T
he year 2025 has seen significant developments in the mortgage and real estate sectors, with a focus on vertical integration. In March, Rocket acquired Redfin, followed by Mr. Cooper's acquisition of another company just weeks later. These moves could propel Rocket back to the top spot in the mortgage lender rankings, a position it lost to United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM). Smaller lenders are taking note, with Lower Mortgage announcing its plan to acquire Movoto, a top-5 real estate portal in the US.

    Lower's acquisition of Movoto will make it the preferred lender for the platform. Similar to Rocket's planned integration with Redfin, Lower aims to inject ads into the Movoto platform and become the go-to lender for visitors. With 150 million visits in 2024, Movoto is a significant player in the real estate space, ranking fifth behind Zillow, Redfin, Realtor, and Trulia.

    Lower's goal is to grow the brand further by incorporating its team of loan officers with site visitors and becoming the preferred lender for real estate agents on the platform. This will likely involve replacing current third-party lender ads with their own, eliminating a major pain point in customer acquisition. By acquiring Movoto, Lower aims to tap into an endless stream of prospective home buyers and snag a share of the market.

    Lower is following in the footsteps of larger players like Rocket Mortgage, which has pending acquisitions of Redfin and other real estate companies. The lender recognizes that Movoto can deliver high-intent buyers looking to get pre-approved, making it an attractive acquisition target. With its exclusive mortgage provider deal with Opendoor, Lower is well-positioned to scale in a low-volume environment while enjoying synergies like access to content.

    The top real estate portals are now largely tied up with mortgage lenders, with Zillow operating its own home loan services and Realtor and Homes being the only major portals without an associated lender. The acquisition of Movoto by Lower will integrate over 1,000 employees across two locations in Columbus, Ohio, and Austin, Texas, potentially pushing Lower up the mortgage lender rankings in short order.