Mortgages

Strong housing demand continued to outpace supply in June, in large part because millennial buyers are on the rise, according to First American Financial Corp.

A slowdown in sales of previously owned homes shows how lean inventories are keeping prices elevated and limiting purchasing options.

The foreclosure rate in the Twin Cities metro is at an all-time low and is now one of the lowest in the U.S.

A Pierce County judge says a notorious Seattle landlord — not thieves — tried to profit from cutting wires throughout a vacant Tacoma apartment building and ordered him to pay $1.1 million.

Foreign buyers continue to find California residential real estate very attractive, but it looks like the growth of international deals in the state trails a national upswing.

There were 424,800 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings in the first half of 2017, down 20% from the prior year, according to Attom Data Solutions.

It’s a very large number for any bank, but Bank of America executives said the move makes good economic sense and promotes relationship-building with customers.

Auto risks mounting. Mortgage market tightening. Are there any good risks these days in consumer lending? Regional bank executives insist partnerships with online lenders, unsecured personal loans and other niche efforts can work if done properly.

The national median home value was above $200,000 in June, breaking a barrier that was not reached during the housing boom.

From the small lender’s perspective, most of the various GSE reform proposals that have been offered are designed to advance the interests of the big banks.

The number of foreclosure filings on properties in the six-county Chattanooga, Tenn., metropolitan area dropped 26.8% in the first half of 2017.

Mortgage industry hiring and new job appointments for the week ending July 21.

For the seventh year in a row, property taxes will rise again in Los Angeles County, thanks to a brisk real estate market and construction boom.

Houston area home values continued their upward track, while rental rates dropped in June, a new report showed.

The California lender, which specializes in trade finance, reported strong growth in commercial and other lending categories last quarter, and it urged the Trump administration to seek fair trade deals with China.

Borrowers with variable-rate debt affected by Federal Reserve rate hikes showed they could handle December's 25-basis-point increase, but that could be changing as short-term rates continue to rise.

The discounts that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac used to offer large originators for selling them bulk bundles of mortgages continue to haunt small lenders, who worry a new housing finance system could revive the practice.

Fannie Mae is increasing the maximum debt-to-income ratio it will allow on purchased loans to 50% from 45% on single-family loans when it rolls out its latest version of Desktop Underwriter on July 29.

When market prices rise faster than comparable home sales values it is imperative for lenders to ensure property valuations are accurate, support the sales price and completed in a timely fashion to keep deals from falling through. (Part four in a four-part series on the mortgage industry's response to the housing inventory shortage.)

A former California mortgage lender agreed to pay $4.2 million to settle civil fraud allegations that its lending practices in the Southeast caused taxpayers to lose millions of dollars when homeowners defaulted on their loans after the Great Recession.