HousingWire

The housing market has held its own this year — even with higher inflation, higher oil prices, higher mortgage rates, and crazy headlines about AI taking all the jobs. But mortgage rates are right at a key level now and with the Iran conflict entering its 2.0 stage, can housing hold up? Today’s tracker will give us a look at data that shows a slight slowdown from the previous trend, as mortgage rates stayed above 6.64% most of last week.

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which went into effect on July 11, includes a host of pro-housing provisions aimed at making housing easier to build and cutting red tape. The nearly 400-page bill contains provisions aimed at streamlining federal reviews, supporting factory-built housing, expanding housing supply and incentivizing local governments to streamline housing development.

Coming out of summer recess, California lawmakers will tackle condominium construction defect legislation that has cleared committees and passed one chamber. Assembly Bill 1903 is one of two condo bills introduced this year by state lawmakers. It would change condo construction defect liability rules to create a true “right-to-repair” process, letting developers fix problems before facing high-stakes litigation.

J.P. Morgan Asset Management has released its 2026 Defined Contribution (DC) Plan Participant Survey, finding that retirement plan participants — particularly younger workers — increasingly expect employers to provide more guidance and support as they plan for retirement.

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is now law, marking what many in the housing industry consider the most significant federal housing legislation in more than three decades. The bipartisan measure aims to increase housing supply by reducing regulatory barriers, streamlining permitting, modernizing federal housing programs and expanding opportunities for homeownership. Supporters say it lays the foundation for addressing the nation’s long-running housing shortage.

A New Jersey homeowner has filed a lawsuit against Newrez LLC, dba Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing, alleging the company engaged in years of unfair mortgage servicing practices that deprived her of a meaningful opportunity to avoid foreclosure. The complaint, filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division in Essex County, was brought by homeowner Autumn M. Urling.

According to Aaron Kirman, much of his success in the real estate industry first as a solo agent, then as a team leader and now as a brokerage CEO, has come from keeping his finger on the pulse of the industry and taking a critical approach to his business. “Life is always an evolution and you don’t often know where you’re going to land,” Kirman said. “But I always like to analyze where I am and what I can be doing better.

Residential construction activity picked up in June, but the gains were concentrated in multifamily, and future supply indicators softened, according to newly released U.S. Census Bureau data. Privately owned housing starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of roughly 1.3 million units in June, up 19% from a revised May pace of roughly 1.12 million and 3.5% above the June 2025 rate of 1.38 million.

Housing starts beating estimates while housing permits are near cycle lows is an odd situation, but I am here to make sense of it and explain where exactly we are in the housing construction cycle. First, we have to always remember that housing starts are a very volatile number with a lot of revisions. Whenever you’re looking at this data line, you need to look at all the data variables together.

Union Home Mortgage Corp. (UHM) has acquired AmeriTrust Mortgage Corp. in an asset deal that closed in 45 days, boosting UHM’s exposure to the nonqualified mortgage (non-QM) market. Financial terms were not disclosed. “There have been long-term relationships between some of the senior executives on both sides,” UHM CEO Bill Cosgrove toldHousingWire.