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Home sales in August retreated annually for the fourth straight month as home prices ticked up to a six-year high, RealtyTrac revealed Thursday in its latest sales report. According to the company's data, U.S. residential properties, including single-family homes, condos, and townhomes, sold at an estimated annual rate of 4.5 million last month, down half a percent from July and 16 percent from August 2013.

The pace of new single-family home sales last month outperformed even the most optimistic projections, according to government numbers released Wednesday. The Commerce Department reported new home sales ...

Property information firm CoreLogic reported that nearly 946,000 homes returned to positive equity in the second quarter, meaning the mortgage holders owe less on their loan than the property's worth. With the most recent quarterly increase, CoreLogic estimates the total number of mortgaged homes with equity across the country has surpassed 44 million.

Rep. Jeb Hensarling earlier this week pounced on a GAO report criticizing CFPB's data collection practices, accusing the bureau of "trying to out-NSA the NSA when it comes to accumulating information on Americans." The report came as a result of legislation passed by Congress in January that required GAO to look into CFPB's data collection methods following CFPB's refusal to disclose information about its program to Congress, according to Hensarling.

American enthusiasm for the housing market rose over the summer from the year's start, but expectations for future market performance have become more subdued, according to survey results ...

The Commerce Department reported new home sales in August were up 18 percent month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 504,000. Compared to August 2013, estimated sales were up 33 percent. Economists projected a consensus sales pace of 430,000, which would have been a slight increase over July's upwardly revised figure of 427,000. Forecasts ranged from a low of 407,000 to a high of 465,000—still nearly 40,000 short of the government's estimate.

According to information released Monday by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), the share of home purchase loans made to low- and moderate-income applicants declined to 26 percent in 2013 from 31 percent the year prior. The share of refinance loans going to those borrowers came up just slightly, rising to 20 percent from 19 percent in 2012.

A recurring theme during many of the six labs at the Five Star Conference last week was compliance and how it has changed the mortgage industry in the last few years. Laurie Maggiano, program manager for servicing and secondary markets at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), was on hand to discuss the world of mortgage servicing statutes for the "CFPB's National Servicing Standards—Update Session" section of the conference's Compliance Lab.

Sales of existing homes fell in August to their second highest pace this year as investors pulled back from the market. According to transaction data from the National ...

American consumers' enthusiasm for the housing market rose over the summer from the year's start, but expectations for future market performance have become more subdued, according to survey results released by Zillow. Among the thousands of Americans surveyed, confidence is higher among renters as purchase conditions continue to look favorable and rent prices climb.