Economy

In a letter Friday, U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., called on Pulte to address housing unaffordability instead of concentrating on efforts to destabilize the Federal Reserve.

The 30-year fixed rate mortgage fell 2 basis points this week, Freddie Mac said, but other sources like Zillow and Lender Price reported larger drops.

A directive from the Federal Housing Finance Agency would cut the number of board seats for Federal Home Loan Banks, especially in dark blue areas of the electoral map.

The increase in purchase volume was not enough to offset the drop in refinance application submissions as conventional rates increased week-over-week.

Data suggests that the beleaguered commercial real estate market isn't going to get worse. And now that banks have had time to build reserves, any losses they do take shouldn't be disastrous, analysts say.

A proposed rule published Tuesday in the Federal Register would limit the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's ability to designate nonbank entities for supervision.

While still higher than the norm, the reduction in this spread is good news when it comes to mortgage rates for potential homebuyers as well as current owners.

The President said in response to a press question about Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook that he would fire her "if she doesn't resign" over allegations of claiming primary residence at two properties she owns, though the legality of such a move is unclear.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Friday that while the central bank must "proceed carefully" in considering interest rate adjustments in the coming months, recent softness in employment "may warrant adjusting our policy stance."

In a letter to federal leaders, the Community Home Lenders of America expressed views about a possible GSE merger and the need for "critical" mortgage products.