Mortgages

The Mortgage Bankers Association forecast comes as bankers continue keeping an eye on their commercial real estate portfolios, including office buildings. The MBA also noted that many companies have long-term leases on their offices, likely making the hit more gradual.

The 15-year average crossed the 5% threshold for the first time in over a decade.

Frustrations with gatekeeping, a lack of diversity and the way home appraisal is overseen are spurring many practitioners to call for an overhaul of the industry's governance structure.

Citigroup joined rivals in trimming the ranks of its mortgage workforce as rising interest rates continue to crimp demand in the housing market. 

Higher mortgage rates have led to a sharp slowdown in cash-out refinances. Second mortgages were up nearly 50% in the first five months of the year as homeowners looked for new ways to borrow against their equity.

BofA has launched two programs, one focused on increasing homeownership for Black and Hispanic Americans, and the other on small businesses owned by women and minorities that buy commercial real estate in federal opportunity zones.

Data as of Jun. 30, 2022. Dollars in thousands.

Bank lending activity grew at a strong clip in the second quarter and continues to expand. Yet rising interest rates and recession concerns could hamper future growth.

Small-business owners who can't get loans from traditional sources need alternative ways to access capital.

Farmers Bank plans to develop new revenue from home loans, despite seeing many bigger lenders flee the same market.

The bank plans to shrink its vast mortgage empire, which once churned out one of every three home loans in the U.S. and for a time made the bank the most valuable in the nation.

The rating agency has revised the long-term issuer default rating for PacWest Bancorp and its banking subsidiary, Pacific Western Bank, from "BBB" to "BBB-" and says it doesn't expect the bank's common equity Tier 1 ratio to bounce back anytime soon.

Moving its loan operations beyond its geographic footprint, California's US Metro Bank shot up in our rankings of the best-performing community banks.

Data as of Mar. 31, 2022. Dollars in thousands.

Data as of Mar. 31, 2022. Dollars in thousands.

It is essential to place the central focus on race, to bring nondepository mortgage lenders under the Community Reinvestment Act umbrella and to address bias in home appraisals.

The Justice Department, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and three state attorneys general alleged that Trident Mortgage, a lender owned by Berkshire Hathaway, engaged in redlining and discrimination in the Philadelphia area.

In a wide-ranging interview with American Banker, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra talked about litigating against large firms, fighting overdraft fees and reining in Big Tech.