Trump Vows To Make Housing Affordable While Keeping Values Up as He Praises the 'Golden Age of America'
President Donald Trump reiterated his aim of making the housing market affordable without lowering home values during the State of the Union speech, his annual address to Congress. Trump's speech on Tuesday night, which lasted an hour and 47 minutes, took aim at economic issues as the president moves to reassure voters he has curtailed rising costs that he campaigned to fix.
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Mortgage rates fall below 6% for the first time in years
U.S. mortgage rates have finally fallen below 6%. The average 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage is at 5.98% this week, according to a new report from the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., commonly known as Freddie Mac. The last time mortgage rates were this low, it was September 2022.
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The hidden housing cost Washington can't ignore: real estate fraud
Housing affordability is usually framed through numbers: mortgage rates, housing supply, construction costs and zoning restrictions. Washington debates the numbers, and families feel the squeeze. But there is another housing cost hiding in plain sight-real estate fraud.
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Class Sues Fidelity Title Over 'Kickbacks'
Fidelity National Title Insurance and other major title insurers illegally kicked back fees to real estate agents for real estate settlement services, homeowners claim in a federal class action. The class claims that Fidelity ran the scheme using a web-based platform called TransactionPoint, which "allowed kickbacks and referral fees to be disguised as 'sublicense fees' or 'access fees.'"
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Updated ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey Standards Take Effect Feb. 23
The American Land Title Association and National Society of Professional Surveyors have finalized revisions to the Minimum Standard Detail Requirements for ALTA/NSPS Land Title Surveys, with an effective date of Feb. 23, 2026. These revisions supersede the 2021 standards and will govern all surveys commenced on or after that date. The revised standards emphasize enhanced precision, transparency and uniformity in the surveying process.
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