Elina Tarkazikis

Home price appreciation turned the corner into negative territory, with values down for the second straight month, according to Zillow. Before April, property values continued growing for 85 months in a row.

LoanDepot will accelerate hiring initiatives in the third and fourth quarter as it plans to add 1,400 new jobs by the end of 2019. The company credits its technology efforts for the growth opportunities.

The vast majority of consumers claim it's a good time to sell a house as slowing price appreciation doesn't translate to the promise of a bigger deal ahead, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Ditech Holding Corp. has entered into purchase agreements with New Residential Investment Corp. and Mortgage Assets Management, in which each would acquire certain assets in the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The spring housing market brought some good news for both homebuyers and sellers as conditions eased up on both sides of the fence, according to Remax.

Completed foreclosures shot down 50% in May from the year before, with overall activity also declining by 22% during the same period, according to Attom Data Solutions.

A Western Union survey claims consumers are unable to tell the difference between humans and interactive voice response or artificial intelligence when needing customer or payment assistance, but their responses may say otherwise.

Foreclosure rates in March hit their lowest reading for the month in at least 20 years, while overall and serious delinquency rates also achieved 13-year lows for the same period, according to CoreLogic.

Appraisals are viewed as a choke point in the mortgage process. As the ranks of appraisers dwindle and technology advances, a new, AI-driven approach may not be far off.

Independent mortgage banks became profitable again at the start of the year after realizing losses of $200 for each loan they originated in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Millennial homeowners took advantage of April's drop in mortgage rates by quickly securing refinance loans, which closed faster than purchases for the first time since March 2016, according to Ellie Mae.

Homeowner remodeling spending should moderate across the majority of the nation's largest metropolitan areas as home price appreciation cools, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

Wells Fargo hired two seasoned veterans for their mortgage technology and data security expertise amid a digital era for financial industries.

The exurbs were the only area that posted annual growth in new single-family home permits in the first quarter, highlighting an ongoing affordability battle for homebuyers and builders looking for land, according to the NAHB.

Calls for getting more women into leadership positions, and strategies for achieving that, dominated the LEAD conference in New York.

Generation X is in its prime earning years, but the financial profiles of those renting are distinctly different from those who own a house, according to LendingTree.

Mortgage activity plunged before the start of the year, but subprime originations dropped the least, according to TransUnion. Despite dwindling volume, borrower delinquency rates hit historic lows in the first quarter.

Affordability got better for mortgage borrowers at the start of 2019, but housing inventory constraints limited the degree of improvement, according to the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo.

Mortgage lending credit standards loosened a bit last month as investors displayed more interest in non-qualified mortgage and nonagency jumbo loans to stay competitive, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Consumer expectations of further mortgage rate drops leaves them seemingly in no rush to enter the purchase market which could be why their optimism on home buying is falling, a Fannie Mae report said.