After seeing an uptick in sales last year, the nationwide new home market experienced a sharp drop in new home sales activity in January, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s New Residential Sales report released on Thursday. Economists say that this could be a momentary drop due to extreme weather

Terms of the deal were not disclosed but both firms are nationwide mortgage originators, with CrossCountry claiming it is the top retail lender.

Growing uncertainty over Social Security, Medicare and fiscal policy has left many older Americans more concerned about their financial futures — with some delaying retirement and shifting to more conservative investment strategies. Findings from a new survey analysis by the Center for Retirement Re