Economy

Home prices increased more than estimated in July as the job market improved and buyers competed for a tight supply of properties.

Despite pledges last year to move “aggressively” to implement new credit scoring models at the government-sponsored enterprises, the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s effort appears to have stalled.

Lennar Corp., the second-largest U.S. homebuilder, reported fiscal third-quarter earnings that beat analysts' estimates as demand for new homes strengthens.

Money360, a marketplace lender that focuses on commercial real estate, has hired mortgage industry veteran Gary Bechtel as its president.

The half a percentage point reduction in the Federal Housing Administration mortgage insurance premium provided a bigger pop to the housing market than expected, according to Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics.

Hispanic women are taking charge when it comes to purchasing a home, according to a Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate and National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals report.

Sales of previously owned homes fell more than forecast in August as lean inventories slowed this year's momentum.

Starwood Waypoint Residential Trust and Colony American Homes, two of the largest U.S. single-family home landlords, said they will merge in an all-share deal that creates a company with $7.7 billion in assets.

The housing market came out of August ahead, despite the month's typical slowdown as the summer home-buying season draws to a close, according to reports from Redfin and Remax.

The Federal Housing Administration's recent determination that loans used to finance energy-efficient home improvements rank second in payment priority, behind mortgages, isn't the setback that it might seem to be.

The housing market is shifting toward more-favorable conditions for owning a home instead of renting, according to a new report.

What's it going to take to boost annual issuance of private-label RMBS roughly tenfold to $100 billion-$150 billion?

The owner of a New Mexico mortgage lender has acquired a controlling interest in Goldwater Bank in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The market capacity for existing-home sales rose 0.4% in August compared to the previous month, according to First American Financial.

Freddie Mac has agreed to sell $1.1 billion of seriously delinquent nonperforming loans that had been serviced by Ocwen Financial.

Lenders are easing loan standards across all types of mortgage products, according to Fannie Mae's latest survey of mortgage lenders.

Policies that seek to increase homeownership by extending more credit to homeowners are misguided, according to former Federal Housing Finance Agency chief Edward DeMarco.

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators reintroduced a bill Wednesday that would prohibit lawmakers from using certain housing finance fees to offset unrelated government spending.

U.S. mortgage securities, especially those with government backing, are being viewed as a haven for bond investors as they brace for the Federal Reserve to lift interest rates.

Conforming mortgage rates barely budged this past week as the industry awaits news from the Federal Reserve Thursday afternoon regarding a potential rate hike.