Housing

Calling the crazy-idea department…a U.S. Bancorp-branded bus is more than halfway through a cross-country, social-media-tracked journey to promote community development and alter its profile. It's an example of the new style of reputation-oriented marketing being pursued by banks.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp is buying a bank with a national mortgage platform. The company hopes the business will provide a much-needed lift in fee income.

BancorpSouth Bank agreed Wednesday to a $10.6 million settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Justice Department for allegedly discriminatory mortgage lending practices that harmed minorities.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is keeping lenders in the dark about how it will ensure borrower data is secure and private under the expanded Home Mortgage Disclosure Act reporting requirements.

Home prices are more likely to go down in states with economies driven by the energy industry than across the country overall, according to Arch Mortgage Insurance.

New York City broke ground on a $67 million reconstruction project at the Ocean Bay-Oceanside development in the Rockaways.

Ten banks have invested a total of $25 million in the fund, which buys up mortgage-backed securities tied to loans made for the development or rehabilitation of affordable single- and multi-family homes.

Steve Victor, a 33-year-old IT contractor from London, says he's pulling out of the purchase of a new four-bedroom home in the town of Bedford after Britain voted to leave the European Union.

A popular narrative of the housing market has been that big city prices are locking out young buyers, feeding a cycle in which a growing number of people are forced to rent at ever higher rates as demand overwhelms supply.

Industry and consumer groups are calling on the Federal Housing Finance Agency to reduce the loan fees that homebuyers have to pay on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guaranteed mortgage loans.