Mortgage Lending Changed. The Federal Home Loan Bank System Hasn’t Kept Up

by John G. Stevens | Aug 26, 2026 | Mortgage Information, News/Current Events, Real Estate News, U.S. Housing Market, WRE News Exclusive

The Federal Home Loan Bank System was created in 1932. I don’t bring up that date because there is anything inherently wrong with a 94-year-old institution. Some of the most important pieces of our housing-finance system have been around for generations. I bring...

Kidder Group Joins Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty

by Phil Hall | Aug 26, 2026 | News/Current Events, Real Estate News, WRE News Exclusive

Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty announced that the Kidder Group has joined its office in Newport Beach, California. According to the company, the four-member Kidder Group team is ranked among the top 100 small teams in the country in the 2026 RealTrends...

Prosperity Home Mortgage Expands into Servicing

by Phil Hall | Aug 26, 2026 | Mortgage Information, News/Current Events, Real Estate News, U.S. Housing Market, WRE News Exclusive

HomeServices of America, a division of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A), announced that its subsidiary Prosperity Home Mortgage LLC is adding mortgage servicing to its portfolio of services. Prosperity Home Mortgage is a full-service retail mortgage lender focused...

Mortgage Application Activity Dips by 1%

by Phil Hall | Aug 26, 2026 | Mortgage Information, News/Current Events, Real Estate News, U.S. Housing Market, WRE News Exclusive

Mortgage application activity slowed for the week ending Aug. 21, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The Market Composite Index, the MBA’s measure of mortgage loan application volume, dipped by 1% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one...

Mamdani Issues New Deadline on Pied-à-Terre Tax Appeals, Admits 1,200 Contacted in Error

by Phil Hall | Aug 26, 2026 | News/Current Events, Real Estate News, U.S. Housing Market, WRE News Exclusive

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration has issued a second extension on the deadline for challenging his pied-à-terre tax while acknowledging that more than 1,000 residents received tax bill notices by mistake. The tax is designed to target the owners of...