Mortgage Insights

Plain-English guidance on rates, home buying, and refinancing from the The Lending Stars team.

Housing Industry News

Mortgage rates move closer to 7%, but housing demand holds up ahead of Fed meeting

Jul 28, 2026 · 5:07 PM Neil Pierson HousingWire

Mortgage rates continued to climb this week and are now approaching 7% for locked loans across all borrower credit profiles. But home purchase and refinance…

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Housing Industry News

Newrez posts strong Q2 profit, eyes $65B in originations for 2026

Jul 28, 2026 · 4:51 PM Flávia Furlan Nunes HousingWire

Newrez delivered a higher profit in the second quarter of 2026 as its mortgage servicing performance improved and originations increased compared to the…

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Housing Industry News

The Fed hawks are winning even without a rate hike

Jul 28, 2026 · 4:40 PM Logan Mohtashami HousingWire

To hike or not to hike? That is the question being discussed today as the Fed’s two-day meeting is underway, but I would argue that the Fed hawks have…

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Housing Industry News

How Honolulu leveraged AI to cut permit review times in half

Jul 28, 2026 · 4:39 PM Tyler Williams HousingWire

A big push to streamline housing development, and bend cost and affordability barriers for would-be homeowners and renters, increasingly focuses on reducing…

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Housing Industry News

Case-Shiller home prices rise 1.1% in May, still lag inflation

Jul 28, 2026 · 4:17 PM Brooklee Han HousingWire

Despite rising at a faster annual pace than a month prior, home prices continued to decline in real terms in May, according to the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller…

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Housing Industry News

Brokerage transaction fees could cost consumers $2 billion

Jul 28, 2026 · 4:00 PM Brooklee Han, HousingWire Automation HousingWire

A new Consumer Policy Center (CPC) report found that administrative “junk fees” charged by real estate brokerages to both home buyers and sellers have…

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Housing Industry News

Lofty expands AI platform, launches House.ai for homebuyers

Jul 28, 2026 · 3:49 PM HousingWire Automation HousingWire

Lofty today announced an expanded version of its AI operating system, Lofty AOS, along with Lofty Cowork and House.ai, a financial intelligence platform for…

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Housing Industry News

David Abrahamson returns to Equity Prime Mortgage as CRO

Jul 28, 2026 · 3:46 PM Sarah Wolak, HousingWire Automation HousingWire

Mortgage lender Equity Prime Mortgage (EPM) announced on Tuesday that it has appointed mortgage industry veteran David Abrahamson as its chief risk officer.…

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Housing Industry News

The Sitzer/Burnett data motion is a compliance warning

Jul 28, 2026 · 3:32 PM Darryl Davis HousingWire

On July 23, plaintiffs in the Sitzer/Burnett and Gibson cases asked Judge Stephen Bough to enforce something this industry already agreed to. As HousingWire…

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Housing Industry News

Zillow wins dismissal of RESPA claims in Flex referrals case

Jul 28, 2026 · 2:52 PM Brooklee Han HousingWire

While Zillow ’s legal battles on other fronts may be heating up, for now, it no longer has to contend with claims of Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (…

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