Finance

Mortgage applications fell last week as rates for the 30-year fixed conforming loan topped 5% for the first time since 2011, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported.

HSBC will pay $765 million to settle allegations that it sold defective residential mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the financial crisis, resolving one of the London-based bank's last significant legal challenges with the U.S. government.

D.R. Horton is selling more homes, but its cancellation rates also are higher in the company's primary fiscal year results, a sign that rising mortgage rates may be affecting the market.

Rising interest rates, both current and the prospect for future increases, took a toll on consumers' outlook on the housing market during September, according to Fannie Mae.

Wells Fargo is planning its first post-crisis offering of bonds tied to U.S. home loans without government backing, according to people familiar with the matter.

Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, has purchased the remaining equity in Merscorp Holdings it did not already own.

Builder Lennar Corp.'s purchase of CalAtlantic's financial services operations boosted its mortgage segment's earnings in the third quarter as the acquisition offset declines in per-loan profits and refinancing.

First Foundation sold loans to Freddie Mac to free up space for higher-yielding credits. It then bought the securities that were formed to replace other, lower-yielding assets through an often overlooked program.

Similar to estimates published by Moody's and Morningstar, the data provider reckons that more than half of the loans are securitized by Fannie, Freddie or Ginnie.

Commercial and multifamily mortgage debt outstanding grew by 1.6% during the second quarter, benefiting from improved property values and low interest rates, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Residential mortgage loan exchange provider Maxex has closed a new $38 million funding round it will use to improve and expand various aspects of its platform.

Increased competition among non-qualified mortgage lenders leading to lower starting interest rates for borrowers should result in fewer of these loans prepaying within one year of origination, said Standard & Poor's.

Moody's sees $10.7 billion of securitized commercial mortgages at risk, Morningstar just $1.49 billion; both say loans in Freddie Mac K-deals account for a significant portion of exposure.

The changes mandated by the recent regulatory relief law would narrow the definition of "high-volatility commercial real estate" exposures that get a higher risk weight.

Commercial mortgage-backed securities delinquency rates are likely to continue to decrease for the rest of the year, as new issuances outpace maturing loans and precrisis loans continued to get resolved by special servicers, Fitch Ratings said.

A decade after the credit crisis, investors are returning to where it all began. The mortgage sector, blamed in large part for the near-collapse of the global financial system, is now seen by many as a high-quality market forged by fire.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency issued a proposal Wednesday that would require mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to align their policies on cash flows for current mortgage-backed securities, and eventually for a uniform security when it is implemented next year.

Housing finance reform is still likely years away, but a growing chorus of lawmakers say the government guarantor has the ability to clear the path to a final plan.

Early adopters took digital mortgages from concept to reality. What will it take for everyone else to catch up?

From origination to servicing and everything in between, here's a sneak peek at the companies and products presenting demos at the 2018 Digital Mortgage Conference.