Home prices

Consumer prices rose 0.4% in August, up from 0.2% in July, as weak job growth and lingering tariff uncertainty reinforce expectations for a September Fed rate cut.

A headline-grabbing 2022 lawsuit alleging racial bias by home appraisers has been quietly dismissed for lack of evidence. At the same time, the Trump administration is rolling back many of the policy changes involving home appraisals that the Biden administration put in place.

President Trump and his administration have begun to scrap new mortgage lending guidelines that made it easier for home buyers and sellers to dispute property appraisals, finding that homes owned by racial minorities are routinely valued lower than comparable homes with white owners. But despite the promised regulatory relief, many mortgage lenders say the regulatory changes will not impact their lending practices.

The 30-year average for both conforming and jumbo loans jumped more than 20 basis points, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Home loan applications dropped for the second time in three weeks, with the 30-year conforming interest rate ticking up 13 basis points, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

During a hearing on racial bias in home valuation, the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau questions the Appraisal Foundation's "weird" regulatory structure.

The increased limit on the size of the mortgages the government-sponsored enterprises will be able to buy reflects the year-over-year change in home prices.

Even with another annual surge of over 20%, the pace of home-price growth eased in May and experts anticipate even further moderation over the next year.

The very smallest banks, whose numbers shrank during the financial crisis, were most likely to express concern that the housing market will imperil the broader economy.