Housing

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

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

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

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.

Politicians and regulators need to get with the times — for the sake of the housing market and its participants.

Confidence among homebuilders unexpectedly fell in May, reflecting cooling sales and slower buyer traffic, a sign the residential real estate market will take time to gain momentum.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's Builder Application Survey reported that applications for new-home purchases rose by just 0.3% in April.

April home sales were up 5.4% and prices up 6.5% from the previous year, real estate brokerage Redfin reported.

The multifamily market is heating up as apartment owners and investors refinance in a rush to lock in low interest rates, but caps on government-backed lending programs are threatening to disrupt momentum.

Fannie Mae has created a new financing option for multifamily properties looking to undergo energy- and water-cost saving improvements.

Other regional Federal Home Loan Banks are lining up so their members can securitize FHA and VA loans through Chicago FHLB conduit.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was 3.85% this week, up from 3.8% last week and the highest since mid-March.

Mortgage origination activity slowed in the first quarter compared with the fourth quarter of 2014, but showed improvement on a year-over-year basis.

With support from Bank of America, a nonprofit lender is trying to revitalize Detroit by offering no-down-payment mortgages at up to 150% of a home's assessed value. The idea is to provide borrowers with enough cash to buy run-down homes and fix them up, and if the program works as promised it could prove to be a template for lending in other cities — like Baltimore — that have large swaths of boarded-up homes.

PrimeLending, a subsidiary of PlainsCapital Corp., has created a program aimed at providing closing cost assistance for underserved communities.

Home values rose in April but could not fully make up for the decline the month prior, according to Quicken Loans.

A survey of housing experts found that, while most believe it will become easier to obtain a mortgage in the next few years, renters may still not buy homes because of their economic situations.

WASHINGTON — A new mortgage disclosure regime due to take effect on Aug. 1 is unlikely to cause closing delays, according to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray.

There continues to be improvement in the number of distressed homes nationwide, according to a report from CoreLogic.