Economy

In a weak first quarter, housing activity held up better for first-time homebuyers than others, according to a new Genworth Mortgage Insurance report.

Government-sponsored enterprise executives say they want to continue to offer credit risk transfers and guarantee-fee parity after the GSEs are released from conservatorship, but they might not be able to.

The development of a replacement index for the London interbank offered rate brought back memories for one secondary market participant of the technology disaster worries many had at the turn of the century.

Regulators want Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to build up massive amounts of capital before being freed from government control. Don Layton, Freddie's departing chief executive officer says that's easier said than done.

The era of plentiful refinance volume is over for the foreseeable future, because mortgage rates remained in a very narrow band for the past decade, said Mortgage Bankers Association Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni.

Even as he blocked a major legislative push to spur more apartment construction around public transit and in wealthy suburbs, state Sen. Anthony Portantino acknowledged the need to address a shortage of housing in California.

One of the hardest financial parts of buying a new home is coming up with the initial down payment on the mortgage loan.

San Jose is slowly chipping away at Mayor Sam Liccardo's goal of building 10,000 affordable homes by 2022.

With prospects for government-sponsored enterprise reform improving, players in the private residential mortgage-backed securities market are starting to think about how they could better compete against the GSEs while awaiting change.

Generation X is in its prime earning years, but the financial profiles of those renting are distinctly different from those who own a house, according to LendingTree.

The shift to nonbank lenders will put the breaks on non-qualified mortgage and home equity line of credit origination growth.

Housing finance reform cannot be piecemeal, but must be done using a comprehensive approach, an independent mortgage banker says.

His administration is looking at different alternatives to reform the housing finance system.

BB&T's acquisition of SunTrust may make the combined company more of a contender in regional metro-area commercial mortgage lending, according to data provider CrediFi.

Farmers were already taking on more debt to cover losses from falling crop prices. New tariffs and other retaliatory moves could hurt ag borrowers further and lead to loan losses and tighter underwriting.

Craig Phillips, who has been developing the Trump administration's plan to help free Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from conservatorship, will leave Treasury next month.

The housing slowdown is turning out to be a gift to apartment landlords. After all, those people who aren't buying still need somewhere to live.

Even if the U.S. economy slows during the rest of 2019, the outlook for the housing and mortgage market remains strong, said economists at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

They can't afford Ada County, Idaho, so they're flocking to its less expensive neighbor to the west.

PIMCO Mortgage Income Trust tabled plans to launch an initial public offering this week following a steep stock market decline Monday.