Economy

The Senate Banking Committee voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve the nomination of Ben Carson as the next Housing and Urban Development secretary.

Sales of previously owned homes declined more than forecast in December, data from the National Association of Realtors showed, but sales for the full year were the strongest since 2006.

Wells Fargo & Co. charged some homebuyers fees to extend promised interest rates when the bank failed to process their mortgage applications on time, ProPublica reported, citing four former employees from the Los Angeles area.

Net income was also aided by a sharp drop in the provision for credit losses as chargeoffs on energy loans continued to decline.

The Virginia bank has agreed to buy Tidewater Mortgage's majority stake in Old Point Mortgage.

Rising mortgage rates are offsetting higher demand and stifling the market potential for existing-home sales, according to First American Financial Corp.

Expanded lending across a broad range of categories and extremely low unemployment in Hawaii pushed up the Honolulu bank's quarterly profit.

The foreclosure presale inventory rate fell year over year by 30% in December, signaling the most improvement of any year on record, according to Black Knight Financial Services.

The financial services industry has high hopes that President Trump will usher in a new era of less regulation and economic growth, but here are challenges the new administration will face.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Friday that the reduction in mortgage insurance premiums "has been suspended indefinitely."

Fannie Mae has expanded the list of third-party vendors approved to validate borrower income, employment and assets as part of the Desktop Underwriter validation service.

Quarterly profit fell at SunTrust Banks in Atlanta as noninterest expense rose 8.4% and its loan-loss provision increased.

The Connecticut bank said a spike in business lending and residential mortgages gave its fourth-quarter earnings a boost.

In order to address lenders' issues with mortgage servicing rights financing, the industry needs to reconsider its typical securitization structures.

Treasury Secretary-designate Steven Mnuchin struck a pro-banking industry tone during testimony on Capitol Hill Thursday while tangling with lawmakers over foreclosures, offshore accounts and other issues.

As the country's homes for sale inventory declines, prices and the percentage of homes going under contract quickly are rising, according to Redfin.

Fourth-quarter profits at Wintrust Financial in Rosemont, Ill., climbed 65% to $54.6 million from a year earlier, helped largely by acquisitions and increases in mortgage banking and other fee income.

In his confirmation hearing, Treasury Secretary-designate Steven Mnuchin said he wanted to work with both parties to find a "bipartisan fix" for the housing finance system.

The increase for the month represented the fastest annual pace of appreciation recorded in 2016.

Commercial real estate loan growth and the Hudson City acquisition fueled fourth-quarter profit growth at M&T Bank in Buffalo, N.Y.