Industries

Associated Banc-Corp in Green Bay, Wis., agreed to expand mortgage lending in minority neighborhoods to settle a federal probe into its fair-housing loan practices.

Home prices in 20 U.S. cities rose at a faster pace than projected in the year through March, reflecting a limited number of available properties on the market.

Existing home sales in May will increase by 5.8% from the same month last year, the real estate marketplace Auction.com predicts. The company also expects existing home sales to rise 2.9% from April.

More powerful employment and wage gains are necessary to fuel home purchases, according to mortgage industry economists.

Fannie Mae has a pessimistic outlook on U.S. economic growth following underwhelming first-quarter numbers in 2015, though mortgage market optimism remains thanks to low interest rates.

The cost to rent housing grew at a faster rate than home values in April, as rising rents make it difficult for many consumers to afford a mortgage, according to Zillow's monthly real estate report.

Home purchase loans have once again taken the majority share of originations, although volume shrunk by 11% from the same time last year.

Purchases of previously owned homes unexpectedly fell in April, a sign the industry's recovery remains uneven.

Mortgage rates fell for the first time in a month, cutting costs for buyers during the housing market's busiest time of the year.

The Commercial Real Estate Financing portal allows investors to apply for financing through Auction.com with the company's preferred lenders.

Real estate investment trusts have near-universal anxiety over the Federal Reserve raising interest rates, a study by BDO USA, a financial advisory and consulting firm, found.

The Korean-American bank is looking to diversify its balance sheet and revenue streams before it hits $10 billion in assets. The commercially focused lender hopes such efforts will help it once more regulation kicks in.

With older appraisers retiring and fewer and fewer college graduates entering the profession, industry observers say that, in five to 10 years, there won't be enough appraisers to handle the volume of home sales. For lenders, that could mean higher appraisal fees and long delays in closing loans — at a time when technology could be speeding up the process.

Weak economic growth in the first quarter did not temper Freddie Mac's projections for the mortgage market for the full year.

The total number of new home equity lines of credit increased 36% in the first quarter according to Equifax.

Mortgage applications decreased for the week ending May 15, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.

It's a good idea to raise the asset threshold at which financial institutions are automatically designated as systemically important financial institutions. But Sen. Richard Shelby's proposed legislation for regulatory relief does require one crucial change.

New residential construction surged in April to the highest level in more than seven years, indicating the industry regained its footing after the soft patch at the beginning of the year.

Politicians and regulators need to get with the times — for the sake of the housing market and its participants.

Dime Community and Flushing Financial are selling real estate in the borough, taking advantage of rising real estate prices. The banks are using process to reinvest in branches and technology.