow, and it's hard to move left, hard to move right,” Cassidy said. “Single-family mortgages have always been the priority, because that makes up 80% to 90% of the FHA's portfolio.”

Looking ahead, Cassidy remains focused on the housing landscape, expressing excitement for the pending Road to Housing bill and its potential to unlock new supply through manufactured housing deregulation. While acknowledging the challenges of a high-interest-rate environment, he expects the FHA to continue its countercyclical role in providing liquidity to the market.

In this exclusive interview, Cassidy discusses his accomplishments at the agency, his stance on zero-down payment programs, and his plans to continue championing the administration's housing agenda from the private sector. 

Flávia Nunes: The U.S. Senate confirmed you in December. You took a leave of absence in April and are resigning after two months. Can you elaborate on the timing of the decision?

Frank Cassidy: I was ready to get back to spending time with my family. I have a one-year-old daughter. When the White House called in February, my wife was eight months pregnant, so it was a sacrifice to start working in the administration in D.C. in April and commuting between Philly and D.C. I’d always planned to do a short stint. There’s a saying in government when it comes to private sector people: you want to be in and out and don’t stay too long. I had my initiatives, my goals, and what I wanted to get done, and we were able to hit the ground running on the single-family side.

We tackled revisions to the loss mitigation waterfall. We officially turned the page on COVID. Borrowers had been getting multiple loan modifications — three, four, or five times — and we revised the waterfall guidance to two modifications. That will save billions and billions of dollars for the FHA Single Family Insurance Fund moving forward. I was very excited to tackle that on day one. 

Additionally, opening access to credit reporting was something that I really wanted to push for. There are so many Americans, particularly younger Americans, who have rented an apartment for four years, paid their rent on time, but when they go to pull their credit score, they have no credit, and therefore can’t get a mortgage. By bringing additional competition into the credit space, it will lower costs and expand access to mortgages for millions of Americans who are creditworthy but just couldn’t get a mortgage.

FN: Before joining the department, you originated loans for multifamily properties as senior managing director of FHA Finance at Walker & Dunlop. How did your background help in the FHA role?

FC: Coming from the private sector and the commercial mortgage banking world, I had worked with FHA and HUD my entire career on the multifamily and healthcare sides, but I had never even been in HUD headquarters. I hosted the first-ever single-family executive roundtable, where we brought executives from the top single-family lenders to HUD. Secretary Turner attended, and it was really a listening session to hear what’s working, what isn’t working, and what we should be focused on. I can’t tell you how many executives said, “I’ve been working with FHA for 10 to 15 years”—some of the largest lenders—who had never even been in the building. It was really that private-sector approach that we were able to bring to FHA.

FN: How is the Trump administration changing the strategic direction and operations of the FHA compared to the previous administration?

FC: If you look at the president's housing executive orders, they talk a lot about expanding access to mortgage credit, bringing more lenders into the mortgage market, and providing more liquidity. Ultimately, if you have more competition and more lenders in the space, it will bring costs to the consumer down. It was all about bringing in liquidity, expanding access to mortgage credit, deregulating, and streamlining a lot of these federal programs.

There's so much bureaucratic red tape that was put in place over the Biden administration that we've now pulled back. Those were the marching orders from the president: expand access to mortgage credit, deregulate, and streamline.

I felt like we needed to run the FHA more like a business. Most people don't know, but the FHA made a $50 billion profit over the last two years. They call that in D.C. a "negative credit subsidy." I didn't even know what that term meant, but essentially, we bring in more money than we cost, and it's a great public-private partnership that has stood the test of time.

The FHA has been around since 1934, long before HUD even existed. It started to bring liquidity to the mortgage market, and that's why our housing finance system is the envy of the world. We have 30-year fixed-rate mortgages that a lot of other countries don’t have, and it's because of that government guarantee in the background. Private lenders still make the loans they originate, underwrite them, and service them, but the FHA, Fannie, and Freddie guarantee those loans against loss to the lenders. That's why we have so much liquidity in the mortgage market.

FN: How far is the administration in its goal to streamline the FHA? What do you consider your biggest piece of unfinished business?

FC: We've got a lot done. There's obviously still work to do, but I feel like the president has assembled a great team to see a lot of these initiatives happen.

What we did on the multifamily side on day one — we worked to lower the mortgage insurance premium to 25 basis points across the board for all multifamily loan programs. That was huge. Prior to that, under the Biden administration, every multifamily building had to get a green energy certification to get those 25 basis points. What I said was, ‘Every building is going to get the 25 basis points minimum, because the reality of it is, most buildings are being built to those standards anyway.’

Additionally, on our nursing home and assisted living portfolio, we put in place an Express Lane process that took deals that used to take six to nine months to get firm commitments down to seven to 14 days. Overall, the single-family portfolio is in great shape. The capital ratio is above 11.5%. Under my watch, it was the healthiest that it's ever been. I feel like the FHA is in a great place right now. 

What I am very passionate about is that the average age of a first-time homebuyer right now is up to 40. Back in the day, it used to be in the 20s. As a younger guy myself, I was fortunate to buy my first home at 20 years old. I was a sophomore at St. Joseph's University here in Philadelphia, and I was looking to move off campus with three college roommates. We looked at a property, and the landlord said, 'You can either buy it for $200,000 or you could rent it for $1,500 a month.'

I said I'd buy it. I had no idea how I'd finance it, but I discovered the FHA, and I got an FHA loan. I put down 3.5% — $7,000. In 2010, they did a first-time homebuyer tax credit, and I got $8,000 back. My buddies moved in. They paid $500 a month each, and that paid the mortgage of $1,200. I still have that property to this day, and it's more than doubled in value.

It’s those types of opportunities that we need to expand and educate younger Americans about. We're becoming a nation of renters, and we need to bring the average age of the first-time homebuyer back down into the 20s.

FN: A recent Urban Institute study suggests that, under certain parameters, a zero-down payment program wouldn't pose an increased risk to the FHA. Given your inside perspective at the agency, what are your thoughts on zero-down mortgages?

FC: When people buy a home, they should have some skin in the game, whether it be 1%, 3%, 4%, or 5%. Having skin in the game is an important part. I understand there are studies that say it's not riskier, but I think when somebody saves up, builds that cash reserve, and goes to buy a house, they have a feeling that they have skin in the game, which is what is important. They feel like, 'I bought this, I did this.'

FN: HUD recently issued a request for information on changes to the HECM and HMBS reverse mortgage programs. What may come out of that?

FC: When I first started in the position, I didn't really know a lot about reverse mortgages, but I did get coached up quite a bit, and it's an important program. Seniors sit on $10 trillion of equity in their homes that a reverse mortgage allows them to tap into. And by the way, they don't have to make any payments when they get the mortgage; the interest just accrues. So, it's definitely a program that serves a need in the market and is important to seniors. I would like to see efficiencies created in the reverse mortgage space.

FN: How much of a priority is the reverse mortgage space for the agency right now?

FC: Well, you can only get so much done. The government moves slowly. The one thing I learned about the government and the FHA is that it's set up to be like a big cruise ship — it goes straight and slow, and it's hard to move left, hard to move right. Now, fortunately, I was able to bring that private-sector spirit to the FHA and get a lot done in the first year, but it's all about priorities. You have to prioritize initiatives. Single-family mortgages have always been the priority, because that makes up 80% to 90% of the FHA's portfolio.

FN: As you transition out of the administration, what are your immediate plans in the private sector?

FC: I'm planning on returning to the private sector, to the commercial mortgage banking origination world that I come from. However, I'd like to use my voice to support President Trump and his initiatives as they relate to housing. The Road to Housing bill may pass, and that will be the biggest piece of housing legislation to ever pass. It will affect our kids and our grandkids, and it will happen under President Trump's watch because of his bold leadership.

I'm really excited about the Road to Housing bill and some of the deregulatory and streamlining initiatives in it. When I was the HUD Assistant Secretary for Housing, in addition to the FHA commissioner, I oversaw HUD's Office of Manufactured Housing Programs, which oversees the design, build, and installation of manufactured homes. The Road to Housing bill allows for manufactured homes to now be built as two-, three-, and four-story complexes. Right now, manufactured homes are just one story because they have that steel chassis on the first floor. Road to Housing gets rid of that requirement, and it combines a lot of the technology from modular homes to manufactured homes. I feel that will allow for a lot of new supply to come online in an inexpensive manner.

I made a lot of relationships with the senators in D.C., particularly on the Senate Banking and Housing Committee, so I plan to advise them and to use my voice as the former FHA commissioner and Assistant HUD Secretary for Housing to basically champion the president's housing agenda. 

FN: With interest rates remaining high and ongoing geopolitical tensions, how do you see the macro environment impacting the market in the near term?

FC: We’re in a high-interest rate environment right now. We should put in a new Fed chair. I don't have a crystal ball, but I do think by the end of the year interest rates will start to tighten, and hopefully, we'll be in an environment where rates are below 6% or so. I'm excited about that.

The FHA really plays a countercyclical role in the market. When rates are higher and capital is less available, the FHA, as well as Fannie and Freddie, tend to step up. We're in a good place right now in the market. It's obviously harder to get deals done in a higher interest rate environment, but that's part of real estate, and as part of the housing finance system, it very much goes in cycles.

FN: What are your thoughts on Bill Pulte stepping into the role of acting DNI?

FC: Bill is a proven leader who knows how to get results. President Trump trusts him, and he's done a great job at Fannie and Freddie. He'll bring that same spirit of getting results to the position of acting DNI director. Bill's a good friend, and we work very closely together. The president often picks leaders with unconventional backgrounds but who have a proven track record of success. Bill has experience running big bureaucratic organizations — just look at what he's done at Fannie and Freddie.

The bill, introduced June 4 and led by Ranking Member Sen. Elizabeth Warren, would require mandatory transfers to the CFPB equal to at least 12% of the Federal Reserve's total operating expenses. The Federal Reserve is typically the agency’s primary source of funding.

Funding would continue up to the amount deemed reasonably necessary for the agency to carry out its responsibilities under federal consumer financial laws.

"The Trump Administration launched an assault on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, trying to drain it of its resources so it could no longer stop big banks and giant corporations from scamming Americans out of their money," Warren said in a statement. "Democrats are united in fully funding the CFPB when we take back Congress."

According to Warren and her colleagues, the CFPB has returned more than $21 billion to consumers through enforcement actions and other remedies since its creation following the 2008 financial crisis.

The legislation is backed by several consumer advocacy groups, including the National Consumer Law Center, Consumer Federation of America, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition and more.

Alys Cohen, director of federal housing advocacy and acting co-director of federal advocacy at the National Consumer Law Center, said restoring CFPB funding is critical as consumers face growing threats.

"The cost of living has skyrocketed, and in the face of growing risks from predatory payday lending apps and crypto scams, this Administration is actively gutting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau," Cohen said in a statement.

Adam Rust, director of financial services at the Consumer Federation of America, said the legislation would establish a funding floor and make transfers mandatory, ensuring the agency can continue pursuing enforcement actions against financial firms.

"This bill ensures that invented legal theories cannot sideline the CFPB from protecting people from financial predators. The CFPB's record speaks for itself. Every dollar the Fed has sent to the CFPB has been returned many times over to consumers through direct remedies and avoided harms," Rust said.

The backstory

The proposal comes as Democrats accuse President Donald Trump and his administration of weakening the consumer watchdog by restricting its resources. In November of last year, the administration declared that the agency's funding is unlawful in a court filing and that the agency cannot legally request funds from the Federal Reserve under the Dodd-Frank Act.

Following that filing, a coalition of consumer advocacy groups sued Dec. 5 to block what it described as an effort by acting CFPB Director and White House budget chief Russell Vought to effectively dismantle the agency by cutting off its funding. The coalition's suit claimed that since February 2025, Vought has not sought new funding for the CFPB, instead relying on reserve funds, which were expected to be depleted in early 2026.

In March, a federal judge ruled that the agency must continue to get its funding from the Federal Reserve as the law requires, ultimately squashing Vought's public intentions to shut the agency down that he vocalized in October 2025.