Economy

Shifting demographics are leading to a rise in the number of millennials and minorities, but homeownership rates among these groups remain depressed. One contributing factor is the lack of mortgage industry hiring and marketing focused on these demographics.

Bank of America's first-mortgage originations increased 23% over the third quarter of 2015, as rates remained near record lows throughout the summer.

New American Funding and Alterra Home Loans have selected Radian Group as the preferred private mortgage insurance providers for their Your Path loan program.

Fitch Ratings has identified more than 1,000 properties in commercial mortgage-backed securities transactions that had exposure to Hurricane Matthew.

Regions Financial in Birmingham, Ala., has bought a business that manages low-income housing tax credits.

A leader who surrounds herself with diverse thought and talent, Nikki Groff of Wallick & Volk Mortgage Bankers, formed a team that helped propel her to Top Producer status from a small Arizona town.

Bayview Asset Management is securitizing $159.6 million of securities that transfer the risk of credit losses on mortgages insured by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

David Schneider, who became Ditech Financial's president in February, is no longer with the lender as parent company Walter Investment Management streamlines leadership under its new CEO, Anthony Renzi.

Wells Fargo & Co., the lender whose chief executive officer stepped down this week amid a scandal in its branch network, posted a third-quarter profit that beat analysts' estimates as loan-loss provisions improved and revenue from mortgage banking increased.

West Town Bancorp in Illinois has revved up its government-backed lending to small businesses, making it a good example of how community banks can outhustle big lenders in the quest for new sources of fee income.

Loan applications for new home purchases rose 3% in September over the previous year, but continued year-over-year growth could be subdued for the rest of 2016, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

As Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continue to experiment with up-front risk sharing deals, some small mortgage lenders are worried they will be left out of the action.

Foreclosure filings dropped to the lowest level reported since December 2005, signaling the end of the country's foreclosure crisis, according to Attom Data Solutions.

Mortgage rates and Treasury yields moved higher this week in anticipation of the Federal Open Markets Committee raising short-term interest rates in December.

NeighborWorks reported Wednesday that 56% of survey respondents said that rents are too high where they live for them to be able to save enough to buy a home.

Fannie Mae said that it will sell 7,300 loans with a total of $1.39 billion in unpaid principal balance.

United Guaranty Corp. has initiated a disaster policy after Hurricane Matthew tore across the Southeast this past week.

The number of completed foreclosures nationwide in August dropped 42% from a year earlier, according to CoreLogic.

It's tougher out there for New York's commercial real estate developers seeking cash for their latest projects.

The single-director structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau represents an unconstitutional concentration of executive power, a federal appeals court said Tuesday. But the court stopped short of disbanding the agency, instead giving the president more power to remove its leader.