Economy

Seattle is now a full year into its reign as the hottest housing market in the country, an unusually long surge that doesn't look likely to end anytime soon.

Top banking executives called the Republican tax plan an important first step toward tax reform and economic stimulus, but questions immediately arose about whether trade-offs and complexities in the bill would undercut it.

Hopes that tax reform might soften a weakening of the mortgage interest deduction were quickly dashed as the GOP plan landed a double punch on the incentive cherished by the mortgage and housing industries.

Fannie Mae servicers are facing pressure from the recent hurricanes, but so far are bearing up under the strain.

Nationstar Mortgage Holdings posted net income of $7 million for the third quarter, its first under the new Mr. Cooper consumer-facing brand.

Mark Calabria, the chief economic adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, said the administration is focused for now on more pressing issues than GSE reform, including addressing housing damage from recent hurricanes.

Fannie Mae is allowing in some situations where mortgage payments are made by someone other than the borrower for the full monthly housing expense to be excluded from debt-to-income calculations.

San Diego had the third highest annual home price increase in the nation in August, a distinction not reached since 2014.

Orlando theme-park worker Daisy Hernandez was struggling to find an affordable rental even before Hurricane Irma squeezed Central Florida housing options and Hurricane Maria pushed Puerto Ricans to the mainland.

Hurricanes Harvey and Irma were responsible for an increase in loan application defects during September in Texas and Florida, according to First American Financial Corp.

Homes on Staten Island are reaching "unaffordable levels," at a time when there are less homes on the market than buyers who want to purchase them.

A securities settlement, portfolio asset sales and greater interest among smaller lenders helped Freddie Mac compensate for potential losses from the catastrophic hurricane season.

The majority of out-of-state U.S. home buyers are looking to move south, according to LendingTree.

Recent home buyers found it easier getting a mortgage compared with last year's purchasers, but first-timers are being held back by a lack of inventory and student debt, according to a National Association of Realtors survey.

Just 0.69% of residential properties in Colorado have no one living in them. That blows away the national rate of 1.58%.

Home-price gains in 20 U.S. cities accelerated in August amid tight inventories and steady economic growth.

Lennar Corp.'s record takeover of CalAtlantic Group Inc. is a bullish sign for homebuilding in the U.S. Trade groups, meanwhile, worry that lawmakers are about to kneecap the industry.

Home equity lines could double over the next six years. Some banks are actively pursuing the consumer credit opportunity, whereas many still feel stung by the housing crisis, unimpressed by home equity’s comeback so far or fearful of nonbank competition and fraud.

U.S. home prices hit another new peak in August after just reaching a new high the previous month, according to Black Knight.

As Bay Area sales dwindled, in a reflection of the region's shrinking home supply, buyers continued to bid up the region's notoriously high prices.