Industries

Residential starts increased 3.9% last month to a 1.45 million annualized rate, according to government data released Wednesday.

The Agency, a brokerage with a leading role in a Netflix show, names New American Funding their preferred mortgage provider, stripping that title away from CrossCountry Mortgage.

The cohort is outperforming the broader market — up more than 50% year-to-date versus the S&P 500's 18% gain. 

Denver-based Proprietary Capital, who offers a platform for institutional investors seeking returns from mortgage-related assets, agreed to purchase the New Jersey-based lender as it seeks to increase the number of opportunities it offers.

The sector is well-positioned for further volume growth into next year, analysts led by Anthony Pettinari said in a note to clients Monday.

"I do believe you'll begin to see some improvement, or increases, in new housing as we head into the back half of the year," Chief Financial Officer Jim Peters said in an interview. "We're hearing optimistic stuff from the builders we deal with."

Residential starts fell 8% last month to a 1.43 million annualized rate, according to government data released Wednesday.

Despite the improvement in sentiment, the homebuilder index remains below end-of-2021 levels, when mortgage rates were lower

Democratic senators including Banking Chair Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren want to restrict tax breaks for large corporate investors that buy local homes and often drive up costs.

With new construction activity at the highest level in more than a year, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's GDPNow tracker is projecting residential investment added 0.1% to growth in gross domestic product in the second quarter.

Alimited supply of existing homes continued to spark interest in new construction, the National Association of Home Builders found.

Economic analysis from the real estate advisory CBRE finds that community banks are particularly imperiled by their exposure to commercial real estate loans. Others see looming risks in indirect lending.

But scarce housing inventory has helped to bring home equity values back upward, offsetting some of the losses of late 2022.

But when compared past periods of upheaval, those rates remain relatively low, the Mortgage Bankers Association report showed.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said in its quarterly banking profile that the banking industry remains resilient despite a challenging economic backdrop, but exposure to commercial real estate losses and interest rate risks could make continued stability difficult.

However, much of the damage could already be priced into the stocks after this latest selloff, analysts said.

The beleaguered bank said it is selling 74 loans totaling about $2.6 billion to a subsidiary of Kennedy-Wilson Holdings. The move is part of a plan to pursue strategic asset sales, trim expenses and shore up its balance sheet.

The popular notion that any downturn this year will be mild by historical standards as firms seek to "hoard" labor is about to be put to the test.

Lenders would be required to assess a borrower's ability to repay such a loan.

The average profit margin on the sale of median-priced single-family homes and condos fell to 44% last quarter, from a peak of 56% in the second quarter of 2022, according to data published Thursday by Attom, a real estate analytics firm.