Origination

Heads of a large real estate investment company with offices in Alaska and California have agreed to pay $3 million in fines for what a federal agency says was a scheme to "bilk" hundreds of investors out of millions of dollars.

Mortgage rates held largely steady for the week, dropping only 1 basis point, according to Freddie Mac.

Metro Orlando recently ranked third nationally for its shortage of rentals that are affordable enough for the region's lowest-income residents, a new study shows.

Seattle kicked off 2018 the same way it spent the prior year and a half, as the hottest real estate market in the country, with no slowing down.

A majority of midsize and large banks complain that red tape is mounting and that they are passing on higher regulatory costs to customers and have less flexibility in designing products, according to a new survey by the RMA.

Lenders should not get so desperate chasing volume by originating lower credit non-qualified mortgage products that they are inviting the next regulatory crackdown, said David Stevens, the Mortgage Bankers Association's CEO.

One purpose of the Senate bill was for small banks to rein in skyrocketing costs, but some bankers question whether the changes will save them money, and adapting to the reforms may even increase spending.

There is an oncoming liquidity crisis that will force consolidation in the mortgage industry as margins tighten and funding sources dry up.

Lenda, launched in 2014, currently makes mortgages start to finish in two weeks. But it's aiming to make it a process that can be finished on a borrower's lunch break.

A gauge of signed contracts to purchase previously owned homes increased in February for the first time in three months, highlighting uneven progress in the industry.