Economy

February was a disappointing month for the Dallas-area housing market.

As housing starts gradually rise, the proportion of homes getting built outside of metropolitan areas is declining due to fewer jobs there to support them.

Agency mortgage-backed security prepayment speeds increased in February with much of the refinance activity coming from newer loans and those with high coupons, a report from Keefe, Bruyette & Woods said.

City planners project that an existing housing shortage on Oahu could disappear in five years based on current and anticipated residential development projects.

Mark Calabria, who could be confirmed as early as this month, is expected to focus on changes to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s conservatorships to let the mortgage giants keep more of their profits.

Ginnie Mae could limit how much servicing income mortgage lenders can sell off through a transaction if they don't establish a minimum 25-basis-point spread at the portfolio level by next year.

A patchwork of state laws makes it tough for lenders to adopt electronic notarization, but they'll need to if they want to make a fully digital mortgage a reality.

Consumers have much more confidence in the job market than they do on housing, and home prices could be the culprit, according to Fannie Mae.

As 2019 got underway, weakness in the housing market drove the number of workers employed by nondepository mortgage companies down to a low not seen since August 2016.

Mr. Cooper Group took a net loss of $136 million in the fourth quarter after lower rates hurt the mark-to-market value of its larger mortgage servicing rights portfolio harder than its peers.

The pace of Colorado Springs-area homebuilding in 2019 continues to trail that of last year.

Home sales slowed on Hawaii island and Kauai last month while median prices mostly rose, according to trade association statistics.

Freddie Mac is broadly offering instant representation and warranty relief for automatically validated self-employment income following a test of the concept last year.

Homeowners are stepping up their renovation game this year, which could be good news for home improvement financing, but bad news for the overall housing market as consumers age in place.

Berkadia, a joint venture run by Berkshire Hathaway and Jefferies Financial Group, is acquiring real estate capital advisory firm Central Park Capital Partners to diversify its capital sources.

While Southern Nevada home prices pulled back in February, the median sale price for an existing home was still up nearly 8% year-over-year.

Minneapolis' offering of affordable starter homes and inflated supply of below-median-priced options made it the housing market with the highest low-income ownership rate, according to Redfin.

The average price of a new home rose in Texas' four largest markets in January, with Houston leading the gains, according to HomesUSA.com.

Freddie Mac closed its fifth LIHTC fund since 2018 and will make three investments in affordable housing through a partnership with National Equity Fund.

Arch Capital Group named Michael Schmeiser president and CEO of its U.S. mortgage insurance business as the former head moved up the corporate ladder.