Mortgages

Markets appeared to welcome signs of future rate relief, with the latest Freddie Mac average falling for the fifth time in six weeks.

The 22,385 homes entering the process last month was a 3% monthly increase but a 4% annual decline.

But despite increasing anxiety over rising costs, an overall majority of consumers also express optimism about their own improving financial prospects in the upcoming year, according to Transunion.

The Federal Reserve held firm on its current interest rate levels after its latest meeting, but inflation numbers are leading to talk of potential action in third and fourth quarters.

Homeowners responded to moderating interest rates and brought in significantly more refinance volume, with Department of Veterans Affairs numbers more than doubling from the prior week.

Lenders need to look at both data and algorithms to avoid inadvertent redlining complaints, not just in decision making but customer contact too.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. sued 15 lenders on loans brokered through Washington Mutual that were included in securitizations before the bank's 2008 failure.

The instant buying platform has been hit hard by the market's slowdown and sold 847 homes in the first quarter, down 47% from the same time last year.

The department will continue to monitor developments from a recent court settlement as it considers future rulemaking.

Pacific Investment Management Co. expects more regional bank failures in the U.S. because of a "very high" concentration of troubled commercial real estate loans on their books. 

Amid industry challenges, borrow a page from the playbooks of these industry leaders as they strategize around new roadblocks and look for fresh opportunities.

Rate locks have increased every month this year, but May's pace came in more subdued than early-year numbers, according to Mortgage Capital Trading.

Nearly one-in-five homeowners have to borrow to pay unexpected expenses related to their property, although 24% claim to have a rainy day fund, according to Bankrate.

The position had been occupied by Scott Smith on an interim basis following Black Knight's sale of the company to Constellation Software.

With millions of Black and Hispanic consumers likely to become new homeowners over the coming decades, the lending community stands to benefit if they are willing to combine expanded underwriting with direct outreach.

Executive Vice President of Strategy and Growth at Clear Capital, Kenon Chen, on how the company is using machine learning and computer vision to analyze and compare property values.

A Fannie Mae survey-high 86% of prospective buyers said it was a bad time to buy a home in May.

The Massachusetts House passed a bill that would ease the process for property owners looking to build accessory-dwelling units.

Observers say the stronger-than-expected Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data could leave the Fed pondering when, or even if, to cut short-term rates this year.

In the first quarter of the fiscal year, many mortgage-related companies posted profits after a year-end that didn't exceed expectations. Here's how major publicly traded players in the industry performed in the first quarter.