Mortgages

Mortgage industry hiring and new job appointments for the week ending Feb. 16.

New-home construction rose in January to the highest level since October 2016, helped by a surge in apartment building, as momentum in the housing market continues into 2018.

Banco Santander joined existing investors JPMorgan and USAA as well as others in raising $25 million in secondary-round financing for Roostify, which seeks to build a paperless mortgage process.

Freddie Mac posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $3.3 billion and will request $312 million from the Treasury after recent tax reform legislation forced it to write down the value of deferred tax assets.

Despite a legislative push by some senators and other stakeholders to jump-start housing finance reform, efforts to form consensus over a bill once again are stuck in neutral.

The 2018 spring home buying season could be even more competitive than last year's, marked by fewer listings, quicker sales, and a higher percentage of homes selling above the asking price in January.

The percentage of Marion County, Fla., mortgages that are behind on payments was greater in November than it was in November 2016. This could be a residual effect of Hurricane Irma.

The recent bond market volatility will cause mortgage rates to rise to a higher level than previously projected, according to Fannie Mae.

Home prices set another record high in the Buffalo Niagara region during January, as a dearth of available homes continues to drive up home values even as fewer homes change hands.

The hot spot driving the greatest share of home sales in the core Orlando market sits atop former citrus groves nestled between historic Winter Garden and Disney theme parks.

Mortgage rates rose to their highest level in almost four years, as worries over inflation drove the 10-year Treasury yield to just shy of 3%.

Confidence among American homebuilders held steady in February near the highest level since 1999, suggesting that demand for housing is expected to remain strong.

With few foreclosed homes left to pick up on the cheap, the biggest landlords are buying, or building, new single-family homes to pad their portfolios; mortgages on these properties could show up as collateral in rental bonds.

Rising rates, largely tied to the stock market turmoil, took their toll on mortgage application volume during the past week.

Jeffrey Taylor, a former Wells Fargo reverse mortgage executive and founder of Wendover Funding, has died following a battle with cancer.

Toledo area home sales fell 2% in January, but the new president of the Toledo Regional Association of Realtors said a drop that small was nothing more than a climate blip.

Lenders should be encouraged to hold more credit risk in the mortgage market, rather than having it foisted on Fannie and Freddie.

Fannie Mae is doing more to expand its list of Day 1 Certainty report suppliers, naming Blend as the first online point of sale system to directly offer asset validations.

Ocwen Financial Corp. fired Otto Kumbar, executive vice president of lending, as the company significantly reduces its origination business.

In some states, total mortgages outstanding are at all-time highs, but in others hard hit by the financial crisis they remain well below their 2008 peaks, the New York Fed said Tuesday in its quarterly report on household debt.