Pending home sales in May increased by 3.8 percent month-over-month and 4.8 percent year-over-year, according to the National Association of Realtors Pending Home Sales report. All regions experienced gains both month-over-month and year-over-year.
The National Association of Mortgage Bankers sent a letter to Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte requesting a delay in the implementation of Fannie Mae Lender Letter LL-2026-03 and Freddie Mac Bulletin 2026-C, which deal with condominium project and property insurance standards.
Bill Ensley, the founder of Bear Printing, spoke with RESPA News about his company’s marketing platform that connects title companies and real estate agents. RESPA is the architecture of his company, he said, so the platform was designed so that no ‘thing of value’ flows from a settlement service provider to a referral source.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced 15 recent fair housing enforcement actions as HUD increases civil rights enforcement and delivers relief for Americans facing housing discrimination. The actions include charges and settlements involving allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination against families with children, failure to accommodate individuals with disabilities and violations of protections for victims of domestic violence.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) led 20 other senators in sending a letter to Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner, voicing opposition to HUD’s proposed rulemaking that would effectively eliminate federal rental assistance for households with mixed immigration eligibility statuses, in violation of federal statutory requirements.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development published a proposed rule in the Federal Register that would update the definition of a manufactured home and support innovative opportunities for multi-story manufactured housing as part of an effort to provide more affordable housing options. Comments are due Aug. 11.
Following the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Inspector General opening an investigation, HUD Secretary Scott Turner announced the immediate suspension of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, the lead agency for Los Angeles’ homelessness response.
Optimal Blue released its May 2026 Market Advantage mortgage data report, which found that total rate-lock volume declined 9 percent month-over-month but remained 7 percent higher year-over-year. Purchase activity accounted for over 81 percent of the total lock volume, while refinance share fell to 19 percent — its lowest level since June 2025.
October Research, LLC will host a webinar June 17 at 2 p.m. (ET) titled “Q2 Economic Outlook” featuring Moody’s Analytics Economist Shandor Whitcher. We caught up with Whitcher ahead of his presentation to get his thoughts on the housing market.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a new Notice of Funding Opportunity on June 1 for $4.04 billion to “better serve America’s vulnerable populations through the Continuum of Care (CoC) homelessness assistance program.” HUD stated that this “is the most competitive funding opportunity in the history of the CoC program.”
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