MARKETING TO BORROWERS

Real is acquiring Motto's parent Remax in a deal valued at $13.80 per share, as the new Real Remax Group will have "two distinct models, one platform."

Check out the initial reveal of the 28th edition of National Mortgage News' Top Producer survey, in a year where falling rates helped industry-wide volume.

But in its earnings release, parent company Hilltop Holdings warned its full year 2026 results are going to be impacted by things outside of its control.

The 30-year fixed is still over 20 basis points higher than its February bottom, but fell 7 basis points this past week on Iran peace hopes, Freddie Mac said.

The company will be using a simplified name and a new logo it says shows its unified business model, but its longstanding tagline will stay in place.

This week's Freddie Mac mortgage rate survey shows rates at the lowest in four weeks, but homebuyers are giving mixed signals even with improved purchase power.

Marketing services firm LeadPoint said it thought it had gained compliance after Connecticut officials issued a prior consent order and penalty in 2020.

Loanstream allegedly made over 272,000 calls to over 53,000 unique numbers on the Do Not Call registry over a 10-month period, according to a case filing.

Both Chase and Wells Fargo had a 15% reduction quarter-to-quarter in mortgage originations, more than the industry forecast for a 6% drop-off, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods noted.

A United Wholesale Mortgage executive stepped in to defend a claim against the company, as consumers pelt the industry with more spam call complaints.

The 30-year fixed mortgage has increased by 40 basis points since February, while the 15-year is 14 basis points lower than a year ago, Freddie Mac reported.

Affordability improved in February as rates dipped below 6%, but March's climb to 6.43% signals tougher months ahead. Lenders should act now on pockets of opportunity before rising rates erode recent gains.

The average homebuyer would save $150 per month by using an adjustable-rate mortgage instead of a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, according to Redfin.

For the second week in a row, the 30-year fixed increased by 11 basis points, Freddie Mac found, a result of reaction to oil price hikes from the Iran conflict.

The conflict pushed oil price futures above $100 a barrel for a short time earlier this week, which affected bond investors and the 10-year Treasury yield.

Borrowers or lenders could use the prediction markets as a hedging tool, although experts noted the lack of trading volume as cause for caution.

While correspondent is still the bulk of Planet Financial's production, growth of its servicing portfolio helped the company increase retention volume.

Active listings grew 7.9% year over year in February, but just 0.2% month over month, reaching more than 914,000 homes on the market, according to Realtor.com.

While this only shows a 2-basis-point rise in the 30-year fixed since last week, the Lender Price product and pricing engine data is 30 basis points higher.

Rate discounts are available for both refinance and purchase mortgage applications from several lenders including UWM, Carrington, Chase and Silver Hill.