Origination

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ramped up its push for the mortgage industry to switch to an electronic closing process after results from a pilot program showed consumers favored it over in-person mortgage closing.

M&T Bank Corp. said it's in discussions with U.S. officials to settle an investigation into the lender's origination and sale of federally insured home loans.

Carrington Mortgage Services said it has helped more than 10,000 consumers, in its campaign to serve underbanked borrowers, originating more than $1.8 billion of loans.

delinquencies, CMBS, commercial mortgage-backed securities,Trepp

Prospective borrowers for single-family homes will be required to make a minimum down payment of 15% of the purchase price, down from 20%. The borrower must have a minimum FICO score of 680, down from 740.

Stark Enterprises, a commercial real estate developer in Cleveland, has formed a capital-markets division to provide equity and debt financing and related services.

Home prices across the United States spiked 6.5% year-over-year in June 2015, including distressed sales, according to proprietary analytics provider CoreLogic.

Mortgage applications rose a seasonally adjusted 4.7% for the week ending July 31, compared to the previous week.

Freddie Mac's second-quarter single-family funding was the strongest it's been in a year, positioning the company to supplant the coming drop in refinancing with purchase mortgages.

An Astoria Financial investor is demanding that the Lake Success, N.Y., company explore a possible sale or other ways to increase shareholder value.