Tech Pulse: Fannie Mae targets fraud, DirectOffer launches AI assistant

Welcome to Tech Pulse — a new weekly series rounding up the latest in technology, including tools, integrations and trends impacting mortgage and real estate. Here’s what happened this week:Fannie Mae partners with Palantir to detect, prevent mortgage fraudFannie Mae has teamed up with Palantir Tec

Study suggests banks are avoiding mortgages in California wildfire zones

Following the wildfires that devastated the Los Angeles area at the start of the year, a new study has emerged that suggests banks with physical locations are less likely to extend mortgages to impacted residents, while online lenders are continuing to be active.First reported by the The Washington

Inflation is almost at 2%. Will that prompt a Fed rate cut?

The good news is the preferred measure of inflation for the Federal Reserve keeps trending downward. The bad news is that the economic backdrop that could lead to lower rates keeps getting more complicated.According to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the Personal Consumptio

New platform aims to ease California down payment burden

Zown, a real estate platform that offers upfront financial help to homebuyers, is expanding into California with a goal to ease the burden of down payments and elevated home prices.The service has launched in the Golden State after gaining traction in Canada, where it supported more than 250 homebuy