Mortgages

Higher home values have lifted thousands of homeowners out of negative equity in the second quarter.

PNC Financial Services Group plans to increase consumer lending with its current tilt toward commercial loans generating lower overall loan yields.

Affordability constraints and a lack of awareness about low-down-payment mortgage options are tempering confidence about buying a home, according to the National Association of Realtors.

American Homes 4 Rent has repaid the $342 million loan that serves as collateral for its first securitization of single-family rental properties.

New homes aren't being built, and construction and development lending trends may be to blame, according to Kroll Bond Rating Agency's Christopher Whalen.

Mortgage applications increased 4.2% from one week earlier driven by a boost in purchase activity, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Industry veteran A.W. Pickel III is heading to AmCap Mortgage to become president of the lender's newly formed Midwestern division.

Provident Financial Holdings has restated earnings from its most-recent quarter after it booked higher loan-origination costs.

A slowdown in the upward climb of home prices allowed the housing market as a whole to move more toward buying a home than renting one during the second quarter.

Renovate America is marketing a $320.2 million securitization of Property Assessed Clean Energy bonds, its third of the year and eighth overall.

Regions Financial Corp. has agreed to pay $52.4 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by originating and underwriting mortgages that did not meet Federal Housing Administration requirements.

The foreclosure inventory rate in July reached the lowest level recorded for any month since August 2007, according to CoreLogic.

Hilltop Holdings in Dallas has promoted Alan White to share the chief executive role with Jeremy Ford.

A fintech startup called Point is allowing consumers sell a piece of their home equity to investors, rather than borrowing against the value of their houses.

Walter Investment Management Corp. subsidiary Ditech Financial will begin to enroll a number of rejected loan applicants in a new program aimed at helping people qualify for a mortgage.

From gathering information on buildings to complex income and asset profiles of buyers, loan officers in New York have many bases to cover and hurdles to leap. Debra Shultz of Guaranteed Rate makes it look easy.

American International Group will provide reinsurance coverage on three years of United Guaranty's policies and that was an important consideration to do the deal with Arch, said AIG's Rob Schimek.

A group of financial industry players — including mortgage servicers and credit unions — are joining together to form a new coalition promoting workforce diversity.

Altisource's default software subsidiary Equator has launched a new suite of tools for real estate agents to provide insight into the market of bank-owned properties.

The average down payment percentage rose 49 basis points for a conventional 30-year fixed-rate mortgage between the first and second quarters, according to LendingTree.