Elina Tarkazikis

A new marketing tool lets consumers start the mortgage prequalification process by sending a text message, providing would-be borrowers with credit and loan program details and offering lenders a low-cost source of leads.

Rising mortgage rates are helping decelerate home price growth, which is expected to slow further during the coming year, according to CoreLogic. Consumer uncertainty in the economy due to stock market declines may also weaken house values.

Mortgage technology is rapidly advancing, with incumbents and new entrants scrambling to take advantage of developments in artificial intelligence and automation. The goal? Beat the customer expectations set by Amazon and Uber, not just other lenders, says KPMG Managing Director Teresa Blake.

Freddie Mac issued its first non-low-income housing tax credit forward commitment, providing financing for an affordable housing development in Minnesota.

Mortgage application fraud risk continued growing for the fifth consecutive month, and the recent California wildfires are partly to blame, according to First American Financial Corp.

These days, no wedding is complete without a hashtag combining the happy couple's names. It got us thinking: Why not give mortgage industry M&A deals the same treatment?

As the mortgage industry braces for even more market uncertainty in 2019, emerging technologies that improve the borrower experience and streamline back-office tasks may provide a glimmer of hope to beleaguered lenders.

Housing inventory has grown annually for three straight months following four years of declines, but the gains are small and uneven, according to Zillow.

Tackling millennial hurdles has been top of mind for the mortgage industry, but the youngest non-homeowners have the smallest share claiming that qualifying for a mortgage will be a big challenge, according to the National Association of Realtors.

A proposal issued over a year ago by federal banking agencies to simplify risk-based capital rules and ease compliance burdens for community banks has still not been finalized, and mortgage brokers and bankers are calling on them to do just that.

Ordinarily, declining property sales will cool the costs for housing. But existing-home sales have been underperforming their potential for 40 straight months and property values are still on the rise, according to First American Financial Corp.

In most of the country, single women are outpacing men when it comes to homeownership, despite females only making 80% of what the average male does, according to a LendingTree report.

Mortgage lenders are more pessimistic than ever about the industry's profit margin outlook, with many blaming tight competition for the negative attitudes, according to Fannie Mae.

Other than in areas hit by natural disasters, delinquency rates are falling with help from a healthier labor market, but a rise in riskier lending habits could signal trouble for borrowers should housing conditions change, according to CoreLogic.

The government-sponsored enterprises are suspending eviction lockouts for the holiday season.

The nation is suffering from a housing affordability crisis and lower construction costs and increased government subsidies can ease the pain, consumers state in a National Association of Home Builders survey.

From flocking to Florida to abandoning Alaska, here’s a look at some key 2018 homebuyer migration patterns.

House flipping fell for the third consecutive quarter, following a pattern seen the last time mortgage rates spiked, according to Attom Data Solutions.

Foreclosure activity is down nationwide from a year ago, but certain local housing markets are telling a different story.

Rejected or not, cities selected as finalists for Amazon's second headquarters are topping the charts of housing markets expected to overperform in 2019 as companies see the value in their proposals, according to Zillow.