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Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson was met with strong words Thursday morning when he appeared with the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Appropriations to defend the proposed budget for the fiscal year. He remained poised, articulate, and open as the subcommittee members took turns voicing their specific concerns. Secretary Carson went on to say that the playbook had to be changed, as there was only so much money to go around.

A white paper released on Thursday claims the emergence of the Loan Originations System (LOS) as a stand-alone product has led to “technology sprawl,” wherein mortgage tech platforms are disparate, disconnected, and overall less effective. According to the paper, titled “Reducing the Sprawl in Mortgage Lending,” the mortgage industry is plagued by disconnected technology that slows the process down—and cuts into the bottom line. Lenders should move toward a singular, more comprehensive LOS that can handle the mortgage process from cradle to grave, the paper reports.

A new report shows that most millennials believe now is a good time to buy a home—and more than half of them are actually ready to take the plunge. About 51 percent of those surveyed said they are either extremely likely or very likely to buy within the next year. According to experts, impending mortgage rate hikes are likely causing the uptick in urgency. Still, roadblocks like scarce inventory and a lack of knowledge around the homebuying process could pose a problem for millennials.

According to a new study from the CFPB, consumers in lower-income parts of the country are more likely to establish credit history through negative means, like debt collection or public records. About 27 percent of low-income area consumers establish their history through what are called “non-loans,” while just 7.9 percent of consumers in high-income areas establish credit via non-loans. The study found that consumers in higher-income areas more commonly establish credit with a credit card or through co-borrowing.

According to a recent ranking published on Tuesday, secondary homes—particularly on the waterfront—may be more affordable than most homeowners believed. That is, if they know where to look. Florida, New Jersey, and Texas are great places to start searching.

Tom Stover has recently been promoted to CSO at DIMONT, a provider of specialty insurance and loan administration services to the residential and commercial mortgage industries. Denis Brosnan, President and CEO of DIMONT, said, “Tom’s promotion is in recognition of his continuing contributions to DIMONT, and his proven ability to develop innovative solutions.”

The 2017 Quarterly Mortgage Bankers Performance Report for Q1 was released on Tuesday and reported that independent mortgage banks were having a rough start in the first quarter of 2017. Per loan, gains and production costs are down, resulting in lower net profits. Q1 was also a record breaking quarter for two statistics since its inception in 2008.

Blockchain is a big buzzword in technology right now. But when Jason Nadeau talks to customers, it quickly becomes clear that many people don’t fully understand what blockchain is—or how to use it. To help shed some light on what you really need to focus on as you consider the adoption of a blockchain strategy for the coming year, review these three points.

Critical defects are down compared with Q1 of 2016, according to ACES Risk Management (ARMCO) in its Q4 Mortgage QC Industry Trends. The report details a breakdown of the final quarter of 2016, including defect rates and findings for each Fannie Mae loan category. It also predicts, with the continued understanding of TRID and its impact, critical loan defects should continue to trend downwards in 2017.

As both current homeowners and potential homebuyers are settling more into their prospective communities, turning to federally-insured credit unions for their mortgage and banking needs has become a viable option. On Monday the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) released its 2017 Q1 call report data, which reports growth all across the board for federally insured credit unions. Dan Berger, the President and CEO of the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) attributes the overall growth first and foremost to growing membership, which rose 4.2 percent, over 4.3 million more members than were registered a year ago.