The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced new rules and regulations to protect the housing rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals at the 24th National Conference on LGBT Equality. Shaun Donovan, the secretary of

Housing inventory dipped 17 percent year-over-year, bringing the long-bloated housing marketplace closer to equilibrium – at least among visible inventories. As tracked by Bill McBride of Calculated Risk, though the declines are seasonally inspired (inventory typically declines through the

Industry representatives of the manufactured home business are prepping for a Wednesday testimony before the House Financial Services Committee that will, according to reports, spotlight the critical failures of legislation dating back to

The latest Mortgage Monitor from financial firm Lender Processing Services (LPS) was a study in contrasts, showing that though originations continue to decline, the quality of those originations continues to improve. Originations were down 10.1 percent from November to

Principal write downs have emerged, in the past month, as one of the major controversies on Capital Hill, with Congressional Democrats and the White House lobbying for such a program from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) – and

Improved employment figures and record home affordability levels could spawn a minor housing recovery this year, analyst Mark Fleming said in the CoreLogic MarketPulse report. Fleming said economic concerns peaked in the summer of 2011 when politicians were stuck

By Tara Steele, AGBeat The housing market continues to struggle as Realtors report one in three contracts now fail, up nearly 10 percent from the year prior. Failures are due to declined mortgage applications or failed underwriting as appraised

The Federal Housing Administration will toughen its standards for approving lenders that insure mortgages on its behalf and force more of them to buy back defaulted loans. FHA Commissioner Carol Galante said the upcoming rule changes will help the

Construction has been one of the hardest hit sectors of the housing downturn, and though economic tides remain uncertain, the growing multifamily market has been a source of growth and jobs for construction workers. As a recent HousingWire article paints

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has been generating a fair amount of media buzz the last couple months, but unfortunately, little has been positive. Beginning with a University of Pennsylvania study that severely questioned the agency’s finances going forward,

New single-family home sales in December fell by 2.2 percent from November and 7.3 percent from December 2010, capping off what analysts are labeling a new record low in new home sales – though 2012 may be a new

The National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) released its latest Confidence Index yesterday, showing a distinct rise in year-over-year confidence in December among the more than 3,000 agents surveyed. A measure of the strength of the current housing market and expectations about

One of the big takeaways from President Obama’s 2012 State of the Union Address was a new government-led refinancing plan that would allow homeowners with current, non-GSE mortgages to refinance at today’s historically-low interest rates. Funding the refinancings with a new

The automated valuation model (AVM) is a fast, convenient way for mortgage lenders to value a property, one that utilizes mathematical models and databases of information. Though quick and easy, Gina Pogol of HSH documents several of AVM’s shortcomings

The Federal Housing Finance Administration and its Acting Director, Edward DeMarco, have been receiving some considerable heat from analysts and members of Congress for their refusal to consider principal write downs for homeowners with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac

The Appraisal Institute (AI) ruffled many feathers last week by taking a “Don’t Shoot the Messenger” stance in regards to recent controversies in home valuations, but recent reports suggest that the institute may be amending its stance on how its