Industries

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.

Heightened worries about the strength of consumers and the global economy have been put on hold — at least for now — after some of the world's best known companies delivered a slew of better-than expected numbers.

An index tracking the industry is up 28% so far this year coming off of one of its worst years since 2018.

U.S. homebuilder sentiment rose for a fourth month in April as limited resale inventory helped drive demand for new houses, suggesting the residential real estate market is slowly recovering.

Banks could be in for a long, slow trickle of bank failures and consolidation in the coming months and years, particularly if inflation persists and interest rates keep rising. A downturn in commercial real estate could add to banks' problems.

But a monthly increase in housing costs nationwide to start 2023 may point to a bottoming out of prices in many areas, CoreLogic said.

Residential starts rose 9.8% last month to a 1.45 million annualized rate, the fastest in five months, according to government data released Thursday

The Federal Home Loan Banks claim that liquidity in-and-of-itself supports affordable housing, while the Federal Housing Finance Agency seems to think the mission should be more directly tethered to housing.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Martin Gruenberg said that the rise of hybrid and remote work, alongside rising interest rates, could be creating lingering risk in the maturity of some bank loans.

The CFPB is requesting input on adding specifications that are intended to alleviate TRID compliance concerns on construction-to-permanent single-close loans and those requiring separate construction and home loan closings.

The deal would put housing data provided by the acquiring intelligence provider in front of lenders early in the mortgage borrowing process.