Economy

The home buying process has undergone significant changes. The pandemic has profoundly altered the mortgage lending market. The continuation of remote work, relocation out of key urban areas, a growing preference for online possibilities, and the deployment of artificial intelligence applications are only a few trends that are shaping the industry. Join Heidi Patalano, Editor-in-Chief of National Mortgage News and Beth O'Brien, Founder and CEO of CoreVest Finance as they discuss how lenders can stay competitive and meet the needs of home buyers in the fast evolving mortgage business.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency should consider allowing small depositories — those defined by regulators to be below $10 billion in total assets — to again make use of structured transactions for seasoned, performing loans, writes the chairman of Whalen Global Advisors.

More aggressive pursuit of government-related agencies’ affordable housing mission is expanding product availability, but government intervention can be a double-edged sword.

With today’s generation of home buyers so rooted in a digital world, how will the financial services industry need to change to meet their needs? What new consumer technology will they need to adopt to meet consumers where they are? How will those approaches differ from how things have been done historically in the industry? Join us in a discussion with Blend’s Founder, Nima Ghamsari as we chat through how banks and financial institutions need to think through these questions.

Numbers fell across all investor types, but exits hit their slowest pace since August.

On Tuesday, lumber futures were trading around $735.70 per 1,000 board feet in Chicago, more than double the pre-pandemic five-year average around $356.

Sales of new U.S. homes increased in September to the highest level in six months, underscoring solid underlying demand.

While September's single-family starts were unchanged from the prior month, multifamily activity fell 5%, according to government data.

Changes in the Fed, including the replacement of Jay Powell as chairman, might shift the board back to a dovish economic position.

Join Janet King, Arizent VP of Research and Brian Elkins, Senior Director of Strategy at Monigle for a discussion of a new, prescriptive framework that helps banks and other financial institutions identify why customers choose to bank with one financial institution over another. Developed in conjunction with creative experience agency Monigle, the Humanizing Customer Experience research from American Banker draws on more than 5,000 customer responses to show what matters most in customer experience and ranks which financial institutions do it best. Join this discussion to learn more about how you can optimize your bank's approach to CX to improve customer satisfaction and earn higher net promoter scores.