Housing affordability

With the promise of jobs and fledgling tech scenes, five of the top 10 hottest housing markets for 2019 all reside in the South, according to Zillow.

High home prices and expected interest rate hikes should lead to continued growth in multifamily mortgage origination volume in 2019, according to Freddie Mac.

Anticipated increases in 2019 mortgage rates also come with an expected 1 million households eliminated from affording the median-priced new home with every hike of 25 basis points, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

First-time homebuyers earn $30,000 more than their peers who didn't buy a house, and nearly $12,000 more than the country's overall median household income, highlighting affordability issues in current housing conditions, according to Zillow.

Millennials comprise the largest cohort of homebuyers as most have entered their prime purchasing years, and they just might shake up migration patterns in 2019, according to First American Financial Corp.

Home price appreciation gained $1.9 trillion in 2018, as the national housing market continued recovering from the Great Recession, according to Zillow.

Freddie Mac issued its first non-low-income housing tax credit forward commitment, providing financing for an affordable housing development in Minnesota.

The mortgage industry heads into 2019 with little relief from the market strains of the past three years. To succeed — or at least survive — lenders must confront major questions about demand, affordability and market consolidation.

The House Financial Services Committee held a hearing to examine the outgoing committee chairman's bipartisan GSE reform bill, but lawmakers were already looking ahead.

As home prices continue their ascent, affordability fell for four straight quarters, according to Attom Data Solutions.