Housing

A recently launched program in New York state is helping distressed borrowers avoid foreclosure.

Mortgage-focused real estate investment trusts, including those affiliated with Western Asset Management and Pine River Capital Management, are backing loans to Americans who don't meet banks' requirements.

Lennar Corp., the biggest U.S. homebuilder by market value, said fiscal fourth-quarter earnings climbed about 50% as it sold more houses at higher prices.

Mortgage rates fell for a second week, holding at the lowest level in more than a year and a half, as declining financing costs boost loan demand.

A federal agency's plan to tighten membership rules for Federal Home Loan banks would hurt community banks and credit unions — and could endanger the financial system, according to a broad array of stakeholders, including state regulators, lawmakers and institutions.

Capital markets hold the key to the future for the consolidating Wall Street landlords, but the path through is downright bloody.

KB Home fell the most in almost three years after saying its fiscal first-quarter gross margin will narrow significantly and that it's unlikely to meet its goal of a 20% margin for 2015.

Fears that lower Federal Housing Administration premiums will negatively affect private mortgage insurance firms are overblown. If anything, the plan should be a modest positive for the overall housing market.

The Multifamily Lenders Council, a trade group representing companies that originate and service Federal Housing Administration-insured multifamily mortgages, states President Obama isn't doing enough to assist affordable rental housing.

By targeting construction lending, 1st Financial Bank USA aims to expand beyond its hefty concentration in credit card loans while entering a business segment that has shrunk mightily since the financial crisis

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro moved swiftly on Thursday to defend pending cuts to the Federal Housing Administration's premiums, rebutting GOP arguments they are premature.

Home values have risen fastest in markets where institutional buyers bought up scores of foreclosed homes and then rented them out. But these investor have largely curtailed their buying, and may even be ready to start selling off more properties to profit from the run-up in home prices. That could be good news for first-time buyers.

President Obama is expected to announce a half-percentage-point reduction in the Federal Housing Administration's annual premium during a housing policy speech Thursday in Phoenix.

The diversity of the U.S. population is at a tipping point and originators need to prepare to serve the needs of this growing pool of customers.

Manhattan apartment prices jumped to the highest point since their 2008 peak as buyers competed for a limited supply of homes and deals were completed in new luxury developments.

Mortgage denials in 2013 were comparable to those recorded a decade ago, analyses of HMDA data show, challenging perceptions about how easy lending really was during the era of "pulse" loans and "fog-a-mirror finance."

Take a look back at National Mortgage News' top stories of 2014.

The Harnessing Mobile Award commends the development and implementation of mobile technology in the mortgage industry. Learn about this year's finalists and see who won the 2014 MT Award.

Contracts to purchase previously owned homes rose in November as employment gains and low borrowing costs helped bring potential buyers into the market.

Student loans are now cited most often by young buyers as the main expense that prevents them from saving for a down payment on a house.