Housing markets

New residential construction in the US rose to a five-month high in December, as homebuilders boosted production to take advantage of lower borrowing costs.

Residential lending remains steady in select cities as resilient housing markets, strong employment, limited supply, and migration trends shape borrower demand.

The typical homebuyer's down payment in the United States decreased 1.5% year over year to $64,000 in December, Redfin said.

Large and mega investors accounted for 5.8% of all single family-home purchases in December, up from 4.8% at the same time last year, according to Cotality.

An index of market conditions from the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo, in which below 50 means more builders see conditions as poor than good, edged down in February to 36, the lowest level since September.

Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman said in a speech Monday morning that the central bank will introduce two capital proposals that she said are aimed at boosting banks' role in the mortgage market.

The mortgage broker trade group put out a white paper calling for lowering transaction costs, increasing housing supply and reducing regulatory barriers.

Mortgage delinquencies increased across loan types, and while 30-day late payments showed overall improvement, later-stage distress worsened.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.09% Thursday, down two basis points from last week, while the 15-year rate fell to 5.44%, according to Freddie Mac.

Contract closings decreased 8.4%, the biggest drop since February 2022, to a 3.91 million annualized pace in January, according to National Association of Realtors data released Thursday.

The income needed to afford a home had been rising on an annual basis nearly every month for five years, but affordability has been improving since the summer.

The urge to tame big corporate landlords is bubbling over among locals in woodsy Paulding County, Georgia, an Atlanta exurb where church steeples and old graveyards punctuate the rolling hills, and an 18-foot fiberglass Wonder Woman waves at drivers.

State regulators and attorneys general could be picking up the gauntlet on anti-kickback provision enforcement, especially in the mid-Atlantic states.

The Housing for the 21st Century Act includes provisions covering policy, manufactured homes and rural infrastructure introduced in a prior Senate proposal.

The brokerage alleges Zillow uses "anticompetitive tactics" to bar listings that haven't been posted to a local multiple-listing service, or MLS, within 24 hours of them being publicly marketed. 

Mortgage rates edged higher after the Fed held rates steady, with markets weighing political shifts, Treasury moves and mixed signals on where borrowing costs head next.

Looking to build on last year's live sing-along, Lady Gaga will be performing the theme to Mister Rogers Neighborhood in a campaign from Rocket and Redfin.

Shaw, which was part of last year's standstill agreement with Third Point, said it will support shareholder-driven change on Costar's board.

Less than 45% of mortgage residential properties in the United States were equity-rich last quarter, a 1.5-percentage-point drop from the third quarter.

The average homebuyer who purchased a home below the asking price last year received a 7.9% discount, the largest since 2012, Redfin found.