Rental Vacancy Rose to 7.6% in the Third Quarter as Homeowner Vacancy Held Steady
New Census figures show a higher share of vacant rental housing than a year earlier, while the apparent rise in homeownership was not statistically significant.
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The Estate Wire — real estate news for November 7, 2026
Rents Have Risen Seven Months Straight and Are Still Below Last Year
Mortgage Rates Jumped 19 Basis Points in a Single Week to 6.95%
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Lodging REITs Returned 42.8% in the First Half While Apartment REITs Managed 8.3%
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Fed Minutes Show Most Officials Saw Another Rate Increase Ahead, Even as Housing Lagged
The October 7 release reveals a split between broadly supportive financial conditions and a mortgage market where borrowing remained depressed.
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The 30-Year Mortgage Rate Climbs to 7.40%, Its Highest Since 2023
Freddie Mac's weekly survey recorded a seventh straight increase in the 30-year fixed rate, pushing financing costs to levels not seen in nearly three years.
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Mortgage Demand Drops Again as Borrowing Costs Hit a Near Three-Year High
The Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly survey shows applications fell 4.2% as the average 30-year rate climbed to 7.49%, with refinancing activity sinking to roughly half of last year's pace.
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Mortgage Rates Jump to 7.28%, the Highest Reading in Nearly Three Years
Freddie Mac's weekly survey shows the steepest one-week rate increase in roughly four years, pushing borrowing costs to levels not seen since late 2023.
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Weekly Housing Data Show Demand Cracking as Mortgage Rates Flirt With 7.5%
A volatile bond market pushed borrowing costs to the highest level of the cycle, and the latest weekly tracker shows pending sales, price cuts and purchase applications all moving in the wrong direction for buyers.
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Fannie Mae Notched Its 34th Straight Profitable Quarter, and Net Worth Passed $116 Billion
The mortgage giant's second-quarter earnings show the conservatorship-era income machine still running, even as it reports helping fewer than half a million households.
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Freddie Mac's Profit Jumped 61%, but Its Delinquency Rates Kept Creeping Up
A credit reserve release lifted second-quarter net income to $3.8 billion, even as single-family and multifamily delinquency both rose for a second straight year-over-year comparison.
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Private Mortgage Insurers Wrote 21% More New Business, Just as Fannie and Freddie Changed the Credit-Score Rules
MGIC and Radian posted another profitable quarter as the GSEs let insurers choose between VantageScore and FICO for capital purposes — a change analysts call a work in progress, not a breakthrough.
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Overall Mortgage Delinquencies Edged Down, but FHA Serious Delinquencies Jumped 225 Basis Points
MBA's second-quarter survey found the seriously delinquent rate rising for a fourth straight quarter even as the seasonally adjusted headline number improved slightly.
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NewRez Will Pay $15.5 Million After Charging More Than 4,200 Borrowers for Insurance They Already Had
State regulators say the servicer force-placed hazard insurance on customers with active homeowners policies; New Jersey and Massachusetts even disagree on how many states joined.
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Mortgage Standards Remain Tight by Historical Comparison, Fed Survey Finds
Banks told the Fed's quarterly loan officer survey that standards sit at the tighter end of their range since 2005 for every category except business loans, with home-loan demand weaker on balance.
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The Regulator Overseeing Fannie and Freddie Took a Second Job Running U.S. Intelligence
Shares in both mortgage giants fell on the news, and analysts read it as a signal that conservatorship exit had slipped down the agenda.
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Rocket and the Justice Department Asked a Court to Help Them Settle an Appraisal Bias Case
A joint motion for a settlement conference — not a settlement — in a Fair Housing Act suit over a Denver refinance appraisal.
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Fannie Mae's Title Insurance Waiver Pilot Is Set to Grow, and Title Insurers Are Pushing Back
The programme lets approved lenders substitute automated title review for a lender's policy on some low-LTV refinances.
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Nearly 72% of Government-Backed Purchase Loans This Year Went to First-Time Buyers
Ginnie Mae's July report shows how far the federally guaranteed channel has become the entry point to homeownership, as monthly issuance eased to $52.9 billion.
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UWM Lost $451.9 Million on Hedges and Raised $2.05 Billion From Oaktree and the Ishbia Family
The wholesale lender's origination volume held at $39.7 billion and margins widened, but a $603.2 million derivatives loss drove the quarter into deficit.
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Fannie and Freddie Opened VantageScore 4.0 to Every Approved Lender Without Prior Permission
The September change removes the written-approval requirement that had limited the alternative credit score to a partial rollout, while FICO 10T remains ineligible for delivery.
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Home Equity Lines Rose for a 17th Straight Quarter
HELOC balances reached $459 billion in the second quarter, $142 billion above their 2022 low, while a reporting artifact made mortgage debt appear to fall.
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FHA Tightened the Rules on Repeated Trial Payment Plans
Mortgagee Letter 2026-08, mandatory from September 21, treats a third refusal of a trial plan as a failure and limits repeat re-reviews that delay foreclosure.
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The VA Began Taking Partial Claim Submissions in June, With Full Servicer Compliance Due November 28
The program lets the VA buy up to 25% of a defaulted loan's balance as a subordinate lien, leaving the veteran's original mortgage rate untouched.
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