New home sales beat expectations again in June, HUD and the Census Bureau reported Friday, posting double-digit increases for the second straight month.

The Federal Open Market Committee holds its next Policy Meeting this Tuesday, July 28 and Wednesday, July 29. While Fed-watchers don’t expect the FOMC to take action on the federal funds rate—it’s already at zero—they will, as usual, go over the Wednesday statement with a fine-toothed editing pencil to gain insight on other steps to boost an uncertain economy amid the global coronavirus pandemic.

Many of the industry’s efficiency experts have long argued that a digital mortgage can save all parties time and money. In the past, however, there were too many downstream issues that blocked the process from full-scale adoption. But with shelter in place, safer at home and social distancing all coming into play, the pandemic has led to a renewed push to get a completely digital mortgage as the new way to close all your loans.

All property types have felt some effects from COVID-19, but seniors housing is a special case. It has seen a variety of impacts including in occupancy rates and expenses.

(One of a continuing series of profiles of participants in the MBA Education Path to Diversity (P2D) Scholarship Program, which enables employees from diverse backgrounds to advance their professional growth and career development.)

The technologies behind these changes have been with us for some time, but it took a crisis of mammoth proportions to accelerate adoption. Yet there are other areas of the mortgage business still sorely in need of innovation. And if lenders hope to remain competitive and thrive when the smoke from the pandemic clears, they need to be embracing these innovations today.

LRES Corp., Orange, Calif., named Tina Suihkonen as Senior Director of Commercial Services. She will lead LRES’ commercial default services division and provide nationwide commercial trustee and foreclosure services.

JLL Capital Markets arranged $51.5 million in financing for a Massachusetts data center and retail centers in Philadelphia and the San Francisco Bay Area.