Banking

The average down payment percentage rose 49 basis points for a conventional 30-year fixed-rate mortgage between the first and second quarters, according to LendingTree.

A rising number of banks are looking to become community development financial institutions, emboldened by low-cost capital and an exemption from the ability-to-repay rule.

The owner of 9 West 57th St., an entity controlled by real estate developer Sheldon H. Solow, is using the loan to refinance the building, cashing out $485 million of equity in the process.

Home equity line of credit originations are in the midst of a comeback, fueled by the rise in home prices, according to a white paper released by Experian.

There are more than 300 Louisiana properties affected by floods included in commercial mortgage-backed securities, according to Morningstar Credit Ratings.

A UBS Group AG unit suffered a setback in a $2 billion lawsuit over allegedly defective mortgages after a judge said it violated contracts with three mortgage-backed securities trusts.

Home prices have returned to their precrisis peaks, but homeownership rates keep on slipping.

Mortgage servicing has undergone a dramatic transformation in response to the housing crisis, creating an environment where a focus on the consumer will define how servicers approach their business and regulators oversee their operations.

It's no secret that subprime lending played a heavy role in the demise of the mortgage broker. But to truly understand how brokers rose to prominence, it is helpful to look back to the channel's beginnings. Here's a look at three data points that sum up the rise and fall of the mortgage broker.

So long as government-backed entities are guaranteeing 90% of originations, competition that could result in greater mortgage options for borrowers is being stifled. But a return of private capital to the market, possibly through securitization, could fix that.

It was 1976, the year of the U.S. Bicentennial, the dawn of Apple Computer and supersonic commercial flight aboard the Concorde jet. The average rate for a 30-year mortgage was 8.87% and the median sales price of existing homes was $38,100. And in an apartment on Manhattan's Upper East Side, National Mortgage News was born.

Here's a look at some of the mortgage industry's most pioneering ideas and trends that have created legacies that have outlasted the companies that established them.

A surge in new and existing home sales is prompting lenders to increase their payrolls.

Luxury-condo builder Extell Development Co. said it obtained a construction loan for a lower Manhattan project after months of delays, and bought more time to get financing for a planned tower on Billionaires' Row in Midtown.

The slow start to Fifth Third's 3%-down mortgage illustrates some of the logistical challenges with such programs, which are on the rise across the industry.

Ben Franklin famously said the only things certain in life are death and taxes. One Wisconsin loan officer has found one more.

Many lenders are still reluctant to give mortgages to borrowers with less-than-pristine credit, yet such loans are far more likely than prime jumbo loans to be bundled into collateral bonds. Sreeni Prabhu of Angel Oak Capital credits banks' behavior and higher interest rates for that reality.

U.S. acquisitions have buoyed profits at Canada’s biggest banks, whose domestic economy is sluggish and possibly on the verge of a housing crisis. The banks are expected to pursue more M&A in the U.S. if that problem persists.

Mid America Mortgage will begin purchasing electronically closed loans through its correspondent lending channel.

The national credit union trade associations have joined with unlikely partners as co-signers on a letter that calls out the Department of Housing and Urban Development over lending issues.