FHA

Acting commissioner Dana Wade said the agency is "vigilantly" watching whether it needs to take action on PACE assessments placed on mortgages after they are endorsed by the agency.

The agency should resist renewed calls to lower insurance premiums. Doing so would increase demand and raise home prices, negating any proposed benefits.

First-time homebuyers using loans backed by private mortgage insurance soared in the fourth quarter on the growing popularity of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's 3% down payment options, according to Genworth.

Private mortgage insurance continued to take market share from the Federal Housing Administration in 2017, with both products outpacing the growth in mortgage debt outstanding.

Refinance mortgages accounted for 45% of mortgage volume, the highest share in a year, according to Ellie Mae.

With 30-year mortgage rates reaching a four-year high, loan application activity was lower this past week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Nearly 50 years after the federal Fair Housing Act was signed into law, banning racial discrimination in lending, black prospective homebuyers in the St. Louis area continue to be denied conventional mortgage loans at a much higher rate than whites.

Rising rates, largely tied to the stock market turmoil, took their toll on mortgage application volume during the past week.

The new budget proposal projects a very profitable Federal Housing Administration in fiscal year 2019, but there are no indications the FHA will reduce its mortgage insurance premiums anytime soon.

Even as rates hit their highest levels in nearly four years, mortgage application volume increased compared with one week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

A Bucks County, Pa., man is charged with lying to federal housing officials in a series of forged financial statements in order to serve as an approved mortgage lender for the Federal Housing Administration.

Rising rates suppressed total mortgage application activity, which decreased 2.6% from one week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Purchase loan applications were at their highest level in nearly eight years because of rising interest rates, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The agency is winning praise for changes in how loans are evaluated for defects, which could cut down on the risk of enforcement actions.

Weak profits and the threat of false claims charges are keeping banks out of the market for loans guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The percentage of refinances grew to 40% of all closed loans in December, according to Ellie Mae.

Even as mortgage rates rose to their highest level since March, application activity increased from one week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The Senate Banking Committee had approved Powell already in December, but a revote was necessary after the Senate adjourned for the year without finalizing his confirmation.

The JPMorgan Chase CEO is rejecting arguments that banks are poised to loosen underwriting standards to win more mortgage business. He said what's needed to encourage banks to make more loans to borrowers with spotty credit files are changes to FHA rules and other policy fixes.

Adolfo Marzol, an official at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, is optimistic that technological improvements and other changes can help draw Federal Housing Administration lenders back to the fold.