Appraisals

Federal regulators issued a proposal Tuesday that would increase the threshold at which commercial real estate transactions require an appraisal, a move that could give some lenders sizable relief.

Two West Virginia law firms have won a federal case against Quicken Loans that stemmed from allegations the lender suggested home values to appraisers who are supposed to be objective.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's efforts to provide representation and warranty relief to lenders that perform automated data validations before loans close will improve mortgage credit risk assessment and lower costs for lenders and borrowers.

North Texas real estate agents sold a record number of houses in June.

Property owners estimate their homes are worth 1.7% more than appraisers do, according to Quicken Loans.

The number of borrowers underwater on their mortgages is below 2 million for the first time since 2006, as rising home prices are improving homeowner equity and creating new lending opportunities.

As Seattle home prices continue to set records, Queen Anne has officially become Seattle's first big neighborhood to have a median home price of $1 million.

After five months of shopping for his first home, Greg Ridenour was tired of having his offers turned down.

Dallas-area home prices were up 7.1% in May, according to a new report by CoreLogic.

As competition drives home prices ever higher in the Bay Area, there is a whiff of good news for first-time homebuyers.

Seattle, Portland and Dallas are leading the country in home price gains since last spring with no slowdown in site.

All hair stylist Erin Bond wants is a decent two-bedroom condo in Orange County, preferably in Huntington Beach.

Prices of single-family homes in Santa Cruz County, Calif., soared to new records in May as the number of sales shrank.

The median price of a single-family home in Marin County, Calif., hit a new high in May to $1.25 million.

In summer 2007, the Los Angeles County median home price hit an all-time high of $550,000. It soon plunged as the housing bubble burst and the national economy crashed.

Defaults on first-lien mortgages fell 5 basis points in May from the previous month, dropping to their lowest level in a year, according to the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Index.

The market for existing-home sales underperformed its potential by 3.8% because of the inventory shortage, according to First American Financial Corp.

While home prices have increased sharply in expensive coastal cities, plenty of urban centers are lagging behind.

Comerica Bank will invest up to $5 million in Detroit Home Mortgage, which provides second mortgages to buyers so they can get past the city's appraisal gap problem.

The number of homes sold in Northeast Florida rose last month, and so did the price they sold for.