May 2026

Mortgage vendors are entering a new phase of consolidation as they respond to rising regulatory and cybersecurity pressures, according to a white paper released this week by investment banking firm Houlihan Lokey. Scale is also becoming a decisive advantage for companies that sell mortgage technology and services, a trend that follows a mergers-and-acquisition wave among […]

Every few years, the real estate industry gets a jolt that sends agents scrambling to reassess their careers and where they hang their license. The current wave of consolidation — eXp acquiring Next Home, Real acquiring Remax, Compass acquiring Anywhere — is the latest version of that jolt. And if the conversations I’m having with

After posting a decent recovery from 9-month highs yesterday, it looked like mortgage rates were destined to bounce back toward slightly higher levels today. In fact, when lenders released their initial rates this morning, the average 30yr fixed rate was indeed moderately higher. But shortly after 1pm ET, news broke regarding additional progress in the