Real estate

For luxury-home developers and brokers in Miami and Manhattan who are already contending with slumping prices and slowing demand, the U.S. government's decision to start scrutinizing all-cash buyers was more bad news.

President Obama's administration, citing concern about the origin of funds used for all-cash purchases of luxury real estate, said it is stepping up scrutiny of transactions in New York and Miami.

Social media offers a unique opportunity to make personal connections online, but mortgage lenders should tread lightly when using this channel as a lead source for new borrower prospects.

Midtown Manhattan, once the pinnacle of U.S. office markets, is facing a jump in large, empty work spaces as new towers open and tenants spread out across the city, including outer boroughs that businesses once shunned.

Auction.com has rebranded at the corporate level to Ten-X, as the company begins to grow other segments beyond its auction-based platform.

Consumers increasingly fell behind on their payments in several loan categories in the third quarter as economic growth cooled.

Greystone in New York has hired Gregory Forester to lead a new group for hospitality-focused lending and investing.

Greater consumer confidence about the economy is generating increased foot traffic at model homes and the largest backlog of sales orders since 2007, according to executives at builder KB Home.

Mortgage credit availability decreased in December on reduced affordable, low-down-payment loan programs, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The Federal Reserve's interest rate increase has commercial real estate debt and equity financing players even more upbeat about their prospects in 2016.

Owens Realty Mortgage has promoted its chief financial officer, Bryan Draper, to chief executive and president.

Forget bigger is better. Several private-equity-backed lenders are making loans to small landlords, who represent the biggest chunk of the home-rental market and get less help from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than they once did.

CoreLogic has purchased the remaining 49.9% ownership in RELS LLC, becoming the real estate asset valuation and appraisal services provider's sole owner.

Home prices across the country rose 6.5% year-over-year in November 2015, including distressed sales, according to CoreLogic.

The demand for affordable rental properties has long outstripped the supply, with the gap widening as incomes have stagnated, homeownership rates have fallen and rents have soared in recent years. But now, banks are finding a profitable path to helping ease this severe national shortage.

Manhattan home prices surged to a record in the fourth quarter, propelled by closings of luxury deals in new developments that were agreed to years ago, when construction was just starting on many of the buildings.

U.S. home prices rose 5.5% in October 2015, compared to the previous year, according to Black Knight Financial Services.

Most foreign investors expect to put more money into U.S. property this year than they did in 2015, with New York remaining the top target market worldwide, according to a survey by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate.

Mortgage lenders on both the residential and commercial sides of the business will have to deal with a different lending environment in 2016. These include enforcement of TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure violations plus rising interest rates and the impact on origination volumes. Here are 10 observations that originators need to mull over while crafting their business plans for the coming year.

Home values rose in 2015 — though at a declining pace — with overall rent payments also trending upwards, according to Zillow.