Caroline Basile

If the first thing you think of when you hear “reverse mortgage” is an Alex Trebek infomercial on late-night TV, you haven’t even scratched the surface of the reverse mortgage market and its potential to bring in booming profits for lending...

The We Company, the parent of shared workspace provider WeWork, announced this week it launched a global real estate acquisition and management platform, ARK. So, instead of paying to rent out space in existing buildings, then turning around and renting that space back out via its co-working spaces, The We Company will use ARK to cut out the middleman and become its own landlord.

The National Association of Realtors announced it has entered into a partnership with commercial real estate platform Brevitas. "The Brevitas platform will help Realtors grow their business in an industry of rapidly evolving technology and strong competition," NAR CEO Bob Goldberg said.

Fannie Mae announced that DLJ Capital Mortgage, a Credit Suisse subsidiary, is the winner of its 11th reperforming loan sale. The deal includes more than 21,000 loans with an unpaid principal balance of $3.27 billion across four pools and is expected to close on June 21, according to Fannie Mae.

LendingPad, a 2019 HW Tech100 winner, is partnering with My Mortgage Trainer to provide LendingPad LOS clients a discounted rate on mortgage license education training. 
The company announced that lenders using its LOS platform will be able to access the NMLS-approved education needed to obtain or renew a mortgage license.

According to a new study, NIMBYism is standing in the way of more affordable apartment construction across the U.S. As rents continue to rise, a new study from the National Apartment Association analyzed the factors in 29 major metros that make multifamily apartment construction more difficult to achieve nationwide.

The Housing News Podcast is a weekly wrap of the top news stories by Editor-in-Chief Jacob Gaffney. This week, Gaffney talks with John Pataky, TIAA Bank’s EVP and chief consumer and commercial banking executive. With GDP coming in strong, is the chance of recession finally remote, or is the sky falling? Plus, if your tech isn't what Millennials want, can you survive long term? Listen to find out.

Freddie Mac is launching a new security to help smaller lenders access additional liquidity for affordable housing financing. The GSE announced its new Private Placement PC Swap – or PPP – on Wednesday to help financial institutions with less than $10 billion in assets access additional liquidity for financing affordable housing.

The city of Boston has been blocked from enacting two provisions of a short-term rental ordinance that was passed in summer 2018. A U.S. District Court judge declared Beantown can’t eject a short-term rental service from the city as punishment for posting and failing to remove listings that violate the ordinance.

Hospitality giant Marriott International has officially entered the short-term rental market, going after home vacation rental giants like Airbnb and HomeAway. Marriott is launching Homes & Villas by Marriott International, a home-rental initiative that offers 2,000 premium and luxury homes worldwide.

The Housing News podcast is a weekly wrap of the top news stories by Editor-in-Chief Jacob Gaffney. Each week, Gaffney interviews financial services experts who can make sense of the latest headlines, sponsored by our partners at Blend. This week, Jerry Anderson of Alliant Credit Union quickly debriefs listeners on what's happening with homebuyers, interest rates and the latest technology trends in the mortgage industry.

Is the recent surge in rental growth an indicator of tightening rental markets? According to a new report from Capital Economics, analysts are optimistic about the rental market's outlook but were surprised at the boost in growth. So, what's behind this acceleration and will it continue?

Lender and servicer Planet Home Lending announced it opened its first regional operating center, a 25,000-square-foot facility, in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas. The new regional office will serve as a hub and central meeting location for the company’s execs and leadership, according to the company.

Fintech construction company Built Technologies announced it raised $31 million its Series B financing round. The round, which brings Built’s total funding to $55 million, was led by a big name in capital: Goldman Sachs Investment Partners.

The multifamily and commercial real estate lending business is booming. Lenders in the commercial and multifamily space closed a record $573.9 billion in loans in 2018, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's 2018 Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Finance Annual Origination Volume Summation.

Freddie Mac announced Wednesday it closed a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit fund with CAHEC and initiated several investments within the fund, totaling $50 million, for affordable rental housing in the Middle Appalachia area of the U.S.

Commercial real estate giant CBRE announced that Leah Stearns will be joining the company as its next chief financial officer. Stearns is stepping into the role as the company's current CFO, James Groch, transitions his focus on responsibilities as the company's global group president and chief investment officer.

ServiceLink announced it has brought on Tim Gillis to serve as the company's new vice president of capital market sales. "We're thrilled to have Tim on our team. His extensive contacts and knowledge within the Capital Markets and Single-Family Rental space add additional depth to our Default Sales team," said Miriam Moore, ServiceLink's division president, default services.

Sen. Kamala Harris has introduced a new version of the Rent Relief Act, a sweeping rent reform proposal that seeks to help Americans lessen the burden of finding affordable housing, especially at a time when rents keep increasing. If passed, the bill will create a new tax credit for renters who spend at least 30% of their gross income on rent and utilities.

While the mortgage industry grows to be more technologically driven and more connected, does it make sense for homeowners to keep sharing their bank account information even after their mortgage is originated?