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Sales of single-family existing homes in Maine fell by a staggering 21.3% in May from a year earlier, nearly matching the most recent comparable one-year decline of 21.4% following the Great Recession, in June 2011.

In the most sweeping capital distribution order since the financial crisis, the Federal Reserve says it will prohibit big banks from buying back their stock in the third quarter and limit dividend payments to second-quarter levels.

But the coronavirus put a hold on the market in April and remains an overhanging cloud for the future.

The government-sponsored enterprises had been considering tightening counterparty requirements for nonbanks, but in light of COVID-19's spread, they've reconsidered that.

The Mortgage Bankers Association points to better lender diversity and a stronger housing finance network as reasons for its support.

With just 13 decisions remaining on the docket this session, the high court's highly anticipated ruling in a case challenging the agency's leadership structure could come as early as next Monday.

Mortgage rates were flat this week and remain near all-time lows, according to Freddie Mac. But significant numbers of borrowers remain unable to take advantage of them.

An imminent high court ruling about the independence of the bureau's director, coupled with an election victory for Joe Biden, could doom a plan to extend GSEs' exemption from tough debt-to-income requirements on mortgages.

For banks with assets between $10 billion and $100 billion, the average exposure is 165% of capital.

The mortgage company will provide up to $17 million in forgiveness to settle charges that modifications it applied to distressed government-related loans were not in keeping with state servicing regulations.

Video conferencing might replace some in-person meetings even after people can go back out on the road again.

Even as interest rates remained at record-low levels, mortgage application activity for both purchases and refinancings declined compared to one week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

A new CFPB rule will expedite the forbearance and loss-mitigation process for consumers suffering financial hardship from the pandemic.

For potential higher-end homebuyers, the pandemic was merely a pause, but for those seeking affordable properties — often people of color — it created yet another barrier.

Mastercard has agreed to acquire Finicity for a reported price of $825 million, a move the card brand says will strengthen its open banking platform and expand financial services through more real-time access to data.

Government-sponsored enterprise reform could be one hurdle to future innovation.

Whatever path Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac take, the Mortgage Bankers Association would like to see them preserve many of the changes they made while in government conservatorship.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to change the definition of what constitutes a qualified mortgage from a 43% debt-to-income limit to a price-based threshold, and further extend a temporary exemption given to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The number of loans going into coronavirus-related forbearance dropped, with the growth rate falling 7 basis points between June 8 and June 14, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The delinquency rate at the end of May was the highest in over eight years, but that includes borrowers in forbearance plans.