Origination

February housing market numbers indicate that while the 2019 year-to-date number of sales is about 1% behind 2018's record-breaking numbers, this will be another banner year for New Mexico housing, according to the New Mexico Association of Realtors.

Central Ohio home sales rose 3.7% in February from a year ago, the biggest jump in more than a year.

Home prices in 20 U.S. cities registered their smallest gains since late 2012, decelerating for a 10th month in January as buyers held out for more affordable properties.

New-home groundbreakings fell in February by the most in eight months on a drop in single-family homes, suggesting buyers and builders remain wary despite higher wages and a drop in mortgage rates.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency in recent years has required Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to contribute to the funds every March, but has yet to make a 2019 request. Housing groups see the delay as a troubling sign.

If mortgage rates fall below 4%, it could more than double the dollar volume of agency mortgages exposed to refinancing incentive, analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods found.

A $54-million project to build upscale condominiums at the edge of downtown Detroit has been canceled, unable to get financing, and the Plan B is to put a hotel there.

With a second defendant pleading guilty to conspiracy, it was learned that a Watertown, N.Y., apartment complex is among dozens of rental properties in that state and several others that allegedly received $500 million in fraudulent bank loans.

Starting March 26, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo will hold two days of hearings on his plan for returning Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to private ownership.

University Bancorp gained a number of offices from Huron Valley Financial. It also hired lenders and staff with experience in reverse mortgages and wholesale lending.