Mortgages

Apartments were the hottest commercial properties in the Greater Seattle area last year, with buyers collectively spending more on such assets than on the higher-profile office buildings.

Mortgage rates declined for the third straight week, with lenders on average offering 3.63 percent on a 30-year fixed loan, Freddie Mac reported Thursday.

This isn't the kind of non-qualified mortgage securitization that investors have been clamoring for.

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Mortgage rates near record lows, an improving job market and gradually easing credit standards will converge to make it the best year for home construction since 2007, say economists.

Home prices rose more than economists estimated in November, a sign job growth is helping to boost housing demand.

Freedom Mortgage will hire 500 additional employees to accommodate an anticipated increase in Federal Housing Administration refinance and purchase transactions.

Earnings at Discover Financial Services plunged by 33% in the fourth quarter, largely due to a charge tied to the firm's mortgage business and a previously announced revision to its flagship credit card program.

Hearing arguments in Texas case, Justice Scalia and others were skeptical that the controversial legal theory used in fair housing cases should be invalidated.

Five Star Bank is the latest financial institution to settle claims that it avoided lending to minorities. More redlining cases can be expected, industry experts say.

The pension fund sector owns hundreds of billions of dollars of mortgage securities. But MBS holdings are such a small percentage of their portfolios, pensions may not be aware of their heft in the industry.

Ocwen Financial Corp. named two new members to its board of directors as the nonbank servicer works to repair its image in the eyes of regulators and investors.

Julian Castro, secretary of housing and urban development, said 2015 will be a year of "housing opportunity" as the economy continues its rebound.

Yields on government-backed mortgage securities that guide U.S. home-loan rates widened to the most relative to Treasuries in almost three months as refinancing soars amid lower borrowing costs.

Standard & Poor's is close to an agreement to pay $1.4 billion to settle claims by the Justice Department and states attorneys general that it inflated subprime mortgage-bond ratings before the financial crisis, according to two people with knowledge of the talks.

Standard & Poor’s agreed to a one-year suspension from rating certain commercial mortgage bonds and $80 million in fines to settle charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York and Massachusetts Attorneys Generals offices.

Canyon Partners is paring its bullish investments in the mortgage-bond market after the hedge fund made about $7 billion in the past decade capitalizing on opportunities leading up to and following the financial crisis.

Justin Wheeler, who was named CEO last week of Berkadia Commercial, the commercial-mortgage business owned by Berkshire Hathaway and Leucadia National, said global investors are increasingly betting on U.S. property.

Mortgage application volume for the period ending Jan. 16 reached its highest level since June 2013, led by a 22% increase in refinance applications, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently issued a report showing that nearly half of all mortgage borrowers did not comparison shop. Will additional disclosure help if consumers don't use it?