Wealth management

When Redtail Technology moved into its new building 18 months ago, CEO Brian McLaughlin ensured it had homey touches, like comfortable seating, a basketball court and slides.

While student, auto and credit card balances are at or near record levels, housing debt is shrinking, credit quality is weakening a bit and lending standards, at least in some sectors, are tightening.

American homeownership has been on the decline, and Federal Reserve researchers point to the high cost of college as one culprit.

Late payments on mortgages are expected to keep dropping and credit is expected to remain strong next year, in part because housing prices remain healthy in most areas, according to TransUnion.

Student debt continues to weigh down potential homebuyers, as the share of first-timers decreased for the third-consecutive year, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Strong demand for business and multifamily loans, combined with double-digit growth in wealth management revenues, more than offset rising expenses.

The Royal Bank of Scotland is paying $20 million to settle an investigation by the Illinois attorney general related to the bank's marketing and sale of residential mortgage-backed securities.

Mortgage debt outstanding remains below pre-crisis levels and home equity is growing, even as overall consumer debt is on pace to surpass its previous 2008 peak by $1 trillion, according to LendingTree.

Since the bottom of the housing market in 2012, home prices have increased 75% but wages have only increased 13%.

Although mortgage default risk remains very low, it was the only category of consumer lending to experience increases both sequentially and year-to-year in VantageScore's latest update to its index.