Housing

Black and Hispanic home-loan applicants in New York are more than twice as likely to be denied as white applicants, a study by StreetEasy found.

Pressure from community groups forced Valley National Bancorp to strengthen its commitment to lend in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods in order to win approval for a Florida acquisition. Other banks, too, are now placing CRA efforts front-and-center as they aim to sell deals to the public and their regulators.

Homebuyers snapped up properties more quickly in May, the brokerage firm Redfin said.

Mortgage rates dropped as Europeans worrying about a Greek default beefed up investments in American mortgage-backed bonds.

Optimism abounds in Fannie Mae's survey of mortgage lenders for the second quarter of 2015.

Residential mortgages for new purchases increased in May, after a steady decline for the previous 12 months, according to Ellie Mae's monthly volume report.

Amalgamated Bank in New York has reached an agreement with a real estate firm to provide construction loans for apartment and condo buildings in New York.

One mortgage executive says there is a continuing need for lenders, real estate agents, consumer groups and government to educate consumers to their options when it comes to financing a home.

The homebuilding industry enjoyed its best two months in more than seven years as it headed into its busiest season, even as it began work on fewer houses last month following an April surge.

U.S. Bancorp has contributed $75,000 to the production of a video series that discusses the importance of having access to safe, stable housing.

The decline in foreclosures and short sales is contributing to the dearth of housing inventory, complicating the prospects for home buyers feeling the pinch of tight credit and lenders that need purchase mortgages to supplant refinancing once interest rates rise.

Down payments decreased in size in the first quarter, as mortgage lenders loosen underwriting requirements in the quest for higher volume, LendingTree said in a report.

Southern California homebuilders Standard Pacific and Ryland Group said they agreed to merge, creating a company with about 74,000 home sites and resources to expand.

A new Department of Housing and Urban Development policy will make it easier for servicers to transfer certain reverse mortgages back to HUD instead of foreclosing on widowed nonborrower spouses.

A decade after home sales peaked, 15.4% of owners in the first quarter owed more on their mortgages than their properties were worth.

Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro touted the Federal Housing Administration’s recent improvement on Thursday, saying it was on a trajectory to hit its statutory minimum and had recently seen a "significant uptick in refinancings."

Home equity in the first quarter rose to $11.7 trillion, the highest since 2007, according to a Federal Reserve report.

Mortgage rates jumped to an eight-month high, making home purchases costlier as investors prepare for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates.

Most Americans still believe the country remains in a housing crisis, according to a new study from the MacArthur Foundation.

Renting a home is a better way to accumulate wealth than buying a home in many U.S. cities, according to the latest Buy vs. Rent report.