Mortgages

Today's mortgage broker is tech savvy, sophisticated and better equipped to thrive in a wholesale channel that's far more competitive than in the past.

Mortgage lenders are embracing the broker-wholesale channel as a low-cost way to extend their reach and maintain volume in the face of rising home prices and interest rates that are putting a damper on origination activity.

Tight margins, regulatory clarity and a renewed appetite to expand have made mortgage brokers and the wholesale channel attractive again, at least to the small and medium mortgage lenders.

February lived up to its tradition as a slow month for home sales on Oahu, producing a slight decrease in single-family home transactions, but other parts of Hawaii's largest housing market achieved modest gains.

Mortgage settlement software provider Qualia is getting a new $33 million round of funding that it will use to expand into additional U.S. markets.

Greensboro, N.C., home prices increased by 3.34% from January 2017 to January 2018, according to a report from CoreLogic.

Mortgage application activity increased slightly from one week earlier even as the rate for the 30-year conforming loan rose to its highest level in four years.

Consumer confidence in the housing market fell in February, with fewer Americans sharing positive thoughts on mortgage rates, home buying and home prices, according to Fannie Mae.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group has agreed to pay $500 million to the state of New York after a $5.5B agreement last year with the FHA, and another probe is pending.

The Federal Home Loan banks could "design and implement" their own system for deciding how to allocate resources for affordable housing initiatives under the proposal by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Toronto home sales are still depressed as the market continues to adjust to tougher mortgage qualifications and rising interest rates, though prices show signs of stabilization.

Banking and affordable housing advocates are encouraged by a provision in the tax reform legislation that could increase investment in underserved communities by allowing investors to defer capital gains taxes when they reinvest in federally chartered Opportunity Funds.

Foreign inflows are distorting Canada's already constrained housing market and aren't the kind of investment the country needs, the chief executive officer of Royal Bank of Canada said.

Brian Hale, the former head of Stearns Lending, will be leading a new financial services unit at William Lyon Homes that encompasses two joint ventures the builder has with mortgage companies.

Commercial and multifamily fourth-quarter mortgage delinquency rates improved for most investor types compared to one year prior as the U.S. economy continued its recovery.

First time home buyers are dealing with the worst of the nationwide housing inventory shortage, due to prices of entry-level houses growing at an even faster pace than other properties types, according to CoreLogic.

New Mexico's housing market started 2018 like it was still 2017 — with higher prices and fewer homes for sale in most of the state's largest counties.

Fewer properties fell into foreclosure in El Paso County, Colo., last month, continuing a downward trend over the past several months.

Recent developments in the Federal Housing Administration's Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program are making it easier for lenders to originate reverse mortgages to borrowers who want to buy a new-construction home.

The secretary of housing and urban development also urged the Senate to approve Brian Montgomery to be the new Federal Housing Administration commissioner.