Economy

A proposal allowing more lenders to skip outside appraisals could remove a hurdle to quick closings, but appraisers say they could be collateral damage.

The current deputy secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Pam Patenaude, will step down in January.

Housing could be in for a slowdown as three indicators of new- and existing-home construction activity fell year-over-year for the first time since 2011, according to BuildFax.

Online competition has threatened brick-and-mortar retail, but as holiday shopping surveys this year show, certain businesses in the sector are still attractive to consumers and commercial mortgage lenders.

November home sales slipped in Northeast Ohio and recent price gains appear to be cooling, mirroring national signs that the housing market might be pausing for breath after a run of growth.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has proposed barring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from using credit scores developed by VantageScore over concern about conflicts of interest with the joint venture of Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

In most of the country, single women are outpacing men when it comes to homeownership, despite females only making 80% of what the average male does, according to a LendingTree report.

Mortgage applications to purchase newly constructed homes continues to decline, driven by affordability concerns among potential buyers, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

In Philadelphia, there is no limit to the amount by which assessments — the value used to calculate property tax bills — can increase in one year.

Texas Capital Bank, which already provides warehouse financing for e-mortgages, will now purchase these loans off those lines as it looks to increase liquidity for this product.

Mortgage lenders are more pessimistic than ever about the industry's profit margin outlook, with many blaming tight competition for the negative attitudes, according to Fannie Mae.

The White House confirmed that it plans to nominate Mark Calabria as the next director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

An agency report said servicing portfolios have shrunk by nearly half in 10 years as much of the mortgage market has shifted to nonbanks.

The median sale price for a home in the Baltimore region ticked up in November from October, reversing a three-month slide in prices.

Canadian housing starts rose faster than economists forecast in November led by gains in Vancouver, adding to evidence the country's real estate market remains stable.

The Sacramento home sales market is going into winter hibernation, new data suggest, amid uncertainty over whether that market will reawaken with vigor in spring, or continue the doldrums of recent months.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charged lenders slightly lower guarantee fees in 2017 for mortgages with riskier characteristics, according to a Federal Housing Finance Agency report.

The administration’s reported interest in having the White House aide run Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's regulator signals a focus on constraining the mortgage giants’ role in the housing market.

The government-sponsored enterprises are suspending eviction lockouts for the holiday season.

The median sales price for an existing single-family home in the Las Vegas area in November was $295,000, according to a report from the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.