Lew Sichelman

Of the thousands of financial regulations on the books, which is the most burdensome? Dodd-Frank? Truth in Lending? Basel III?

First-time home buyers are no longer a force to be reckoned with. According to new research from the National Association of Realtors, just 36% of buyers in the 12-month period between July 2010 and June 2011 were first-timers, a sharp decline from a record 50% in the last survey.

Sales contracts are falling through at twice the rate of last year, according to new figures released by the National Association of Realtors at its annual convention in Anaheim.

The Federal Housing Administration, which sold more than 102,000 government-owned homes in fiscal year 2011, expects to sell that many again in the new fiscal year.

The ever-optimistic National Association of Realtors believes the worst housing downturn since the Great Depression is almost over.

Although the chances are slim, the conforming loan limit in a few high-cost housing markets could rise on January 1.

LOS ANGELES—Bank of America is working “very hard” on a short sale-to-lease program for distressed borrowers who don't qualify for government-backed refinance programs.

A new Urban Land Institute report intending to open a yearlong dialogue about the future of real estate in the changing economy finds a world struggling to adapt to new market realities.

The outcry against the financial sector has taken yet another turn, this time with a petition calling on the Minneapolis School Board to move its payroll and other accounts from Wells Fargo to a local community bank as a way to highlight the connection between foreclosures and local school systems.

Bank of America is working "very hard" on a short sale-to-lease program for distressed borrowers who don't qualify for government-backed refinance programs.

The climb out of the real estate depression will be a long, slow one for all but one market sector: apartments, according to the annual Emerging Trends outlook report.

Housing starts rose 10% in California in September, but all of the gain -- and then some -- was registered in the multifamily sector.

Against a backdrop of stepped up security, a well-organized demonstration failed to disrupt the Mortgage Bankers Association's annual convention in Chicago.

Cash may be king when it comes to buying a home, but for the nation's home builders, it's princely to have their own mortgage companies.

The existing home market in the Baltimore, Md., area was basically flat in September, with both sales and prices rising by the thinnest of margins.

The traditional fall slowdown in home sales has come to the strong Washington, D.C., market -- but the region still registered a better-than-usual September.

The Obama Administration expects to roll out a plan to lower barriers to refinancing in "the next couple of weeks," HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan told mortgage bankers at their annual convention in Chicago.

Housing is "extremely important to the President," a key White House advisor told the Mortgage Bankers Annual convention in Chicago.

In what is described as the first step in rebuilding the housing finance industry's tarnished image, the Mortgage Bankers Association has created a non-profit umbrella organization to support philanthropic ventures that help families and communities.

Hundreds of demonstrators picketed outside the Mortgage Bankers Association's annual convention in Chicago Monday afternoon and despite stepped up security, two made it into the convention's second general session, where they personally voiced their disapproval of lenders and how they are handling the mortgage crisis.