Category: Top National News

Wall Street Journal, July 5, 2018–Nick Timiraos (subscription)Federal Reserve officials at their meeting last month signaled they could raise interest rates over the next year to a level that no longer seeks to stimulate growth, formally ending a long postcrisis chapter in which the central bank unleashed unprecedented stimulus campaigns.

HousingWire, July 5, 2018–Ben LaneFor the third time this year, the Royal Bank of Scotland is about to pay up over the bank’s mortgage practices in the run-up to the housing crisis.

Mortgage Daily, July 5, 2018It’s been more than a decade since the production of new federally insured reverse mortgages came in as low as it did last month.

Mortgage Daily, July 5, 2018–Sam GarciaThirty-year fixed-rate mortgages had an average interest rate of 4.52 percent, Freddie Mac said, the lowest rates since April 19.

National Mortgage News, July 5, 2018–Kate Berry (subscription)The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to issue guidance later this summer on how it will give community banks partial exemptions from Home Mortgage Disclosure Act requirements.

HousingWire, July 5, 2018–Ben LaneBBVA Compass was ordered to pay more than $96 million to a Texas real estate developer and several associated business entities after a Dallas jury ruled that the bank committed fraud against the developer involving the financing of several high-end housing developments in the midst of the financial crisis. The company said it disagrees with the judgment and intends to appeal.

American Banker, July 5, 2018–Kristin Broughton (subscription)Though complete second-quarter numbers aren’t in yet from the Federal Reserve, and banks don’t start announcing their quarterly financial results for another week, a Wedbush Securities analysis of the Fed’s weekly lending data found that commercial and industrial loans were on pace to increase 4% in the three-month period when compared with a year earlier.

American Banker, July 3, 2018–Paul Davis (subscription)The $6.9 billion-asset company said in a press release Tuesday it will sell the rights to service about $5 billion in unpaid balances for single-family mortgages. It did not identify the buyer or disclose the price of the deal.

Washington Post, July 3, 2018–Michele LernerAn analysis of presidential elections between 1996 and 2012 found that the availability of mortgage credit is a critical indicator in presidential races and has five times as much impact on voter behavior as rising unemployment.

Wall Street Journal, July 3, 2018–Craig Karmin, Keiko Morris (subscription)Katara Hospitality, which buys and manages hotels around the world for the Qatar government, has acquired full ownership of the 1907 property for $600 million.