Economy

Despite a record streak of higher prices, some economists believe homes in certain Bay Area communities should be considered a bargain. And that's even with median price tags easily topping a million bucks.

With long-term interest rates at historic lows, mortgage refinancing is coming on strong. But that additional revenue may not be enough to offset net interest margin pressures and lost servicing income.

The global rally in bonds on Thursday drove the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury below 1.5% for the first time since August 2016.

Lower rates will likely sustain higher levels of origination through at least the third quarter, but supply constraints and economic weakness could limit the purchase market's response in the long term.

Massachusetts home sale agreements shot up 9% in July, compared to a year ago, and the median price of a single-family home put under agreement last month rose to almost $440,000.

The company withdrew an earlier bid to become an ILC after regulators identified problems with its application. It is seeking a Nevada bank charter because it wants to add deposit management services and expand into small-business lending.

The U.S. government bond market sounded alarms Wednesday as investors fleeing riskier assets drove the 30-year bond's yield to a record low and the 10-year yield fell below the two-year for the first time since 2007.

Builders in Oakland are on course to create more new housing units than San Francisco this year, a notable role reversal for a city that has long produced far less residential development than its wealthier and more bustling neighbor across the bay.

The regulator of the government-sponsored enterprises retreated from an earlier proposal that had barred VantageScore because of its ties to the credit bureaus.

With bidding wars subsiding, new-home sales prices dropped, causing the largest decline in new construction since 2013, according to Redfin.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's corporate debt ratings shouldn't be downgraded in the near term as a result of the Treasury Department's to-be-released government-sponsored enterprise reform plan, Fitch Ratings said.

For the first time in years, the San Diego County housing market is starting to cool.

A key measure of the sales prices for homes saw its largest jump this year, as Charlotte's real estate market continues to struggle with a shortage of homes and rising demand.

Foreign buyers have cooled on the U.S. residential home market, dropping investments by more than one-third over the previous year and spending less in expensive California.

Some Ohio homeowners who lost their property to foreclosure unknowingly signed over the rights to the excess sales proceeds for a fraction of the amount.

An $8 billion mortgage servicing rights package consisting of newly originated conforming loans is up for bid, according to broker Incenter Mortgage Advisors.

There was a fairly small chance that homebuyers faced a bidding war in July, compared with the prior year when the odds were almost 50-50, according to Redfin.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has repeatedly reconsidered whether to add a language question to the GSEs' loan application, but its new director's latest call may finally resolve the question.

Canadian housing starts fell last month, led mostly by a drop in construction of semi-detached, row houses and apartments.

Las Vegas-area home prices continue to hover around a familiar price point, according to a housing market report.