Economy

The Treasury secretary previewed President Biden's budget by urging lawmakers to fund the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's establishment of a beneficial ownership regime.

The former senior vice president and credit officer takes over the role that Andrew Bon Salle left at the end of 2020.

DeVito takes over on June 1, replacing interim CEO Mark Grier, who returns to his seat on the government-sponsored agency's board.

Purchase contracts for the three months through April surged 85% from a year earlier to 3,487, the builder said in a statement after the close of trading Tuesday.

While elevated prices are acting as brake on demand, mortgage rates near historic lows and elevated backlogs suggest steady residential construction gains in coming months that will help contribute to economic growth.

Estimates suggest the government-sponsored enterprises did encourage increased lending to this demographic last year but ran into challenges related to the pandemic's impact and their own fluctuating business models.

The individuals allegedly defrauded Freddie Mac and CBRE Capital Markets by misrepresenting information used to refinance a small-balance loan.

Companies are facing delays for everything from sheet rock to cabinets and kitchen appliances and as a result, homes are taking about a month longer to build.

Groups active in low-income and rural housing expressed frustration that the post-pandemic resumption of long-term goal-setting didn’t do more to raise the bar.

Issuance of capital market instruments aimed at protecting one government-sponsored enterprise from distressed mortgage credit events staged a relatively quick rebound in 2020, a new Federal Housing Finance Agency report shows.

U.S. housing starts fell by more than forecast in April, suggesting that supply-chain constraints and rising materials costs continue to hold builders back.

With little transitional disruption, the bigger players on the non-agency side could gain a hefty share of non-owner-occupied mortgage volume as a result of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s caps on such purchases, a KBRA analysis finds.

It’s getting easier to close bigger loans for higher-priced properties, but credit is expanding slower for first-time buyers.

The company is formally launching a new “non-mortgage” unit that will provide small loans for home improvement projects.

Fannie and Freddie's regulator says the companies must comply with the new Qualified Mortgage standard by the summer, while the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has extended the deadline to 2022. The conflicting timetables have stoked uncertainty in the market.

The relatively small addition of 266,000 positions to the broader market in April suggests that income uncertainty, which could impact some borrowers’ ability to qualify for or pay loans, could become a concern among lenders and brokers.

COVID-19 has shown us that technology can rapidly evolve to meet customer needs, in areas from contactless payments to digital banking to mobile wallets. However, we still see great disparities when it comes to the use of contactless and digital banking by low- to moderate-income (LMI) workers. The question is, will emerging tech in the post-COVID economy provide an opportunity to include new people in the financial system-- or leave them even further behind?

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is calling for input on how to better safeguard against potential lending risks associated with residential buildings filled with short-term rental units.

While cash-out refinances were a “significant driver” of risky loans leading to the Great Recession, those mortgages pose less of a threat due to tighter underwriting standards, according to Milliman.

The digital transformation of payments has reached its next phase — with banks and fintechs leading the way. Avoiding the one-size-fits-all approach to deliver the experience customers want is key.