Economy

The cost to rent housing grew at a faster rate than home values in April, as rising rents make it difficult for many consumers to afford a mortgage, according to Zillow's monthly real estate report.

Home purchase loans have once again taken the majority share of originations, although volume shrunk by 11% from the same time last year.

Mortgage bankers facing new demands on their businesses are becoming increasingly interested in new sources of liquidity, particularly through mortgage servicing rights financing vehicles.

Purchases of previously owned homes unexpectedly fell in April, a sign the industry's recovery remains uneven.

Mortgage rates fell for the first time in a month, cutting costs for buyers during the housing market's busiest time of the year.

Nonbank servicers selling and buying Fannie and Freddie MSRs must meet new capital and liquidity requirement to transfer servicing.

The Commercial Real Estate Financing portal allows investors to apply for financing through Auction.com with the company's preferred lenders.

Real estate investment trusts have near-universal anxiety over the Federal Reserve raising interest rates, a study by BDO USA, a financial advisory and consulting firm, found.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council is encouraging mortgage agencies to continue clarifying when lenders must repurchase defective loans.

The Korean-American bank is looking to diversify its balance sheet and revenue streams before it hits $10 billion in assets. The commercially focused lender hopes such efforts will help it once more regulation kicks in.

With older appraisers retiring and fewer and fewer college graduates entering the profession, industry observers say that, in five to 10 years, there won't be enough appraisers to handle the volume of home sales. For lenders, that could mean higher appraisal fees and long delays in closing loans — at a time when technology could be speeding up the process.

Weak economic growth in the first quarter did not temper Freddie Mac's projections for the mortgage market for the full year.

The proposed legislation for regulatory relief seeks to roll back critical mortgage protections put in place to prevent another housing crisis.

The total number of new home equity lines of credit increased 36% in the first quarter according to Equifax.

Mortgage applications decreased for the week ending May 15, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.

The Rural Housing Service should merge with the Federal Housing Administration to save money and improve service, the head of the Government Accountability Office testified Tuesday.

Lost in the debate so far over Shelby's regulatory relief bill are the significant changes it makes to the housing finance system. It essentially takes consensus elements from multiple past stabs at reform, leaving out the most controversial parts and making future reform far easier.

Fannie Mae is planning to follow the lead of its rival, Freddie Mac, and offer securities with exposure to actual losses on the single-family mortgages that it ensures.

It's a good idea to raise the asset threshold at which financial institutions are automatically designated as systemically important financial institutions. But Sen. Richard Shelby's proposed legislation for regulatory relief does require one crucial change.

New residential construction surged in April to the highest level in more than seven years, indicating the industry regained its footing after the soft patch at the beginning of the year.