NAR Existing-Home Sales Report Shows 2.0% Increase in July
August 21 2025 | |
"The ever-so-slight improvement in housing affordability is inching up home sales," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "Wage growth is now comfortably outpacing home price growth, and buyers have more choices. Condominium sales increased in the South region, where prices had been falling for the past year."
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New and Existing Homes Remain Largely Unaffordable in Second Quarter
August 21 2025 | |
“While the housing affordability crisis persists, builders have been working diligently to make new homes more affordable by reducing square footage, lowering prices and offering a host of buyer incentives,” said NAHB Chairman Buddy Hughes, a home builder and developer from Lexington, N.C.
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American Land Title Association Announces New Innovations to Raise the Bar on Fraud Protection
August 20 2025 | |
Today, the American Land Title Association (ALTA)announced two new policy endorsements designed to help protect homeowners from the growing threat of seller impersonation fraud, which occurs when criminals forge documents in order to sell someone else’s real estate and steal the proceeds. The title insurance endorsements will allow new and existing homeowners to add coverage that offers post-policy protection against forgery of a deed or mortgage.
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New Alanna.ai Digital Signing Capability To Assist Agents With New FinCEN Requirements
August 20 2025 | |
Alanna.ai, the creator of a comprehensive suite of AI-powered tools for title agents, has introduced Alanna Sign, a digital signing capability. The feature is an enhancement to alanna.ai Smart Forms and is designed to streamline the new data collection and reporting requirements installed by the FinCEN Anti-Money Laundering rule, which takes effect December 1, 2025.
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Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey
August 20 2025 | |
“Mortgage rates increased slightly last week, with the 30-year fixed rate now at 6.68 percent. Applications were down as a result, driven by a 16 percent decrease in VA applications, which are typically a volatile segment of the market,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist.
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NotaryCam Certified to Provide Remote Online Notarization Services in Vermont
August 19 2025 | |
NotaryCam®, a Stewart-owned company and leading remote online notarization (RON) provider for real estate and legal transactions, its certification to perform RON services in the state of Vermont. This development follows Vermont’s enactment of legislation supporting remote notarizations, allowing notaries with a Special Endorsement to perform digital notarizations in the state.
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Single-Family Starts Edge Higher but Affordability Challenges Persist
August 19 2025 | |
“Single-family production continues to operate at reduced levels due to ongoing housing affordability challenges, including persistently high mortgage rates, the skilled labor shortage and excessive regulatory costs,” said Buddy Hughes, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders.
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July New Home Purchase Mortgage Applications Increased 6.8 Percent
August 18 2025 | |
“Purchase activity for new homes strengthened in July as both mortgage applications and estimated new home sales reached their highest levels since April 2025,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “Applications were boosted by borrowers looking to take advantage of slightly lower mortgage rates during the month and higher levels of newly built inventory."
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Builder Confidence Plateaus at Relatively Low Level
August 18 2025 | |
“Affordability continues to be the top challenge for the housing market and buyers are waiting for mortgage rates to drop to move forward,” said NAHB Chairman Buddy Hughes, a home builder and developer from Lexington, N.C. “Builders are also grappling with supply-side headwinds, including ongoing frustrations with regulatory policies connected to developing land and building homes.”
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CATIC and Dono Announce Approval of AI-Powered Title Search Platform for North Carolina Attorneys
August 14 2025 | |
Connecticut Attorneys Title Insurance Company (CATIC) and Dono, an AI-powered property records platform, announced that CATIC has approved Dono's automated title search solution for immediate use by North Carolina attorneys. The approval provides hold harmless protection against errors or claims, marking a significant milestone for AI-powered title searching in the state.
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Buyer's Agent Commissions Tick Up to Pre-NAR Settlement Levels
August 12 2025 | |
Commissions are now back to the same level they were sitting at in the first quarter of 2024, when NAR first announced a settlement dictating new commission rules in response to a class action lawsuit brought by home sellers. Immediately after the settlement was announced, commissions declined, dropping to a low of 2.36% in the third quarter of 2024. They fell at that time partly because the settlement shed light on sellers’ ability to negotiate commissions down.
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Three out of Four Metro Areas Posted Home Price Increases in Second Quarter of 2025
August 12 2025 | |
Seventy-five percent of metro markets (170 out of 228) registered home price gains in the second quarter of 2025, according to the National Association of REALTORS®' Metropolitan Median Area Prices and Affordability and Housing Affordability Index. This is down from 83% in the first quarter. Five percent of metro areas recorded double-digit price gains in the second quarter, down from 11% in the first quarter of 2025.
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WFG National Title Insurance Company Appoints 35-Year Veteran Lisa Tyler as SVP National Development
August 11 2025 | |
With more than three decades of title industry experience to her credit, Tyler is recognized for her rare combination of deep operational insight, hands-on leadership, and a proven ability to strengthen client relationships while streamlining complex processes. In her new role, Tyler will be based out of WFG’s Irvine, California headquarters and will travel the country to engage with WFG’s teams, agents, and customers, leveraging her expertise to help drive the company’s rapid growth and national expansion.
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Williston Financial Group Appoints Tech Entrepreneur Ryan Ozonian as Senior Director of Innovation and AI
August 07 2025 | |
In this newly created role, Ryan will focus on advancing artificial intelligence and automation initiatives that are part of WFG’s larger enterprise technology program, led by Marty Frame, President of MyHome®, a Williston Financial Group Company. He will also be responsible for identifying, developing, and deploying AI-driven tools and process automation designed to enhance operational efficiency, improve user experiences, and deliver measurable value to WFG’s customers and partners.
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Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey
August 06 2025 | |
“Mortgage rates moved lower last week, following declining Treasury yields as economic data releases signaled a weakening U.S. economy. As a result, the 30-year fixed rate decreased for the third straight week to 6.77 percent,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “Borrowers sought to take advantage of these lower rates, as both purchase and refinance applications increased over the week."
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