Industries

Home prices rose 1.2% in April, from the previous month, in the largest seasonal gain since 2005, according to FNC.

Bankers and commercial real estate developers are protesting new restrictions on construction lending, arguing they are poised to hurt credit availability and drive loans into risky, unregulated sectors.

Freddie Mac's latest monthly Multi-Indicator Market Index shows a weak but improving housing sector.

Lennar Corp., the second-largest U.S. homebuilder, reported fiscal second-quarter earnings that beat estimates as the revived economy spurs new housing demand.

Mortgage applications rose 1.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis from a week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly survey.

Wells Fargo has hired two executives to expand its lending for manufactured housing, following the San Francisco company's purchase of a multibillion-dollar loan portfolio from GE Capital.

The price of homes rose 0.3% in April from the previous month, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Purchases of new homes rose in May to the highest level in seven years, signaling the industry is gaining momentum heading toward the second half of the year.

Wells Fargo Bank is marketing $914 million of commercial mortgage bonds, according to a presale report released by Kroll Bond Rating Agency.

Royal Financial in Chicago has agreed to sell $29.1 million in distressed assets, a deal mandated by a bankruptcy judge as part of the company's acquisition of PNA Bank.

Fewer consumers today believe it's difficult to get a mortgage than a year ago. However, the majority of survey respondents still think the origination process is too tough and that there are too few homes on the market.

Previously owned homes sold in May at the fastest pace since November 2009, driven by first-time buyers and indicating budding momentum in the residential real estate market.

A Lone Star Funds affiliate agreed to buy U.S. apartment landlord Home Properties Inc. in a transaction valued at about $7.6 billion, including debt.

Varde Partners has closed a $500 million fund that will invest in real estate securities, the firm announced this week.

U.S. consumers are increasingly using their credit cards rather than tapping home-equity credit lines to pay debts or finance a big purchase, according to Sanford C. Bernstein.

KB Home rose the most in three months after reporting fiscal second-quarter earnings that beat analysts' estimates and a jump in orders for houses.

Black and Hispanic home-loan applicants in New York are more than twice as likely to be denied as white applicants, a study by StreetEasy found.

Pressure from community groups forced Valley National Bancorp to strengthen its commitment to lend in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods in order to win approval for a Florida acquisition. Other banks, too, are now placing CRA efforts front-and-center as they aim to sell deals to the public and their regulators.

Homebuyers snapped up properties more quickly in May, the brokerage firm Redfin said.

Mortgage rates dropped as Europeans worrying about a Greek default beefed up investments in American mortgage-backed bonds.