Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase had reduced mortgage-related earnings in the fourth quarter as home loan activity continues to fall short of expectations.

Revenue slumped 5% in the fourth quarter, the third drop in the past year and a bigger one than analysts had expected.

The cost of Wells Fargo's scandals continues to rise as regulators from all 50 states forced the institution to pay hundreds of millions in penalties for the creation of fake accounts, improper enrollment in life insurance, force-placed auto insurance policies and other activities.

From a housing market in turmoil and the technology to save it to the myriad new faces in both the industry and Washington, here's a look back at some of the biggest and most read mortgage and housing stories of 2018.

Orlando real estate broker Geo Geovanni, 49, was found guilty in federal court of one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and three counts of bank fraud, the U.S. Attorney's office announced.

Wells Fargo will lay off 1,000 workers primarily from its mortgage unit in the first major round of a previously announced plan to cut the bank's workforce by as much as 10% over the next three years.

Wells Fargo & Co. raised its required down payment for homebuyers in Connecticut's Fairfield County to 25% from the standard 20% after it categorized the area as distressed.

The bank recently notified an upstate New York man that he was wrongly denied a mortgage modification, and enclosed a $25,000 check. But details of what went wrong have been hard to come by.

Most millennials are purchasing fixer-uppers in order to afford a house, with 75% planning to finance renovations by tapping the equity in their home, according to a Chase Home Lending report conducted with Pinterest.

Rising home prices and climbing mortgage rates pulled down affordability to the lowest point since before the housing market crash.

Wells Fargo said Tuesday that an internal error that affected customers requesting mortgage modifications to remain in their homes impacted hundreds more people than the bank initially thought.

More affordable housing options are on the way for Coney Island residents.

A deal between TD Bank and a Vermont nonprofit is just one example of how banks are getting creative in addressing affordable housing needs while reaping financial and regulatory benefits.

Hope Hardison, Wells Fargo's chief administrative officer since 2015, and David Julian, its chief auditor since 2012, have both been removed from the bank's operating committee and begun leaves of absence in the latest fallout from the bank's phony-accounts scandal.

Rising mortgage interest rates not only will continue to constrain banks' once-robust revenue from this business, they will also affect existing borrower credit quality, a report from Moody's said.

Wells Fargo Home Lending is tapping eOriginal to launch an electronic note program, marking a step forward for the mortgage industry's push toward a more digital process.

Mortgage-related earnings at five banks were lower due to the effect of higher interest rates on loan volume this year, even though late-season homebuyers improved consecutive-quarter origination numbers at three companies.

Wells Fargo’s first private-label mortgage securitization since the financial crisis doesn’t break any new ground — and that’s probably the point.

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.

The cuts are part of a broader effort to trim expenses by roughly $3 billion a year by 2020.