The state of New York is giving first-time homebuyers an added incentive to get off the fence and enter the ownership market.

Small, regional banks have felt the brunt of the nation's economic crisis this year and their woes continued Friday as regulators shut down institutions in Nevada, Alabama, Pennsylvania, and two in Arizona.

Federal Reserve officials met last week and issued a statement saying their program to purchase $1.25 trillion of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) will be winding down by the end of year.

The Chicago-based credit reporting agency TransUnion says that while mortgage delinquency rates continued to rise in the second quarter of the year, the pace is slowing from its seemingly break-neck speed in months prior.

The Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC) and the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO) have announced that the two organizations will collaborate on standards development that will enable the use of Web-based geospatial technologies in real property transaction applications.

Brandy Cutler has resigned as director of default management at PennyMac Loan Services to join North American Property Preservation Corporation (NAPPCorp) in Calabasas, California.

Irvine, California's RealtyTrac recently announced a new agreement and strategic partnership with HomeFinder.com.

Winans International Investment Management and Research, which has measured U.S. new home prices from 1830 to the present day, says If history is a reliable guide, then we have entered the beginning of the end of this historic housing bear market.

Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have refinanced more than 2.9 million mortgage loans since the beginning of this year, according to a report released Thursday by the GSE's regulator.

Citigroup published its TARP Progress Report for the second quarter of 2009 this week, detailing the steps the company is taking to extend credit and support the housing market ̢ a move to answer lawmakers's and taxpayers's questions about how the bank is using its $45 billion bailout.