Mortgages

The government-sponsored enterprise was enthusiastic about launching the 97% loan-to-value product when it announced it in December 2014. But it has yet to become a sizable part of Fannie's business.

The number of properties in foreclosure nationwide declined in January, according to RealtyTrac.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development will provide $40 million in grant money to organizations that provide counseling to prospective homebuyers.

Ocwen Financial has tapped Phyllis Caldwell to become its new chairperson.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau acknowledges that gearing up for the Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act integrated disclosures has been tough, and it promises to consider that fact in exams.

NMI Holdings should become profitable for the first time in the second half of 2016 as its insurance-in-force is expected to go over $21 billion.

Mortgage professional hiring and new job appointments for the week ending Feb. 19.

The decision in Yvanova v. New Century Mortgage Corp. has the potential to radically increase the number of lawsuits brought by borrowers, particularly on loans that were pooled into securitized trusts.

Lenders are still holding on to scores of delinquent mortgages that date to the real estate crash, but a surge in home values across the country is motivating them to move the most troublesome loans off their books more quickly.

A combination of several factors will make the housing market more competitive this year, according to Redfin.

Mortgage servicers are actively discussing with regulators how current rules could be streamlined, and future rules could be shaped, to minimize costs and hassles.

A public interest coalition is calling on bank regulators to declare the drinking water contamination in Flint, Mich., a "disaster" and encourage lenders from around the country to extend credit to the area in order to counteract the damage.

Financial gyrations have kept long-term interest rates lower than expected and that could be good for the housing market.

Mortgage rates were unchanged this week, as they remain near their 2015 lows, according to Freddie Mac.

Lenders see their outfits growing where experts are predicting market decline, despite statistical dissonance. Having a plan to weather the downturn is the key to their growth.

Troubled loans no longer overwhelm the market, but there could be smaller outbreaks that servicers must be ready to deal with, a real estate services vendor says.

Residential mortgage delinquencies dropped in the fourth quarter, as employment numbers improve and housing prices increase, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

At the onset of the millennium, house flippers — people who purchased imperfect homes, renovated them and resold them at a profit mere months later — ran rampant in U.S. housing markets.

The mismatch between demand for new homes and the supply threatens to drive up prices and dampen lending.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is launching a 10-day social media campaign, #HARPNow, to alert struggling homeowners in 10 states that they can still refinance via the program before it expires at yearend.