Purchase

Contract signings for existing homes surged in January, rising the most since October 2010 after slumping a month earlier, adding to signs of more momentum in the housing market.

Mortgage rates slipped this week, as the stock market sell-off resulted in investors moving into bonds which drove the 10-year Treasury yield down, according to Freddie Mac.

A strong economy and pressures from thousands of people moving to the state will accelerate Texas home prices in 2020.

Sales are up across Miami-Dade County and Broward. And it's not just snowbirds from the northeast driving activity. Millennials, and their parents, are also driving sales.

The cancellation by New Residential of a money-losing subservicing agreement should benefit Ocwen's financial results going forward, the company said.

Mortgage application volume rose last week, but with the 10-year Treasury yield tanking in recent days, growth in refinancings for the current period is quite likely, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

New-home sales jumped at the start of the year, reaching the strongest pace since mid-2007 on the heels of cheaper borrowing costs, favorable weather and a resilient labor market.

Overall housing value growth remained steady in the fourth quarter with some states going way above the national average, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's Home Price Index.

Mr. Cooper Group reported fourth-quarter net income of $461 million, aided by the recovery of its deferred tax asset and a positive mark-to-market on its servicing portfolio.

Southern California home prices shot up in January from a year earlier, as buyers fought over a meager supply of homes for sale across the six-county region.