Mortgages

Foreclosure filings plummeted in the first half of the year, but 40% of local markets saw foreclosure starts increase, with the last housing bubble no longer to blame for the growth, according to Attom Data Solutions.

Mortgage rates broke from their recent respite, increasing for only the second time in the past seven weeks, according to Freddie Mac.

Oahu's housing market in June had a hard time standing up to a year-old record, and thus recorded its first median price decrease in more than 12 months.

Charlotte's red-hot real estate market is squeezing potential homebuyers out and driving down sales, a consequence of fast-rising home prices.

Greater consumer access to credit could help mortgage bankers replenish originations eroded by higher rates, but they are reluctant to depart from the status quo to provide it.

The job market gaining steam year-over-year pushed the purchase and overall mortgage application volume upward despite refinance activity dropping to an 18-year low.

The average millennial borrower credit score remained unchanged in May, but values by city painted very different pictures, according to Ellie Mae.

Two pieces of Maui's housing market moved in opposite directions in June, with declines for single-family houses and gains for condominiums.

For now, Pullman, Wash., real estate is a sellers' market.

Brian Montgomery is examining why the reverse mortgage program has suffered big losses, but he said he opposes any changes that could make it harder for the elderly to stay in their homes.

Optimal Blue is expanding its reach in the secondary mortgage market by acquiring Resitrader, a whole-loan trading marketplace that has integrations with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Access to mortgage credit inched up in June, as competition for jumbo loans resulted in looser underwriting, but government lending standards got more restrictive, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Public builder Beazer Homes USA plans to buy privately held Venture Homes for $65 million in a move that could make mortgage lending in Atlanta more competitive.

Spokane County, Wash., home prices rose in June, but the number of sales dropped off slightly.

Healthier economic conditions, more effective underwriting methods and recovering hurricane-impacted states helped drive delinquency and foreclosure rates to their lowest level in over 10 years, according to CoreLogic.

The California Democrat would have more of a bully pulpit as chair of the Financial Services Committee, but some say she could take a pragmatic approach to passing banking legislation.

Level One Bank in Farmington, Mich., has hired a team of mortgage bankers from MB Financial, which previously announced it was shutting down this business line.

Hanging over the Sonoma County, Calif., housing market is the damage done by the most destructive wildfires in state history. The fires of October claimed 24 lives and burned nearly 5,300 homes in the county.

A Fannie Mae test to handle the private mortgage insurance process for lenders may raise concerns that it's going outside the scope of its secondary market mission. But the effort reflects its mandate to explore new credit-risk transfer alternatives, a company executive said.

A more conservative court will be likelier to rule favorably on issues ranging from the deference for regulatory agencies to what constitutes a fair-lending violation.