Housing markets

Racial and ethnic discrimination in mortgage lending may be misrepresented by "flawed" denial metrics that suggest a larger gap between the denial rates of racial groups than what actually exists, according to the Urban Institute.

The Congressional Budget Office has found that restructuring the mortgage market would save the government billions of dollars but may increase the cost of housing.

Wire fraud committed through business email compromise schemes has emerged as a serious threat to mortgage and real estate transactions. Defending against these scams requires a comprehensive strategy that includes technology, training and nonstop vigilance.

Fraudsters can track a home sale from the moment it goes on the market until the deal closes, make these transactions a ripe target for business email compromise scams that seek to intercept wire transfers and steal from legitimate participants in a deal.

Seattle is building housing like never before, while housing growth has slowed significantly in the suburbs.

The typical Portland-area home is out of reach for a median-wage family, new home-sale figures show.

Post-crisis measures made it harder for rogue borrowers and employees to commit fraud. Now, a new threat has emerged from scammers posing as title agents, real estate professionals and more.

In New Mexico, total home sales rose 32% year-over-year for a total of 18,274 homes sold across the state. The median price increased 5.5% to $200,000.

Home sales climbed back up in central Ohio and throughout the state in July, despite dropping nationally to the lowest level in more than two years.

Home prices climbed 6.5% in the second quarter from a year earlier, a slower pace that adds to signs of a cooldown in the market.

Purchases of new homes unexpectedly dipped to the weakest pace in nine months as higher prices and mortgage rates sideline demand, adding to signs of a cooling in the housing market.

Mortgage rates decreased for the third straight week and reached their lowest level since mid-April, according to Freddie Mac.

Almost $50 billion. That's how much Spokane County, Wash., is worth, according to this year's property assessments, up $4.1 billion over last year.

Colorado Springs home prices rose at one of the fastest clips in the nation during the second quarter, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Sales of previously owned homes unexpectedly slumped for a fourth month to the weakest in more than two years, signaling higher prices and tight supplies continue to squeeze demand, a National Association of Realtors report showed.

Mortgage applications increased 4.2% from one week earlier, rising for the first time in over a month, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

After four straight months in which four out of 10 home buyers in Santa Cruz County, Calif., paid in excess of $1 million, more buyers in July closed deals in the less expensive areas of the county and the median price dipped from $927,500 to $885,000.

The market for vacation homes at Hawaii resorts rebounded last year to its highest level of sales in nearly a decade, according to a recent report.

While home sales are down across New York City during the second quarter of 2018, Staten Island is bucking this trend with an uptick in both sales and prices.

An improved economy, a healthy labor market and the large population of millennials should have accelerated home sales much higher, but all hope for more transactions this year is not yet lost, according to the NAR.