Economy

A combination of several factors will make the housing market more competitive this year, according to Redfin.

Mortgage servicers are actively discussing with regulators how current rules could be streamlined, and future rules could be shaped, to minimize costs and hassles.

A public interest coalition is calling on bank regulators to declare the drinking water contamination in Flint, Mich., a "disaster" and encourage lenders from around the country to extend credit to the area in order to counteract the damage.

Mortgage rates were unchanged this week, as they remain near their 2015 lows, according to Freddie Mac.

Freddie Mac on Thursday reported strong fourth quarter and year-end profits driven by a surge in demand for both home purchase and apartment loans.

Lenders see their outfits growing where experts are predicting market decline, despite statistical dissonance. Having a plan to weather the downturn is the key to their growth.

Troubled loans no longer overwhelm the market, but there could be smaller outbreaks that servicers must be ready to deal with, a real estate services vendor says.

Residential mortgage delinquencies dropped in the fourth quarter, as employment numbers improve and housing prices increase, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

At the onset of the millennium, house flippers — people who purchased imperfect homes, renovated them and resold them at a profit mere months later — ran rampant in U.S. housing markets.

The mismatch between demand for new homes and the supply threatens to drive up prices and dampen lending.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is launching a 10-day social media campaign, #HARPNow, to alert struggling homeowners in 10 states that they can still refinance via the program before it expires at yearend.

It took an average of 50 days to close a residential mortgage loan in January, an increase of four days since new regulations took effect, according to Ellie Mae.

Markets in the Sun Belt and California are expected to have the best conditions for the sale of multifamily properties this year, according to Ten-X.

Mortgage applications rose last week, with refinancings surpassing 64% of all applications, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Real estate and rental marketplace Zillow is rolling out a new national ad campaign helmed in part by an Academy Award-winning filmmaker.

New-home construction unexpectedly cooled in January, indicating there is a limit to how much gains in residential real estate will boost growth at the start of 2016.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York posted an increase in fourth-quarter profit, citing higher levels of member prepayment.

Home equity portfolios have shrunk at banks, but credit unions and nonbank lenders like loanDepot helped fuel the surge in home equity lines last year.

Waterstone Mortgage Corp. has introduced a zero-down, 7/1 adjustable-rate mortgage with a 20-year amortization.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has launched a new initiative, called the Fair Housing Enforcement Program, aimed at targeting discrimination in rental and home sale transactions.