Origination

Despite growth in senior-held mortgage debt, home equity for homeowners 62 and older grew to $6.6 trillion in the fourth quarter, according to the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association and RiskSpan.

Mortgage applications increased 4.8% from one week earlier and rose for the fourth time in five weeks as key interest rates held steady, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Single-family home sales in Anchorage have remained relatively stable as people have trickled out of Alaska during the state's current recession.

Radian Group is adding 40-state title insurer and settlement services company Entitle Direct to its operations in a move aimed at complementing the geographic reach of its existing title agency.

Metro Atlanta home prices rose 6.5% during the past year, outpacing the national average and increasingly squeezing first-time home buyers.

Despite soaring home prices, other factors needed to inflate a housing bubble are absent from the real estate market. But experts warn falling home values and rising mortgage defaults are inevitable, even if conditions naturally cool off.

Servicers are still trying to figure out how they can best take advantage of the growing use of electronic notes and other digital mortgage tools by lenders and the secondary market.

Heading into a competitive spring housing market, optimism that now is a good time to buy hit its lowest share in two years, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Sales of existing single-family homes in Maine increased by about 6% in February compared with a year earlier, and the median sale price was up 8%, the Maine Association of Realtors said.

San Diego County home prices jumped 8.6% in February compared to a year ago, while sales remained tight as the region struggles with a shortage of homes for sale.