Technology

Simplified has launched an ordering platform that delivers settlement services to lenders.

By targeting construction lending, 1st Financial Bank USA aims to expand beyond its hefty concentration in credit card loans while entering a business segment that has shrunk mightily since the financial crisis

Kofax, a financial technology company in Irvine, Calif., has released a product that allows lenders to capture and process electronic signatures.

Lenda, a new mortgage company backed by Silicon Valley investors, wants to supplant the traditional loan officer with consumer self-service technology.

Home values have risen fastest in markets where institutional buyers bought up scores of foreclosed homes and then rented them out. But these investor have largely curtailed their buying, and may even be ready to start selling off more properties to profit from the run-up in home prices. That could be good news for first-time buyers.

Mortgage credit availability loosened in December, according to a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The number of homes in negative equity continued to lessen through the end of the third quarter, according to CoreLogic.

Mortgage rates dropped to the lowest level in more than a year and a half as falling oil prices and concerns about the strength of the euro drove investors to the safety of the U.S. government bonds that guide borrowing costs.

Consumers remained cautious about the housing market in December despite optimism that the economy is improving, according to Fannie Mae's National Housing Survey.

The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday authorized the first use of drones for real estate photography.