Technology

Australian billionaire James Packer bought 9.4% of Zillow Inc., becoming the second-biggest shareholder in the U.S. real estate website.

The premium buyers are paying for newly constructed houses is abnormally high.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that total refinancings by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac seller/servicers fell 8.8% from the first quarter to 1.28 million in the second quarter.

The August delinquency rate for U.S. commercial real estate loans in CMBS dropped for the third straight month.

Fraudsters are looking for easy targets, because once a technology scam is detected the banking industry will quickly take action to thwart future instances by patching up network defenses.

In today’s multifaceted lending environment lenders need to use sophisticated loan servicing systems that support multiple business channels and adapt to ever-changing industry rules and regulations.

Economists at Wells Fargo Securities are sticking with their theory that extremely wet weather in the South is responsible for the recent slowdown in new home construction and sales.

The Eleventh Federal Home Loan District Cost of Funds Index was virtually flat in July compared with June at 0.954%.

Commitments to purchase new mortgages fell 16% from June to $62.4 billion in July—the lowest level since April 2012.

Nationally, house prices jumped 1.8% in July from the prior month, according to the CoreLogic house price index.