Economy

Home prices climbed in 87% of U.S. metropolitan areas in the first quarter as buyers competed for a tight supply of listings, the National Association of Realtors said.

Greystone, a commercial real estate lending, investment and advisory company, is adding two executives to a mortgage bond lending team.

Being well educated has never been more important when it comes to owning a home.

MountainView Servicing Group said Friday that it is the exclusive advisor for the sale of a bulk mortgage servicing rights portfolio with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae loans.

Forecasters expect stronger originations in the second quarter as home buying outpaces refinancings.

American International Group's mortgage insurer, United Guaranty Corp., is seeking to raise about $700 million to $800 million as it sells shares to the public, according to people familiar with the matter.

Going forward, Fannie Mae will be relying more on loan guarantee fee income from its single-family and multifamily businesses.

Mortgage insurer Essent Group reported higher net income for the first quarter of 2016 as premium growth outpaced rising expenses.

Lending standards tightened once again in April, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Mortgage rates are now hovering just above their low point for the year, according to Freddie Mac.

Under the Federal Housing Finance Agency's new mortgage modification program, less than 1% of all seriously underwater properties might qualify for principal loan forgiveness, according to RealtyTrac.

Fannie Mae will make a $919 million dividend payment to the U.S. Treasury Department after reporting a first-quarter profit driven by fees for guaranteeing loans against default and credit-related income.

Social Finance Inc., whose loan originations have been concentrated in the non-qualified mortgage space, will now offer conforming products after receiving Fannie Mae seller/servicer approval.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced Wednesday it had raised a cap on the amount of multifamily loans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can buy from lenders, boosting it to $35 billion effective immediately.

Freddie Mac's second quarterly loss in less than a year makes it clear profitability is getting tougher as it shrinks. But it's a concern that must be weighed against more long-term efforts to reduce Freddie's overall credit risk exposure.

Mortgage applications dipped 3.4% from a week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The mortgage upstarts that transformed the industry after the U.S. housing crash are now facing their own shakeout.

At least one banker has gone public with expectations that the OCC will force his institution to hold more capital. More could soon follow.

Industry groups are urging the Federal Housing Finance Agency to end the sweep of profits of the GSEs so that Fannie and Freddie can rebuild capital.

Home prices continued to increase nationwide in March, led by double-digit percent gains in Western states, according to the CoreLogic.