Originations

The inventory of starter homes is shrinking at an increasingly faster pace, leaving first-time homebuyers with fewer and more expensive options, according to Trulia.

Credit Suisse Group must face New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's $10 billion lawsuit accusing the bank of fraud in the sale of mortgage-backed securities prior to the 2008 financial crisis, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday in a split decision.

Mortgage application volume decreased 4% from one week earlier as interest rates on 30-year loans continued to rise, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Interest rates may climb to 3% on 10-year Treasuries by next year as deficits and inflation rise under a Donald Trump presidency and that would hurt the housing market, said Jeffrey Gundlach, chief investment officer of DoubleLine Capital.

Southern National Bancorp of Virginia in McLean has agreed to buy Eastern Virginia Bankshares in Glen Allen.

It is going take some time before it comes to fruition, but the Federal Housing Finance Agency got the ball rolling Tuesday on pushing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to begin purchasing manufactured housing loans.

Stanford Kurland will step down from his role as CEO of PennyMac Financial Services and its affiliate PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust and assume the role of executive chairman of both as part of a broader executive reorganization.

One step the government can take to strengthening housing is to create a unified office dedicated to housing finance and policy, streamlining and making more efficient existing agencies and programs.

Of the five banks that failed their living will tests earlier this year and were forced to resubmit plans, only Wells Fargo failed again, resulting in immediate regulatory action that will restrict its growth, including its ability to expand internationally and buy nonbank subsidiaries.

Millennials are the most optimistic about the state of the U.S. real estate market, while most American express favorable opinions about housing, according to Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices.