Mortgages

Mortgage rates decreased for the third straight week and reached their lowest level since mid-April, according to Freddie Mac.

Almost $50 billion. That's how much Spokane County, Wash., is worth, according to this year's property assessments, up $4.1 billion over last year.

Colorado Springs home prices rose at one of the fastest clips in the nation during the second quarter, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Sales of previously owned homes unexpectedly slumped for a fourth month to the weakest in more than two years, signaling higher prices and tight supplies continue to squeeze demand, a National Association of Realtors report showed.

Mortgage applications increased 4.2% from one week earlier, rising for the first time in over a month, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

After four straight months in which four out of 10 home buyers in Santa Cruz County, Calif., paid in excess of $1 million, more buyers in July closed deals in the less expensive areas of the county and the median price dipped from $927,500 to $885,000.

A Minnesota Supreme Court decision that upholds limits on how much communities can charge developers is being hailed as a major victory for those who argue that such fees are making housing in the Twin Cities unaffordable.

Better consumer credit quality helped push the serious mortgage delinquency rate to its lowest level since the Great Recession, but originations remain low due to tighter underwriting standards and eroding homebuyer affordability, according to TransUnion.

The employee who made sexual harassment allegations against the agency’s director also claims Watt withheld her pay increase after she refused his advances.

Mortgages originated to finance apartments and other income-producing properties managed to generate an overall year-to-year increase in the first half, even though there are declines in some parts of the market.

July's year-over-year increase in foreclosure starts for 44% of the nation's metro areas is a result of looser underwriting standards and a sign of future growth in defaults, said Attom Data Solutions.

Foreclosures on Metro Orlando homes are up 23% from July 2017, though the numbers are still well below the peak of the recession, and local sales agents say there's not much impact in the market yet.

The market for vacation homes at Hawaii resorts rebounded last year to its highest level of sales in nearly a decade, according to a recent report.

While home sales are down across New York City during the second quarter of 2018, Staten Island is bucking this trend with an uptick in both sales and prices.

Computershare Loan Services has agreed to acquire a loan fulfillment and secondary marketing unit owned by LenderLive Holdings in order to broaden its services along the full mortgage lifecycle.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development took the very rare step of filing a secretary-initiated fair housing complaint — only three were made in the last two fiscal years — against Facebook.

A number of banks have stepped up efforts to lend to residential developers, though they are mindful of missteps made before the financial crisis.

New investor appetite for mortgages over $1 million is motivating more nonbank lenders to offer super jumbo loans, often with weaker credit terms than traditional banks.

The expiration of Annaly Capital Management's offer to purchase MTGE Investment Corp. was delayed until Sept. 7 so the two real estate investment trusts have more time to satisfy deal conditions.

An improved economy, a healthy labor market and the large population of millennials should have accelerated home sales much higher, but all hope for more transactions this year is not yet lost, according to the NAR.