Economy

Spokane, Wash.-area home prices rose in 2018 as a strong seller's market persisted.

Home sales plunged in the Orlando, Fla., area in December as 2018 finished with fewer sales than the year before, and real estate agents warned that 2019 could be slower as well.

Canada's home sales skidded to the lowest level since 2012 last year after dropping for four straight months through December, as higher interest rates and tighter lending rules cast a pall over the real estate market.

Being a homeowner may not be the most cost efficient move in some areas.

The Pittsburgh region ranks in the top five among 133 U.S. markets with at least 200,000 people when it comes to the profitability of home flipping, according to Attom Data Solutions.

The impasse has halted grant and loan applications and frozen many farm subsidies just weeks ahead of planting season.

Loans in commercial mortgage-backed securities originated after 2009 by nonbank lenders have a significantly higher default rate than those originated by banks, a Fitch Ratings report said.

The median price for a home in Clatsop County, Ore., has surpassed $300,000, breaking a record set before the Great Recession and illustrating an ever-growing gap between the market value of real estate and what many locals can afford.

Rising mortgage rates don't have as severe an impact on the first-time homebuyer market as they do for property values, according to a Zillow survey.

Home prices are expected to increase in 2019, but there is little chance for a bust because the typical warning signs a bubble is forming aren't evident, a report from Arch MI said.

A lapse in rental-assistance funding, an understaffed FHA and other effects of the government shutdown are causing real harm to families, said the chair of the House Financial Services Committee.

Connecticut's real estate market was in flux for much of 2018, especially when compared to the other New England states, according to a new report.

Houston's housing market shattered records in 2018, despite lingering effects from Hurricane Harvey and concerns that began late in the year over rising interest rates.

The government shutdown could affect mortgage origination credit quality as lenders miss some red flags normally found using data that is not currently available, according to Moody's.

The standards for mortgage lending constrained in December, as a drop in conventional credit brought availability to its lowest point since February 2017, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Stable home prices and fewer homes changing hands in the Las Vegas Valley caused housing values to plateau last month, according to the valley's leading real estate association.

Cascade Financial Services has become the only manufactured housing loan-focused servicer currently rated by Fitch, adding signs of a rebound in factory-built home financing that could lead to new private securitization.

The mortgage industry faces myriad questions and challenges in 2019. Here's a look at 12 executives who will be behind the waves being made this year.

The government shutdown is not just affecting federal agency employees' ability to make their mortgage or rent payments, it could take them out of the home buying market, Zillow said.

Lagging construction, rising interest rates and the broader economy don't really bode well for buyers of commercial real estate, but most CRE lenders still expect originations to increase in 2019, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.