Housing

Home prices across the country rose 6.5% year-over-year in November 2015, including distressed sales, according to CoreLogic.

The demand for affordable rental properties has long outstripped the supply, with the gap widening as incomes have stagnated, homeownership rates have fallen and rents have soared in recent years. But now, banks are finding a profitable path to helping ease this severe national shortage.

Manhattan home prices surged to a record in the fourth quarter, propelled by closings of luxury deals in new developments that were agreed to years ago, when construction was just starting on many of the buildings.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is important, but it barely scratches the surface of former House Financial Services Committee Chairman Michael Oxley's impact on banking.

U.S. home prices rose 5.5% in October 2015, compared to the previous year, according to Black Knight Financial Services.

Most foreign investors expect to put more money into U.S. property this year than they did in 2015, with New York remaining the top target market worldwide, according to a survey by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate.

Rather than relying on a formal marketing services agreement to get business, loan officers now have to prove that they can provide realty agents and consumers the best mortgage experience.

The Dodd-Frank Act is a burden on community banks and credit unions but regulators are struggling to quantify the costs, according to a report released Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office.

Mortgage rates rose, with the 30-year average topping 4% for the first time in five months, after the Federal Reserve's decision to increase its benchmark lending rate.

Mortgage lenders on both the residential and commercial sides of the business will have to deal with a different lending environment in 2016. These include enforcement of TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure violations plus rising interest rates and the impact on origination volumes. Here are 10 observations that originators need to mull over while crafting their business plans for the coming year.

The plunge in oil prices may jeopardize almost $125 million of securitized loans backed by real estate in North Dakota, as drillers in the state scale back operations, Morningstar Credit Ratings said.

Home values rose in 2015 — though at a declining pace — with overall rent payments also trending upwards, according to Zillow.

Freddie Mac's Multi-Indicator Market Index in October signaled ever-stabilizing circumstances across a growing number of regions.

Radian Guaranty Inc. is in compliance with the government-sponsored enterprises capital standards after receiving $325 million in cash and securities from parent company Radian Group Inc.

Contracts to purchase previously owned homes unexpectedly fell in November, confirming that the industry lost momentum toward the end of the year.

"The allegations of discrimination and predatory practices raised by the reporting are obviously very concerning to the bureau," a CFPB official said Tuesday.

Mortgage application defects reached a record low in November, according to First American Financial Corp.

Technology hubs overlapped with the nation's hottest housing markets in 2015, according to a ranking by online brokerage Redfin.

Surging prices have almost closed off the new-home market to young buyers like Brandon and Quincey Lindemann. But the Denver-area couple has found a way in.

Home values in 20 U.S. cities rose at a faster pace in the year ended October as lean inventories of available properties combined with steadily improving demand.