Purchase

Initiatives aimed at a more inclusive credit box have long relied on costly approaches that are difficult to scale. Now, demographic shifts are intensifying industry demand for a more automated and efficient solution.

The lending arm of U.S. Department of Agriculture guaranteed 3,439 single-family construction loans in the first quarter of fiscal year 2017, which ended Dec. 31, but just nine of those loans involved its new single-close construction-to-permanent financing option.

Demographics are shifting, creating more prospective minority homebuyers than ever before. But predominant underwriting processes and these would-be borrowers' financial backgrounds are holding them back.

Mortgage credit availability grew for the fourth consecutive month in December, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported.

Residential loan application activity continued its post-election slump, declining for the sixth time in the eight weeks, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Home values continued to climb in November, but in 2017 price appreciation is likely to slow due to rising interest rates, according to CoreLogic.

The commercial-and-industrial loan space is overheated and higher rates could stifle mortgage refinancings. Bankers could be fighting these fires and more in the new year.

Many real estate agents expected rising interest rates to affect the type of home prospective purchasers were shopping for, according to the results of a survey by Redfin.

The nation's housing market remains on the outer edge of its historic benchmark range of housing activity, according to Freddie Mac's Multi-Indicator Market Index.

Contracts to purchase previously owned homes unexpectedly decreased in November on a sudden pickup in mortgage rates and limited inventory, according to figures released Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors.

Rising interest rates typically squelch demand for refinancing, leaving lenders to compete for homebuyers' business. But plain-vanilla purchase loans aren't the only saleable products in this rising-rate environment. Here are five other products likely to find demand.

Home prices rose 5.6% year over year in October, Black Knight Financial Services reported.

Home prices in 20 U.S. cities maintained a steady pace of increases in October while a gauge of nationwide property values rose by the most since mid-2014, according to S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller data.

Purchases of new homes increased in November to the second-fastest pace in almost nine years as the beginning of a spike in mortgage rates persuaded buyers to quickly sign contracts.

A consumer's ability to afford to purchase a home during the fourth quarter was at its lowest level in eight years due to rapid price appreciation, moderate wage growth and the post-election increase in interest rates.

Expectations of transaction volume in the year ahead are down for the fourth quarter in the wake of the presidential election, according to data from First American Financial Corp.

Refinance activity in November was even compared with the prior month, though the data suggested that the market is prepping for higher rates to cut into this segment, according to Ellie Mae.

Mortgage application volume rose 2.5% from the prior week, even as interest rates reached two-year highs, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes unexpectedly increased in November to the strongest level since early 2007, ahead of a jump in borrowing costs, National Association of Realtors data showed.

Opes Advisors shows would-be borrowers how purchasing a house fits into their total financial picture, now and years into the future. Many of its loan officers are licensed investment advisors.