Economy

Borrowers will be able to take out a substantially bigger home loan backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac next year, thanks to a 6.8% increase in home prices nationwide.

Southern California home prices rose 6.5% in October from a year earlier, while sales jumped 3.6%.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency's final guidelines for evaluating "duty to serve" activities create new ways for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to get extra credit for going above mandatory levels of lending to underserved markets.

After 10 years of operation, RoundPoint Mortgage Servicing Corp. has launched a retail mortgage lending division.

The financial services industry has cheered a proposed reduction in the corporate tax rate, but a lower rate could force Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to write down assets, increasing the odds that the companies will need Treasury support.

A 10-year-old fraud case against two San Luis Obispo County, Calif., lenders has ended in a hung jury.

Home prices rose again in the third quarter, where they showed little evidence of slowing down, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Just to keep up with rising home prices in the Seattle area, would-be buyers needed an $11,000 pay raise in the past year to afford the typical mortgage.

New Penn Financial has entered into a pilot program to provide mortgage financing to participants in Home Partners of America's Lease Purchase program.

Memories of the historic Hudson's store will mingle with hopes for the future Friday as Detroit breaks ground on what promises to be the city's tallest skyscraper.

New Residential Investment Corp. is planning to purchase Shellpoint Partners in the first half of next year for $190 million with an additional earn-out over the next three years.

A New York banker who mastered the art of buying low and selling high, broke industry norms and learned from his mistakes in commercial real estate, John Kanas became a model regional bank builder. After stepping down as BankUnited's CEO last year, he wants to do "one more thing" before fully calling it quits.

Conforming loan limits for mortgages bought by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will increase for the second consecutive year in response to the rapid rise in home prices, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said.

A Kiryas Joel, N.Y., man was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $1.2 million to federal authorities for his role in a mortgage-fraud operation in which prosecutors had charged 15 people in all.

Consumer house-buying power, measuring how much one can purchase based on changes in income and interest rates, fell 2.1% year-over-year, but increased by 1.3% from the month prior, according to First American Financial Corp.

Homes sales for October remained strong in the Greater Cincinnati area, but couldn't quite reach levels attained at the same time last year.

Home prices in 20 U.S. cities rose in September by the most in more than three years, indicating resilient demand at a time of persistently scarce inventory, according to S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller data.

The former bank CEO is widely expected to continue the recent push to implement a more industry-friendly agenda.

Urban condo living exists in Cleveland, but the supply is small.

Developer confidence in multifamily production weakened in the third quarter to its lowest reading since 2011, according to the National Association of Home Builders.