Economy

Residential estate brokers and agents are scrambling to determine what Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker's emergency order means for their industry.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin reiterated Thursday that he wants U.S. financial markets to remain open even as the coronavirus fuels wild volatility, while adding that he's focused on helping mortgage firms expected to be hit hard by the pandemic’s spreading economic pain.

The actions taken by the Federal Reserve to calm the financial markets was key to the drop in mortgage rates this week, according to Freddie Mac.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little's order telling Idahoans to stay home for 21 days is likely to create havoc for the state's real estate industry.

Canadians' interest in searching for houses online is waning amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to real estate portal Point2 Homes.

With ambiguity surrounding the length of the COVID-19 outbreak and damage it will cause, consumers are becoming diffident in taking out a mortgage for a major purchase, according to Zillow.

Detroit-based mortgage giant Quicken Loans could be facing a cash crunch in coming weeks and possibly need temporary emergency federal assistance if lots of borrowers stop making payments on their home mortgages during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a news report.

There was a nearly 30% week-to-week decline in loan applications as Americans reacted to the uncertainty, both economic and medical, from the spread of COVID-19, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Independent mortgage bankers had their most profitable fourth quarter in seven years for originations, but the fallout from the coronavirus could upset the economics of the industry in the short term.

Minnesota Realtors is calling for a halt to all real estate open houses statewide, and they've asked the NorthstarMLS to disable the "open house" feature in its online home listing database.