Financial officers from 27 states issued a letter to President Joe Biden protesting a new policy from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) that increases mortgage fees for some higher-credit borrowers while lowering them for more risky borrowers. This policy, which critics say will penalize people with good credit and encourage risky borrowing, went into…

Demand for California’s new downpayment assistance program overwhelmed the system and depleted its $300 million budget in less than 12 days, with applications put on pause effective April 7, according to the housing finance agency. The legislator responsible for proposing the program responded optimistically to the news. “It is incredible and inspiring to see that…

Retired engineers Kelly and Derek Barkey assumed they would be approved when they applied for a $50,000 home equity line of credit two years ago to fix up their new house. The Barkeys, now 56 and 59, had just sold their longtime home in Southern California and paid cash for a house worth about $850,000…

Mortgage demand crashed last week, despite a decline in interest rate hikes and a stronger start to the year in January. Total mortgage application volume tumbled 9 percent for the week ending Jan. 27, compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index on Feb. 1. “Mortgage rates declined for the…

American universities have fallen in global rankings. Meanwhile, China’s universities have gone up. We speak with Times Higher Education, the organization that compiled the list. Risky home loans are getting more popular. Find out how future prospects look for mortgage rates. The UK is sending mixed messages about TikTok. The spy chief says it’s okay to use, but the…

U.S. officials confirming the first case of the Omicron variant, where was it discovered, and how is the patient doing? With home prices rising, the federal government’s updating its rules to back bigger home loans. How will it impact home buyers? And a tech startup launching California’s first commercial autonomous delivery service. Who will it be available…

Home loan commitments have risen to another new high in April, and financial regulators are pleased that it has not led to easing lending standards. New figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that new housing loans have risen 3.7 percent to a record high of $31 billion (US$23.8 billion), driven by owner-occupier loans….