Mortgages

The Federal Open Market Committee held the federal funds rate at current levels, citing "lack of further progress" toward meeting inflation goals.

Both quasi-public mortgage investors have new requirements for when borrowers question valuations. Freddie Mac is expanding use of title insurance alternatives.

The April 26 update came two days after the group received preliminary approval for the Sitzer/Burnett agreement.

Top Federal Home Loan bank officials said they fear the Federal Housing Finance Agency will use supervision to further the goals of last year's report recommending reforms to the Home Loan Bank System.

Both purchase and refinance activity slowed, with inflation likely to keep interest rates at challenging levels for future borrowers, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Plaintiffs seeking class certification claim the bank uses an underwriting system that discriminates against minority mortgage applicants.

Profits in the originations and servicing segment at Newrez drove earnings, while a possible spinoff of Rithm's mortgage operations is still seen as a "work in progress," according to company leaders.

Though written before the internet era, the book about working at Salomon Brothers in the 1980s that launched Michael Lewis' writing career still holds important lessons about the true costs of success.

The investment giant said its direct-to-consumer channel will offer ancillary products in preparation for any future refinance environment.

Prices nationally climbed 6.4% from a year earlier, an S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller index shows. That's larger than the 6% annual gain in January. 

The Federal Housing Administration removed housing finance firms from the list of permitted interested-party contributors in a new reverse-mortgage rule.

The company's attorneys had previously managed to successfully decertify the class in the seven-year long case, but the decision was reversed last year.

The top five producers had an average dollar volume of more than $99 million in jumbo production.

The Biden Administration's title waiver pilot has started a broader discussion on whether the product is worth the money paid or even needed at all and can be replaced by an alternative.

Above and beyond the obvious damage, wildfires levied a hidden cost on the finance industry: Mortgage lenders and investors lost more than $30 billion between 2020 and 2022, due to both accelerated defaults and prepayments following disastrous blazes.

Elevated delinquency levels have not affected expected losses, however, due to home price appreciation, Fitch Ratings said.

A pair of bills, one with bipartisan support, look to address the issues around heirs' property so these families can have clear title on their homes.

The agreement, in which the real estate giant admits no wrongdoing, will cover around 70,000 agents.

Real estate brokerage stocks tumbled Thursday on waning expectations for Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, and as a disappointing earnings release raised concern about the sector's outlook.

Doxo plans to fight the FTC complaint, which focuses broadly on consumer finance, but there are signs of confusion about the company's role in mortgages too.