Housing markets

With millions of Black and Hispanic consumers likely to become new homeowners over the coming decades, the lending community stands to benefit if they are willing to combine expanded underwriting with direct outreach.

A Fannie Mae survey-high 86% of prospective buyers said it was a bad time to buy a home in May.

The Massachusetts House passed a bill that would ease the process for property owners looking to build accessory-dwelling units.

Observers say the stronger-than-expected Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data could leave the Fed pondering when, or even if, to cut short-term rates this year.

Still, the expected year-over-year pace of home price increases in 2024 is faster than what the first quarter Fannie Mae Home Price Expectations survey has predicted.

Both purchases and refinances dipped as rates failed to help borrowers, but government lending picked up a rising share of loan volume, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

The changes that affect how buyer broker commissions are paid go into effect on Aug. 17, but there's much uncertainty about carrying them out, said Ryan Tomasello of KBW.

Despite the surge of inventory, the number of available homes is still below pre-pandemic levels, while price movements show wide regional variations, ICE Mortgage Technology said.

An index of contract signings from the National Association of Realtors dropped 7.7% to 72.3, the lowest reading since the early months of the pandemic.

With home prices also climbing up faster than expected for the time of the year, median new loan payments headed higher by more than 2%, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.