The head of Canada’s housing agency says measures such as extending mortgage amortizations and changing the threshold to qualify for an insured mortgage are not the answer to the country’s housing affordability challenges. Even though homeowners have seen a rapid increase in what they are paying to cover mortgages as interest rates have risen, Canada…

Dave Burt, CEO of DeltaTerra Capital and renowned “Big Short” investor who foresaw the 2008 housing crisis, has voiced his concern over a potential repeat of the crisis. His worry is centered on what he sees as an underestimation of the systemic risk flooding poses to the mortgage market. Burt’s successful prediction of the subprime…

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…

Existing home sales fell in March, as higher interest rates continued to put pressure on borrowers, but some analysts believe that the housing market slump is nearing an end. Rising mortgage rates last month were a likely factor in deterring buyers by adding downward pressure on housing values, as fewer borrowers can afford higher payments. Home…

The Biden administration will soon punish Americans with high credit ratings to pay more for their mortgages to subsidize loans for homebuyers with lower scores. Starting May 1, Americans purchasing a new home or are refinancing their existing mortgages will have to pay higher mortgage rates and monthly fees if they have a higher credit score, The…

The average interest rate on the most popular U.S. home loan dropped to its lowest level since September as more evidence inflation is past its peak sent Treasury yields lower, data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) showed on Wednesday. The average contract rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell by 19 basis points to…

FRANKFURT—Euro zone banks tightened access to mortgages in the three months to September and expect to continue doing so in the final quarter of the year, a European Central Bank survey showed on Tuesday. ECB policymakers are set to take stock of the economic situation at a meeting on Thursday, paving the way for a…

WASHINGTON—U.S. housing prices are going through the roof and a looming wave of foreclosures is unlikely to reverse this trend due to a severe housing shortage in the country, according to experts. The foreclosure moratorium for federally-backed mortgages is going to end on July 31. The Biden administration in June extended the national moratorium by…

Commentary Chapman University is predicting a 10-to-15 percent drop in the median price of detached singled family homes in Orange County, Calif., by mid-2023. Faculty from Chapman University’s A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research presented on June 16 the institution’s economic forecasts for the nation, state, and Orange County. It expects rates on new…

Dear Dave, We’d like to own a home someday, but we know we’re not ready for that kind of financial commitment yet. Where does buying a house fit in your Baby Steps plan? Heather   Dear Heather, Buying a home when you’re broke is the easiest way I know to become a foreclosure statistic. I’m…