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Dow Wow Wow
By Jeff Walton & Kelly Guest
Table of Contents
You might have had to dig a little to find the news that the Dow passed the 50K mark for the first time ever last week as most news outlets focused exclusively on one story which shall not be mentioned here. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claims that "Wall Street is signaling that Main Street is about to prosper." Even if the thus far mythical "Trump homes" never materialize, the Dow, Nasdaq, Russell, and even gold were all up last week.
CHATTER
99 More Loan Officers: 1st Licensing Uptick in 4 Years NMN
As of the December 31 renewal deadline, 158,260 individuals requested to renew their licenses - a slight increase from the 158,161 last year
This year's uptick marks a significant shift in momentum. Following a massive 15% surge in 2022, renewals began to slide as interest rates climbed. While the decline slowed to less than 2% in 2024, the current figures represent the first year of growth in four years, signaling that the industry may have finally found its "new baseline."
Big, beautiful deduction?
PMI is Deductible Again Thanks to BBB: NMP
US Mortgage Insurers says mortgage insurance is one of the few home buying and ownership costs that has decreased in recent years. Since 2017, the group says homeowners casualty insurance has gone up 26% and property taxes have increased by 27%. But the cost of private mortgage insurance as measured by publicly reported data on in-force premium yields has fallen by 25%.
Trolling or a nudge?
Bloomberg Broke the Idea of “Trump Homes” Behind Paywall, So Here’s CNBC
Shares of Lennar and other major builders jumped on news that builders would partner with private investors to offer rent-to-own option homes.
Homebuilders are working on a proposal to develop nearly a million "Trump Homes" that would address the U.S. affordability crisis, according to Bloomberg.
At the 1M homes estimate, the program would likely deliver more than $250B worth of housing.
A White House official told Bloomberg News that the administration is not actively considering the plan.
GSE Offering “Ready to Go” if Pres Approves: FHFA Dir Pulte on Fox
Proposal would be 2.5-5%. FHFA Director Pulte said the administration “might” do a Fannie/Freddie public offering, “but they don’t have to.”
HELOCs headed for reality TV?
Waaaaay Beyond Bed & Bath: Celebrity Mogul Marcus Lemonis Making Moves Toward Mortgage
Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc., owner of Bed Bath & Beyond, Overstock, buybuy BABY, and a blockchain asset portfolio, today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Tokens.com to establish critical foundation for a unified investment and personal finance platform.
Tokens.com is being built as modern financial infrastructure that coalesces fragmented asset classes and financing needs to create a new user experience and unlock liquidity trapped in asset silos.
The platform will use the regulatory and operational infrastructure and platform services provided by tZERO to support capital markets, tokenization, custody, and trading, forming an integrated stack for compliant liquidity. In addition, the platform will leverage the strength and innovation of partners including Figure Technologies and Figure Markets to access mortgages, home equity lines of credit, renovation loans, home makeover loans, and other asset-backed lending and capital solutions.
Lemonis used to star in the CNBC show “The Profit,” now stars in “The Fixer Nation,” where he buys in/partners with businesses in distress, transition, and/or crossroads.
FHFA Dir Pulte called the move “interesting.”
To regulate or not to regulate…
Worth a Read: Industry Pros on GSE Possibilities & More: NMN
National Mortgage News got some interesting – and in some cases, seemingly contradictory responses from their survey of mortgage professionals regarding the regulatory atmosphere, the GSEs going public and more.
A standout contrast is that 64% of respondents said loosening of the regulatory atmosphere would pose a lot or a moderate risk. When asked effects easing of regs would have on their company or business, 61% answered positive or very positive.
Experian Trying to Grab Even More: Buying a Mortgage Shopping Platform
Experian announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Own Up, an AI-powered mortgage shopping platform that helps consumers seeking to purchase, refinance a home, or obtain home equity loans.
The acquisition will strengthen the Experian Marketplace, adding expert homebuying guidance and proven loan capabilities to Experian’s existing ecosystem of credit cards, personal loans and auto insurance offers.
How to Battle the Big Guys: Prosperity Home Mortgage Announces Partnership with Foyer
Through this partnership, Prosperity Home Mortgage will make Foyer’s dedicated homebuyer tools available as an additional resource to prospective homebuyers, helping them take practical steps toward purchase readiness through guided savings, personalized education and credit education.
Costar vs. Investors: Press Releases Flying Everywhere, Easier to Read HW Story
Costar investors D.E. Shaw & Co., LP and Third Point Investments are calling for a sale, divestment or “amputation” of Homes.com, Costar says it’s embedded across the board and a bad idea.
Battling Bots: CFPB Issues New Complaint Rules
The bureau says the complaint portal was being abused by credit repair agencies and bots.
Consumers may not file complaints about inaccurate or incomplete info on credit reports – they must first dispute with reporting bureau.
New rule also has hoops to jump through to prove consumers are human.
Civil Rights in Lending Under Seige! - Senators Write to Vought
“We write today to urge you to rescind the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)’s proposed rule to end the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA)’s disparate impact test, which would prohibit the agency from blocking lending policies that have an unfair impact on historically discriminated-against groups. Despite what you claimed in an op-ed last week, this would open the floodgates for discrimination in all consumer lending, including mortgages, credit cards, and car loans. It would also stop lenders from establishing Special Purpose Credit Programs (SPCP), which are designed to expand homeownership access those same marginalized communities,” wrote the Senators.
“The disparate impact test has been used for over 50 years to combat some of the most nefarious forms of discrimination and has been upheld by the Supreme Court repeatedly.”
MOVING & SHAKING
Cutting the Chaff? Zillow Cuts 3% of Workforce - +/- 200 People
The company said the cuts were performance-related, noted they still have job openings to fill.
Two titles for Austin Niemiec: Rocket Mortgage CRO will retain title and take over the broker and correspondent aspect of Rocket Pro after Dan Sogorka's departure. - HW
Better named Loveen Advani CFO.
Union Home Mortgage appointed George Dover as their new VP of Manufactured & New Construction Lending.
Stephanie Erney joined NFM Lending as branch manager.
Builders FirstSource acquired Pleasant Valley Homes.
Hometap appointed Jesse Silverman as General Counsel and Josh Berg as chief product officer.
Class Valuation promoted Chris Flynn to COO.
MARKET/INDUSTRY
"Resistance becomes support." Check out Bill Bodnar's take on last week and what's coming up in the latest Master the Marketssegment.
Mortgage Rates Continue to Show Stability, Hovering Near 6%: Freddie 2-5-26
Mortgage Applications Decreased 8.9% from One Week Earlier: MBA Weekly Survey for the week ending 1-30-26.
“Application volume was down last week, led by a 14% drop in purchase applications. Winter Storm Fern likely had an impact as much of the country was snowed in, hampering homebuying activity. The annual increase in purchase applications was the weakest since April 2025. Refinance activity also decreased over the week, despite mortgage rates moving lower.” - Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist.
Equity Anemic, Underwater No Problem: ATTOM Data Q524 Home Equity & Underwater Report
Nearly 45% of Mortgaged Homes Remain Equity Rich Despite Quarterly Pullback
That level was down slightly from 46.1% in Q325 and off from the recent peak of 49.2% in Q224. Even so, the fourth quarter of 2025 marked the lowest share of equity rich properties since the Q421.
Seriously Underwater Share Edges Higher but Continues to Reflect Broad Equity Stability
Housing Market Shows Signs of Normalization Following Years of Rapid Appreciation
“After years of rapid gains, homeowner equity is settling into a more sustainable range, and that’s not a negative sign for the market. Even with a modest pullback in equity-rich properties and a slight uptick in seriously underwater homes, overall equity levels remain remarkably strong by historical standards. As we move toward the spring buying season, these numbers suggest a housing market that is stabilizing rather than overheating, giving homeowners a solid financial foundation while allowing for healthier market dynamics.” - Rob Barber, CEO at ATTOM.
Unrealistic Expectations?
Buyer Rate Attitudes – Clever RE + Best Interest Financial Survey
Less than half of buyers surveyed aligned with expert predictions — expecting rates to hover between 5% and 7% through 2026 — while 42% of respondents predicted average rates under 5%.
Many of today's buyers seem to be holding out for the ultra-low 4% rates not seen since the COVID-19 pandemic — and of the 1,000 prospective buyers surveyed, nearly all (94%) said they will alter their plans to buy this year if sub-6% rates aren't an option.
Many are hoping for even lower rates, with 37% of survey respondents identifying “good” rates as those under 4%.
Rental Clusters: More Renters in Multi-Family (Redfin)
A record 33% of U.S. rentals are in large multifamily buildings, while 31% are single-family homes—a record low.
As recently as 2021, single-family homes made up the largest share of America’s rental stock.
Just 14% of single-family homes are occupied by renters, the lowest share in records dating back to 2011.
One reason multifamily rentals are on the rise: America has built a lot of them, lowering costs for renters.
What’s Up in Opportunity Zones? ATTOM Data - Q4 2025 Opportunity Zones Report
Median home prices rose quarter-over-quarter in 40.6% of Opportunity Zone tracts and year-over-year in 46.4%, closely tracking price growth outside the zones.
Best Buyer Deals in 13 Years: Redfin MLS Analysis
Redfin analysis of annual MLS data comparing original list prices with final sale prices:
The typical buyer who scored a home for below the list price in 2025 got a 7.9% discount—the largest since 2012.
1 in 4 buyers who got discounts scored 10% or more off the list price—the highest share since 2012.
Nearly two-thirds of all homebuyers got discounts last year—the highest share since 2019.