Mortgages

Listings for new homes fell 1.1% in April, the first year-over-year drop since August 2014, according to the real estate brokerage Redfin.

Presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton appears likely to embrace a recent plan to merge Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into a single government corporation if she wins the White House.

The Justice Department filed suit Thursday against Guild Mortgage, arguing the firm violated the False Claims Act by improperly originating and underwriting Federal Housing Administration loans.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development issued a proposal Wednesday to codify recent changes to its reverse mortgage program and to provide additional protections for seniors, including a cap on annual interest rate increases.

WASHINGTON -- M&T Bank has agreed to pay $64 million to settle U.S. government allegations that it originated defective Federal Housing Administration insured loans over a five-year period.

The June 25 launch, which will provide lenders with much more information about a borrower's credit history, will mark the first widespread use of trended data in the mortgage industry.

The government-sponsored enterprises' risk-sharing deals are being hailed as an innovative approach for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to offload credit exposure to private markets. But their growing popularity is raising questions about how these transactions should be reported in financial statements.

The Consumer Mortgage Coalition is arguing that the bill has serious flaws by allowing private insurers to undercut pricing on federal flood insurance policies by offering high deductibles and exclusions to homeowners with mortgages guaranteed by the government-sponsored enterprises.

Loan growth at several Boston banks, including many former mutuals, is higher than the national average. Still, bankers are closely watching for any indication that a bubble is forming.

Going forward, Fannie Mae will be relying more on loan guarantee fee income from its single-family and multifamily businesses.